Machine summary:
"External military invasions, internal political cataclysms, environmental catastrophes and the like did not create a widespread sense of identity crisis amongst the inhabitants of the Islamic belief-ecosystem during its past history.
Whereas orientalists have based their argument against the compatibility of the models of civil society and Islam on the so-called "stationariness of Islarndom", quite recently, some Muslim writers have argued against the thesis of compatibility from a doctrinal point of view.
t30' Moreover, to equate laissez-faire or unconstrained freedom with liberalism is to refute the actual history of ideas:"!' In the past two decades many thinkers have endeavored to develop more refined models of civil society in which the rights and liberties of the individuals are reconciled with a partnership between the state and the society.
While this model of civil society might succeed in mitigating the opposition of more conservative and traditional Muslim writers, it may prompt the discontent of critically minded citizens of the Islamic communities.
"!' Approaches that have managed to incorporate the more sophisticated trans-rational (mystical) traditions, and have embarked on the project of implementing a model of civil society more or less similar to what briefly described here, are better placed to weather the storm which is blowing over the Islamic lands.
They show that while from a doctrinal point of view, there has been no restriction for the flourishing of civil society in the past Islamic communities, other historical and environmental factors have hampered their development."