Fifty years after the conference in which Law and Religion Scholars held a dialogue with Constitutional Scholars in Siena, central issues of that discussion are recalled, and those of a future debate are envisaged, with the hope that both disciplines might benefit from it.
SUMMARY: 1. Introduction - 2. The necessary conditions of social negotiation - 3. Nordic Secularism - 4. Organic religious literacy - 5. Translation - 6. Conclusion.
ABSTRACT: The refusal to shake hands with a female reporter by a Muslim politician from the Miljöpartiet resulted in a controversy in Sweden. Together with a number of court cases, it revealed a disparity between the established judicial line and the views of the general public. The Swedish controversy received a response from Denmark, where the ruling coalition introduced new citizenship legislation with an obligation to shake hands with the mayor during a naturalization ceremony. These controversies highlighted the rising tensions on multiple levels, between majority and minority, religious freedom and gender equality, law and public opinion. This paper takes a closer look at the role of law as a negotiator and employs the notions of Nordic secularism, organic religious literacy, and the ethos of hospitality towards the untranslatable, in order to answer two questions: where these tensions come from and what are the possible ways of overcoming them.
SOMMARIO: 1. Introduzione - 2. La monarchia di Idris Al Senussi e la Costituzione del 1951 - 3. L’Islam nella Libia di Re Idris - 4. Moammar Gheddafi e la Terza Teoria Universale: l’Islam all’interno del “Nuovo” sistema libico - 5. Gheddafi e il movimento islamista - 6. La caduta di Gheddafi, la Dichiarazione Costituzionale del 2011 e l’Islam - 7. L’ultima bozza del 2017 e i contrasti infiniti - 8. Brevi riflessioni.
The Constitution and the role of Islam in Libya from independence to the fall of Moammar Gaddafi: origins and perspectives
ABSTRACT: This study aims to retrace Libya's constitutional path from Independence, obtained in December 1951, up to the "post-Gaddafi" era, which began with his fall in October 2011 and where the agreement on a new Constitution is still today - after more than ten years - one of the thorniest issues in the construction of a real Libyan State. Particular emphasis will be given to the religious aspect that has characterized the Constitutional Charter of Libya in its short national history and to the religious challenges faced in the different historical phases. The study will be divided into three parts. The first one will try to frame the constitutional discourse in the new independent Libya under the monarchy of King Idris al-Senussi. In the second part, will be addressed to the drastic changes that occurred with Moammar Gaddafi's rise to power. Finally, in the last part will try to draw a picture of what the situation is today and to understand what are actually the obstacles that are holding back an agreement between the rival factions (East and West) on a shared Constitution.
SOMMARIO: 1. Prologo - 2. A mo’ d’introduzione - 3. Storia delle origini od origini di una storia? - 4. Fra' tacere' e 'dire', fra 'ordinare' e 'interdire' ... - 5. Rottura di un equilibrio - 6. Emanciparsi dalla Sharîʻa o applicarla? La disputa fra Corano e Sunna - 7. Solo il Corano basta - 8. La critica degli orientalisti - 9. Ulteriori studi: ICMA (isnad-cum-matn analysis)- 10. Maqâsid al-Sharîʻa (le finalità della legge islamica) - 11. Stimoli e riflessioni da un tentativo di approccio comparativo - 12. Una possibile ‘inversione’ di tendenza? - 13. Con il tempo e con la paglia …
Quran and/or Sunna? Narrative and prescriptive function in the 'sources' of Islam
ABSTRACT: Even if in different forms and according to historical and anthropological factors that have conditioned their development, religions have a doctrinal part and precepts that can have different weight and priorities in each of them. Islam, which like Judaism is centered more on orthopraxis than on orthodoxy, over time and especially in the modern era, also in relation to the phenomenon of huge migrations of its faithful to the West, is faced with new challenges affecting its regulatory side. In this regard, various orientations and studies have long confronted each other and still animate a little-known debate outside the circle of specialists.
SOMMARIO: 1. Premessa: l’Islam tra religione ed economia - 2. Dalla finanza al contratto islamico, tra vincolo e libertà: alla ricerca di una teoria generale dei contratti - 3. L’etica islamica dei contratti: divieto di ribà e divieto di ghàrar - 4. Operatività delle attività della banca islamica e contrattualistica commerciale Shari’ah Compliant - 5. I contratti di tipo partecipativo: “mudàraba” e “mushàraka” - 6. (segue) Tipologie di mudàraba - 7. Cenni conclusivi e prospettive future.
The Prophet's Economy: Islamic Finance and the Religious Foundations of Islamic Law of Shari'ah Compliant Contracts
ABSTRACT: The growing presence of Muslim believers in Europe has increasingly led to heated debates also at the doctrinal level. Legal and economic literature, particularly, has recently emphasised the importance that inclusive, effective and efficient financial regulation can have on the degree of integration of the Islamic communities present in non-Muslim contexts. Since the Shari'ah dictates a series of behavioural rules in different sectors of the believer’s life, the Koran and the narratives of the Prophet (hadith) offer a series of prescriptions also in economic matters. With the aim of outlining the religious and juridical reasoning of the so-called halal economic dimension, this paper first examines the economic principles of Islamic finance: the prohibition of ribà (interest), the prohibition of ghàrar (uncertainty) and that of maysìr (speculation). It then provides a recognition aimed at finding a general theory of Islamic contracts. Finally, it reconstructs the discipline of the mudàraba and musharàka participatory contracts. These two forms of contracts represent a product of Islamic finance widely used in banking-financial practice and considered by Islamic legal schools to be totally in conformity with the Word of Allah. They are therefore instruments of comparison particularly interesting as well as useful for the Italian legal system. They can represent a flywheel for the integration of Muslims in the social fabric, and at the same time, an antidote to the unstable European economic panorama.
SOMMARIO: 1. Introduction - 2. The organisational structure of Mevlevi Islamic mysticism - 3. Mevlevi spirituality and religiosity - 4. The secular sphere and the laws of the market - 5. Conclusions.
Abstract: This article aims to provide as comprehensive a reading as possible of the organisation of socio-religious aggregation of contemporary Islamic mevlevism in Turkey. Starting from some classical notions of religion and spirituality (Simmel, Weber, Troeltsch) we examine the type of organisational structure of the Mevlevi order, the modus operandi, the internal relations between the followers, the role of the master taking into consideration the criterion of compromise, inclusiveness/exclusiveness and the transmission of charisma. Furthermore, the nature of Mevlevi spirituality, its organisational and moral principles, and the ecstatic practice of the sema is analysed. Finally, we analyse the relations of the Mevlevi orders with the population, some kinds of financing mechanisms, some forms of mediatisation and the marketing of some Mevlevi products. Finally, the order's interest and need to become part of religious tourism is analysed, encountering, however, conflicts, internal divisions and the non-legitimation needs of specific groups of believers.
SOMMARIO: 1. Gli interventi del presidente Macron del 2018 e la battaglia contro il “separatismo islamista” - 2. Il percorso del progetto di legge “confortant le respect des principes de la République” - 3. Struttura e principali contenuti della legge - 3.1. “Garantir le respect des principes de la République et des exigences minimales de la vie en société” - 3.2. “Garantir le libre exercice du culte” - 4. “Qualcosa di nuovo, anzi di antico”.
The French law 24th August 2021, no. 1109, “consolidating respect for the principles of the Republic”
ABSTRACT: In October 2020, President Emmanuel Macron announced his intention to sponsor a law opposing “Islamic separatism” in French society. Introduced in December 2020 by the Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin, the bill contains measures on neutrality of the public service, fight against online hatred, protection of civil servants (e.g. teachers) and several criminal provisions, which aim at repressing conducts denoting radicalism. The French Parliament passed the controversial law - it is sometimes described as going contrary to the liberal values of the Republic that it seeks to protect - on 23rd July 2021 and President Macron promulgated it on 24th August. The contribution provides an overview of the new law.
SOMMARIO: 1. Introduzione - 2. La libertà di espressione e la libertà di coscienza - 3. Le tematiche bioetiche - 4. I simboli e l’identità - 5. Considerazioni conclusive.
Religious minorities in Italy. New problems (?)
ABSTRACT: In the contest of a wider pluralism of the Italian society, legislation still struggles to guarantee an real equal treatment to all religious minorities. Religious denominations - who ratified an intesa with the Government - are for sure in a privileged position compared to those who are still regulated by the general law. Among the last ones, the Italian jurisprudence is playing an important role to find a balance especially on those issues that ask for a more decise government of religious diversity.
SOMMARIO: 1. Il migrante e il suo Dio: prove di identificazione e input di integrazione? - 2. L’identità (anche religiosa) della persona migrante. Dalle politiche discriminatrici all’integrazione civica nel modello di accoglienza italiano. Profili critici - 3. Una (prima e utopica) conclusione: la ridefinizione dell’ordine costituente a partire dall’Altro.
The (religious) identity of the migrant person in the reception system, between security drifts and civic integration policies. Brief considerations.
ABSTRACT: The essay takes into consideration some general profiles relating to the issue of immigration. Particular attention is paid to the critical issues that can be found in the context of the reception system in Italy that compromise the migrant's right to religious identity.
SOMMARIO: 1. Uno sguardo preliminare - 2. La Francia e il progetto di legge “confortant le respect des principes de la République”: realtà sociale e volontà politica - 3. La crisi italiana della laicità e i suoi riflessi sul piano normativo - 4. La vana ricerca dell’attuale indirizzo politico in materia ecclesiastica delle forze di maggioranza nel governo nazionale e la deriva anti-islamista delle forze di opposizione - 5. La pretesa regionale di legiferare in materia di sicurezza e identità non supera il vaglio di legittimità costituzionale - 6. L’impegno della dottrina. la “proposta Astrid”, le critiche e la mancanza di progetti alternativi - 7. Preparare il futuro.
2021: always awaiting a general law on freedom of religion, between inadequacy and fear of the trial
ABSTRACT: While France wonders how the secular character of the Republic sholuld change, and President Macron presents a project to profoundly revise 1905 separation law (Loi concernant la Séparation des Eglises e de l’Etat), Italy is still tryng to update 1929 minority cults law (“sull’esercizio dei culti ammessi nello Stato”). The parties that should implement the sucularity principle and religion's freedom, don't have a clear political direction. However, preparing for the future is strictly necessary in these times of health, economic and social emergency.