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The question of European foreign fighters in Syria has transformed security and counter-radicalization into important pillars of the liberal secular governance of Muslims in Europe. By exploring how Dutch integration and counter-radicalization policies connect the idea of danger to Muslims and Islam, de Koning analyses how admission to the Dutch nation-state is regulated according to what kind of deficiencies outsiders are thought to have, locating them in ideas about 'race', culture and religion. By focusing on the idea of a racialization of danger, de Koning argues, first, that, already prior to 9/11, a securitization logic existed in Dutch policies in which a form of Islam that was perceived to be 'unacceptable' was regarded as a potential danger to social cohesion and the rule of law. And, second, in analysing the process of racialization, that we should take into account its ambiguities in order to understand how the racialization of Muslims works. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyses the Partition narrative of an Ashraf Muslim woman, who was seven years old at the time of Partition. Now resident in California, Zeba Rizvi was interviewed as part of the 1947 Partition Archive project, archived at the Stanford University Library. In this article, I interrogate relationships between memories and emotions of Partition, reconstituted through oral history that suggests the additional reframing of Partition-memory archives as an emotions archive. While Zeba's interview reveals how emotional gaps are arbitrated by rapport, or absence thereof, I argue, using a phenomenological approach, that Partition memory-emotions conform to the narrator's evolving and dynamic sense of self through time, that is also evident in the interview. Zeba Rizvi resists and reconstructs the politics of Partition in agential ways, using art to express secularism and its emotions: love-pyar, while re-inscribing and conforming to Ashraf values of gender, class and the celebration of heritage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper explores Islamic morality within labor market realities. It presents Islamic moral axioms that are expected to guide employer–employee relationships. It provides an extensive review of Islamic moral ideals related to fairness in the labor market. Based on survey data from 319 individuals in the Saudi labor market, it tests three hypotheses related to religiosity, secular aspirations, and perception and practice of fairness in the labor market. Using multinomial logistic regression, the findings from several models clearly support all three hypotheses. They show that employers, owners and senior managers were more likely to consider market reality as their reference for describing fairness. Ideally speaking, the regression results confirm that being religious contributes positively to the sense of fairness even in a secular context. However, they also reveal that secular aspirations override religious ideals when it comes to market realities. In other words, when people place great importance on worldly outcomes, religious ideals have almost no impact on their labor market practices even if they ideally support fair practices. The study concludes that religious morality does matter with regard to fairness in employer–employee relationships only if it is not superseded by secular aspirations. Those who have a high-level of religiosity consider themselves to be fairer. However, if they embrace secular aspirations, they are less likely to practice their moral ideals in the labor market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

I take a philosophical approach and seek to address the question of inter‐religious rituals and practices with reference to what Charles Taylor has called 'the immanent frame.' Whilst considering the dynamics of inter‐religious or cross‐religious ritual, this article will focus mainly on the idea of rituality occurring in an immanent frame or habitus (Pierre Bourdieu). I will argue that whilst there are specific cultic rituals that need to be negotiated as part of any form of explicit inter‐rituality, there is a larger potential that is suggested by a broader anthropological vision. Moreover, an 'immanent turn' by religions may be the positive step towards the joint creation of meaning and practice in the public sphere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Debates over the (in)compatibility between Islam and democratic liberal norms of social cooperation inform many contemporary political and academic discourses. Most of the current research on the topic focuses on Sunni Islam. In this article, I focus on Shia Islam and use a Rawlsian theoretical framework to argue in favour of the compatibility between Shia Islam and liberal citizenship. I argue that authoritative primary and secondary Shia sources offer legitimate reasons for reaching an overlapping consensus between Shia and commonly accepted liberal political norms. More particularly, I focus on the theological Shia arguments in favour of secularism and democracy; human rights; universalism and solidarity. I draw my argument from four clerical figures with a seminary background: Grand Ayatollah Sistani, Grand Ayatollah Montazeri, Grand Ayatollah Muhammad Shirazi, and Mohsen Kadivar. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses Islamic social science and its varieties. Topics discussed include the reshaping of social theory by classical Islamic metaphysics and epistemology, the debate regarding the Islamization of human sciences and the roles of modern western philosophy and philosophy of science in such debates. Topics including problems regarding the adoption of "postmodern" philosophy, the opinion of Islamization defenders on secular social sciences and the positivism concept are discussed.

The object of this article is to review and evaluate a debate that has been taking place among Muslim and Arab writers for some time now about the concept of ‘dawla madaniyya’ (‘civil state/government’), and the place of religion in democratic politics. More precisely, it will be suggested that the current popularity of the term ‘dawla madaniyya’ signifies only a partial meeting of minds between Islamists and their liberal and secular opponents. By and large, the concept seems to have an instrumental value as part of an on-going discursive struggle between various political orientations about the place of Islam in the social-political order. On the basis of our discussion of the terms of the debate, a new approach to conceptualizing the disagreement will be suggested. The goal of this is not to resolve the disagreement, but rather to sharpen it in a way that shows what is required to achieve significant progress. The final resolution of the disagreement must await a more radical convergence of ideas than currently exists - a convergence that touches not only on standards of reasonableness but also on substantive beliefs and values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The interconnectedness of science and religion - two radically different areas in essence but with striking connexions in terms of scope - has entailed reconsideration and reconstruction of some notions, particularly pertaining to areas of religion. This paper presents existing conceptions of one of religion's fundamental constituent elements, theology. In discussing theology, with a brief account of its Islamic counterpart, the current paper indulges in an analysis of some of its vital elements. Upon exploring theology, focus is placed upon the discipline of cosmology and its two-fold practices, namely the scientific and theological. Most significantly, a newly articulated, well-categorised framework is provided for theological cosmology, which paves the way for further profound dialogue on the scope and intersection of theology and science in the context of cosmology. In addition, the article attempts to distinguish theological as well as scientific cosmological perceptions and articulate a well-organised analysis containing key discrepancies. Such resounding divergence can produce some fundamental principles for studying the cosmos - both from a scientific as well as theological perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the Enlightenment, scriptural discourse in the West has been generally limited to the historicity of texts. Although this is a valid and necessary method to study the history of scripture, more is needed. Following Wilfred Cantwell Smith (1916-2000), this paper argues that human involvement with scriptural text is more important than the study of the text's evolution. Smith believed that human involvement with scripture is not theological but historical as it often focuses on the historicity of the text. Further, following Muhammad Iqbal (1877-1938), the paper argues that philosophy does not have jurisdiction to judge religion except to disclose the hidden dimensions of human thought. With these two insights in mind, the paper calls on believers to make their scripture(s) central to their religious life and not be overly concerned with the historical evolution of their texts. This requires critiquing the secular discourse of religion and defining new conditions of religious discourse, such that religion enacts the "transformation and guidance of man's inner and outer life". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on the critical ideologies of the curriculum behind the religious education (Madrassa system) and modern education systems (public and private schools) in Pakistan. These systems use different types of curriculum and have faced many challenges in the past, particularly with regard to the curriculum itself. Both systems of education teach students to develop their personalities in favor of their own system and against the other system. Religion plays a central role in the formation of the students' personality through both systems. Thus, both systems need religious literacy for the better use of religion in Pakistani society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose Given the fact that the Islamic economic paradigm differs from the secular capitalist paradigm in terms of its emphasis on morality and spirituality, the author thinks that the current Human Development Index (HDI) does not capture human development from an Islamic perspective. The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to provide a paradigmatic, theoretical, and conceptual model for the suggested Islamic HDI (iHDI) and second, to present several proxy variables for multi-dimensional iHDI and test the proposed index through empirical data for ten Muslim countries.Design/methodology/approach The author developed eight-dimensional composite iHDIs based on the understanding of human nature from the Tawhidi anthropology. These dimensions included physical, reasoning, spiritual, ethical, animal, social, deciding, and oppressive selves. The author measured them using nine different indices, three of which came from the conventional HDI (cHDI). The author then compared the rankings of those Muslim countries in iHDI to those in cHDI.Findings The iHDI rankings for all Muslim countries except two differed from those in cHDI. The difference was more substantial for countries with higher economic development. Thus, improved cHDI rankings for Muslim countries based on their economic development do not necessarily mean that they move toward ideal human development. This finding confirms the need for an alternative human development indexing approach from an Islamic perspective.Research limitations/implications The paper is likely to initiate movement to develop an alternative HDI from Islamic perspective.Practical implications The paper findings have important policy implications for Muslim countries.Originality/value It is the first empirical paper showing how to develop an alternative HDI from an Islamic perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Separation of church and state is one of the key concepts in contemporary debates in increasingly secular democracies like the Netherlands. It is not only used to describe the legal and political arrangements between the state and religious organizations, but is also part of a larger discursive struggle over national identity and the meaning of citizenship. Th is article traces the history of the concept of separation of church and state in the Netherlands since the eighteenth century. First, it shows how the concept has always been a contested one. Second, it argues that the current framing of separation of church and state as a fundamental value of Dutch society is relatively recent and is connected to growing secularism and the position of Islam in Dutch society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past decades, a pattern has emerged across the Islamic world of secular actors struggling to build sustainable social movements while Islamists show a higher success rate in doing so—a dynamic often accompanied by high levels of violence and little space for dialogue between actors from across the political spectrum. In this article, we illustrate the utility of social movement theory (SMT) in explaining the ability of some movements to mobilizeen masse, while others become marginalized. Furthermore, we suggest that SMT is useful in understanding the processes that produce socio-political dynamics conducive to violent rather than non-violent tactics. Through a case study of Bangladesh, where in 2013 the secular Shahbag mobilization was derailed by a massive Islamist counter-mobilization, this article shows how movements not only capitalize on, but actually contribute to, shifts in cultural discourse through political maneuvering and long-term socialization. By anchoring their ideology in pre-existing religio-cultural imagery, Islamists have been successful in casting themselves as “authentic” defenders of Islam and their secular opponents as “atheists.” In such a socio-political context, the space for dialogue among the various political actors is severely limited and the impetus to employ violent tactics strong. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information on the role of Islam in unifying Turkey since its founding in 1923. It mentions Turkey's first president, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk's views on Islam and his radical Westernizing reform. Comparing this the author talks about the current president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's views of Islam and the tension between secularists and Islamists. The author discusses about Turkish group dynamics and spindle autocracy.

The article examines how 'laȈcité' concept, a version of French secularism, emerged and evolved in French society and its compatibility with Islam. It states that foundation of 'laȈcité' could be traced in after the revolution leading to separation State and Catholic Church and discusses society's compromises with or accom­modations to religious institutions. It discusses 'laȈcité' concept's similarities with American secularism and ambiguity in policy toward Islam and Muslims in French colonies.

It is common to assume an inherent conflict between the substance of the category "religion" and the category "secular." Given its putative rejection of the separation between the sacred and the profane, this conflict is presumed to be all the more solid in Islam. But even assuming Islam's rejection of the sacred/profane dichotomy, there may be other ways of defining the secular in Islam and of thinking about its relationship with the religion. This is what the present essay sets out to do. By taking Sharia as its point of departure, it looks at the latter's self-imposed limits as the boundary between a mode of assessing human acts that is grounded in concrete revelational sources (and/or their extension) and modes of assessing human acts that are independent of such sources, yet not nec-essarily outside God's adjudicative gaze. This non-shar'ī realm, it is argued, is the realm of the "Islamic secular." It is "secular" in-as-much as it is differentiated from Sharia as the basis for assessing human acts. It remains "Islamic," however, and thus "religious," in its rejection of the notion of proceeding "as if God did not exist." As I will show, this distinction between the shar'ī and the non-shar'ī has a long pedigree in the Islamic legal (and theological) tradition. As such, the notion of the Islamic secular is more of an excavation than an innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Çukurova Üniversitesi İlahiyat Fakültesi Dergisi (CUIFD) is the property of Cukurova Universitesi Ilahiyat Fakültesi Dergisi (CUIFD) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

‘Does Islam deter crime in a secular country like Turkey’ is the research question for which the current study tries to find a tentative answer. The data came from 619 undergraduate university students, 352 academic and non-academic staff at a public university and 498 shop owners in a small city in a Central Anatolian region in Turkey in 2010. The research on the relationship between Islam and crime is almost absent in the criminology literature. The findings of the correlation analysis pointed out that the impact of Islam on crime was more pronounced regarding alcohol use, and generally weak. More importantly, the results of the multivariate statistics showed that some religious measures deterred individuals themselves engaging in deviance and alcohol use. No relationship was found between Islam and violence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information on International Institute of Islamic Thought's (IIIT) conference, Summer Institute for Scholars annually in Herndon, Virginia from August 8-13, 2016 that addresses topics related to Islamic thought and secular modernity. Topics explored in the conference includes Islamic traditions, notions of Jihad, and role of religion in politics. The conference also discussed Islamism and Islamic law.

This article argues that the AKP government in Turkey is carrying on a strategy of securitization (Buzan, B., O. Wæver, and J. de Wilde. 1998. Security: A New Framework for Analysis. Boulder: Lynne Rienner Publishers) of the Kurdish minority. This strategy, thought to be to the benefit of Turkish democracy and indeed to the goals of the AK party itself, is not conducive to more stability and democracy, but on the contrary is jeopardizing the practice of democratization in Turkey. Following the arguments of Wæver (1995), Roe (2004. "Securitization and Minority Rights: Conditions of Desecuritization." Security Dialogue 35 (3):279-94.), and Aradau (2004. "Security and the Democratic Scene: Desecuritization and Emancipation." Journal of International Relations and Development 7:388-413) the article also recommends that in order to go back on the path to democracy and stability, Turkey would need either to de-securitize the Kurdish issue, "manage" its securitization with liberal democratic forms, or create politics of universality and recognition, in a newemancipatory course. The importance of this study is based on the fact that the failure or success of democracies, especially in Muslim countries as the Arab Spring has shown, depends often on the exclusion or inclusion of ethnic, religious, or political minorities by the elites (see Egyptian, Iraqi, and Turkish democratic regression versus Tunisian and Indonesian progresses). This study therefore argues that with the securitization of Kurds, among other things, Turkey is going backwards on its path towards a meaningful and substantial democracy. This is particularly worrisome due to Turkey's membership in NATO - meaning Turkey is not only a member of a collective defense organization but also part of a group of countries that share the values of democracy - and in the process of EU candidacy. Unfortunately, the intensification of the securitization after the end of the ceasefire in summer 2015 coincided with the war in Syria and the refugee crisis in Europe, and so the EU recently reduced the pressure on Turkish domestic issues, representing Turkey as a bastion against DAESH-ISIS expansion and also a buffer zone for millions of refugees. This, indirectly, contributed to the recent re-securitization of the Kurdish minority in Turkey. The methodology followed in this research is based on two main theoretical approaches: the concept of inclusiveness in democracies and the securitization theory, as well as on an historical excursus of the treatment of the Kurdish minority by the Turkish Republic and since the recent events of summer 2015. The article starts with an introduction on the concept of inclusiveness in democracies and on the Turkish history of exclusion of ethnic minorities, specifically the Kurds. Later, following the securitization theory, the study analyzes the past and current securitization of the Kurdish minority as the element that is jeopardizing democratic rule in Turkey. Finally, the article concludes with policy recommendations on desecuritization, management of the securitization process, and emancipatory policies, as the only paths for Turkey to get back on track on its democratization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

My research deals with the question of ‘freedom’ in Iran and the appropriation of ‘liberal’ ideas by influential intellectuals with an Islamic persuasion. At the same time, I am conceptualising the term ‘Islamic secularism’ with a particular emphasis on the spectre of democracy in Iran. I argue that Iranian thinkers, whose philosophical nodal point continues to be a modernistic interpretation of Islam (or Islamism), have struggled to formulate a theory that would transcend the confines of the revolution and satisfy the demands for pluralism and liberty put forward during several protests in Iran and, of course, during the 2011 Arab revolts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Literator is the property of African Online Scientific Information System PTY LTD and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Education et Societes is the property of INRP and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This study analyses the impact of religiosity on tolerance in Turkey, where social divisions are deep, and where religiosity is one significant source of such divisions. In going beyond survey research studies which limit the discussion to individuals’ levels of tolerance, this analysis aims to provide a deeper understanding of tolerance through qualitative interviews that make use of a series of vignettes. In such interviews, the respondents are consulted about their attitude towards various out-groups, with the design of the vignettes illuminating the sensitivity of such attitudes to variation in the forms of relationships described. Besides the majority/minority division, the polarizing impact of the religious/secular divide is also investigated. The findings suggest that intolerance is a common problem within Turkish society amongst both religious and secular communities, and that religious and secular respondents exhibit different preferences amongst the out-groups. Moreover, this study reveals that attitudes towards out-groups are sensitive to the form of relationships depicted. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article focuses on Sisters' Shelter Somaya in Sweden, an organization unique in its claim to be a women's shelter by and for Muslim women, and in its combining of Islamic and secular feminisms. Examining the organization's self-presentations, the author argues that there is, however, an ongoing shift from an emphasis on its Muslim profile to a dissolution of the very same. Looking into potential loss in the process (for clients, activists, allies, and feminism at large), the analysis draws on current research on anti-Muslim intolerance and normative secularism. The concept of the “Muslimwoman” is employed to illustrate the stereotyping that continuously associates Muslim women with “victims” inhabiting shelters rather than capable “managers”. Intersectionality is pointed at as an emic strategy adopted by Somaya to overcome division, but also critically analysed as a consensus-creating signifier that hinders diversity. Thus, the article raises the increasingly important issue of the relationship between religion, gender, and feminism in the post-secular turn, and the author calls for critical self-reflection and creative affirmation in the interaction with heterogeneous others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the Turkish government's transition from assertive secularism to passive secularism under the nation's Justice and Development Party (AKP) as of 2015, and it mentions religious finance, shari'a law, and Turkey's growth in the Islamic Finance and banking industries. Turkish regulations on sukuk (Islamic bonds) are mentioned, along with infrastructure spending in Turkey. The incorporation and limitation of the Muslim religion and Islamic principles in Turkey are examined.

Copyright of Human Rights Review (Justice Academy of Turkey) is the property of Justice Academy of Turkey and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

To clarify Vattimo’s position on secularism and Islam, I first discuss his view that secularisation as kenosis and caritas entails the nihilistic vocation of Being, as expressed in our postmodern world where there appear to be no facts, only interpretations. I then survey some of Vattimo’s negative judgements of Islam, which appear to be out of keeping with his own disavowal of “modern” ideals such as “progress” and “grand narratives.” After analysing Islam’s turbulent history of secularism, I suggest the need for Islamic secularism for its own religious and political reasons. Vattimo’s theory of secularisation helps to identify not only what Islam should avoid in pursuing its own secularisation (an Enlightenment notion of subjectivity), but also what it can emphasise within its own tradition as a stimulus towards secularisation: the Golden Rule. This rule, if presented by influential imams as spiritually and as ethically open to the other as possible, may lead through action-based dialogue to a form of reciprocal listening that is the core of Vattimo’s notion of secularism, but which is based, at the same time, on the awareness of the gulf between the transcendence of Allah and the finitude and fallibility of human politico-religious institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

There is a longstanding debate on whether Muslims can be modern. Some argue that they can only be so if they forsake their traditions and embrace rationalism. In this article I argue that the Gülen Movement, a transnational Turkish Muslim educational activist network has found a middle ground by blending religious traditions with modern day realities. Drawing on interviews from the movement's teachers and graduates of its schools, from Turkey, Central Asia, Afghanistan and Pakistan, I explore, through the prism of al-riḥla fī ṭalab al-ʿilm (travel in search of knowledge), their maintenance of the longstanding Islamic ritual of travel as a means of excelling both professionally and religiously. In turn, I demonstrate how the movement, on a number of levels, effectively reconciles the spiritual and the everyday through updating Islamic practices to better integrate themselves and other Muslims into a globalised world. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The principles of medical ethics, common as they are in the world at the present time, have been formed in the context of Western secular communities; consequently, secular principles and values are inevitably manifested in all corners of medical ethics. Medical ethics is at its infancy in Iran. In order to incorporate medical ethics into the country's health system, either the same thoughts, principles, rules, and codes of Western communities should be translated and taught across the country, or else, if the principles and values and consequently the prominent moral rules and codes of Western medical ethics are not consistent with the culture, customs, and religion of our country, then new principles and values should be formulated that are more in harmony with our society. According to the available literature in Iran, the four principles proposed by Beauchamp and Childress do not contradict the Islamic-Iranian culture and can thus be generally applied in the mentioned context. However, the application of these four principles and their derivatives (e.g. regulations and codes) requires careful examination and adaptation to Islamic ethics. A comparison of the ontological, anthropological and epistemological foundations of secular and Islamic attitudes shows the differences between these two attitudes to be deep-rooted. "Rationalism," "scientism," and "humanism" are the main foundations of secularism, whereas "Godcentrism," "pure human servitude to God," the belief in "returning of humans to God," "resurrection day," and also human's accountability to God are all fundamental beliefs and principles of religion for Muslims of all cults and sects. It can thus be concluded that the principles of secularist thought are different from and to some extent inconsistent with the principles of Islam. Instructions derived from secular thought can therefore not be implemented in an Islamic community; rather, these communities should adopt Islamic foundations as the source for the norms and standards of their medical ethics. The capacities of religious thought (in particular, Islam) make possible the formation of an ethical system consistent with Islamic Ummah. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the necessity of secularism, especially for women, and states that it is necessary for women's freedom as almost all religions oppose women's freedom in some or other way. Topics discussed include birth of the country Bangladesh following the war against Pakistan to replace Islamism with secularism, the new secular movement called Shahbag in Bangladesh that dared to challenge country's largest political party Jamaat-e-lslami, and attack on atheism in Bangladesh.

The military coup in Egypt and the Taliban insurgency in Pakistan and Afghanistan have once again highlighted the political stakes of incorporating Islam within a constitution. Many constitutions in the Muslim world contain clauses that recognize the Islamic character of the state; yet, there is little scholarship empirically analyzing these clauses; indeed, while much has been written about the effects of incorporating a particular type of clause--the Islamic supremacy clause, to date, we know very little about the comparative constitutional universe of Islamic clauses: How prevalent is Constitutional Islamization? Which countries have the most or least Islamized constitutions? Do secular countries in the Muslim world promise more human rights than Islamic countries? Does having more Islam in the constitution correlate with weaker political participation and gender equality? This Article tries to fills this gap. Relying on an original dataset based on the coding of the constitutions of all Muslim majority countries globally, it introduces the Islamic Constitutions Index (ICI) --the first index to measure and rank constitutions according to their Islamicity. Using this index as a proxy for Constitutional Islamization, we investigate the universe of Islamic constitutions. Our analysis shows that roughly half of all Muslim majority countries have Islamic features in their constitutions and geography and colonialism seem to have some influence on Islamicity. Further, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Pakistan lead the rankings of Constitutional Islamization while the Central Asian countries all have secular constitutions. We also show that while Muslim countries' constitutions generally promise a number of important human rights and none explicitly incorporate corporal punishments, constitutions that privilege secularism tend to, on average, promise more rights than constitutions that privilege Islam. Indeed, of the top 10 countries in the Muslim world measured in terms of de jure constitutional promise of rights, all but one--Maldives, are secular. We also find that Islamicity of the constitution seems to correlate negatively with democracy, gender equality and political stability. Although preliminary and not implying causation, our correlation analysis has considerable implications: not only can it provide some support to peace-making efforts with Islamic militant groups doubting the Islamic character of the states they are fighting, it implies that the Muslim world may in fact chart its own version of "Islamic constitutional democracy" that may be different from the Western paradigm of democracy. Further, our work lays the foundation for a research agenda that investigates the relationship between political Islam and constitutional democracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Albania, a religiously pluralist country with a secular constitution, an atheist past and a Muslim majority, the authorities have since the end of Communism promoted Mother Teresa as the “Mother of Albanians” and an emblem of the state. The name, statues and portraits of this ethnic Albanian Catholic nun have become a prominent feature in the public sphere. Based on fieldwork material, Albanian texts and unique statistical data, this article discusses the “motherteresification” of Albania in the period after her beatification in 2003, particularly during the Democratic government (2005–13). It also explores alternative Christian and Muslim interpretations of the symbol in Albania. Both the top-down construction of “Mother Teresa” as a national symbol and the arguments against it demonstrate that secularism remains a core value. By fronting a Christian Nobel Laureate, this EU-aspiring country signals that it is peaceful and belongs to Europe and the West, a recurrent national concern for over a century and acute after 9/11. Making an ethnic Albanian nun a symbol of a Muslim majority nation thus makes sense. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Can Islamic thought provide a basis for a fully developed theory of human rights? This article begins with an examination of the tensions between religion in general and the secular framing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). From a historical perspective, it then delves into the history of the relationship between Muslim political and religious leaders and the UDHR. With that background in mind, the author analyzes the positions of three influential Muslim scholars on human rights: Khaled Abou El Fadl's emphasis on ethics and law; Abdulaziz Sachedina's recent book Islam and the Challenge of Human Rights (2009), in which he urges the traditionalists to develop a 'public theology'; and finally, Abdullahi An-Na'im's focus on shari'a and the secular state. He concludes that the majority of Muslims worldwide remain more conservative than these authors, and yet they overwhelmingly support the notion of human rights. This bodes well for the growing influence of such reformist thinking and, as a result, for the retooling of traditional Islamic jurisprudence in addressing human rights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study concerning the production and reproduction of main social cleavage in Turkey, which is the Islam versus Secularism, by political parties. It examines the role of political parties in producing the cleavage as well as attempts to challenge the paradigm which considers social cleaveage as part of a sociopolitical bloc as a basis of mass support. Also tackled are the legitimation within the democratic system and the opposing traditions for building a modern state.

The article presents an analysis of the use of the concept of the civil state in Tunisia and Egypt since the start of the Arab revolts until 2014. Particular focus is given to the political practices of Islamist and secularist parties, with an emphasis on the effectiveness of the civil state paradigm in establishing a demographic state. The polarization of the modern doctrinal debate on the association of state with religion in Muslim religions is also discussed.

The article discusses the 2006 book "The Girl in the Tangerine Scarf" by Mohja Kahf, focusing on how the book shows the turn towards postsecularism in Muslim American literature. Other topics include a discussion of the book's main character, Khadra Shamy, a discussion of secularism from a Muslim American perspective, and the role of the book as a female Muslim bildungsroman.

Approaches to the study of Islam in modern Turkey often discuss religious movements in Turkey with reference to a dichotomy between the “secular” and the “religious” and consequently focus on conservative Islamic streams of thought that view these two concepts as inherently in conflict. This means that modernist and reformist strains of Islamic thought in Turkey have been neglected in the scholarly literature, despite their immense importance to the history of Islam in the Turkish Republic. This article discusses the history and context of one important contemporary strain of Islamic modernism in Turkey, what is here termed the “Ankara Paradigm.” Using the theoretical insights of Talal Asad and Saba Mahmood, I argue that Islamic modernism in Turkey is best understood as a theological complex that utilizes traditional texts to authorize certain configurations of the boundaries between the religious and the secular that enable modern religious reform. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]