The fall and rise of the Islamic state / Noah Feldman.

Pt. I. What Went Right? -- Pt. II. Decline and Fall -- Pt. III. The Rise of the New Islamic State.

"A Council on Foreign Relations Book."

Includes bibliographical references (pages 155-175) and index.

"Noah Feldman tells the story behind the increasingly popular call for the establishment of the shari'a - the law of the traditional Islamic state - in the modern Muslim world." "Western powers call it a threat to democracy. Islamist movements are winning elections on it. Terrorists use it to justify their crimes. What, then, is the shari'a? Given the severity of some of its provisions, why is it popular among Muslims? Can the Islamic state succeed - should it? Feldman reveals how the classical Islamic constitution governed through and was legitimated by law. He shows how executive power was balanced by the scholars who interpreted and administered the shari'a, and how this balance of power was finally destroyed by the tragically incomplete reforms of the modern era. The result has been the unchecked executive dominance that now distorts politics in so many Muslim states. Feldman argues that a modern Islamic state could provide political and legal justice to today's Muslims, but only if new institutions emerge that restore this constitutional balance of power."--BOOK JACKET.