What is liberal Islam? The elusive reformation

Abstract

While Islam as traditionally understood may not favor liberalism, the more "liberal" interpretations of Islam are not democracy friendly either, mainly because they lack wide popular support. The search for an "elusive" Islamic Reformation may not thus be right way to approach the democracy question. Even if such a "Reformation" were to materialize, it is likely to be divisive and disruptive in the short and medium terms. Meanwhile, the liberal movements with the most promising democratic potential appear to be those which have bypassed the theological question altogether and worked to build broad pro-democracy coalitions by agreeing to bypass divisive issues politicians are not equipped to solve.