# Sacred Truth and Secular Agency: Shari'ah Norms and Political Enforcement

Lamin Sanneh, holder of the Chair of Countries and Cultures of the South at the John W. Kluge Center at the Library of Congress and D. Willis James Professor of Missions & World Christianity and professor of history at Yale University, discussed "Sacred Truth and Secular Agency: Shari'ah Norms and Political Enforcement" on Thursday, April 7, 2005 at the Library of Congress. In the current debate occurring within the Muslim world, there are differences of opinion about the role and identity of Islamic states as well as their future direction. According to Sanneh, Islamic fundamentalists blame national secular states for fragmenting contemporary Muslim global identity, which is leading to the West's worldwide domination. Also, moderates, among them many of the leading jurists in Islam, have adopted a middle course by distinguishing "sacred truth" from "secular agency."

- Kind: Talk
- Year: 2005
- By: John W. Kluge Center (library Of Congress)
- Genres: Religion
- Archive: [Library of Congress](https://www.loc.gov/item/2021687685/)
- Licence or status: Rights statement at the Library of Congress (as the archive states it)
- Credit: Library of Congress
- Who can watch: Tweens profiles and older (the archive gives no rating; placed by Invisible Network from its collection and subjects)

[Watch now](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/watch/archive/loc/2021687685?play=1)