The events that today shake Muslim-majority countries must be understood in the light of the interaction between the traditional figures of authority, which still feed the Weltanschauung of many Muslims, and the new forms of potestas and auctoritas that direct their actions and organize their societies. The book proposes a multidisciplinary reflection on the various faces that authority, understood as the acquisition of prestige, the capacity for influence, power of direction, assumes in various periods in the Muslim world.