Table Of ContentIslam and
Liberal Citizenship
33007700--118855--11ppaassss--FFMM--rr0033..iinndddd ii 1122//33//22000088 99::3344::1111 AAMM
33007700--118855--11ppaassss--FFMM--rr0033..iinndddd iiii 1122//33//22000088 99::3344::1111 AAMM
Islam and Liberal
Citizenship
The Search for an
Overlapping Consensus
andrew f. march
2009
33007700--118855--11ppaassss--FFMM--rr0033..iinndddd iiiiii 1122//33//22000088 99::3344::1111 AAMM
Oxford University Press, Inc., publishes works that further
Oxford University’s objective of excellence
in research, scholarship, and education.
Oxford New York
Auckland Cape Town Dar es Salaam Hong Kong Karachi
Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Nairobi
New Delhi Shanghai Taipei Toronto
With offi ces in
Argentina Austria Brazil Chile Czech Republic France Greece
Guatemala Hungary Italy Japan Poland Portugal Singapore
South Korea Switzerland Thailand Turkey Ukraine Vietnam
Copyright © 2009 by Oxford University Press, Inc.
Published by Oxford University Press, Inc.
198 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10016
www.oup.com
Oxford is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means,
electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise,
without the prior permission of Oxford University Press.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
March, Andrew F., 1976-
Islam and liberal citizenship : the search for an overlapping consensus /
Andrew F. March.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-19-533096-0
1. Citizenship (Islamic law). 2. Muslims—Non-Muslim countries.
3. Pluralism—Religious aspects—Islam. 4. Liberalism—Religious
aspects—Islam. 5. Citizenship—Europe. 6. Liberalism—Europe.
7. Islam and secularism—Europe. I. Title.
KBP2430.M37 2009
340.5'9—dc22 2008026903
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Printed in the United States of America
on acid-free paper
33007700--118855--11ppaassss--FFMM--rr0033..iinndddd iivv 1122//33//22000088 99::3344::1111 AAMM
To my parents.
33007700--118855--11ppaassss--FFMM--rr0033..iinndddd vv 1122//33//22000088 99::3344::1111 AAMM
33007700--118855--11ppaassss--FFMM--rr0033..iinndddd vvii 1122//33//22000088 99::3344::1111 AAMM
Acknowledgments
My DPhil dissertation advisors, Michael Freeden and Sohail Hashmi,
were as supportive and encouraging of the earliest form of this some-
what experimental project as could possibly be hoped.
Christopher Melchert was exceedingly generous with his time,
answering many a banal question, reading overlong chapters, and
providing crucial support in my initial efforts to navigate Islamic
sources—all beyond the call of duty for an informal, unoffi cial men-
tor. Akram Nadvi and Yahya Michot of the Oxford Centre for Islamic
Studies (OXCIS) were generous and patient with my many ques-
tions and impromptu offi ce visits. Mark Muehlhaeuser of the OXCIS
library provided not only much valuable assistance but also enjoyable
company on an almost daily basis for nearly two years. David Miller,
Elizabeth Frazer, and Tariq Ramadan provided valuable and much
needed critical feedback during the various examinations of the
thesis on which this book is based. Guy Kahane and Edward Kante-
rian provided valuable philosophical perspective and much valued
friendship during these years. In addition to the Oxford Centre for
Islamic Studies, the staffs of the Bodleian Library (particularly the
Radcliffe Camera), the Oxford Oriental Institute Library, and the
Institut Français du Proche-Orient (IFPO) Library (Damascus) were
supportive and friendly.
While writing this book, I was supported generously by
the Marshall Aid Commemoration Commission, the Beeston
Scholarship of St. John’s College (Oxford), and the Becket Institute
at Oxford University. Michigan State University’s James Madison
College and Yale University’s Political Science Department have
provided excellent support and working conditions for me since
2005.
33007700--118855--11ppaassss--FFMM--rr0033..iinndddd vviiii 1122//33//22000088 99::3344::1111 AAMM
viii acknowledgments
Between this book’s earliest manifestation as a doctoral dissertation and
now, I have benefi ted from discussions with, among numerous others, Mo-
hammed Fadel, Sherman Jackson, Steven Kautz, Naz Modirzadeh, Micah
Schwartzman, Yasir Qadhi, Jonathan Quong, and the editors and anonymous
reviewers of American Political Science Review and Philosophy & Public Affairs .
I have also benefi ted from the response and discussion at seminars, confer-
ence panels, and invited talks at, in roughly chronological order, the Becket
Institute (St. Hugh’s College, Oxford), the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies,
the Second World Congress for Middle Eastern Studies (Amman, Jordan), the
Middle East Studies Association (MESA), Michigan State University’s Muslim
Studies Program, George Washington University’s Political Science Depart-
ment, Middlebury College’s Clifford Symposium, and Harvard University’s
Kennedy School of Government. My thanks are also due to the students of both
iterations of “Comparative Political Theory: Islam and Liberalism” at Michi-
gan State’s James Madison College (spring 2007) and Yale (fall 2007), respec-
tively. Matthew Ingalls read almost the entire manuscript (chapters 3 and 5
through 8) and improved it immensely in the areas of Arabic translation and
transliteration, English style and clarity, and factual and interpretive accuracy.
I am in his debt. Finally, I would like to thank Theo Calderara of Oxford Univer-
sity Press for his support and patience, as well as the editorial and production
staff both known to me (Meechal Hoffman and Linda Donnelly) and unknown,
and the copyeditor, Joy Matkowski.
A version of chapter 4 was published previously as “Liberal Citizenship
and the Search for an Overlapping Consensus: The Case of Muslim Minori-
ties,” Philosophy & Public Affairs , vol. 34, no. 4 (Fall 2006), 373–421.
Parts of chapters 1, 5, and 6 were included in “Islamic Foundations for a
Social Contract in Non-Muslim Liberal Democracies,” A merican Political Sci-
ence Review , Vol. 101, No. 2, May 2007, pp. 235–252.
My constant companion, joy, and reason for being for the last decade has
been my son, Tamir, who has had a vague awareness of this book’s preparation.
That his awareness has been so vague, and the impact of the work involved
for this book on him so slight, is due in great measure to his grandparents,
to whom goes my immense, but insuffi cient, gratitude. That this book is not
better is due to many factors, but the most tangible of them is the fact that it
was produced in its substance prior to the advent of my wife, Naz. In the sub-
sequent two years, I have been blessed with a glimpse of the conditions of joy,
inspiration and intellectual partnership in which all my future endeavors will
unfold. It is already diffi cult to recognize what came before.
33007700--118855--11ppaassss--FFMM--rr0033..iinndddd vviiiiii 1122//33//22000088 99::3344::1111 AAMM
Contents
Introduction: Moral Confl ict,
Political Liberalism, and Islamic Ethics, 3
Part I: Justifi catory Comparative Political Theory:
The Search for Overlapping Consensus
through “Conjecture” , 17
1. Purposes: The Place of Justifi catory
Comparative Political Theory, 23
2. Methods: The Ethics of
Comparative Ethics , 65
Part II: Islam and Liberal Citizenship:
Patterns of Moral Disagreement
and Principled Reconciliation , 97
3. Islamic Objections to Citizenship
in Non-Muslim Liberal Democracies , 103
4. Identifying Equilibrium: An Ideal-Typical
Islamic Doctrine of Citizenship , 135
Part III: Islamic Affi rmations
of Liberal Citizenship, 163
5. Residence in a Non-Muslim State , 165
6. Loyalty to a Non-Muslim State , 181
7. Recognition of Non-Muslims
and Moral Pluralism , 207
8. Solidarity with Non-Muslims , 237
33007700--118855--11ppaassss--FFMM--rr0033..iinndddd iixx 1122//33//22000088 99::3344::1122 AAMM
x contents
Conclusion: Tradition and Creativity in
Grounding Moral Obligation to Non-Muslims, 259
Notes, 277
Bibliography , 325
Index , 337
33007700--118855--11ppaassss--FFMM--rr0033..iinndddd xx 1122//33//22000088 99::3344::1122 AAMM
