Reconstructing the Concept of the State in Early Islam: An Analysis of the Political Structure of Medina in the Light of the Components of the Westphalian State

Despite longstanding scholarly disagreements over whether the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) established a state in the full political sense, it is an undeniable historical fact that he assumed responsibility for the military, economic, and cultural-religious administration of Medina. By requiring the migration (Hijrah) of Muslims to the city, defining its territorial boundaries, and promulgating the Constitution (Covenant) of Medina, he effectively exercised political authority over its governance. This raises a fundamental question: to what extent can Medina al-Nabi be analytically compared with the four constitutive elements of the modern nation-state, as articulated in the post-Westphalian tradition and widely employed as the prevailing framework for identifying statehood in contemporary political theory?

Employing a historical, analytical, and comparative methodology, this study argues that, notwithstanding the profound theological and normative differences between the political order of Medina and the secular principles embedded in the Westphalian settlement, as well as its substantial divergence from the essential components of the modern state—namely population, territory, government, and sovereignty—Medina al-Nabi succeeded in laying the foundations of a political order that possessed not only the capacity to transcend the tribal social structure and evolve into a city-state, but also the institutional potential to develop into a nation-state and, ultimately, an imperial political system.