State recognition of Islam in Muslim countries invites fierce debate from
scholars and politicians alike, some of whom assume an inherent conflict
between Islam and liberal democracy. Analyzing case studies and
empirical data from several Muslim-majority countries, Ahmed and Abbasi
find, counterintuitively, that in many Muslim countries, constitutional
recognition of Islam often occurs during moments of democratization.
Indeed, the insertion of Islam in a constitution is frequently
accompanied by an expansion, not a reduction, in constitutional human
rights, with case law from higher courts in Egypt and Pakistan
demonstrating that potential tensions between the constitutional pursuit
of human rights, liberal democracy and Islam are capable of judicial
resolution. The authors also argue that colonial history was pivotal in
determining whether a country adopted the constitutional path of Islam
or secularism partly explaining why Islam in constitutional politics
survived and became more prevalent in Muslim countries that were
colonized by the British, and not those colonized by the French or
Soviets.