Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of some key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of the book. This book develops a framework for structuring the relationship between religion, the state and public discourse, with a focus on 'Muslim contexts', and, in particular, these contexts in countries of Muslim majority. It focuses on the place of Islam in the 'public sphere' the conceptualisation of which owes much to the work of Jurgen Habermas. Among the most prominent issues facing contemporary Muslim societies is how to relate the legal and political heritage that developed in pre-modern Islamic polities to the political order of the modern states in which Muslims now live. The book constructs the theoretical framework for the role of religion in public discourse. It illustrates how and why the liberal framework of justice as discourse is useful in light of the heritage and contemporary reality of Muslim contexts.