Another set of data points on Islam

In The New Statesman, Ziauddin Sardar points to possible sources of reformation in sharia. The All India Muslim Personal Law Board declared that the triple talaq is wrong and promised a new model marriage contract dealing with (among other things) limiting divorce and making sure women got a share in farm property.

In Pakistan there have been protests against the Hudood Ordinance, responsible for the ghastly way rape victims are treated there. (There's no distinction between rape and adultry--for either party.) Nothing will change unless the Council of Islamic Ideology wants it to, and they don't.

Morocco revised its family code (Moudawana) back in 2001 to outlaw the talaq, allow alimony and child custody, require that men wanted a second wife prove in court that they can treat them both with absolute justice, and so on.

Every change in the law is justified - chapter and verse - from the Koran, and from the examples and traditions of the Prophet Muhammad. And every change acquired the consent of the religious scholars. Even the Islamist political organisations have welcomed the change. The Party of Justice and Development described the law as "a pioneering reform" which is "in line with the prescriptions of Islam and with the aims of our religion".

In Malaysia the prime minister, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi (controversially) wants to formulate a progressive Islam:

Badawi, who is a trained religious scholar, took the term "hadhari" from Ibn Khaldun, the 14th-century Muslim historian and founder of sociology. The term signifies urban civilisation; and Islam Hadhari emphasises economic development, civic life and cultural progress. When Muslims talk about Islam, says Abdullah Mohd Zain, a minister in the prime minister's department, "there is always the tendency to link it to the past, to the Prophet's time". Islam Hadhari gives equal emphasis to the present and the future. "It emphasises wisdom, practicality and harmony," says Zain. "It encourages moderation or a balanced approach to life. Yet it does not stray from the fundamentals of the Koran and the example and sayings of the Prophet."

In Indonesia the two largest Muslim organizations (about 60-80 million followers) are trying to

promote a model of Islamic reform that they call "deformalisation". "The overemphasis on formality and symbolism has drained Islam of its ethical and humane dimension," says Abdul Mukti, chairman of Muhammadiyah's influential youth wing. "The first mission of deformalisation is to recover this missing dimension." Its second mission, he says, is "to separate the sharia from political realms". Islamic law, Mukti explains, cannot be imposed from the top - as it has been in Pakistan - but has to evolve from below. Indeed, the overwhelming view of scholars and thinkers I met recently in Indonesia - including teachers at a state religious university - was that the formal links between Islam and politics must be severed.

Both Malaysia's Islam Hadhari and Indonesia's deformalisation emphasise tolerance and pluralism, civic society and open democracy. Both are likely to spread. Malaysia is trying to export Islam Hadhari to Muslim communities in Thailand and the Philippines. Meanwhile, Morocco is trying to persuade Egypt, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates to adopt its model of family law.

I have no way (besides waiting 10 years or so) of knowing whether these are fringe movements or something more substantial. I'd bet that a lot of Muslims will discount the Indian group as bowing to government pressure, but Morocco wasn't under any pressure I know of.