Subjects:

Islamic Law

Contents:

Introduction: Eternal Qur'anic Principles Today, Sisters in Islam. Part 1 Islam in History and Society: Towards an Islamic Reformation - Islamic Law in History and Society Today, Abdullahi Ahmen An-Na'im

Reformation of Shari'a or Contesting the Historical Role of the Ulama?, Chandra Muzaffar

Islamic Reform, Muslim Law and the Shari'a State, Asma Larif-Beatrix. Part 2 Islam and the Modern Nation-State: The Muslim State - Pursuing a Mirage?, Asma Larif-Beatrix

The Islamic State and its Constitution, Mohammad Hashim Kamali. Part 3 Umma and Citizenry in Modern Muslim Society: Umma and Citizenry in a Contemporary Muslim Country, Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na'im

The Qur'an, Shari'a and the Citizenship Rights of Muslim Woman in the Umma, Amina Wadud-Muhsin

Umma and Citizenry - Civil Society in the New World Order, Norani Othman. Part 4 - Islamisation of State and Society: Islamisation of State and Society, K. Haridas

Islamisation of State and Society - A Critical Comment, Muhammad Syukri Salleh

Islamisation of State and Society - Some Further Critical Remarks, Chandra Muzaffar

The Sociopolitical Dimensions of Islamisation in Malaysia - A Cultural Accomodation of Social Change?, Norani Othman. Epilogue - Shari'a Law in the Modern World: Hudud Law or Islamic Modernity?, Norani Othman.

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.;In Malaysia as elsewhere, the shaping of that future is not something to be 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.;As pressures mount in Malaysia for the anachronistic implementation, of forms 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.;This book and the response that it evokes in the minds of its readers should 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.;The ideas of Dr. Abdullahi An-Na'im, a leading scholar of the historical evolution of Islamic law and a noted international Islamic human rights lawyer, provide the point of departure for the contributors to this book.;The claim that what has come to be known as shari'a, being divine and 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."";Not just a scholarly text, this collection makes an important contribution 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.