"The Contingent Universality of Human Rights: The Case of Freedom of Expression in African and Islamic Contexts," Emory International Law Review, Vol. 11 (1997): 29-66

Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na'im argues that freedom of expression depends on several factors, including national and international human rights standards. In fact, national and international standards are interdependent as well. And countries must sometimes choose which interests they will protect, either those of their own citizens or of the international community.

About the Author: Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na'im

Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na'im (from Sudan) is the Charles Howard Candler Professor of Law at Emory Law, associated professor in the Emory College of Arts and Sciences, and Senior Fellow of the Center for the Study of Law and Religion of Emory University. An internationally recognized scholar of Islam and human rights and human rights in cross-cultural perspectives, Professor An-Na'im teaches courses in international law, comparative law, human rights, and Islamic law. His research interests include constitutionalism in Islamic and African countries, secularism, and Islam and politics. Professor An-Na'im directed the following research projects which focus on advocacy strategies for reform through internal cultural transformation:

Women and Land in Africa
Islamic Family Law
Fellowship Program in Islam and Human Rights
The Future of Sharia: Islam and the Secular State
The websites for these projects can be accessed through Professor An-Na'im's personal homepage at »

Professor An-Na'im's current research projects include a study of Muslims and the secular state, and of human rightsfrom state-centric to people-centered. He continues to further develop his theory of Islam and the Secular State (Harvard University Press, 2008), also published in Arabic and Indonesian. Translations of this manuscript in Bengali, Persian, Urdu, Bengali, Turkish and Russian, are available for download free of charge at »

Education: PhD (Law), University of Edinburgh (Scotland), 1976; LLB (Honours) and Diploma in Criminology, University of Cambridge (England), 1973; LLB (Honours), University of Khartoum (Sudan), 1970


Selected Publications by This Author

More By This Author

African Constitutionalism and the Role of Islam


Cultural Transformation and Human Rights in Africa


