Questioning Secularism

“Questioning Secularism is an important book. The discussions of the fatwa court alone would warrant praise, but there is much more: the exploration of how the secular state produces its own ambiguities is very engaging; the idea that different fora might employ related sources of legitimacy is handled with considerable deftness; the argument that the fatwa is a different sort of journey than the court proceeding is pursued with great care and insight. The overall result, then, is a work one can get one’s teeth into in the best sense of the word.”

“Questioning Secularism is a mind-widening book. It is not simply a contestation or reconstruction of the doctrines of secularism but an enquiry into the ways in which it continually generates questions—about necessary limitations to public expression, about the dangers of religious politics, about the place of the Shari‘a in a liberal state, and so forth. At the center of these questions, says Agrama, is the concern to determine the line between politics and religion. Agrama explores this theme brilliantly in the context of contemporary Egypt by drawing on a rich body of ethnographic and historical data, and presents the reader with valuable insights into the ways sovereignty, public order, and state of exception are implicated (often in contradictory ways) in the question of secularism in that country. The most innovative part of this impressive work is the comparison between the Egyptian family court and the Fatwa Council, both based on understandings of the Shari‘a but each very different in its conditions of existence and its orientation. This book is essential reading for anyone interested in secularism today.”