ABSTRACT
In my view, the position of the proponents of Sharia as positive law of the state is untenable because the idea of an Islamic state to enforce Sharia norms as such is conceptually incoherent, historically unprecedented, and practically unworkable today. At the same time, I find the position of the opponents of Sharia unwise, and probably dangerous, because pushing Sharia out of the public domain does not negate its powerful cultural and political role in the lives of Islamic societies. Since it is not possible to force such distinctions on the psyche and internal motivation of the political
behavior of believers, the so-called private role of Sharia is bound to encroach on what the opponents of Sharia see as the secular public domain. This apparent deadlock can be mediated, I argue, through the internal transformation of the interpretation of Sharia by Muslims, instead of seeking to suppress it through the coercive constraints of the secular law of the state.
