Overview
How can Muslims be both good citizens of liberal democracies and good Muslims? This is among the most pressing questions of our time, particularly in contemporary Europe. Some argue that Muslims have no tradition of separation of church and state and therefore can't participate in secular, pluralist society. At the other extreme, some Muslims argue that it is the duty of all believers to resist Western forms of government and to impose Islamic law. Andrew F. March is seeking to find a middle way between these poles. Is there, he asks, a tradition that is both consistent with orthodox Sunni Islam that is also compatible with modern liberal democracy? He begins with Rawls's theory that liberal societies rely for stability on an ''overlapping consensus'' between a public conception of justice and popular religious doctrines and asks what kinds of demands liberal societies place on citizens, and particularly on Muslims. March then offers a thorough examination of Islamic sources and current trends in Islamic thought to see whether there can indeed be a consensus. March finds that the answer is an emphatic ''yes.'' He demonstrates that there are very strong and authentically Islamic arguments for accepting the demands of citizenship in a liberal democracy, many of them found even in medieval works of Islamic jurisprudence. In fact, he shows, it is precisely the fact that Rawlsian political liberalism makes no claims to metaphysical truth that makes it appealing to Muslims.
Full Product Details
Author: Andrew F. March (Associate Professor of Political Science, Associate Professor of Political Science, Yale University)
Publisher: Oxford University Press Inc
Imprint: Oxford University Press Inc
Dimensions:
Width: 15.60cm
, Height: 1.90cm
, Length: 23.40cm
Weight: 0.508kg
ISBN: 9780199838585
ISBN 10: 0199838585
Pages: 360
Publication Date: 07 July 2011
Audience:
College/higher education
,
General/trade
,
Tertiary & Higher Education
,
General
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: To order
Stock availability from the supplier is unknown. We will order it for you and ship this item to you once it is received by us.
Reviews
March puts forward a historically expansive scholarly tour de force on the question of the compatibility of Islamic law with the demands of liberal citizenship in the context in which Muslims are living as a minority in a non-Muslim state...the book is an absolutely indispensible addition. --Journal of Religion As well as those in good governance generally, I recommend this excellent work for those studying political science, inter-religious relations, or Islamic studies, particularly at higher tertiary level. --American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences
<br> March puts forward a historically expansive scholarly tour de force on the question of the compatibility of Islamic law with the demands of liberal citizenship in the context in which Muslims are living as a minority in a non-Muslim state...the book is an absolutely indispensible addition. --Journal of Religion<p><br>
As well as those in good governance generally, I recommend this excellent work for those studying political science, inter-religious relations, or Islamic studies, particularly at higher tertiary level. * American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences * March puts forward a historically expansive scholarly tour de force on the question of the compatibility of Islamic law with the demands of liberal citizenship in the context in which Muslims are living as a minority in a non-Muslim state...the book is an absolutely indispensible addition. * Journal of Religion *
Author Information
Andrew F. March is Associate Professor of Political Science at Yale University
