Islamic Constitutionalism and Rule of Law: A Constitutional Economics Perspective

32 Pages Posted: 11 May 2016

See all articles by Moamen Gouda

Moamen Gouda

Graduate School of International and Area Studies (GSIAS), Hankuk University of Foreign Studies (HUFS); Marburg Center for Institutional Economics; Economic Research Forum (ERF)

Date Written: November 25, 2012

Abstract

This study investigates the relationship between constitutionalism from an Islamic perspective and rule of law. Al Azhar, one of the most respected Sunni religious institutions in the world, developed a model of an Islamic constitution. This study uses Al-Azhar’s constitution as a model of Islamic constitutionalism, whereby its stance regarding rule of law is examined. We find that Al-Azhar’s constitution does not correspond with essential concepts of rule of law. For example, the powers vested in the head of the Islamic state are enormous, making the executive branch of government by far superior to the legislative and judicial branches. Women and non-Muslims are explicitly discriminated throughout the constitution. Moreover, laws stemming from this constitution are not stable since many differences exist among schools of Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh). Consequently, we show that state-of-the-art Islamic constitutionalism lacks essential components needed in any constitution based on rule of law.

Keywords: Constitutionalism, Rule of Law, Shari’a, Islam, Constitution

JEL Classification: H10, H11, K30, K39, Z12

Suggested Citation

Gouda, Moamen, Islamic Constitutionalism and Rule of Law: A Constitutional Economics Perspective (November 25, 2012). Constitutional Political Economy, Vol. 24, No. 1, 2013, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2777104

Moamen Gouda (Contact Author)

Graduate School of International and Area Studies (GSIAS), Hankuk University of Foreign Studies (HUFS) ( email )

270 Imun-Dong
Dongdaemun-Gu
Seoul, 130-791
Korea, Republic of (South Korea)

HOME PAGE: http://sites.google.com/site/moamengoudaecon/

Marburg Center for Institutional Economics ( email )

Universitätsstrasse 24
Marburg, D-35032
Germany

HOME PAGE: http://www.uni-marburg.de/fb02/macie/index_html?set_language=en

Economic Research Forum (ERF) ( email )

21 Al-Sad Al-Aaly St.
(P.O. Box: 12311)
Dokki, Cairo
Egypt

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