The Impact of Western Constitutionalism on Constitutional Development in Muslim States (original) (raw)
The Islamic world has spent centuries forming its legal structures from which its various concepts of a constitution and the constitutional process have been derived. Constitutional law, one of the most significant legal concepts, is affected by social and political developments. The constitutional structure of Muslim states, especially those of the Gulf States, differs considerably from those of the non-Gulf states. For example Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) all have recognizably modern written constitutions, whereas Saudi Arabia and Oman have no written constitution at all. In these latter states, the rulers are guided principally by the Shari‗ah. This paper analyzes the constitutional development of Muslim states in two main frameworks: the historical backdrops of their constitutional processes (focusing on the structure of their current constitutions) and that of the Ottoman Empire (giving special attention to its successor: the secular Republic of Turkey).
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