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http://allafrica.com/stories/201206220890.html

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This news piece just gives evidence to another failed attempt of imposing an undefined 'sharia state' on people in the modern context. For all those with a kindle I suggest Islam and the secular state: Negotiating the future of Shari'a. Some quotes from that book:

The fact that proponents of the dominant interpretations of the presumed or perceived aspects of cultural or religious identity would represent them as the only authentic or legitimate positions of the culture on a given issue simply emphasizes the importance of ensuring every possibility for dissent and freedom to assert alternative views or practices.

Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na`im. Islam and the Secular State: Negotiating the Future of Shari`a (p. 24). Kindle Edition.

The notion of an Islamic state is in fact a postcolonial innovation based on a European model of the state and a totalitarian view of law and public policy as instruments of social engineering by the ruling elites.

Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na`im. Islam and the Secular State: Negotiating the Future of Shari`a (p. 7). Kindle Edition.

I am calling for the state to be secular, not for secularizing society.

Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na`im. Islam and the Secular State: Negotiating the Future of Shari`a (p. 8). Kindle Edition.

The main purpose of this chapter is to show that my proposal for a secular state is more consistent with Islamic history than is the so-called Islamic state model proposed by some Muslims since the second quarter of the twentieth century.

Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na`im. Islam and the Secular State: Negotiating the Future of Shari`a (p. 45). Kindle Edition.

The common negative perception of secularism is due to a failure to distinguish between the state and politics, as discussed later. By failing to recognize this distinction, many Muslims take the separation of Islam and the state to mean the total relegation of Islam to the purely private domain and its exclusion from public policy.

Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na`im. Islam and the Secular State: Negotiating the Future of Shari`a (pp. 8-9). Kindle Edition.

The paradox of separation of religion and state despite the connection of religion and politics can only be mediated through practice over time, rather than completely resolved by theoretical analysis or stipulation.

Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na`im. Islam and the Secular State: Negotiating the Future of Shari`a (p. 28). Kindle Edition.

Any and all proposed possibilities of change or development must therefore begin with the reality that European colonialism and its aftermath have drastically transformed the basis and nature of political and social organization within and among territorial states where all Muslims live today. A return to precolonial ideas and systems is simply not an option, and any change and adaptation of the present system can be realized only through the concepts and institutions of this local and global postcolonial reality. Yet many Muslims, probably the majority in many countries, have not accepted some aspects of this transformation and its consequences. This discrepancy seems to underlie the apparent acceptance by many Muslims of the possibility of an Islamic state that can enforce Shari'a principles as positive law; it also underlies the widespread ambivalence about politically motivated violence in the name of jihad.

Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na`im. Islam and the Secular State: Negotiating the Future of Shari`a (p. 32). Kindle Edition.

This view of the pragmatic functions of the state and their reliance on skill rather than religious piety was supported by the leading Islamic traditionalist scholar Ibn Taymiyyah (died 1328), who asserted that the selection of each public officer or magistrate should be based on the pragmatic requirements and the individual's capacity to comply with the ethical and professional code of the job being assigned, not considerations of religious piety. He cited in this context the example of how the Prophet repeatedly appointed Khalid Ibn al-Walid as commander of Muslim armies, despite his frustration and dissatisfaction with Khalid's attitudes and behavior from a religious point of view (Ibn Taymiyyah 1983, 9-26). He cited other examples, and concluded that the Prophet "appointed men based on pragmatic interest even if there are men around that commander who are better than him in knowledge and faith" (18).

Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na`im. Islam and the Secular State: Negotiating the Future of Shari`a (pp. 49-50). Kindle Edition.