Islam of the Egyptian state: Muftis and fatwas of the Dar al-Ifta

Jacob Skovgaard Peterson authored this study at the age of thirty-three, published in 1997. Jacob Skovgaard Peterson is a Danish historian born in 1963, working as a professor of religions in the Department of Cultural and Regional Studies at the University of Copenhagen since 2008. His research interests focus on modern Islam, the formation of the public Islamic space, and the role of scholars in modern Arab states. Among his notable works is "The Global Mufti: The Phenomenon of Yusuf al-Qaradawi" published in 2009. In this study "Islam of the Egyptian State: Muftis and Fatwas of the Dar al-Ifta," Peterson addresses the controversy over the relationship between Islam and politics in the modern nation-state, who defines whom? Is it the nation-state with its conditions that determines what Islam is? And what is society? Or is it Islam that defines the nature of the state and society?