The Carnegie Corporation of New York has included Charles Howard Candler Professor of Law Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na’im among its annual list of Great Immigrants. The 2020 list honors 38 naturalized citizens who have enriched and strengthened our nation and democracy through their contributions and actions.
Emory Law Professor and CSLR Senior Fellow Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na'im, author of "Islam and the Secular State," is interviewed by UNESCO on how concept, content and context affect meaningful changes in human rights, and also, his "The Future of Sharia," project.
Earlier this month, Trump proposed "extreme vetting" to ban immigrants who believed Sharia law should supplant American law. But while this might play well to some of his supporters, it is detached from reality, according to a recent CNN story. Muslims who say they want Sharia law are not necessarily extremists. "Sharia as an ethical normative system underpinning the laws that are enacted through constitutional institutions--much in the same way that Americans consider Christianity as underpinning American law and culture," says Charles Howard Candler Professor of Law Abdullahi An-Na'im.
Donald Trump again called to ban Muslims from entering the United States after a mass shooting at an Orlando nightclub, Politifact reports. He said Pew Research found 99 percent of those in Afghanistan support "oppressive Sharia law." Different countries interpret and apply Sharia law differently, and as with other religions, interpretations change over time, said Charles Howard Candler Professor of Law Abdullahi Ahmed An-Nai'im. "Sharia is understood to be the religious obligations of Muslims, but it is a normative system in which Muslims have profound differences and always have," he said.
The vast majority of Muslims feel moral revulsion and outrage about the violence perpetrated by ISIS, Charles Howard Candler Professor of Law Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na'im writes for The Conversation. "ISIS' claim of Islamic legitimacy can be countered only by a viable alternative interpretation of Islamic law."
The Khartoum government is likely to escape further censure and scrutiny at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva this week after its officials met secretly with the United States' delegation, says a story in Africa Confidential. "The only consistency in the work of the UN Human Rights Council is its unfailing capacity to disappoint the lowest of expectations," said Charles Howard Candler Professor of Law Abdullahi An-Na'im, alluding to an increasing number of alleged human rights abuses by the National Congress Party government.
Charles Howard Candler Professor of Law Abdullahi An-Na'im is trying to prompt a global discussion between Muslims and others about Islamic law--also known as Shariah law--and why Shariah is viewed as such a threat in western cultures. He recently launched his Future of Shari'a blog, https://scholarblogs.emory.edu/aannaim/. "By its nature Shariah, which is the term I prefer over Islamic law, because as soon as you say Islamic law, which is the English translation, you are implying that it is a law to be imposed by the state, which is contradictory to its nature."
Religion and politics aren't generally considered topics of friendly conversation, but they're exactly what an Emory University law professor wants to start a global discussion around. Charles Howard Candler Professor of Law Abdullahi An-Na'im's blog is titled "Future of Sharia."
What is the greatest threat to society and religion? Writer Nicholas Chen cites Professor Abdullahi An'Nai'm's book, Islam and the Secular State: Negotiating the Future of Shari'a, in asserting that separation of state and religion "not only preserves the wellbeing of the society, but also the integrity of the religion."
Professor Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na'im, Charles Howard Candler Professor of Law, recently launched a new scholarly website/blog
Charles Howard Candler Professor of Law Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na'im was a guest panelist for a recent talk sponsored by the Georgia Commission on the Holocaust, on past and current human rights abuses. Other panelists included British Consul General Jeremy Pilmore-Bedford, publisher M. Alexis Scott, and Holocaust survivor Norbert Friedman. The event was held at the Center for Civil and Human Rights.
In recent months, ISIS has shown a canny grasp of social media to parade its grim schedule of executing prisoners. American Peter Kassig is a devout Muslim and captive. Because ISIS has broken its regular media schedule, his mother hopes he is living. Professor Abdullahi An-Na'im commented on how ISIS interprets Shariah. "There are many things ISIS is doing, such as mass killing of prisoners of war, extreme violence, rape, destruction, which by consensus, according to mainstream of Muslims, is, both historically and contemporarily, contrary to Shariah. But ISIS has a different interpretation."
It's probably not a book that a young man could write, and that is to its credit. The volume is boldly titled What Is an American Muslim? Embracing Faith and Citizenship, and the "old soul" behind it is Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na'im, Charles Howard Candler Professor of Law, associate professor in Emory College, and senior fellow of the Center for the Study of Law and Religion.
Emory Law Professors Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na'im and William Buzbee will discuss their recently published books at this year's AJC Decatur Book Festival, held Aug. 29-31.
Emory Law Professor Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na'im argues that Islam is protected by the establishment clause like all other religions.
Emory Law professor An-Na'im publishes book, What Is an American Muslim?
Emory Law awarded diplomas to 319 graduates in May 2014.
Emory Law's Abdullahi An-Na'im has been named the 2014 recipient of the University Scholar Teacher Award.
An-Na'im argues that American Muslims should engage in the civil and political life of the country as citizens informed by their faith, rather than as a community separated by religion.