Toward An Islamic Reformation: Civil Liberties, Human Rights, And International Law
After the revolutionary events in Iran and the fundamentalist revival in many parts of the Islamic world, few would maintain that a juridical and philosophical treatise on Islamic law has little relevance to world politics and international relations. A Sudanese scholar and jurist, An-Na'im seeks a reinterpretation of the traditional law that, by eschewing secularism and fundamentalism, would reconcile it with both the demands of modern life and with international law, including self-determination and human rights. The message could have great political importance but, as the author says, the task "is enormous and exceedingly delicate."
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Daniel Goldhagen's book on the Holocaust--condemning the German "eliminationist" mindset toward Jews--has become an international bestseller and a datum in German-American relations. Pity, because it is a simplistic, monocausal, and unhistorical explanation of one of the most complex horrors in history. For Goldhagen, as for the Nazis, Hitler is Germany.
Judith Miller knocked in the Middle East, and many doors opened. But her focus on Islamic militancy blinded her to enlightened currents of Islam. Separation of religion and state is not a real option in a region where the faith is central to life, but Muslims can choose what kind of Islam will hold sway.
Although questions of implementation remain, the new Iraqi constitution makes Islam the law of the land. This need not mean trouble for Iraq's women, however. Sharia is open to a wide range of interpretations, some quite egalitarian. If Washington still hopes for a liberal order in Iraq, it should start working with progressive Muslim scholars to advance women's rights through religious channels.

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