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Essay: The Quran And The Constitution, Ali Khan Mar 2010

Essay: The Quran And The Constitution, Ali Khan

Ali Khan

The Quran and the constitution are mutually supportive supreme texts; one does not negate the other. Numerous forms of government, cultural traditions, and economic systems are compatible with both supreme texts. Muslim nations are free to promulgate specific constitutions that reflect their social, political, and economic preferences rooted in history and culture. The specific constitution must reflect the conscience of the nation, for constitutions that fail to do so are vulnerable to amendment, even revolutionary replacement. Because the human condition is constantly evolving, the Quran, though a permanent divine text immune to alteration or amendment, is amenable to the evolutionary …


Faith-Based Torture, Ali Khan Jan 2010

Faith-Based Torture, Ali Khan

Ali Khan

This Essay focuses on faith-based torture perpetrated against Muslim detainees, torture that was crudely designed, only minimally seeking security-sensitive information. However, anti-Islamic torture - which has profoundly offended Muslim communities throughout the world - reaffirms the dark side of U.S. government policies that periodically single out populations, domestic and foreign, and subject them to cruelty. This dark side is evidenced by the degradation of Native Americans, enslavement of Western Africans, internment of Japanese-Americans, and slaughtering of the Vietnamese. More specifically, anti-Islamic torture has undermined what were sincere and substantial efforts of many American institutions to promote religious freedom at home …


The Quran And The Constitution, Ali Khan Jan 2010

The Quran And The Constitution, Ali Khan

Ali Khan

The Quran and the Constitution are mutually supportive supreme texts; one does not negate the other. Numerous forms of government, cultural traditions, and economic systems are compatible with both supreme texts. Muslim nations are free to promulgate specific constitutions that reflect their social, political, and economic preferences rooted in history and culture. The specific constitution must reflect the conscience of the nation, for constitutions that fail to do so are vulnerable to amendment, even revolutionary replacement. Because the human condition is constantly evolving, the Quran, though a permanent divine text immune to alteration or amendment, is amenable to the evolutionary …


The Baqa And Fana Infinities Of Islamic Law: Approaches To Islamic Law And Behavior, Ali Khan Jan 2010

The Baqa And Fana Infinities Of Islamic Law: Approaches To Islamic Law And Behavior, Ali Khan

Ali Khan

This article draws two main conclusions. First, meeting both the permanent and evolutionary needs of Muslim communities, Islamic law is a normative composite of baqā (eternal) and fanā (transient) sources of law. Islamic law founded on the Quran and the Prophet’s Sunnah (Basic Code) offers normative permanence to the extent that fundamental values of the Basic Code cannot be amended or repealed. However, Islamic positive law, comprised of fiqh, legislation, case law, local customs, and international law, evolves under the submission principle, a principle that requires positive law to submit to the Basic Code. Accordingly, no rule of positive law …