FOUR
HOPE, REALIZATION, DISAPPOINTMENTS
What do Muslims expect from sharia? That is the first question for this chapter. Then I move on to issues of realization, accom- plishments and disappointments. Were any of their hopes realized during the initial five years? It seems some were; some were not. It is very much a mixed bag. We will see that there is a high degree of disappointment that things have not changed that much. However, since these opinions are often tinged by ideology, political consid- erations and vested interests, it is extremely difficult to ferret truth from falsehood, fact from fiction. And though by now, six years later, one can detect certain trends and even genuine disappoint- ments, it may be too early to come to definite conclusions. But I should not run ahead of myself.