Islam et modernité : comment être musulman au XXIème siècle.
This approach to revising laws and ancient interpretations is not specific to Islam. It is a universal principle that religions are not uniquely divine; they also contain aspects of human construction. One must acknowledge that while remaining faithful to the same sacred texts, religious thought evolves. For example, Christian thought today hardly resembles that which prevailed at the time of the Crusades, the Spanish Inquisition, or the trial of Galileo. With the reforms of Vatican II in 1965, the Catholic Church distanced itself from the Church of the Middle Ages and opened wide its doors to innovation. After having denounced religious freedom and judging secularism anti-religious during all of the 19th century, the Church reconciled itself with its principles. Whereas formerly divorced persons were forbidden from entering Catholic churches, today they are accepted. The same holds true for the law permitting polygamy inscribed in Jewish law, which was suspended in the 11th century in Europe and is now forgotten in Israel. Islam is capable of embarking on the same path. What remains to be done is to demonstrate that neither are all of the rules contained in the shari'ah specified in the Qur'an nor do they constitute the only possible interpretation of the sacred text. Certain rules were imposed by ulema for specific historical reasons. Islam will become compatible with liberty only when the purely historical (and non-religious) origin of certain rules is made clear.
Outside of Iran and Sudan (now governed by Islamist political regimes) and the Gulf states (where traditional regimes hold sway) the rest of the Islamic world — 80% of the world's Muslim population — has already taken enormous strides on this path. A new legal code, differing significantly from Islamic law, has been adopted. The penal code has changed, with the abolition of corporal punishment, including the death penalty for apostasy. A new commercial code, conforming to international norms, has been adopted and functions normally with a common banking system. The law is no longer the privilege of the ulema but the work of parliaments. Girls are educated and women have entered the labor force.
This political and social movement may seem slow; notably, the emancipation of women is still insufficient. But this is inevitable, as the evolution of ideas and beliefs is often difficult and can provoke upheavals. The culture of 1000 years cannot be changed as easily as importing new technologies. The Islamic world is experiencing a great transformation. Naturally this is not without protest, particularly from conservative forces opposed to change.
For the past 20 or 30 years, this evolution has been held back in the Gulf by Wahhabist theologians who have made use of considerable financial support there and by Islamists in Iran and Sudan who oppose modernization. Many Muslim governments, generally only marginally democratic and marginally popular, are afraid of these opponents — a fear that often leads them to adopt ambiguous policies, which are incomprehensible to their people. The use of authoritarian methods only aggravates the crisis.
The Muslim world needs to evolve in two directions: towards democratization and educational reform. Democracy is a right for all peoples, one that allows for sincere and open debate — the most appropriate means for shepherding the evolution of ideas. It is therefore necessary to allow the Islamists, who do not exercise or incite violence, to participate in this debate so that it is both convincing and encompassing.
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U.S.–Muslim Engagement Project Report Published: “Changing Course: A New Direction for U.S. Relations with the Muslim World” September 24, 2008, at the National Press Club, Washington D.C.
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