Contemporary discussions on religious minorities in Islam

Brigham Young University Law Review, 2002 by Nielsen, Jorgen S

a minefield of ambiguity to anyone but a traditionally inclined Muslim reader.

As Ann Mayer has pointed out, section 12a is particularly problematic. In its English version it confirms the right to expression of thought and belief "within the limits prescribed by the Law," but limited by the prohibition of spreading slander, falsehood, and defamation. The English text, however, does not include the prohibition of "leaving the [Muslim] ummah," which is included in the Arabic text.15

Other documents of this nature have been more hesitant in speaking of the religious rights of minorities. A draft Islamic constitution published in 1979 by a committee of Islamic scholars linked to Al-Azhar University in Cairo merely spoke of providing "for the natural basic rights of religious and intellectual beliefs" within "the limits of the Islamic Shari'ah."16 The 1990 Cairo Declaration of Human Rights in Islam, adopted by a foreign ministers' meeting of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), avoids the question of religious freedom and religious minorities altogether.17

6. Building a foundation for human rights

an increasing number of intellectuals, both within the religious disciplines and without, to participate in the Islamic discourse.

7. Non-Muslim minorities

With regard to non-Muslim minorities, there are some scholars and activists who advocate the traditional practice of tolerating Christians and Jews18 as protected communities with specific rights, privileges, and duties. These scholars view such protection and toleration as a favor towards communities that are in essence subjugated. Contemporary proponents of this tradition rightly point out that this treatment was far better than that which religious minorities generally experienced in Europe until the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

Other scholars have reformulated these traditional concepts into the language of modern state structures, the most well-known being the Pakistani founder of the Jama'at-i-Islami, Abu'l-A'la Maududi. In his view, many of the specific rights and duties of non-Muslims are no different from those of Muslims, including a degree of participation in the political process. However, he insists that the Islamic state is an "ideological state" and that it is reasonable that only those who share that official ideology can fully participate in the state. Therefore, he concludes, public expressions of minority religion must be restricted.19 Nevertheless, members of the religious minorities, along with a growing number of Muslim intellectuals engaged in rethinking the issue, insist that this subjugation of religious minorities is not satisfactory in a modern society. It is the ideas of this group to which I now turn my attention. The next section will discuss the ideas of this third group.

B. Literature Review of the State of Religious Minorities in Islam

1. Historical introduction

lamic University in Cairo, Muhammad Abduh, and Mahmud Shaltut were among the leading thinkers to highlight the concept of citizenship in the Islamic discourse in a way that forced people to pay attention.20 This discussion of the concept of "citizen" was shared with secular circles in an environment where the primary political questions were those of independence from imperial rule and then, in some countries, from autocratic monarchies. In the terms of the Egyptian secularist Khalid Muhammad Khalid, writing in the last year of the Egyptian monarchy, the struggle was for the liberation of the citizen (mut atin) from the status of subject (Waya).21