Rethinking Islamic law for Europe The concept of the Land of Islam

The fiqh al-aqalliyat ('Islamic law for Muslim minorities') is based on the problematic concept of living outside the 'Land of Islam'. This chapter offers a brief survey of the criteria for a land to be judged a 'Land of Islam'. It is shown that the basic criteria are the freedom and security for Muslims to practice the basic sha(c)a'ir al-islam ('Islamic rules') and to serve al-(c)adl ('the cause of justice'). Ironically, a general assessment of many Western and Eastern Muslim-minority countries according to these criteria gives them a relatively high score on the 'Land of Islam' scale.