Abdullahi An-Na'im is the Charles Howard Candler Professor of Law at Emory University Law School, USA. An internationally-recognised scholar of Islam and human rights, and human rights in cross-cultural perspectives, Professor An-Na'im research interests also include constitutionalism in Islamic and African countries, and Islam and politics. Mashood A. Baderin is Professor in the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, UK.

• Contents: Introduction; Part I Islam Between Universalism and Secularism: What do we mean by universal?; Islamic law, international relations and human rights: challenge and response; A kinder, gentler Islam?; Re-affirming secularism for Islamic societies; Islam and human rights: beyond the universality debate. Part II Islam and Human Rights in the Muslim World: Human rights in the Muslim world: socio-political conditions and scriptural imperatives; Civil rights in the Islamic constitutional traditions: shared ideals and divergent regimes; Human rights in the Arab world: a regional perspective; Human rights and Islamic identity in France and Uzbekistan: mediation of the local and global; 'The best of times' and 'the worst of times': human agency and human rights in Islamic societies. Part III Some Topical Issues in Islam and Human Rights Discourse: The Islamic law of apostasy and its modern applicability: a case from the Sudan; Religious minorities under Islamic law and the limits of cultural relativism; The rights of women and international law in the Muslim context; The contingent universality of human rights: the case of freedom of expression in African and Islamic contexts; Why should Muslims abandon jihad? Human rights and the future of international law. Part IV Conclusion: A Theory of Interdependence: The interdependence of religion, secularism, and human rights: prospects for Islamic societies; Name index