Why Islamic States Would Be Bad for Muslims
Two scholars, despite their differences, say that defining 'sharia' is crucial to finding a healthy place for religion in Muslim nations
But An-Na'im goes further. A secular state is best for a Muslim-majority nation, he says, not only because it allows true religion to flourish but also because it fosters bringing universal standards of human rights to the critical task of interpreting and applying sharia. For example, it emboldens the faithful to give greater weight to those parts of the Koran that stress the universality of the faith (the so-called Meccan phase of the Prophet's teaching) rather than those parts of the Koran that came out when Islam was under siege from enemies (the Medina phase) and emphasized rather harsh teachings about non-Muslims and apostates.
An-Na'im is no utopian. He understands that the struggle over the meaning of sharia will not necessarily go the way he thinks and hopes it should. He also knows that in secular states, there will always be a negotiation, and sometimes an open struggle, between those who want to impose their religious beliefs on the entire society and those who want religion completely removed from the public sphere. Between those two groups of fundamentalists—religious and secular—there is a great majority that understands that negotiation among contending ultimate positions is what democracy is really about. To deny that possibility to majority-Muslim nations by acceding too quickly to the agenda of the Islamists would be a mighty blow, An-Na'im believes, not only to the cause of democracy and human rights but also to the future vitality of Islam.
Reader Comments
Sharia
The ultimate goal of islam is to rule the world and impose sharia law everywhere which they hope will not only encompass muslims but non-muslims as well. When are people going to wake up and see what is happening? Your very democracy is under seige. I am a convert from that to Christianity. This is not a so called religion that is willing to live in peace with other faiths, it is one that preaches in front of the world, eventual world domination and violence against those who do not accept or believe. The smoke of satan. You cannot discuss sharia law and find democracy anywhere in it. It changes with the times to suit the needs of this group. When are governments going to become aware (Europe, North America) that by sheer numbers and your own democratic way of life, you are already in danger of losing your own freedoms? Why is this 'thing' being forced on Christian students for example in German schools? Are they insane?
sharia
vindeep...it was when Shari'a was implemented that the Muslim world produced so much as you seem to lament for...you being a moron though is evident so i would not expect you to see your contradiction, or just being a racist hindu it sounds like.
Objectivity is the soul of scholarship
It does not take a rocket scientist to see what implementation of Sharia overtly or covertly has done and doing in history. A non Muslim objectivity is more acceptable than a Muslim subjectivity even in an Islamic court, when it comes to business or expertise. I commend Mr. Noah Feldman for his objectivity and scholarship.
Maybe a day is coming when some Muslims would come to such an unbiased assement of the Sharia regardless of interest.
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