@bnnNEWSLIVEWAR IN LIBYA
Arab Spring boosts political Islam, but which kind? goo.gl/fb/9pKVJ #libya
Arab Spring boosts political Islam, but which kind?
* Islamists' comments still too general to see trends
* Tunisia's Ennahda leads the way in working out policies
* Islam already official religion in most Arab states
By Tom Heneghan, Religion Editor
Oct 25 (Reuters) - More democracy is bringing more political Islam in the countries of the Arab Spring, but Islamist statements about sharia or religion in politics are only rough indicators of what the real effect might be.
The strong showing of Tunisia's moderate Islamists in Sunday's election and a promise by Libyan National Transitional Council leader Mustafa Abdel Jalil to uphold sharia have highlighted the bigger role Islamists will play after the fall of the autocrats who opposed them.
These Islamists must now work out how to integrate more Islam into new democratic systems. Many terms used in the debate are ambiguous and some, especially the concept of sharia, are often misunderstood by non-Muslims.
Jan Michiel Otto, a Dutch law professor who led a recent study of how 12 Muslim countries apply sharia, said political Islam covers a broad spectrum of approaches.
"If sharia is introduced, you don't know what you'll get," said the Leiden University professor, editor of the book Sharia Incorporated. His study indicated that, contrary to what many Western observers might think, more Islam did not always mean less liberty. Continued...
