Shari'a and Muslim Minorities: The wasati and salafi approaches to fiqh al-aqalliyyat al-Muslima [Hardcover]

Based on analysis of hundreds offatwasand juristic treatises, this book uncovers the internal debates within minority communities on issues including integration, political participation, leisure, finances, and attitudes toward non-Muslims.Based on a comparative analysis of several hundred religio-juristic treatises andfatwas(religious decisions),Shari'a and Muslim Minorities: The Wasati and Salafi Approaches to Fiqh al-Aqalliyyat al-Muslimaoffers the most systematic and comprehensive study to date of fiqh al aqalliyyat al-Muslima - the field in Islamic jurisprudence that treats issues that are unique to Muslims living in majority non-Muslim societies. The book argues that two main contesting approaches tofiqh al-aqalliyyat al-Muslima, thewasatiand thesalafi, have developed, in part dialectically. While both envision a future Islamizing of the West as a main justification for Muslim residence in the West, thewasatiapproach is pragmatic, facilitating, and integration-minded, whereas the salafi calls for strict application of religious norms and for introversion.The volume examines diverse and highly-debated juristic issues, including the permissibility of naturalizing in non-Muslim states, participating in their electoral systems and serving in their militaries and police forces; the permissibility of taking mortgages and student loans; the permissibility of congratulating Christians on Christmas or receiving Christmas bonuses; and the permissibility of working in professions that involve breaching of religio-legal prohibitions (e.g. serving pork). Discussions highlight the diversity within contemporary Islamic jurisprudence and introduce new nuances to highly-charged concepts such as proselytizing, integration, and multiculturalism.Introduction1. Wasatiyya and Salafiyya: A Conflict of Ideologies and Methodologies2. The Wasati and Salafi Approaches to the Religious Law of Muslin Minorities3. Muslim Minoriló