A Cultural Conundrum: The Integration of Islamic Law in Europe: Jocelyne Cesari Directs the Islam in the West Program at Harvard University, Where She Is an Associate at the Center for Middle Eastern Studies and Center for European Studies. She Has Served As a Senior Research Fellow and Associate Professor at the French National Center for Scientific Research (Perspectives‪)‬

In the aftermath of 9/11 and the subsequent terrorist attacks in the West, the Muslims in Europe have become the center of media spotlight and the contemporary debate concerning the compatibility of Islamic social and political values with European secular and democratic norms. Consider, for example, the case of shari'a law, which is conventionally conceived as the antithesis of European notions of secularism, liberty, and human rights. In the European imagination, shari'a law constitutes an archaic and inhumane set of practices that conjures up images of grossly violent and grim images including forced bodily amputations, the stoning of women, and communal infliction of physical torture. Consequently, the notion of the shari'a law, more than any other feature of Islam, engenders profound concern and fear among the public, and its imposition in any form is conceived as a grave threat to the establishment of European humanistic and secular values. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]