Belley proposes a “new legal pluralism” as a new way of thinking and a new perception of law. This conception of law is far from the dissident approach taken in the original understanding of legal pluralism. Instead, it introduces a subversive element by positing the “new legal pluralism” as a substitute for the monist conception of law. This perspective contributes to an understanding of Islamic law and opens up opportunities to explore the sources of Islamic law elaborated in the seventh century CE and redefine the interaction of religion and law at their political interface. The author's hypothesis is that the paradigm of legal pluralism is foundational to Islamic law. Belley's approach constitutes a way of understanding the limitations of the construction of law characterized as “religious.”
