I took Political Science during my uni day, but so do my other friends, including my husband (we were course mate, uh well, didn't I said I'm just boring like that?). Anyway, of course my course mates don't read this book anymore unless they are pursuing their study and I doubt they choose Political Science. So let's just say that I have this thang on history. And of course, when I read history I don't really take it sooo seriuos like I'm gonna take a test or something. I just read pleasurely and always it really, really broaden my so limited horizon.
This book is written by Noah Feldman, a Bemis Professor of Law at Harvard Law School. His style of writing thus is very academic. I even felt so tensed reading this book at some point of time as it really got too serious. Apart from the writing style, I felt kinda stressful reading this simply because I just felt that establishing shari'a is somehow my responsibility. All these while you really take it for granted. Let the PAS and BN deal with it kind of attitude. But hey, reading this make you see how glorious it was when Shari'a was above the state. So I guess, those rhetoric politicians and politicians wanabes should at least read this book so that they can adapt it to our Malaysian society. As a Muslim, of course I want it to be implemented but giving the type of environment we are, I pray that it would be implemented wisely. Like what the author argued in this book as the case of Pakistan. Even a proclaimed Islamic State failed to implement it.
The author argued that the reason for the success of sharia during the later years was because of it was in the hand of the scholars.
" .... the system of the scholarly control over the law encouraged stability, executive restraint, and legitimacy".
The Tanzimat movement during the Ottomans played a major part in the decline of Sharia and the scholars as the interpretors of the law in particular. Felman also gave reasons on why the re-establishment of Sharia fail in some Muslim Countries with the example of Iraq, Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan.
The book concludes that the implementation of Shari'a is possible provided that is supported by the other institutions of the states, and is not established in vacuum.
As for me, this book is really an eye opener in so many ways and the writer has done justice in presenting his argument. I highly recommend this book
