Arab media have distorted and attacked the idea of secularism and presented it as enemy of religion and all its assets. This is far from true, and reflects similar conflicts to that one between the Catholic Church and science in the 19th century that was proposed as an intrinsic intellectual conflict between worldly and spiritual matters, but it was a matter of gaining control and power. In fact, many Arab writers and journalists are repeating some ideas without actually spending some effort to do a research.
According to my understanding of Islam, secularism isn't hostile to religion and its assets, as Islam indeed cares for man in two respects: spiritually and materialistically that are clearly separated according to the concepts of time and place. Furthermore, I think that secularism resembles the legislative fundamentals of Islam in many aspects.
Secularism fighting with ignorance, it gave great concern for people, and tried to find solutions for many political, economical, cultural and social problems. However, clergies have never liked such trials, simply because they threat their authority as God's representatives.
In such conflict, secularism represent science that's relative, against absolute faith that's not a matter for debate.
Therefore, secularism is presented in Encyclopedia Britannica as: any movement in society directed away from otherworldliness to life on earth. So, secularism cares about other people's happiness.
It's significant when passing a law to think about the possibility of applying such law. Therefore, I'll say we can't apply the Islamic Sharia with all its aspects and interpretations of old scholars, simply because life's changed a lot 1400 years ago. Today, we have to show more appreciation to justice, freedom, peace, and tolerance.
On the other hand, Quran says: "There is no compulsion in religion; truly the right way has become clearly distinct from error", but Islamists are trying to compel many people to follow their own understanding of Islam.
Thomas Jefferson, former American President, faced the same problem and found that separation of church and state was a necessary reform of the religious "tyranny" whereby a religion received state endorsement, and those not of that religion were denied rights, and even punished.
Finally, secularism is but a free way to govern, and secularists only depend on science to solve a problem in order to make all people happy without spending too much time on arguments about religion and history.
