Religions (Aug 2023)

Islam and the Emancipatory Ethic: Islamic Law, Liberation Theology and Prison Abolition

  • Haroon Bashir

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14091083
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 14, no. 9
p. 1083

Abstract

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This paper provides a genealogical overview of discourses pertaining to emancipation within Islamic thought. I demonstrate how classical Islamic scholarship developed a tradition in which a clear emancipatory ethic can be located. Further, I explore how emancipation came to be read as anticipating the abolition of slavery in the contemporary period through focusing on the work of Muhammad Abduh. Finally, I discuss the potential engagements between Islamic notions of emancipation and contemporary discourses pertaining to prison abolition. I argue that the strong emancipatory ethic found within the classical legal tradition would not abide by the exploitative prison systems found across various nations. Engaging Islamic law through a Liberation Theology framework, I claim that a serious engagement with prison abolition discourses is a natural continuation for a tradition with such a strong precedent of emancipatory impetus.

Keywords