Muslim Laws, Politics and Society in Modern Nation States PDF Download

Author: Ihsan Yilmaz
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351916246
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 285

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Book Description
Drawing on theories of legal pluralism, this book tests whether and to what extent claims of the modern nation-state laws to exclusive dominance over other spheres are tenable, and reassesses the operation of law in society. Incorporating a combination of legal theory, post-modern critique and socio-legal analysis of three current jurisdictions in which Muslims play an important role, the volume identifies Muslims' current socio-legal situation and attitudes from different perspectives and reconciles them with modern legal systems in three key countries. It analyzes the conflict between the assumptions of modern legal systems and plural legal realities, and also examines attempts by modern legal systems to impose official laws in the face of resistance from unofficial Muslim laws and discusses possible responses to the challenge of dynamic Muslim legal pluralism. A valuable resource for students, researchers and academics with an interest in the areas of Islamic law and politics, and the interplay between secular law and religious/cultural traditions.

Author: P. J. Vatikiotis
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1315414430
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 170

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Book Description
Examining the theoretical problems which arose when the modern European ideology of nationalism was adopted by Muslim societies organized into formally modern states, this book, first published in 1987, also deals with the practical difficulties arising from the doctrinal incompatibility between Islam and the non-Muslim concept of the territorial nation-state. It illustrates this conflict with a consideration of the record of several states in the Islamic world. It suggests that whereas the state, an organization of power, has been a most durable institution in Islamic history, the legitimacy of the nation-state has always been challenged in favour of the wide Islamic Nation, the "umma", which comprises all the faithful without reference to territorial boundaries. To this extent too, the more recent conception of Arab nationalism projects a far larger nation-state than the existing territorial states in the Arab world today. This title will be of interest to students of Middle Eastern studies.

Author: Robert W. Hefner
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
ISBN: 082486302X
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 336

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Book Description
The renewal of the Muslim faith, which has occurred not only in Asia but in other parts of the world, has prompted warnings of an imminent "clash of civilizations" between Islam and the West. Islam in an Era of Nation-States examines the history, politics, and meanings of this resurgence in Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines and explores its implications for Southeast Asia, the larger Muslim world, and the West. This volume will be of interest to students of Islam, Southeast Asian history, and the anthropology of religion. In examining the politics and meanings of Islamic resurgence, it will also speak to political scientists, religious scholars, and others concerned with culture and politics in the late modern era.

Author: Robert W. Hefner
Publisher: Indiana University Press
ISBN: 0253223105
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 346

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Book Description
One of the most important developments in Muslim politics in recent years has been the spread of movements calling for the implementation of Shari'a or Islamic law. Shari'a Politics maps the ideals and organization of these movements and examines their implications for the future of democracy, citizen rights, and gender relations in the Muslim world. These studies of eight Muslim-majority societies, and state-of-the-field reflections by leading experts, provide the first comparative investigation of movements for and against implementation of Shari'a. These essays reveal that the Muslim public's interest in Shari'a does not spring from an unchanging devotion to received religious tradition, but from an effort to respond to the central political and ethical questions of the day. -- Publisher description.

Author: E. Ann Black
Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing
ISBN: 0857934473
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 319

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Book Description
'This book presents an invaluable contribution to the debate on the compatibility of Islam and modernity. It is full of arguments and examples showing how Islam can be understood in line with modern life, human rights, democracy, the rule of law, civil society and pluralism. The three authors come from different countries, represent different gender perspectives and have a Shia, a Sunni and a non-Muslim background respectively which makes the book a unique source of information and inspiration.' Irmgard Marboe, University of Vienna, Austria This well-informed book explains, reflects on and analyses Islamic law, not only in the classical legal tradition of Sharia, but also its modern, contemporary context. The book explores the role of Islamic law in secular Western nations and reflects on the legal system of Islam in its classical context as applied in its traditional homeland of the Middle East and also in South East Asia. Written by three leading scholars from three different backgrounds: a Muslim in the Sunni tradition, a Muslim in the Shia tradition, and a non-Muslim woman the book is not only unique, but also enriched by differing insights into Islamic law. Sir William Blair provides the foreword to a book which acknowledges that Islam continues to play a vital role not just in the Middle East but across the wider world, the discussion on which the authors embark is a crucial one. The book starts with an analysis of the nature of Islamic law, its concepts, meaning and sources, as well as its development in different stages of Islamic history. This is followed by accounts of how Islamic law is being practised today. Key modern institutions are discussed, such as the parliament, judiciary, dar al-ifta, political parties, and other important organizations. It continues by analysing some key concepts in our modern times: nation-state, citizenship, ummah, dhimmah (recognition of the status of certain non-Muslims in Islamic states), and the rule of law. The book investigates how in recent times, more and more fatwas are issued collectively rather than emanating from an individual scholar. The authors then evaluate how Islamic law deals with family matters, economics, crime, property and alternative dispute resolution. Lastly, the book revisits certain contemporary issues of debate in Islamic law such as the burqa, halal food, riba (interest) and apostasy. Modern Perspectives on Islamic Law will become a standard scholarly text on Islamic law. Its wide-ranging coverage will appeal to researchers and students of Islamic law, or Islamic studies in general. Legal practitioners will also be interested in the comparative aspects of Islamic law presented in this book.

Author: Arskal Salim
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
ISBN: 0824861795
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 273

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Book Description
Challenging the Secular State examines Muslim efforts to incorporate shari’a (religious law) into modern Indonesia’s legal system from the time of independence in 1945 to the present. The author argues that attempts to formally implement shari’a in Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim state, have always been marked by tensions between the political aspirations of proponents and opponents of shari’a and by resistance from the national government. As a result, although pro-shari’a movements have made significant progress in recent years, shari’a remains tightly confined within Indonesia’s secular legal system. The author first places developments in Indonesia within a broad historical and geographic context, offering a provocative analysis of the Ottoman empire’s millet system and thoughtful comparisons of different approaches to pro-shari’a movements in other Muslim countries (Saudi Arabia, Iran, Pakistan). He then describes early aspirations for the formal implementation of shari’a in Indonesia in the context of modern understandings of religious law as conflicting with the idea of the nation-state. Later chapters explore the efforts of Islamic parties in Indonesia to include shari’a in national law. Salim offers a detailed analysis of debates over the constitution and possible amendments to it concerning the obligation of Indonesian Muslims to follow Islamic law. A study of the Zakat Law illustrates the complicated relationship between the religious duties of Muslim citizens and the nonreligious character of the modern nation-state. Chapters look at how Islamization has deepened with the enactment of the Zakat Law and demonstrate the incongruities that have emerged from its implementation. The efforts of local Muslims to apply shari’a in particular regions are also discussed. Attempts at the Islamization of laws in Aceh are especially significant because it is the only province in Indonesia that has been allowed to move toward a shari’a-based system. The book concludes with a review of the profound conflicts and tensions found in the motivations behind Islamization.

Author: Norani Othman
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 192

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Book Description
The arguments presented and the issues raised in this book demand serious consideration from a readership of thinking Muslims who in equal measure value their religious heritage and recognise the need to shape intelligently a sustainable future for its inheritors. left solely to those conventionally recognised as religiously learned, or to any special section of the umma. Rather, it is the common task of all within the worldwide umma if contemporary Muslims are to find ways of effectively addressing the challenges of today and tomorrow. and understandings of Islamic law (including the hudud punishments) that date back to the early centuries of Islamic civilisation, the need to foster an enlightened and contemporary understanding of enduring Qur'anic imperatives is both necessary and urgent. prove a significant contribution to the emergence of such an approach: one that is both authentically grounded in the Qur'anic worldview and at the same time based upon a discerning appreciation of the challenges of ever advancing modernity, upon which today's Muslims cannot, and should not, turn their backs. evolution of Islamic law and a noted international Islamic human rights lawyer, provide the point of departure for the contributors to this book. mandatory, must as a matter of religious faith and obligation be implemented in our own times is unhistorical and unsustainable. Dr. An-Na'im argues All projects aiming at the modern implementation and enforcement of such formulations of shari'a, whatever understanding or misunderstandings their proponents may have of their own motivations, are therefore simply human projects lacking all divine sanction. towards clarifying an urgent and contentious question in contemporary Malaysia. Yet the implications of its arguments reach far beyond Malaysia's borders to the entire Muslim world.

Author: Wael B. Hallaq
Publisher: Columbia University Press
ISBN: 0231530862
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 273

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Book Description
Wael B. Hallaq boldly argues that the "Islamic state," judged by any standard definition of what the modern state represents, is both impossible and inherently self-contradictory. Comparing the legal, political, moral, and constitutional histories of premodern Islam and Euro-America, he finds the adoption and practice of the modern state to be highly problematic for modern Muslims. He also critiques more expansively modernity's moral predicament, which renders impossible any project resting solely on ethical foundations. The modern state not only suffers from serious legal, political, and constitutional issues, Hallaq argues, but also, by its very nature, fashions a subject inconsistent with what it means to be, or to live as, a Muslim. By Islamic standards, the state's technologies of the self are severely lacking in moral substance, and today's Islamic state, as Hallaq shows, has done little to advance an acceptable form of genuine Shari'a governance. The Islamists' constitutional battles in Egypt and Pakistan, the Islamic legal and political failures of the Iranian Revolution, and similar disappointments underscore this fact. Nevertheless, the state remains the favored template of the Islamists and the ulama (Muslim clergymen). Providing Muslims with a path toward realizing the good life, Hallaq turns to the rich moral resources of Islamic history. Along the way, he proves political and other "crises of Islam" are not unique to the Islamic world nor to the Muslim religion. These crises are integral to the modern condition of both East and West, and by acknowledging these parallels, Muslims can engage more productively with their Western counterparts.

Author: Dale F. Eickelman
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 9780691120539
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 260

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Book Description
In this updated paperback edition, Dale Eickelman and James Piscatori explore how the politics of Islam play out in the lives of Muslims throughout the world. They discuss how recent events such as September 11 and the 2003 war in Iraq have contributed to reshaping the political and religious landscape of Muslim-majority countries and Muslim communities elsewhere. As they examine the role of women in public life and Islamic perspectives on modernization and free speech, the authors probe the diversity of the contemporary Islamic experience, suggesting general trends and challenging popular Western notions of Islam as a monolithic movement. In so doing, they clarify concepts such as tradition, authority, ethnicity, pro-test, and symbolic space, notions that are crucial to an in-depth understanding of ongoing political events. This book poses questions about ideological politics in a variety of transnational and regional settings throughout the Muslim world. Europe and North America, for example, have become active Muslim centers, profoundly influencing trends in the Middle East, Africa, Central Asia, and South and Southeast Asia. The authors examine the long-term cultural and political implications of this transnational shift as an emerging generation of Muslims, often the products of secular schooling, begin to reshape politics and society--sometimes in defiance of state authorities. Scholars, mothers, government leaders, and musicians are a few of the protagonists who, invoking shared Islamic symbols, try to reconfigure the boundaries of civic debate and public life. These symbolic politics explain why political actions are recognizably Muslim, and why "Islam" makes a difference in determining the politics of a broad swath of the world.

Author: John L. Esposito
Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y. : Syracuse University Press
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 300

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Book Description
The Islamic world stretches from North America to Southeast Asia and includes some forty independent states in which Muslims constitute a majority of the population. Islam has approximately 750 million adherents and, therefore, is the second largest of the world's religions. A distinctive feature of the Islamic tradition is the belief that Islam is a total, comprehensive way of life. Religion has an integral, organic relationship to politics and society. This Islamic ideal is reflected in the development of Islamic law which was a comprehensive law, encompassing a Muslim's duties to God (worship, fasting, pilgrimage) and duties to one's fellow man (family, commercial, and criminal laws). Therefore, the Islamic tradition provided a normative system in which religion was integral to all areas of Muslim life - politics, economics, law, education, and the family. In the twentieth century Muslim countries have faced formidable political and social challenges: the struggle for independence from colonial dominance, the formation and development of independent nation states with all the pressures and problems of modernization, the Arab‐ Israeli conflict, and more recently, the emergence of the oil-producing states as a major world economic power bloc. The history of Islam in the modern period reflects the continued interaction of the Islamic tradition with the forces of change. While Islam may be acknowledged as a significant force in the precolonial period and to varying degrees during the twentieth-century independence movements, the strength and interaction of Islam in sociopolitical change has often been overlooked or underestimated. For most observers, Islam was simply an obstacle to change, an obstacle whose relevance to the political and social order would increasingly diminish