Ideals versus Reality. As Muslim law is theoretically a complete scheme for governing all areas of human life, the actions of the state fall under its view. In practice, however, the rules of government have tended to be bent or changed for purposes of expediency. Therefore, the laws for foreign relations and war (siyar) have tended to be ideals that are not applicable in changing conditions. Part of the reason for this lack of continuous application is that the early khilafah provided the primary political model on which the laws were based. Prominent in this model was the doctrine that the Muslim polity should be one and united. After all, the Madinan state founded by the Prophet was a single, unified polity under God speaking through Muhammad. The definitive breakdown of the unity of the khilafah that...