At the core of Islamism lies a concept of law alien to modern Westerners: the placement of all human existence under one binding relationship, that of servitude to God. Islamist law transcends Western distinctions between private and public, individual and society, church and state, even reason and revelation. This law is not merely divine commandment; it is a comprehensive prescription of how the world, in all possible senses, should be. The more the law is obeyed and enforced, the smaller the gap between is and ought becomes. In an effort to close the gap once and for all, Islamism pursues a totalizing mission.
The current spread of Islamism – fostered, ironically, by Western-style electoral democracy – poses serious questions about what we take for granted as modern subjects. As we grapple with the ramifications of Islamist law, we have to return to the concept of natural right as the basis for both morality and politics. At stake is an answer to what Leo Strauss called the theologico-political problem — the conflict between Athens and Jerusalem, between political philosophy and political theology.