Democracy under God

Constitutions, Islam and Human Rights in the Muslim World

Dawood Ahmed, Muhammad Zubair Abbasi (University of Bradford)

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English

Cambridge University Press
02 March 2023

Islam; Comparative politics; Islamic law; Public international law; Constitutional & administrative law

Series: Comparative Constitutional Law and Policy

State recognition of Islam in Muslim countries invites ﬁerce debate from scholars and politicians alike, some of whom assume an inherent conﬂict between Islam and liberal democracy. Analyzing case studies and empirical data from several Muslim-majority countries, Ahmed and Abbasi ﬁnd, counterintuitively, that in many Muslim countries, constitutional recognition of Islam often occurs during moments of democratization. Indeed, the insertion of Islam in a constitution is frequently accompanied by an expansion, not a reduction, in constitutional human rights, with case law from higher courts in Egypt and Pakistan demonstrating that potential tensions between the constitutional pursuit of human rights, liberal democracy and Islam are capable of judicial resolution. The authors also argue that colonial history was pivotal in determining whether a country adopted the constitutional path of Islam or secularism partly explaining why Islam in constitutional politics survived and became more prevalent in Muslim countries that were colonized by the British, and not those colonized by the French or Soviets.

By: Dawood Ahmed, Muhammad Zubair Abbasi (University of Bradford)
Imprint: Cambridge University Press
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 228mm, Width: 152mm, Spine: 14mm
Weight: 350g
ISBN: 9781316610572
ISBN 10: 1316610578
Series: Comparative Constitutional Law and Policy
Pages: 225
Publication Date: 02 March 2023
Audience: College/higher education , Further / Higher Education
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Introduction; Part I. 1. Islamic constitutionalism: origins and present; 2. What is an Islamic constitution?; Part II. 3. Constitutional Islamisation and Islamic supremacy clauses; 4. Case studies; Part III. 5. Islamic supremacy clauses and rights – Islamic review in practice; Conclusion.

Dawood Ahmed is a research fellow at the Comparative Constitutions Project and has worked with the United Nations and the Max Planck Foundation for International Peace and the Rule of Law on constitutional design projects. He has published several journal articles on public international law and constitutional Islam and has authored opinion pieces for the popular press. Muhammad Zubair Abbasi is a Lecturer at Bradford University. His research focuses on the relationship between shari'a and state law, Islamic law and jurisprudence (usul al-fiqh) in the contemporary world, and comparative law, family law, and constitutional law. He is an editor for Harvard Law School's SHARIAsource and associate editor of the Yearbook of Islamic and Middle Eastern Law.

Reviews for Democracy under God: Constitutions, Islam and Human Rights in the Muslim World

'In this book, Ahmed and Abbasi present a systematic argument and a powerful empirical lens to study the interface of religion, law, and politics in the Muslim world. Democracy under God presents an original and illuminating perspective on Islamic constitutionalism, which is supported by multi-disciplinary perspectives and a rich array of historical and contemporary empirical cases ranging from the Ottoman Empire to West Africa and Pakistan. This is a provocative and insightful book that will be of interest to a wide audience.' Adeel Malik, University of Oxford