The Future of Shari'a

From Professor An'Na-im:

 

This project is the culmination of my life’s work, the final statement I wish to make on issues I have been struggling with since I was a student at the University of Khartoum, Sudan, in the late 1960s.

I speak as a Muslim because this is what I am accountable for as my own religion, and not simply as a hypothetical academic argument. However, I am arguing here for the secular state as a framework for negotiating the future of Shari`a, without claiming or seeking to examine all the theoretical or practical implications of this theory.

In this initial statement, I am only seeking to initiate debate around these issues, rather than attempt to prescribe solutions. What might follow from the argument I am making will depend on how Muslims perceive, receive, modify or reject my proposal. I also want to emphasize that the proposition I am presenting here relates to the public role of Shari`a, and not matters of religious doctrine and practice in the private, personal domain. Starting from the premise that Shari`a will indeed have a paramount role in the public life of Islamic societies, I am primary concerned with clarifying and safeguarding the most conducive conditions for the negotiation of that role.