Matthew J. Nelson

Is the Rule of Law an Antidote for Religious Tension? The Promise and Peril of Judicializing Religious Freedom

Although “rule of law” is often regarded as a solution for religious conflict, this article analyzes the role of legal processes and institutions in hardening boundaries and sharpening antagonisms among religious communities. Using case studies from Sri Lanka, India, Malaysia, and Pakistan, we highlight four specific mechanisms through which legal procedures, structures, and instruments can further polarize already existing religious conflicts. These mechanisms include the procedural requirements and choreography of litigation (Sri Lanka), the strategic use of legal language and court judgments by political and socioreligious groups (India), the activities of partisan activists who mobilize around litigation (Malaysia), and the exploitation of “public order” laws in contexts framed by antagonism targeting religious minorities (Pakistan).

Dealing with Difference: Religious Education and the Challenge of Democracy in Pakistan

When is a modern religious education also a modern democratic education? Drawing on research conducted in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan (2003–2005), this question is addressed with reference to the views of those who draw upon the resources of local maktabs and madrasas to provide their children with religious and, more specifically, Islamic instruction. Within this group—a group that, I argue, constitutes a clear majority in Pakistan—concerns about religious and sectarian diversity are given special attention. Most parents, stressing the importance of religious unity, conformity, and consensus, believe its better to ignore these differences ‘for the sake of the nation.’ For those with an interest in combining the terms of Islam, Islamic education, and democracy, however, I argue that these differences cannot be ignored; instead, they must be acknowledged and engaged.

Pakistan's Populist Foreign Policy

If US policymakers did not fully understand before 2011 how important the so-called ‘Arab street’ is in the politics of the Middle East and North Africa, they surely do by now. Whether this principle extends to other parts of the Muslim world is not yet clear, but in Pakistan, one of Americas most important Muslim-majority allies, the effect of public opinion on the countrys politics, including its foreign policy, may be critical. Despite an apparent alienation between much of Pakistans elite and the public at large, many observers are prepared to accept that public opinion drives the behaviour of Pakistans civilian politicians. But public opinion is also a key driver of choices made by the Pakistan military. Western observers and policymakers tend to assume that senior military officers run the show and have been slow to realise that Pakistani behaviour, even among the upper echelons of the army, is powerfully shaped from below.

Who speaks for Islam?: ‘authenticity’ and the interpretation of Islamic law in America's war on terror

Recognising that Americas response to the events of 11 September would do well to maintain a sharp distinction between the ‘war on terror’ and a war ‘against Islam’, this article argues that American diplomatic rhetoric would benefit from an explicit effort to engage ‘frameworks of legitimacy’ within Islam, including the terms of Islamic jurisprudence and Islamic legal debate. The article examines the merits of such an approach in the context of several recent diplomatic dilemmas, including the Jyllens-Posten cartoon controversy. It concludes with an assessment of the American (domestic) political environment within which this approach tends to encounter its most ardent critics.

Religious Education in Non-Religious Schools: A Comparative Study of Pakistan and Bangladesh

Abstract In both Pakistan and Bangladesh, most parents seek to provide their children with a ‘hybrid’ education, combining both religious and non-religious components (simultaneously). In Pakistan, however, the so-called ‘non-religious’ side of this education – for example, in government and non-elite private schools – tends to be associated with a particular understanding of religion, one that remains persistently apprehensive about the treatment of and, in many ways, even the acknowledgement of, religious, sectarian, ethnic, and linguistic diversity. Keeping this in mind, scholars and policy makers with an interest in the relationship between education and citizenship – particularly insofar as this relationship is tied to the challenge of cultural diversity – would do well to focus more of their attention on competing expressions of ‘religion’ in the context of (ostensibly) ‘non-religious’ schools.

Book Review: Islamic Education, Diversity, and National Identity: Dini Madaris in India Post 9/11

the region. The study offers thus a novel approach to the Kashmiri question of identity. The historical insights presented would have to be considered in any further study of the region’s history, politics or religion. Moreover, this highly readable book would also be insightful reading for those simply seeking to understand more about the issue of Kashmir within the ambit of South Asian politics.