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Toward an Islamic Reformation: Civil Liberties, Human Rights, and International Law.

By Abdullahi
Ahmed An-Naim. Syracuse, N. Y.: Syracuse University Press, 1990. Pp. XVI + 253.
Islam is the solution has been used as the slogan to rejuvenate Islamic law by the Muslim
fundamentalists and reformists. On the one hand, fundamentalist thinkers support the idea that Islam is
the regulating principle and the guide for Muslim communities in all areas of the life. On the other hand,
the Muslim reformists have undertaken the intellectual challenge of identifying and advancing the
relevance and applicability of Islamic law in the modern world of nation-states. Those fundamentalists
generally refuse any change within the framework of shara by emphasizing its divine dimension
whereas the reformists advocate the adaptability and flexibility of Islamic law by replacing some of
shara principles with the Western doctrines. Nevertheless, in both process, Islam is the solution has
become an unsuccessful and insufficient discourse.
In this work, An-Naim, as a reformist, deals with both epistemological and practical problems of
historical shara brought forth by the need for an active interpretation of its sources to reconcile Islamic
law with constitutional, international law and human rights. His reform theory develops on two
significant parameters which covers the methodological and practical aims. The first parameter is to be
based on the reinterpretation of the Quran and Sunna, and the reversal of the process of abrogation. By
analyzing the developments of historical shara, its norms and methodologies, he points out the tension
between the historical shara and the international secular legal system in the areas of constitutional law,
criminal justice, international law and human rights. According to him, the reformation of shara is to be
founded on the theory of Mahmoud Muhammad Taha, which emphasizes the importance and superiority
of Meccan sections of the Quran and Sunna. The teachings and writings of Taha provides inspiration to
An-Naim in the process of the intellectual formulation for a total reinterpretation of the nature and
implementation of Islamic public law. An-Naim points out the necessity of the reversal of the traditional
chronology of abrogation (naskh) when he writes:
Is it possible for contemporary Muslims to reconsider the process of abrogation? Is it permissible
to take verses that have been previously abrogated as the new bases of Islamic law and to that end
deem previously enacted verses to be abrogated from the legal point of view? I submit that it is not
possible to rethink the rationale and consequences of naskh, but that is imperative to do so if we
are to resolve the problems raised by the modern application of the public law of Sharia. 1

In his argument for the reform of Islamic law, this is the alternative way of establishing a just and modern
society in which shara does not violate the rights of minorities, women, non-Muslims and dissenters:
the earlier message of Mecca is in fact the eternal and fundamental message of Islam, emphasizing the
inherent dignity of all human beings, regardless of gender, religious belief, race and so forth. 2
The second parameter is the placement of Western doctrines into the shara, such as equality
between men and women, Muslims and non-Muslims. In his discussion of the reconciliation of Islamic
law with modern international law, he attempts to modernize Islamic law calling for the regeneration of
the historical shara that is conceived by many Muslims to be part of Islamic faith. To achieve this
objective, An-Naim strives to bring Islamic beliefs and practices into compatible connection with the
notion of fundamental rights by declaring the delegitimization of historical Islamic law. He highlights this
point when he says: Sharia was in fact constructed by Muslim jurists over the first three centuries of
1 Abdullahi Ahmed An-Naim, Toward an Islamic Reformation: Civil Liberties, Human Rights, and
International Law, (Syracuse, N. Y.: Syracuse University Press), 21.
2 Ibid, 52.

Islam. Although derived from the fundamental divine sources of Islam, the Quran and Sunna, Sharia is
not divine because it is the product of human interpretation of those sources.3 The assessment of shara
within the historical context reflects his intellectual understanding of the integration of the human reason
and divine revelation in order to establish a justice Islamic society. In An-Naims discussion, therefore,
the accommodation of Islam to the values of modern period is through an alternative methodology which
recognizes the fundamental rights of others and human rights.
Even though An-Naim envisages a new public Islamic law rejecting the principles and norms of
historical shara, his project of reconciling human rights and Islam involves some defective points. First
in his theory of a process of abrogation in reverse, An-Naim does not design an epistemological
methodology to identify the Meccan verses, emphasizing the inherent dignity of all human beings,
regardless of gender, religious belief and race. The reversal of Quranic abrogation is speculative and
problematic because an-Naim offers no concrete principle and criteria through which the purpose of
which the new public Islamic law might be derived. For instance, when reconstructing the public law of
shara in accordance with this method, An-Naim generally claims many earlier verses of the Quran
emphasized freedom of choice and noncompulsion, subsequent verses and Sunna texts clearly sanction
the use of force against non-Muslims for the purpose of converting them to Islam. 4 However, in the
Quran no verse implies the use of force for the aim of converting non-Muslims to Islam without giving
any reason. In addition to this, There is no compulsion in the religion (2.256) is the part of Medinan
verses of the Quran, but the sanctioned injunction of this verse should be abrogated on the basis of AnNaims argument. Thus, the lack of epistemological strategies makes his theory invalid and incompetent in
practice.
The second problematic aspect of An-Naims reform formulation is the use of Western values
and doctrines to accomplish the compatibility of the public law of Islamic law with modern international
law. His commitment to a universal system of human rights locates the difficulty of internal reformation
within the framework of shara in his assertion that Sharia penal law discriminates among citizens
according to gender and religion.5 The inequality and discrimination on the grounds of gender and
religion manifests the most problematic aspect of historical shara in modern times when An-Naim
assesses equality before the law, the constitutional status of Muslims and non-Muslims, and human rights.
Instead of using the principle of equality that is one of the well-known and common dimension of
Western legislation system, the maxim of the equal distribution of rights among citizens should be
taken into consideration in the process of evaluation of both historical shara and Islamic law in the
modern age. In my view, this doctrine will probably provide certain solutions to the concrete problems
encountered by Muslim peoples around the globe. In theory, moreover, this doctrine will open the way to
the applicability of Islamic law in the modern period without violating and reducing the religious
character of Islamic law. In his discussion of the historical shara, An-Naim initially strives to adduce
that shara is not divine, but is the product of human interpretation and endeavor. However, shara
demonstrates a religious dimension, regardless of its connection with human reason. In reference to the
doctrine of the equal distribution of rights, a Muslim who commits a crime or a religious violation is
judged according to Islamic law, whereas a non-Muslim violating a rule should be judged by the laws of
his own faith. I also question his statement that the fundamental Islamic principles of freedom of
3 Ibid, 185.
4 Ibid, 57.
5 Ibid, 90.

religion and justice in government clearly indicate that Islamic penal measures should not be imposed on
non-Muslims against their will.6 By emphasizing this, he refutes the equality of Muslims and nonMuslims before the law in that these fixed penalties (hudd) should be or must be imposed on nonMuslims if the equality is implemented under a new Islamic state. Therefore, the doctrine of equality
manifests as a dilemma in his discussion of hudd.
Introducing a new methodology of reformation in the area of Islamic law is the importance of this
work. As An-Naim maintains, an authentic methodology derived from the Quran and Sunna should be
investigated to ensure the reconciliation between the functions of human intellect and divine texts. AnNaim also illustrates the manipulation of historical formulation of shara in hand of political power for
their own selfish political aims. Therefore, in order to create the justice society, the legislative body of
Islamic state should enacts legal regulations to limit political powers on the legal system. This new
methodology and the instances of the manipulation of shara make this book a particularly useful
reference for both Muslims and scholars.

6 Ibid, 115.

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