Islamist extremism is an ideology that relies on a number of master narratives that not only transcend time and place but connect highly diverse, global Muslim populations. Their potency must be understood within the context of a modern world in which Muslims are acutely aware of the dominance of Western civilisation as well as the social, economic and political failings of most Muslim-majority countries. The idea of an Islamic state characterised by the implementation of shariah is a modern phenomenon developed by Abul A'la Maududi, in the context of British colonial rule and the identity politics of the Indian subcontinent in the years preceding partition, and Sayyid Qutb, in the context of authoritarian rule in Egypt. This chapter shows that based on the religious and the historical sources; a metanarrative of political secularism in Islam is not only possible but has been credibly argued by the eminent Islamic scholars and the leaders of past and present.