Islam and the Secular State: Negotiating the Future of Shari’a

Lecture by Dr. Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na’im

Date: Sunday June 8, 2008

Time: 2:30 p.m.

Location: Auditorium, Noor Cultural Centre

Admission: $5

Emory Law professor and internationally renowned Muslim scholar Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na’im will discuss his new book, Islam and the Secular State: Negotiating the Future of Shari’a. The discussion is being hosted by the Canadian Council of Muslim Women and Noor Cultural Centre.

Professor An-Na’im, a Muslim and a native of Sudan, believes it is antithetical to the true teachings of Islam to incorporate Shari’a, the Muslim code of religious law, into state law. To do so undermines Muslims’ spiritual calling to following Shari’a, and inhibits the continuous dialogue among Muslims of how Shari’a should be interpreted. Islam and the Secular State, which has been translated into Arabic, Bahasa Indonesia, Bengali, French, Persian, Russian, Swahili, Turkish and Urdu and published abroad earlier this year, is now available from Harvard University Press.