Islamic Law and Civil State: Controversial Relation andDialectical Wording

Abstract

Islamic Law and Civil State: Controversial Relation and Dialectical Wording This research tackles an important issue in the Islamic political thought, namely the issue of the civil state. Jurists, intellectuals, politicians, and legal bodies, especially in those Arab countries that experienced the Arab Spring, are increasingly becoming interested in the above issue. Such countries have witnessed radical changes in the dominant ruling system that enabled some Islamic parties to seize power. Those parties found themselves confronted with great challenges, including, and most importantly, challenges pertaining to the attainment of a local and international recognition, while concurrently remaining committed to the Islamic law. As such, they have opted for the civil state as the appropriate political system that can maintain a sort of balance between international demands and expectations on the one hand, and the aspirations of their nations who were freed from tyrannical power and oppression, on the other. What is the civil state? What are its characteristics and peculiarities? What is Islams perspective on this state? Those are questions that the researcher addresses in the preface and the rest of the article. In the preface, the researcher deals with the concept of the state and its importance. In the first part, the researcher clarifies the concept of the civil state and its aims. In the second part, the researcher discusses the civil state in the Islamic law and the problematic relation between the civil state and the Islamic law. The discussion yields to several conclusions that are stated at the end of the paper. One of the most important findings is that the concept of the civil state is not inconsistent with the Islamic law provided that this state continues to adhere to Islamic code of reference.