I do not see why the religious basis of Political Islam should disqualify it from being accepted as a viable political model for non-Muslims. We believe that Shari’ah is Divine, they do not.
So what?
If they believe that Islamic Law was drafted by Prophet Muhammad ï·º, then it should have the same status with them as any other man-made legal or economic model which they regard as legitimate.
In the United States, the Constitution is sacred and invioble. It is essentially treated like a religious document; and the Founding Fathers are revered. So what is the difference?
A document written by a group of rich, White landowners and slave masters is taken seriously because it is a good document. If they believe that Islamic Law was the product of Prophet Muhammad’s mind, how does that make it any less legitimate than political systems produced by the minds of others; particularly since it is a law which created and managed a prosperous and dynamic empire for roughly six times longer than the United States has existed?
If they believe that the Shari’ah IS Divine, then we have even less of a problem.
The point is, we believe that the Shari’ah contains rules and principles which cannot be compromised, because we believe it is Divine. They believe this about their founding documents, while also recognizing that their founding documents were written by human beings. So, if they believe that OUR “founding document” was written by a human being, they still must accept that we are not willing to compromise on it, just as they believe THEIR man-made document cannot be compromised.
If we develop Political Islam to include actual policies that both manifest and reflect Islamic Law and principles, and which genuinely address the problems in society, there is no rational reason why anyone (Muslim or non-Muslim) should reject it simply because we believe in the Divinity of the Shari’ah.