Politics of Islamic Shariah in the Contemporary Muslim World

Abstract

Islam around the globe is considered as the world’s second-largest religion and conservative’s Muslim desire Sharia (Islamic jurisprudence) laws, which is a contested and highly controversial concept. The idea holds variety of interpretative power but still beyond the implementation within Muslim countries. Sharia perceived to be moral and spiritual notion, have no legal mechanism and can lead to socio-cultural disequilibrium. The focus of this paper is to evaluate the fragmented nature and conceived scope of Sharia in a modern democratic age and assess the compatibility of Sharia with the developments of human rights and women empowerment. It differs significantly from its moderate opponents therefore it cannot be part of the present pluralistic legal systems. It is clear that the contemporary Muslim world is backward in numerous significant areas including the science, technology and economic development. Thus, there is indeed a need of radical reforms for Muslim societies and they must revitalize Islamic laws and human values. In short, Muslims scholars and intellectuals have to codify Sharia according to the contemporary circumstances because without that the survival, growth and development of Muslims will be difficult in the highly technologically advanced world.