The American scholar, also known as Abdul Hakim Jackson, hopes to rescue contemporary Islam from intellectual stagnation in The Islamic Secular by challenging the idea that Shariah (Islamic law) covers all aspects of life.
Western and Muslim scholars have long maintained that Shariah, grounded in divine revelation, regulates every sphere of life, from criminal law to commerce and politics. By contrast, since the Enlightenment, the Western (post-Christian) concept of the secular has divided human endeavor into two mutually exclusive domains: the religious and the secular. This division has posed profound challenges to Muslims, prompting Islamic movements to push back via Shariah revivals.
Drawing on the Sunni jurist Shihab al-Din al-Qarafī (d. 1285), Jackson advocates for what might be called a limited Shariah. He proposes two domains of human activity under God: one regulated by divinely revealed law—the Shariah—and the other—the “Islamic Secular”—not bound by it. The Islamic Secular encompasses the total domain of human endeavor not regulated by religious law but still subject to the “divine gaze” of God. For example, the Shariah does not prescribe how to build a bridge or run a modern economy.
The idea of the Islamic Secular subverts the Western distinction between the religious and the secular, encompassing both.
Jackson hopes that it can help rescue Islam from unproductive reactions to modernity. He laments that “far too much Muslim talent, genius and money” has been squandered on the belief that only the strictly religious is genuinely Islamic. Instead, he urges Muslims to devote “serious and sustained intellectual, creative and imaginative attention” to the Islamic Secular rather than be guided by “fear, sycophancy or ressentiment vis-à-vis the West.”
Jackson’s erudition and passion provide a compelling example of the creative work Muslim intellectuals must undertake to bridge the gap between Islam and modernity. However, the success of his project remains uncertain. Islam is a religion of orthopraxis, in which the study of Shariah reigns supreme as the queen of religious sciences. To succeed, Jackson’s project will require greater emphasis on theology, including theological anthropology. It is a big ask.
Mark Durie
Melbourne School of Theology, Australia
