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EVEN BEFORE Iraq's constitution was ratified, dire predictions were being made that it would pave the way for the creation of an Islamic theocracy. But whatever problems the new constitution poses for the future of Iraq, the role of Islam in the state is not likely to be one of them.
...Article 2 establishes Islam as "the official religion of the state" and "a basic source of legislation"; no law can be passed that contradicts "the fixed principles of Islam." But the constitution deliberately leaves those fixed principles to be defined by the natural democratic process in accordance with the changing will of the Iraqi people, and it unequivocally states that no law can be passed that contradicts the basic rights and freedoms outlined by the constitution. Among the first of these is that all individuals have a right to freedom of creed, worship, practice, thought and conscience.
This could be offer an opportunity for Islam to reform itself. The Koran calls for Muslims to kill non-Muslims or make them accept second-class citizenship. The Iraqi constitution relegates that kind of behavior to the past for Muslims in Iraq.
