Pluralism in Islam

Legal Pluralism Between Islam and the Nation-State: Romantic Medievalism or Pragmatic Modernity?

This Essay attempts a reconciliation of sorts between two perspectives on legal pluralism, via specific reference to Islamic law, most notably in its pre-modern guise. The Essay begins with a provisional commitment to legal centralism, but primarily as a means of securing a functional place for sub-State reglementary regimes. To this end, legal centralism, as presented, is tempered by a demonst...

Shari’ah, Democracy, and the Modern Nation-State: Some Reflections on Islam, Popular Rule, and Pluralism

In this article, the author examines two considerations that are critical to a full and meaningful assessment of the degree to which Islam, and Islamic law in particular, can find authentic expressions of themselves under what may reasonably be considered a democratic form of government. The first of these has to do with the scope of Islamic law, or more properly, the scope of the interpretive ...

Religious pluralism or pluralism within religion

This article has no abstract.

Islam in local contexts: Localised Islam in Northern Pakistan

As Clifford Geertz remarked in his Islam Observed (1968), the idea of a ‘changing’ religion is a contradiction in terms, as religion is fundamentally concerned with what is permanent and eternal. Still, one way to come to terms with religious change is to consider the many ways that religion is interpreted, by laymen and scholars alike. Social anthropologists like myself have naturally found a ...

Islam in the West: From Immigration to Global Islam