Le figure di riferimento nell’Islām: ruolo e funzione

It is often said that Islam, the second most widespread religion in the world, lacks central religious authority, so it is not easy to understand, identify who speaks on behalf of Islam. Hence the thorny issue, increasingly relevant for governments and local authorities, of identifying the partners with which to interact on an institutional level. In reality, what is not there (or is less present) is a hierarchy. In fact, the West is looking for a single interlocutor, but the authority in Islam is multi-centric, the figures who perform this role are numerous, poorly institutionalized and above all are not organized hierarchically. This is also demonstrated by the many terms that are used to define religion specialists (e.g. 'ulamā', imām, shaykh).