Roy has rightly pointed out that while "moderate" Islamists seem willing to embrace some norms of modernity, one issue on which they show no sign of compromise is Islamic family law. (Most of us are already aware of Indian Muslims' opposition to Uniform Civil Code.)
Owing to the overtly patriarchal bias of Islamic family law, one can safely (and sadly) assume that Muslim women are going to be the last beneficiary of any forseeable "Reformation in Islam".
http://www.opendemocracy.net/faith-europe_islam/islamism_4043.jsp
Islamists have not given up all of their religious ideology. One thing remains: sharia, with family law at its core. This is an issue of identity. From Morocco to Pakistan, including Iran, the key debate is about family law and, by definition, the status of women.
Some of its leading figures may, like Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, accept democracy; others, such as the Muslim cleric Yusuf al-Qaradawi, agree that it is the least-bad system, not to be opposed, but insist on sharia. Family law is not negotiable for figures such as al-Qaradawi; penal measures or legal punishments may be, but not this.
A big problem arises. If democratisation means more nationalism and more sharia, this is far from what the western promoters of democratisation envisaged. But this problem must be faced head on by saying: there is no way not to engage the Islamists. There is no alternative. We in the west have to make a choice between Erdoğan and the Taliban. And if we don't choose Erdoğan, we'll get the Taliban.
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