And yet, many historically Muslim societies do have a significant degree of separation between church and state. Turkey - a 99% Muslim society - introduced a secular constitution decades ago, and its secularist policies has seen women barred from political office or even jailed <i>for</i> covering their hair in a religiously-prescribed manner. Similarly, whilst the central Asian states and Muslim parts of China originally had secular government imposed on them by outside powers rather than phased in by indigenous nationalists, there&#x27;s little doubting the separation of church and state exists.<p>Sure, I&#x27;d be the first to agree that trying to introduce the wedge from the outside is incredibly dangerous and liable to backfire (even though in the long run it worked pretty much everywhere in the Soviet sphere of influence bar Afghanistan). But a large degree of separation of church and state is entirely possible with most of the population remaining Muslim.<p>And frankly, the degree of separation of religion and politics is often overstated in the West. I mean, I live in a country with govt-funded parochial schools and an actual established church with formal political power... and I&#x27;d <i>still</i> consider it to be a society where religion has less influence on politics than the US.