Islamic Doctrine Versus the U. S. Constitution

Islamic Doctrine Versus the U. S. Constitution
Author: Stephen Kirby
Publisher:
Total Pages: 221
Release: 2019-11-19
Genre:
ISBN: 9781709741067

Increasing numbers of Muslim candidates for office are entering the U.S. political system at every level from local to state and federal; and, while we applaud civic engagement by all citizens in our democratic system, we also are mindful that Islam is a faith like none other in the obligation levied on its followers to place Islamic Law (shariah) above any other law, including the U.S. Constitution. Obviously, this sets up a conundrum for those candidates for political office who are devout and practicing Muslims. Indeed, Andre Carson (IN-D), who currently represents Indiana's 7th District in the U.S. House of Representatives, has openly urged fellow Muslims in explicit terms to represent Islam as an elected official in the U.S. government: "Each and every one of us has a directive to represent Islam, in all of our imperfections, but to represent Islam ... Such declarations set up a direct challenge to Article VI Clause 2 of the U.S. Constitution, to which each and every Member of Congress, House and Senate, is pledged under oath to uphold." With his newest book, "Islamic Doctrine versus The U.S. Constitution: The Dilemma for Muslim Public Officials," author and scholar of Islam Stephen M. Kirby, Ph.D. has drawn upon a series of essays first published by the Jihad Watch platform of the David Horowitz Freedom Center. Dr. Kirby has elucidated the very direct conflicts between Islamic Law and the 1st, 2nd, 4th, 8th, 13th, and 14th Amendments to the Constitution. But one might ask, aren't all Members of Congress obligated to swear or affirm an oath to support that Constitution? So, how could a Muslim official take such an oath and yet remain true to both his faith and the Constitution he has pledged to uphold? As this book goes to print, the U.S. is heading into another presidential election year (2020). The sobering reality of what devout, faithful, observant Muslims actually believe and are bound to obey must be a factor in the responsibility of every citizen to be both informed and engaged in the political process. Dr. Kirby's scholarship in this regard could not possibly be more timely and is made of even more practical use by the 10th and final chapter in the book, where he proposes a number of considerations and possible questions for the American citizen who may want to attend a campaign event where a Muslim candidate will be available for Questions and Answers. The entire text of "Islamic Doctrine versus The U.S. Constitution: The Dilemma for Muslim Public Officials" may be thought of as a handbook for the citizen voter.

Why, as a Muslim, I Defend Liberty

Why, as a Muslim, I Defend Liberty
Author: Mustafa Akyol
Publisher: Cato Institute
Total Pages: 296
Release: 2021-09-28
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1952223180

Islam, the second largest religion in the world, has several authoritarian interpretations today that defy human freedom—by executing “apostates” or “blasphemers,” imposing religious practices, or discriminating against women or minorities. In Why, as a Muslim, I Support Liberty, Mustafa Akyol offers a bold critique of this trouble, by frankly acknowledging its roots in the religious tradition. But Akyol also shows that Islam has “seeds of freedom” as well—in the Qur'an, the life of the Prophet Muhammad, and the complex history of the Islamic civilization. It is past time, he argues, to grow those seeds into maturity, and reinterpret Islamic law and politics under the Qur'anic maxim, “No compulsion in religion.” Akyol shows that the major reinterpretation Islam needs now is similar to the transformation that began in Western Christianity back in the 17th century, with the groundbreaking ideas of classical liberal thinkers such as John Locke. The author goes back and forth between classical liberalism and the Islamic tradition, to excavate little-noticed parallels, first highlighted by the “Islamic liberals” of the late Ottoman Empire, unknown to many Muslims and non-Muslims today. In short chapters, Akyol digs into big questions. Why do Muslims need to “reform” the Sharia? But is there something to “revive” in the Sharia as well? Should Muslims really glorify “conquest,” or rather believe in social contract? Is capitalism really alien to Islam, which has a rich heritage of free markets and civil society? Finally, he addresses a suspicion common among Muslims today: What if liberty is a mere cover used by Western powers to advance their imperialist schemes? With personal stories, historical anecdotes, theological insights, and a very accessible prose, this is the little big book on the intersection of Islam and liberty.

Constituting Religion

Constituting Religion
Author: Tamir Moustafa
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages:
Release: 2018-07-25
Genre: Law
ISBN: 1108334075

Most Muslim-majority countries have legal systems that enshrine both Islam and liberal rights. While not necessarily at odds, these dual commitments nonetheless provide legal and symbolic resources for activists to advance contending visions for their states and societies. Using the case study of Malaysia, Constituting Religion examines how these legal arrangements enable litigation and feed the construction of a 'rights-versus-rites binary' in law, politics, and the popular imagination. By drawing on extensive primary source material and tracing controversial cases from the court of law to the court of public opinion, this study theorizes the 'judicialization of religion' and the radiating effects of courts on popular legal and religious consciousness. The book documents how legal institutions catalyze ideological struggles, which stand to redefine the nation and its politics. Probing the links between legal pluralism, social movements, secularism, and political Islamism, Constituting Religion sheds new light on the confluence of law, religion, politics, and society. This title is also available as Open Access.

When Islam Is Not a Religion

When Islam Is Not a Religion
Author: Asma T Uddin
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 291
Release: 2019-07-09
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1643131745

American Muslim religious liberty lawyer Asma Uddin has long considered her work defending people of all faiths to be a calling more than a job. Yet even as she seeks equal protection for Evangelicals, Sikhs, Muslims, Native Americans, Jews, and Catholics alike, she has seen an ominous increase in attempts to criminalize Islam and exclude Muslim Americans from those protections.Somehow, the view that Muslims aren’t human enough for human rights or constitutional protections is moving from the fringe to the mainstream—along with the claim “Islam is not a religion.” This conceit is not just a threat to the First Amendment rights of American Muslims. It is a threat to the freedom of all Americans.Her new book reveals a significant but overlooked danger to our religious liberty. Woven throughout this national saga is Uddin’s own story and the stories of American Muslims and other people of faith who have faced tremendous indignities as they attempt to live and worship freely.Combining her experience of Islam as a religious truth and her legal and philosophical appreciation that all individuals have a right to religious liberty, Uddin examines the shifting tides of American culture and outlines a way forward for individuals and communities navigating today’s culture wars.

Shariah

Shariah
Author: William J. Boykin
Publisher: Center for Security Policy
Total Pages: 370
Release: 2010
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 9780982294765

This study is the result of months of analysis, discussion and drafting by a group of top security policy experts concerned with the preeminent totalitarian threat of our time: the legal-political-military doctrine known within Islam as "shariah." It is designed to provide a comprehensive and articulate "second opinion" on the official characterizations and assessments of this threat as put forth by the United States government. The authors, under the sponsorship of the Center for Security Policy, have modeled this work on an earlier "exercise in competitive analysis" which came to be known as the "Team B" Report. The present Team B II report is based entirely on unclassified, readily available sources. As with the original Team B analysis, however, this study challenges the assumptions underpinning the official line in the conflict with today's totalitarian threat, which is currently euphemistically described as "violent extremism," and the policies of co-existence, accommodation and submission that are rooted in those assumptions.

Thomas Jefferson's Qur'an

Thomas Jefferson's Qur'an
Author: Denise Spellberg
Publisher: Vintage
Total Pages: 418
Release: 2014-07-01
Genre: History
ISBN: 0307388395

In this original and illuminating book, Denise A. Spellberg reveals a little-known but crucial dimension of the story of American religious freedom—a drama in which Islam played a surprising role. In 1765, eleven years before composing the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson bought a Qur’an. This marked only the beginning of his lifelong interest in Islam, and he would go on to acquire numerous books on Middle Eastern languages, history, and travel, taking extensive notes on Islam as it relates to English common law. Jefferson sought to understand Islam notwithstanding his personal disdain for the faith, a sentiment prevalent among his Protestant contemporaries in England and America. But unlike most of them, by 1776 Jefferson could imagine Muslims as future citizens of his new country. Based on groundbreaking research, Spellberg compellingly recounts how a handful of the Founders, Jefferson foremost among them, drew upon Enlightenment ideas about the toleration of Muslims (then deemed the ultimate outsiders in Western society) to fashion out of what had been a purely speculative debate a practical foundation for governance in America. In this way, Muslims, who were not even known to exist in the colonies, became the imaginary outer limit for an unprecedented, uniquely American religious pluralism that would also encompass the actual despised minorities of Jews and Catholics. The rancorous public dispute concerning the inclusion of Muslims, for which principle Jefferson’s political foes would vilify him to the end of his life, thus became decisive in the Founders’ ultimate judgment not to establish a Protestant nation, as they might well have done. As popular suspicions about Islam persist and the numbers of American Muslim citizenry grow into the millions, Spellberg’s revelatory understanding of this radical notion of the Founders is more urgent than ever. Thomas Jefferson’s Qur’an is a timely look at the ideals that existed at our country’s creation, and their fundamental implications for our present and future.

Islam and the Future of Tolerance

Islam and the Future of Tolerance
Author: Sam Harris
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Total Pages: 145
Release: 2015-10-06
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0674737067

“A civil but honest dialogue...As illuminating as it is fascinating.” —Ayaan Hirsi Ali Is Islam a religion of peace or war? Is it amenable to reform? Why do so many Muslims seem to be drawn to extremism? And what do words like jihadism and fundamentalism really mean? In a world riven by misunderstanding and violence, Sam Harris—a famous atheist—and Maajid Nawaz—a former radical—demonstrate how two people with very different religious views can find common ground and invite you to join in an urgently needed conversation. “How refreshing to read an honest yet affectionate exchange between the Islamist-turned-liberal-Muslim Maajid Nawaz and the neuroscientist who advocates mindful atheism, Sam Harris...Their back-and-forth clarifies multiple confusions that plague the public conversation about Islam.” —Irshad Manji, New York Times Book Review “It is sadly uncommon, in any era, to find dialogue based on facts and reason—but even more rarely are Muslim and non-Muslim intellectuals able to maintain critical distance on broad questions about Islam. Which makes Islam and the Future of Tolerance something of a unicorn...Most conversations about religion are marked by the inability of either side to listen, but here, at last, is a proper debate.” —New Statesman

Constitutionalism in Islamic Countries: Between Upheaval and Continuity

Constitutionalism in Islamic Countries: Between Upheaval and Continuity
Author: Rainer Grote
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Total Pages: 755
Release: 2012-02-16
Genre: History
ISBN: 019975988X

Constitutionalism in Islamic Countries: Between Upheaval and Continuity offers a comprehensive analysis of the issues associated with the theory and practice of constitutionalism in Islamic countries. This collection of essays is written by leading constitutional and comparative law scholars and constitutional practitioners and essays provide readers with an overview of the constitutional developments in countries in the Islamic world, an understanding of the potential and actual impact of Islam and Sharia on the notion of modern constitutionalism, and insight into the ways in which "Western" ideals may be reconciled with Islamic tradition.

Civil Democratic Islam

Civil Democratic Islam
Author: Cheryl Benard
Publisher: Rand Corporation
Total Pages: 89
Release: 2004-03-25
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0833036203

In the face of Islam's own internal struggles, it is not easy to see who we should support and how. This report provides detailed descriptions of subgroups, their stands on various issues, and what those stands may mean for the West. Since the outcomes can matter greatly to international community, that community might wish to influence them by providing support to appropriate actors. The author recommends a mixed approach of providing specific types of support to those who can influence the outcomes in desirable ways.

The Covenants of the Prophet Muhammad with the Christians of the World

The Covenants of the Prophet Muhammad with the Christians of the World
Author: John Andrew Morrow
Publisher:
Total Pages: 466
Release: 2013
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9781597314657

The Prophet Muhammad s treaties with the Christians of his time, which John Andrew Morrow has rediscovered in obscure collections and often newly translated, uniformly state that Muslims are not to attack peaceful Christian communities, but defend them until the End of the World. Authored by the Prophet himself, they represent a third foundational pillar for Islam outside of Qur an and hadith. The Covenants Initiative within the book represents a movement by Muslims, both prominent and unknown, in support of Christians under attack. These treaties desperately need to be better known among Christians, Muslims, and the general public. For scholars, this book provides much difficult-to-obtain material: facsimiles of primary sources in Arabic and Persian; corrected versions in modern Arabic typescript; and alternate translations. They now have all they need to study the covenants in depth. "This narrative has the power to unite Muslim and Christian communities. A work of scholarship, its release is timely, and its content critical in fostering mutual respect and religious freedom."--IMAM FEISAL ABDUL RAUF, Chairman, Cordoba Initiative "In his indispensable contribution to the study of the Abrahamic faiths, John Andrew Morrow tells the story of how the Prophet Muhammad used his desert experiences of hospitality and protection to bring Muslims and Christians together."--JOSEPH HOBBS, University of Missouri "These letters from the Prophet Muhammad to Christian communities can serve to inspire both Muslims and Christians about our ability to live together as God's people, as friends, as neighbors, and as custodians of the same small planet."--OMID SAFI, University of North Carolina "With painstaking effort and much dedication invested in this groundbreaking work, Professor Morrow will surely manage to attract the attention of Islamic studies students and specialists."--AMAR SELLAM, Mohamed I University "This book documents what is possibly the third foundational source of Islam: the Prophet's treaties and covenants among people of the Abrahamic faiths. Dr. Morrow brings forth exceptionally important findings that dictate peaceful coexistence among Jews, Christians, and Muslims."--BRIDGET BLOMFIELD, University of Nebraska