Liberal Islam

Ijtihād as a Right

In liberal Islam, religious knowledge is no longer a monopoly of ulema, the experts in theology and jurisprudence. Every Muslim has the right to read the Qur'an within a dynamic and context-driven approach. Literalist reading is refused; liberal Muslims call for an interpretation of the spirit of the text. The Qur'an speaks personally to every Muslim.

Shari'a as a Human Interpretation of the Voice of Allah

Muslims are required to believe that the Qur'an is divine and the words of the Prophet Mohammed are inspired by Allah, but the Shari'a is a normative code, which is the product of human interpretations. This human translation of the voice of God should change according to new historical, political, and social contexts, and it should not be imposed at an institutional level. The coercive enforcement of Shari'a by the state betrays the Qur'an's insistence on voluntary acceptance of Islam. Just as the state should be secure from the misuse of religious authority, Shari'a should be freed from the control of the state. The idea of an “Islamic state” is based on European ideas of state and law and not on Islamic tradition.

Human Rights Can Also Have a Religious Foundation

There is nothing in the language of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that precludes religious as well as secular foundations of the legitimacy of human rights. To develop a genuine universality and a sustainability of human rights, it is necessary to use multiple, local, and indigenous perspectives. Why can't Muslims quote Ibn Rushd instead of Kant to defend freedom of thought? Human rights are not Western; they are not confined to any specific people, culture, or religion. The conflict is not between Islam and human rights, but the real problem is related to specific historical understandings of Shari'a, for example, regarding the rights of women.

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