1st Edition
Constitutional Democracy and Islam The Legal Status of Muslims in Italy
This book outlines the legal status of Muslims in Italy. In particular, it highlights that, when it comes to Islam, the Italian legal system exacerbates the dilemma of contemporary constitutional democracies, increasingly caught between the principle of equality and the right to have rights, which implies the respect of diversity. It provides readers with a deep understanding of how domestic and external socio-political factors may muddle the interpretation of Italy’s constitutional provisions, starting with those relating to state secularism and religious freedom. It is argued that today, as never before, these provisions are torn between the principle of equality and the right to be different. This situation has been exacerbated by incessant states of emergency, from immigration to religion-inspired terrorism, in light of which the presence of Islam in the peninsula has been highly politicized. Italy’s experience on the legal status of Muslims provides an interesting case study and, as such, a valuable source of empirical information for a functioning and pluralistic constitutional democracy, especially when dealing with conditions of fear and insecurity. The book will be of interest to researchers, academics, and policy-makers working in the areas of law and religion, constitutional law, comparative law, and human rights.
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1 Religious Matrices of Constitutional Democracies
Introduction
Vicarius Dei
The Janus-Faced
Secularizing Imago Dei
Secularizing the Law
From Tolerance to Freedom
And Islam?
Theological and Secular Transformations
The Emergence of the Muslim Question
Towards the Religionization of Nation-States
2 Majority and Minority Religions in Italy
Introduction
Historical and Political Backgrounds
Belief, Behaviour, and Belonging in Italy
The Hallmarks of Cultural-Religious Disputes
The Majority and Minorities
Bilateralism Method
Bilateral Legislations for Minorities
The Supreme Principle
Secularism Under the Other Paradigm
Secularism and Neo-Pluralism
3 Sharia, Islam, and Muslims in the Peninsula
Introduction
Islamic Sources of Law: A Relative Immutability
A Living Book
A Living Book in Constitutional Democracies
Mutual Interference
Muslims in Europe and the Three Bs
Islam in the Peninsula
The Italian Sword of Islam
The Islams
The Pictures of Italian Islam
4 Constitutional Democracy and Islam in Italy
Introduction
Mapping Islam in Italy
Legal Forms of Islam in Italy
Places of Worship
Burial Practices and Cemeteries
Financing Islam
Italian Prisons and Islam
Symbols of Islam
Education
Muslim Workers
5 Muslims in Italy and States of Emergency
Introduction
Accommodating Muslim Personal Law
Pragmatic Approaches
Administrative Bilateralism
Dante’s Limbo and the Hell of Italian Bureaucracy
Muslims as Unpredictable Realities
Violent Interpretations
Preventing Religion-Inspired Violent Radicalization
Security, Securitization, and Deradicalization
Symbols of Constitutional Democracies
Conclusion
Index
Biography
Francesco Alicino is Full Professor of Public Law and Religion at the University of LUM, Italy, where he also teaches constitutional law, law of the third sector, and immigration law.
