Gaza to Pakistan, political Islam is at its strongest and weakest. Depends how you look at it

The Muslim communities and leaders of India, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia and several other countries are, therefore, excluded. Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar and other Gulf nations, Iran, Pakistan, Turkey and many others in Asia and Africa are among those who constitute this dominant universe of political Islam that we are talking about. For the greatest clarity, let's say upfront that this is not an argument about Islam, the faith. This is about political Islam, where the faith is the state religion, defines a nation and/or maintains its mostly unelected leaders in power and determines their strategic responses. For a moment,…