Dr. Hossein Alizadeh (1965), combining deep academic research with firsthand diplomatic experience (22 years), is an academic researcher, independent journalist and political commentator, extensively contributing through his articles (700) and interviews (2100) to a variety of media In Persian, Arabic and English regarding the Middle East and international political affairs. He is the author of ‘Iran-Egypt Historical Relations’  (in Persian and Arabic). He received his B.A. in Philosophy, M.A. in International Relations and doctoral degree in Peace and Conflict Affairs at the University of Tampere, Finland.

The notion of the ‘Umma’ with 64 references only in the Quran is an integral part of Islamic political philosophy that pursues a political agenda. Thus, the Umma concept is central to Muslim consciousness, shaping numerous Islamist movements and, secondly, constitutes a dominating discourse of empowerment and a notion in motion from a pan-Islamist perspective. Therefore, the outstanding question is: What is the politics of the Umma, and how, as a discourse, does it function in Muslim polity?

The ultimate goal of the research is to re-visit or, better to say, to decode ‘the politics of the Umma’ and its counter-hegemonic narrative from a pan-Islamist perspective, presenting it as Islam’s holistic ruling system in the current international system to replace the ‘Umma-state’ as an alternative to the ‘nation-state’ in order to reverse Muslim decline (Inhitat).