In Defense of Religious Freedom

This chapter makes the case for religious freedom as a universal human right. It argues that religion is a universal human phenomenon and a good that merits protection by the law. It argues against the “new critics,” who hold that there is no universal phenomenon called religion, that religion and religious freedom are inventions of the modern West and have deep Protestant roots, that the West has imposed religious freedom through its power in colonialist and imperialist fashion, particularly vis-à-vis Islam, and that religious freedom ought not to be exported through the foreign policies of Western states. To each of these assertions, the chapter offers counterarguments.

Realizing Religious Freedom in Islam

This concluding chapter offers six recommendations for increasing the sphere of religious freedom in the Muslim-majority world and in the globe in general. These are drawn from the book’s foregoing analysis. The chapter calls for a “gestalt” shift by which religious freedom is recognized as a universal principle, not a Western value; for a recognition of Islam’s capacity for religious freedom; for a rejection of negative secularism; and for an expansion of religious freedom in the Muslim world. Then, the chapter turns its attention to the rise of religious freedom in the foreign policy of the United States and other Western states, recommending that these states “mainstream” religious freedom in their foreign policies. It also recommends building transnational networks involving religious freedom constituencies.

Seven Seeds of Freedom

This chapter looks at potentialities for freedom in the Islamic tradition, identifying these potentialities as “seeds of freedom,” which are concepts or practices that express religious freedom in a significant way but that fall short of a full human right of religious freedom that is articulated in its many dimensions, enshrined in law, protected in contemporary political orders, and broadly accepted by Muslims. Nurtured, these seeds might grow into religious freedom in full bloom. These include verses in the Qur’an and their interpretation; the life of the Prophet Muhammad; the history of Muslim toleration of non-Muslims; liberal Islam; contemporary Muslim advocates of religious freedom; freedom in law and institutions in Muslim-majority states; and the history of the separation of religion and state.

Religiously Free States in the Muslim World

This chapter begins the book’s analysis of religious freedom in Muslim-majority states by looking at the first of three categories of regimes that are defined by their political theology. This category is religiously free states. It defines the basic features of religiously free states, portraying them through the concept of positive secularism. It then looks closely at the 11 countries that fit this category. It notes that seven of these are in West Africa and identifies the historical and cultural roots of this region’s common religious freedom. This chapter begins to make the case for diversity in the Muslim world and for the possibility and presence of religious freedom in that same world.

Secular Repressive States in the Muslim World

This chapter continues the book’s analysis of religious freedom in Muslim-majority states by looking at the second of three categories of regimes that are defined by their political theology. This category is secular repressive states, of which there are 15. It defines the basic features of secular repressive states, portraying them through the concept of negative secularism. It looks particularly closely at Turkey, the standard-bearer of repressive secularism, and at Egypt, also an important case. It also focuses on other countries of this kind in the Arab world and in Central Asia, two regions where they are concentrated. This category of state shows that Islam is not the only source of repression in the Muslim-majority world, thus adding to the picture of diversity begun in the previous chapter.

Introduction

This chapter details the rationale behind the book’s central question: Is Islam hospitable to religious freedom? It offers three reasons why religious freedom is marshalled to assess Islam. First, religious freedom serves as a good criterion for adjudicating an intense public debate over the character of Islam that has been raging in the West at least as far back as the attacks of September 11, 2001. The chapter details the positions of “Islamoskeptics” and “Islamopluralists,” the two major positions in this debate, and explains why religious freedom captures what is at stake. Second, religious freedom is associated positively with social goods like democracy and peace and negatively with social ills like terrorism and civil war—goods that are disproportionately lacking and ills that are disproportionately present in the Muslim world. Finally, religious freedom is a matter of justice. It is a universal human right, not a parochial Western value.

A Pathway to Freedom

This chapter argues that the Catholic Church’s long historical road to religious freedom serves as a template for an Islamic pathway to religious freedom. The Church’s pathway, culminating in the declaration of the Second Vatican Council, Dignitatis Humanae, is a much better model than the Reformation or the Enlightenment, which are often cited as pathways. The chapter identifies historical factors that led to the Church’s eventual public embrace of religious freedom, showing that the Church exercised this embrace on grounds that were internal to its tradition rather than amounting to compromises with secularism. This is what Muslims can find appealing.

The Arab Uprisings

This chapter looks at the Arab Uprisings that began in early 2011 and spread across the Arab world. It argues that just as the Arab Uprisings were by and large a failure for democratic aspirations, so, too, the Uprisings were a failure for religious freedom, with the exception of Tunisia. Then, it draws upon the regime types of the previous chapters (religiously free, secular repressive, and religiously repressive states) to argue that religious freedom—its predominant absence, the reasons for its absence, and its rare presence—explains much about both the general failure and the isolated success of these uprisings.

Religiously Repressive States in the Muslim World

This chapter continues the book’s analysis of religious freedom in Muslim-majority states by looking at the third of three categories of regimes that are each defined by their political theology. This category is religiously repressive states. It defines the basic features of religiously repressive states, portraying them through the concept of Islamism, a form of political ideology. It identifies Saudi Arabia and Iran as the standard-bearers of this category and focuses on other countries in this category around the world, which total 21. This chapter makes the case for “Islamoskepticism,” though it also argues that this view does not explain everything about this type of regime.