Introduction

This chapter argues that in a religiously diversified society, knowing different religious legal systems is not enough to build a legal framework that grants religious freedom and examines the faithful of various religions to live together in peace. It addresses these concerns contending that comparison at the level of religious laws ought to occur. Academics have paid increased attention to the international and national laws affecting religion, extending attention beyond constitutional provisions concerning religion to explore human rights, discrimination law, criminal law and other provisions that affect individual and collective religious freedom. Understanding religion involves not only knowing the religious dimensions of another person’s cultural universe but also constantly comparing them with those of other cultural universes. Concepts, understandings and meanings differ significantly in different contexts both when comparing the religious with the non-religious and when comparing different religions. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.