Constituting religion : Islam, liberal rights, and the Malaysian state /
"Most Muslim-majority countries have legal systems that enshrine both Islam and liberal rights. While not necessarily at odds, these dual commitments nonetheless provide legal and symbolic resources for activists to advance contending visions for their states and societies. Using the case study...
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| Format: | eBook |
| Language: | English |
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Cambridge, United Kingdom ; New York, NY, USA :
Cambridge University Press,
2018.
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| Series: | Cambridge studies in law and society.
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| Online Access: | Connect to the full text of this electronic book |
| Summary: | "Most Muslim-majority countries have legal systems that enshrine both Islam and liberal rights. While not necessarily at odds, these dual commitments nonetheless provide legal and symbolic resources for activists to advance contending visions for their states and societies. Using the case study of Malaysia, Constituting Religion examines how these legal arrangements enable litigation and feed the construction of a "rights-versus-rites binary" in law, politics, and the popular imagination. By drawing on extensive primary source material and tracing controversial cases from the court of law to the court of public opinion, this study theorizes the "judicialization of religion" and the radiating effects of courts on popular legal and religious consciousness. The book documents how legal institutions catalyze ideological struggles, which stand to redefine the nation and its politics. Probing the links between legal pluralism, social movements, secularism, and political Islamism, Constituting Religion sheds new light on the confluence of law, religion, politics, and society. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core at www.cambridge.org/core"-- "Most Muslim-majority countries have legal systems that enshrine both Islam and liberal rights. While not necessarily at odds, these dual commitments nonetheless provide legal and symbolic resources for activists to advance contending visions for their states and societies. Using the case study of Malaysia, Constituting Religion examines how these legal arrangements enable litigation and feed the construction of a "rights-versus-rites binary" in law, politics, and the popular imagination. By drawing on extensive primary source material and tracing controversial cases from the court of law to the court of public opinion, this study theorizes the "judicialization of religion" and the radiating effects of courts on popular legal and religious consciousness. The book documents how legal institutions catalyze ideological struggles, which stand to redefine the nation and its politics. Probing the links between legal pluralism, social movements, secularism, and political Islamism, Constituting Religion sheds new light on the confluence of law, religion, politics, and society. Over half of all Muslim-majority countries have constitutions that proclaim Islam the religion of state. Many also require that state law adhere to Islamic law. For instance, the Malaysian Constitution declares that "Islam is the religion of the Federation"-- |
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| Physical Description: | 1 online resource (x, 187 pages) |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references (pages 164-177) and index. |
| ISBN: | 9781108539296 1108539297 1108423949 9781108423946 1108439179 9781108439176 9781108334433 1108334431 |
| DOI: | 10.1017/9781108539296 |