The Rule of Law, Islam, and Constitutional Politics in Egypt and Iran

The Rule of Law, Islam, and Constitutional Politics in Egypt and Iran
Author: Saïd Amir Arjomand
Publisher: State University of New York Press
Total Pages: 346
Release: 2013-03-25
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1438445989

In recent years, Egypt and Iran have been beset with demands for fundamental change. The Rule of Law, Islam, and Constitutional Politics in Egypt and Iran draws together leading regional experts to provide a penetrating comparative analysis of the ways Islam is entangled with the process of democratization in authoritarian regimes. By comparing Islam and the rule of law in these two nations, one Sunni and Arab-speaking, the other Shi>ite and Persian-speaking, this volume enriches the current debate on Islam and democracy, making for a more nuanced understanding and appreciation of differences with the Muslim world, and provides an indispensible background for understanding the Green movement in Iran since 2009 and the Egyptian revolution of 2011

State Law as Islamic Law in Modern Egypt

State Law as Islamic Law in Modern Egypt
Author: Clark Lombardi
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 319
Release: 2006-01-01
Genre: Law
ISBN: 9047404726

This volume explores the recent decision by Egypt to constitutionalize sharīʿa and analyzes the Egyptian judiciary’s attempts to argue that sharī‘a is consistent with human rights. It will interest anyone studying Islamic law, constitutional thought in the Middle East, or Islam and human rights.

Democracy

Democracy
Author: Eugene Cotran
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 620
Release: 1999-01-01
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9789041111852

This important collection of articles, contributed by eminent scholars, judges & legal practitioners, addresses the fundamental issues of human rights, democracy, the rule of law & Islam. It covers a broad & diverse range of topics & discusses key issues & questions such as: . What lessons should emerging democracies learn from mature democracies in the promotion of human rights & respect for the rule of law? . Are democratic processes & human rights standards in the developed world really models that should be adopted by developing countries? . How are human rights protected in Islam & the Middle East? . What is Islamic constitutionalism & how does Islamic law provide for a democratic system of government? The book argues that the development of the rule of law, democracy & respect for human rights should be a process of interaction & integration on a global scale. In addition, it stresses that the integration of previously closed societies into the process of globalisation must take into account the indigenous traditions already existing in such societies, & the extent to which they will contribute to, & benefit from, the process as a whole.

Democracy under God

Democracy under God
Author: Dawood Ahmed
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 233
Release: 2023-02-28
Genre: Law
ISBN: 1009325078

The place of Islam in constitutions invites fierce debate from scholars and politicians alike. Many of these debates assume an inherent conflict between constitutional Islam and 'secular' values of liberal democracy and human rights. Using case studies from several Muslim-majority states, this book surveys the history and role of Islam in constitutions. Tracing the origins of constitutional Islam, Dawood Ahmed and Muhammad Zubair Abbasi argue that colonial history and political bargaining were pivotal factors in determining whether a country adopted Islam, and not secularism, in its constitution. Contrary to the common contention that the constitutional incorporation of Islam is generally antithetical to human rights, Ahmed and Abbasi show not only that Islam has been popularly demanded and introduced into constitutions during periods of 'democratization' and 'modernization' but also that constitutional Islamization has frequently been accompanied by an expansion in constitutional human rights.

Religion and Politics in Contemporary Iran

Religion and Politics in Contemporary Iran
Author: Shahrough Akhavi
Publisher: SUNY Press
Total Pages: 284
Release: 1980-01-01
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780873954082

Indispensable for understanding the recent conflicts in Iran, Religion and Politics in Contemporary Iran provides a political history of the fluctuating relationships between the Islamic clergy and Iranian government since 1925. How different factions of the clergy, or ulama first lost and then regained a powerful position in Iran is the subject of this book. Akhavi analyzes how various factions within the clergy have responded to the government's efforts to encourage modernization and secularization, giving particular attention to the changes in the madrasahs, or theological colleges. He examines the main themes of the AyatullaH Khymayni's book, Islamic Government, and concludes by examining the alignments among the clergy in the past that indicate how they may develop in the future.

Law and Power in the Islamic World

Law and Power in the Islamic World
Author: Sami Zubaida
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 257
Release: 2003-05-23
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0857714260

Islamic law (the Shari'a) and its application is a central issue in contemporary Islamic politics and culture. Starting from modern concerns, this book examines the origins and evolution of the Shari'a and the corpus of texts, concepts and practices in which it has been enshrined. The central paradox in this history is one of power: the Shari'a is jurist's law, theoretically derived from sacred sources, yet dependent for its institution and application on rulers, with their own agendas and priorities. Sami Zubaida here considers key historical episodes of political accommodations and contests between scholars and sultans. Drawing on modern examples, mainly from Egypt and Iran, Zubaida explores how the Shari'a has evolved and mutated to accommodate the workings of a modern state by examining the reforms of the 19th and 20th centuries and the politics of the contemporary world. Law and Power in the Islamic World is an original and significant contribution to the debates surrounding Islam and ideas of modernity. As such its appeal and importance range across a wide spectrum of readers, students and scholars interested in Islamic law and the politics and social structures of the Muslim world. "Extremely informed and highly readable: unlike any previous writings on the subject, it combines deep historical analysis with a vital sociological and political perspective. In these difficult times, it will be required reading both for experts and for the general reader with any serious interest in the world today." Eberhard Kienle, SOAS.

The Rule of Law in the Middle East and the Islamic World

The Rule of Law in the Middle East and the Islamic World
Author: Eugene Cotran
Publisher: I.B. Tauris
Total Pages: 200
Release: 2000-06-08
Genre: Religion
ISBN:

Since the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, much attention has been focused on an international standard on human rights applicable to all cultures. But is this standard observed by Middle Eastern and Islamic governments and enforced by their judiciaries? In this country-by-country survey, a range of distinguished scholars, practitioners and judges explore how the concepts of ""the Rule of Law"" and ""Human Rights"" are being debated and applied in the Middle East.

Recasting Islamic Law

Recasting Islamic Law
Author: Rachel M. Scott
Publisher: Cornell University Press
Total Pages: 339
Release: 2021-03-15
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1501753991

By examining the intersection of Islamic law, state law, religion, and culture in the Egyptian nation-building process, Recasting Islamic Law highlights how the sharia, when attached to constitutional commitments, is reshaped into modern Islamic state law. Rachel M. Scott analyzes the complex effects of constitutional commitments to the sharia in the wake of the Egyptian Revolution of 2011. She argues that the sharia is not dismantled by the modern state when it is applied as modern Islamic state law, but rather recast in its service. In showing the particular forms that the sharia takes when it is applied as modern Islamic state law, Scott pushes back against assumptions that introductions of the sharia into modern state law result in either the revival of medieval Islam or in its complete transformation. Scott engages with premodern law and with the Ottoman legal legacy on topics concerning Egypt's Coptic community, women's rights, personal status law, and the relationship between religious scholars and the Supreme Constitutional Court. Recasting Islamic Law considers modern Islamic state law's discontinuities and its continuities with premodern sharia. Thanks to generous funding from Virginia Tech and its participation in TOME (Toward an Open Monograph Ecosystem), the ebook editions of this book are available as Open Access volumes from Cornell Open (cornellpress.cornell.edu/cornell-open) and other repositories.

The Renewal of Islamic Law

The Renewal of Islamic Law
Author: Chibli Mallat
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 264
Release: 1993
Genre: Law
ISBN: 9780521531221

A study of Muhammad Baqer as-Sadr - an Iraqi scholar whose ideas were influential in the rise of political Islam.

Justice Interrupted

Justice Interrupted
Author: Elizabeth F. Thompson
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Total Pages: 397
Release: 2013-04-15
Genre: History
ISBN: 0674076192

The Arab Spring uprisings of 2011 were often portrayed in the media as a dawn of democracy in the region. But the revolutionaries were—and saw themselves as—heirs to a centuries-long struggle for just government and the rule of law, a struggle obstructed by local elites as well as the interventions of foreign powers. Elizabeth F. Thompson uncovers the deep roots of liberal constitutionalism in the Middle East through the remarkable stories of those who fought against poverty, tyranny, and foreign rule. Fascinating, sometimes quixotic personalities come to light: Tanyus Shahin, the Lebanese blacksmith who founded a peasant republic in 1858; Halide Edib, the feminist novelist who played a prominent role in the 1908 Ottoman constitutional revolution; Ali Shariati, the history professor who helped ignite the 1979 Iranian Revolution; Wael Ghonim, the Google executive who rallied Egyptians to Tahrir Square in 2011, and many more. Their memoirs, speeches, and letters chart the complex lineage of political idealism, reform, and violence that informs today’s Middle East. Often depicted as inherently anti-democratic, Islam was integral to egalitarian movements that sought to correct imbalances of power and wealth wrought by the modern global economy—and by global war. Motivated by a memory of betrayal at the hands of the Great Powers after World War I and in the Cold War, today’s progressives assert a local tradition of liberal constitutionalism that has often been stifled but never extinguished.