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# *Sharia, the Modern State, and Freedom:*

### *A Reformist Perspective* 

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Date and Time 

September 8, 2026 11 AM - 12 PM EDT 

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##### Featuring 

![Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na’im - cropped](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/2026-08/Abdullahi%20Ahmed.jpg?itok=7MRqQ3aU) 

Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na’im 

Charles Howard Candler Professor of Law Emeritus, Emory University

[![Matthew Cavedon-cropped](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/2025-11/Matthew%20Cavedon-cropped.jpg?itok=SqrUdWTd)](/people/matthew-cavedon) 

[Matthew Cavedon](/people/matthew-cavedon)

Director, Project on Criminal Justice, Cato Institute

[![Mustafa Akyol Cropped](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/2024-11/akyol-cropped-new.jpg?itok=VLgHg13I)](/people/mustafa-akyol) 

[Mustafa Akyol](/people/mustafa-akyol)

Senior Fellow, Cato Institute

[ 

](https://x.com/AkyolinEnglish) [ 

](mailto:makyol@cato.org) 

Sharia, or Islamic law, is a contentious issue in Muslim-majority countries, and lately even in the West. The obvious reason is that some aspects of this legal tradition—apostasy and blasphemy laws, corporal punishments, or legal inequalities—conflict with modern standards of human rights and freedom.

But other aspects of Sharia, such as personal religious practices and communal norms, can also be practiced without any coercion in a liberal political order. Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na’im has been the foremost theorist of this liberal perspective, showing how Sharia can be separated from the modern state and observed as a freely chosen way of life. An-Na’im presented this argument in a chapter of the recent volume, [*No Compulsion in Religion—No Exceptions: Islamic Arguments for Religious Freedom*](https://www.cato.org/books/no-compulsion-religion-no-exceptions)*,* edited by Cato’s Mustafa Akyol*.*

Join us to hear An-Na’im explain why and how Sharia can be separated from the state. Cato’s Matthew Cavedon, who has [examined](https://canopyforum.org/2026/05/28/iran-learns-locke-the-hard-way-integralism-postliberalism-and-religious-compulsion/) the question from an interfaith perspective, will provide comments.

![No Compulsion in Religion No Exceptions: Islamic Arguments for Religious Freedom. Book Cover](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/promo_block_book_cover_1x/public/2025-10/No%20Compulsion%20in%20Religion%20-%20FC_1.jpg?itok=dpCibpFn) 

### *[No Compulsion in Religion—No Exceptions: Islamic Arguments for Religious Freedom](https://www.cato.org/books/no-compulsion-religion-no-exceptions)*

Edited by Cato Institute Senior Fellow Mustafa Akyol, this book brings together a team of prominent Islamic scholars to elucidate the case for individual liberty in Islam. By highlighting insights from Qur’anic exegesis, Islamic jurisprudence, Muslim history, and contemporary trends in the Muslim world, they make the case for full-fledged religious freedom. They argue that the Qur’anic maxim “No compulsion in religion” should be embraced wholeheartedly, with no exceptions.

[Get the Book](/books/no-compulsion-religion-no-exceptions) 

[![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) 
This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/).