Confessionalism as a form of political rule

[bucolic_frolic]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muslim_Sicily

The island of Sicily[note 1] was under Islamic rule from the late ninth to the late eleventh centuries.[1] It became a prosperous and influential commercial power in the Mediterranean,[2] with its capital of Palermo[note 2] serving as a major cultural and political center of the Muslim world.[3]

Sicily was a peripheral part of the Byzantine Empire when Muslim forces from Ifriqiya (roughly present-day Tunisia) began launching raids in 652. During the reign of the Aghlabid dynasty of Ifriqiya, a prolonged series of conflicts from 827 to 902 resulted in the gradual conquest of the entire island, with only the stronghold of Rometta, in the far northeast, holding out until 965. The Fatimid Caliphate replaced Aghlabid rule after 909. From 948 onwards, the island was governed by the Kalbid dynasty, who ruled as autonomous emirs while formally acknowledging Fatimid authority.

Under Muslim rule, Sicily became multiconfessional and multilingual, developing a distinct Arab-Byzantine culture that combined elements of its Islamic Arab and Berber migrants with those of the local Latin, Greek, and Jewish communities. Lucrative new crops were introduced, advanced irrigation systems were built, and urban centers were beautified with gardens and public works; the resulting wealth led to a flourishing of art and science.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confessionalism_(politics)

Confessionalism is a system of government that is a de jure mix of religion and politics. It typically entails distributing political and institutional power proportionally among confessional communities.

Governmental structure

Some countries' political system distribute power across major religions in the country. This can be required by the constitution or through unwritten tradition.

In the politics of Iraq, following the invasion of Iraq in 2003, the occupying administration introduced a system where power was shared between the three main ethno-religious groups: Shia Muslim Arabs, Sunni Muslim Arabs and Kurds. The constitution of Iraq encouraged such power-sharing, due to the parliamentary system and the initial requirement for a super-majority to elect the President. Although not explicitly required in the constitution, political tradition has continued to date for the President to be a Kurd, the Speaker of Parliament a Sunni Muslim Arab and the Prime Minister a Shi'ite Muslim Arab.[1]

The repartition of assembly seats on a confessional basis in the Middle East was invented by the Ottoman Empire (e.g. in the Ottoman Parliament) and continued in several post-Ottoman countries with reserved seats for non-Muslim, namely Christian, minorities (Syria, Jordan, Iraq), or for all religious communities including Muslim subgroups and Christian churches (Lebanon). A similar system prevails in Iran for the Armenian, Assyrian, Jewish and Zoroastrian minorities.

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Posted for information only, I'd never come across the term before. Was researching history of Sicily, and while I knew there were invasions from around 700 to 1300 or so, I didn't realize there was Arab rule for more than 200 years in that period. I think history has whitewashed a lot, and lo and behold there is confessionalism, a sort of multi-cultural, multi-religious form of government way back when.

[Walleye]

1. That's very interesting, and it shows the infinite amount of history we have left to learn.