Constitutional Democracy and Islam: The Legal Status of Muslims in Italy

ISBN-13: 9781032313542 / Angielski / Twarda / 2023 / 224 str.

Francesco Alicino

Opis

This book outlines the legal status of Muslims in Italy. In particular, it highlights that, when it comes to Islam, the Italian legal system exacerbates the dilemma of contemporary constitutional democracies, increasingly caught between the principle of equality and the right to have rights, which implies the respect of diversity. It provides readers with a deep understanding of how domestic and external socio-political factors may muddle the interpretation of Italy’s constitutional provisions, starting with those relating to state secularism and religious freedom. It is argued that today, as never before, these provisions are torn between the principle of equality and the right to be different. This situation has been exacerbated by incessant states of emergency, from immigration to religion-inspired terrorism, in light of which the presence of Islam in the peninsula has been highly politicized. Italy’s experience on the legal status of Muslims provides an interesting case study and, as such, a valuable source of empirical information for a functioning and pluralistic constitutional democracy, especially when dealing with conditions of fear and insecurity. The book will be of interest to researchers, academics, and policy-makers working in the areas of law and religion, constitutional law, comparative law, and human rights.

Spis treści

Acknowledgments

Introduction

1 Religious Matrices of Constitutional Democracies

Introduction

Vicarius Dei

The Janus-Faced

Secularizing Imago Dei

Secularizing the Law

From Tolerance to Freedom 

And Islam?

Theological and Secular Transformations

The Emergence of the Muslim Question

Towards the Religionization of Nation-States

2 Majority and Minority Religions in Italy

Introduction

Historical and Political Backgrounds

Belief, Behaviour, and Belonging in Italy

The Hallmarks of Cultural-Religious Disputes

The Majority and Minorities

Bilateralism Method

Bilateral Legislations for Minorities

The Supreme Principle

Secularism Under the Other Paradigm

Secularism and Neo-Pluralism

3 Sharia, Islam, and Muslims in the Peninsula

Introduction

Islamic Sources of Law: A Relative Immutability

A Living Book

A Living Book in Constitutional Democracies

Mutual Interference

Muslims in Europe and the Three Bs

Islam in the Peninsula

The Italian Sword of Islam

The Islams

The Pictures of Italian Islam

4 Constitutional Democracy and Islam in Italy

Introduction

Mapping Islam in Italy

Legal Forms of Islam in Italy

Places of Worship

Burial Practices and Cemeteries

Financing Islam

Italian Prisons and Islam

Symbols of Islam

Education

Muslim Workers

5 Muslims in Italy and States of Emergency

Introduction

Accommodating Muslim Personal Law

Pragmatic Approaches

Administrative Bilateralism

Dante’s Limbo and the Hell of Italian Bureaucracy

Muslims as Unpredictable Realities

Violent Interpretations

Preventing Religion-Inspired Violent Radicalization

Security, Securitization, and Deradicalization

Symbols of Constitutional Democracies

Conclusion

Index

O autorze

Francesco Alicino is Full Professor of Public Law and Religion at the University of LUM, Italy, where he also teaches constitutional law, law of the third sector, and immigration law.