A Treatise on Liberal Critiques of Ridda

There have been many attempts made by the proponents of liberalism to critique Islamic penal laws. A liberal system–as understood through social contract theory–can theoretically allow the same laws that Islam currently has. Historically, liberalism has allowed itself to be prone to authoritarianism, tyranny, and colonialism. This is not to say that liberalism leads to these things–nor that these are entailed by its principles–only that liberalism allows these things within its framework. Arguing along these lines the author of this treatise shows how liberal critiques of Islamic laws are self-defeating because the very laws that liberals critique can be conceivably allowed under a liberal government. This treatise is the first of its kind as a proper attempt to compare philosophical principles of liberalism and the jurisprudential principles of traditional Islam are made. There is also an empirical element to this treatise where new primary source information is dug up from the Ottoman records and compared with American historical records.