Islamic Foundations for a Social Contract in Non-Muslim Liberal Democracies

American Political Science Review, Vol. 101, No. 2, pp. 235-252, May 2007

18 Pages Posted: 22 Jul 2008 Last revised: 27 Jul 2009

See all articles by Andrew F. March

Andrew F. March

University of Massachusetts, Amherst

Date Written: May 1, 2007

Abstract

In this article I take up John Rawls's invitation to investigate the capacity of a given comprehensive ethical doctrine to endorse on principled grounds the liberal terms of social cooperation. In the case of Islamic political ethics, however, far more is at stake in affirming citizenship in a (non-Muslim) liberal democracy than state neutrality and individual autonomy. Islamic legal and political traditions have traditionally held that submission to non-Muslim political authority and bonds of loyalty and solidarity with non-Muslim societies are to be avoided. In this article, I examine the Islamic foundations for affirming on principled grounds residence, political obligation and loyalty to a non-Muslim state. My research shows not only that such grounds exist even in classical Islamic legal discourses, but also that the concerns of Islamic scholars vindicate political liberalism's claim to successfully accommodate the adherents of certain non-liberal doctrines by refraining from proclaiming controversial metaphysical truth-claims.

Keywords: Islam, Islamic law, liberalism, overlapping consensus, Rawls

Suggested Citation

March, Andrew F., Islamic Foundations for a Social Contract in Non-Muslim Liberal Democracies (May 1, 2007). American Political Science Review, Vol. 101, No. 2, pp. 235-252, May 2007, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1168642

Andrew F. March (Contact Author)

University of Massachusetts, Amherst ( email )

Thompson Hall
Amherst, MA 01003
United States

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