Islam and Liberty - Mohamed Charfi

I got to know about the book from Frontline article - http://www.frontline.in/fl2313/stories/20060714000607800.htm

The author, Mohamed Charfi is a professor in law and served as Education minister of Tunisia.

Introduction and first chapter explain the facts and consequence of fundamentalism.

In second chapter which is the best in this book dissects the Islamic law - Sharia. He took the case of punishment for apostasy - death penalty. It was formalized based on a prophet's tradition - hadith. And motivation to carry out that was more of political reasons. Likewise he took most of the controversial rulings of Shariah.

He then logically and authoritatively concludes that Muslim law is anachronistic and were best for that time. Later Sharia remained stagnant and Ulema (scholar) attributed divinity to it. All later research were crushed and Tartaric attack (under Chengis Khan) on Abbaside killed eminent thinkers of that time. This led ulema to shut the door of Ijtihad (research) because they were afraid that they will never able to raise to the level of their predecessors.

Mutazziltes were crushed and the works of Avicenna, Averroes and the likes were burnt and lost in history.

Muslim thinkers in the late 18th and early 19th century did elaborative study on this subject and came to a point that Islam doesn't propose any totalitarian divine law for mankind

Author's answer for contemporary plural society is secularism. And Islam should be taken to private sphere.

Third chapter deals about the notion of Islamic state.

Author states that in Madeena there was no Islamic state formed under prophet. Actual Islamic state took birth with the caliphate of Aboobacker and flourished in the reign of Umar

Two more points from the same chapter.

After Jesus' crucification, his followers took the principle of rendering unto Ceasor that which Ceasor's and unto God that which God's. Author states that it was not a tactic rather a fundamental doctrine.

Erdogan's Justice and Development party in Turkey explicitly accepted secularism. And it doesn't refer Sharia nor describes itself as Islamist. Author takes this case as a point that Islam can co-oexist with secularism, modernity and democracy.

Fourth chapter puts forth education policy to achieve the above said social changes.

All in all this book was a wonderful read.