This panel will focus on the growing interaction between Sharia law and secular constitutional law and address how contradictions can be reconciled. For example, can Sharia provisions that punish blasphemy be reconciled with laws that guarantee freedom of speech? If Sharia law mandates fusion between the state and Islam, how can it be reconciled with a constitution that contains an establishment clause? Further discussion will address questions such as whether Sharia provisions are employable at lower court and informal levels and whether Sharia law could replace constitutional law in countries with rapidly growing Muslim populations.
Moderator
- Bawa Jain, Secretary-General, World Council of Religious Leaders (USA)
Panelists
- Mahmoud Hekmatnia, Associate Professor, Islamic Research Institute for Culture & Thought (Iran)
- Bahige Mulla Huech, Islamic Scholar (Spain)
- Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, Professor & Dean, Faculty of Sharia & Law, International Islamic University, Islamabad (Pakistan)