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Article: LAW-Islam and the Secular State: Negotiating the Future of Shari'a
- Article from:
- The Middle East Journal
- Article date:
- October 1, 2008
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright Middle East Institute Autumn 2008. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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LAW Islam and the Secular State: Negotiating the Future of Shari'a, by Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na'im. Cambridge, MA and London, UK: Harvard University Press, 2008. x + 293 pages. Refs. to p. 309. Index to p. 324. $35.
Reviewed by Mark D. Welton
The Shari'a (Islamic law) was developed over many centuries by jurists and religious scholars into a rich legal tradition that continues to prescribe in great detail the proper conduct of Muslims in their relations to God and to each other. On the other hand, the role of the Shari'a in regulating the relations between individuals and their governments, considered in the West as constituting the field of public law, was less extensively elaborated. Today, ...