Shi’a Islam and Religious Secularism Sayyed al-Sistani and the Civil State in Iraq

Abstract

Introduction Over the last two decades or so, great amount of discussion raised regarding secularism. While Europeans and Western people in general took secularism for granted, the case is still vague and unresolved for most, if not all of Muslims. Although it is one of the most popular yet debatable issues in the Arab and Islamic discourse, secularism seems to have been one of less agreed ideas. Dozens of books published, ranging from attacking this Western disease to praising it as the last hope for humanity.