Throughout the twentieth century, Muslim religious authorities have been confronted with the task of addressing the relationship between Islam and secularism. Reacting against the controversial ideas of 'Ali 'Abd al-Raziq, early Muslim writings on the subject of secularism focused upon establishing its undesirability and religious impermissibility. Nevertheless, over the past three decades, these discourses have acquired a new dimension. In particular, religious authorities have begun to approach the concept of secularism itself (al-'almaniyya) as an object of analytic interest, critically investigating its basic presuppositions. At the forefront of these efforts have been the religious scholars Safar al-Hawali and Yusuf al-Qaradawi. Western researchers have only recently begun to examine how al-Hawali and al-Qaradawi theorize secularism. Moreover, as yet, no attempt has been made to compare and contrast their ideas. My presentation will help fill this gap by systematically outlining each figure’s views and explaining how they relate to one another. In describing the views of al-Hawali and al-Qaradawi I will focus on their treatment of three questions: (1) How does secularism conceptualize religion? (2) What relationship does secularism posit between religious belief and lived behavior? (3) How does secularism conceptualize freedom of religion? I will show that both al-Hawali and al-Qaradawi challenge conventional secular assumptions on all three points by arguing that legal transactions are an essential element of Muslim religious practice. In doing so, they seek to establish that, contrary to what is claimed by secular liberalism, Muslims can only truly practice their religion in a state which applies Islamic law. On the other hand, despite areas of overlap between al-Hawali and al-Qaradawi, there are significant differences as well. Most importantly, al-Hawali’s analysis is tightly intertwined with Salafist theological postulates inspired by the thought of Ibn Taymiyya. These postulates associate life under a secular regime with apostasy through the absence of religious belief. Such invests al-Hawali’s critique with a more radical character than that of al-Qaradawi. To describe each scholar’s views, I will rely on his original Arabic writings. For al-Hawali, I will use (1) al-'Almaniyya and (2) Zahira al-Irja' fi al-Fikr al-Islami. For al-Qaradawi, I will use (1) al-Islam wa al-'Almaniyya and (2) al-Tatarruf al-'Almani fi Muwajaha al-Islam. In conclusion, my presentation will provide an account of the different ways in which two leading religious scholars have sought to challenge conventional understandings of secularism, thereby setting forth an alternative perspective on religion and politics in contemporary Muslim societies.