Islam and Religious Freedom: The Experience of Religious Majorities and Minorities

Authors

Brett G. Scharffs, J. Reuben Clark Law School, Brigham Young University

Document Type

Article

Abstract

It seems likely that change in Islam will be affected both by outside and internal sources, as was the case for the Catholic Church and its journey to Dignitatis Humanae. However, one thing the Catholic experience suggests is that meaningful and profound change does not simply come from outside pressures; it comes from authentic and sincere evaluation and interpretation by insiders of a religious tradition of that tradition itself. Thus, if Islam is going to come to embrace religious freedom as an important value, this will be the result, significantly if not primarily, of Muslims interpreting their own sacred texts, histories, traditions, and legal systems.

Recommended Citation

Brett G. Scharffs, Islam and Religious Freedom: The Experience of Religious Majorities and Minorities, 93 Notre Dame L. Rev. Online 78 (2018).
Available at: https://scholarship.law.nd.edu/ndlr_online/vol93/iss1/7