Muslim Community Lobby Ireland is an independent organization established 1st May 2007. Its motto is TO USE THE VOTE RIGHTLY AND TO RAISE THE MUSLIM COMMUNITY AWARNESS WITH THEIR RIGHTS AND TO PROMOTE TOLERANCE AND UNDERSTANDING OF OTHER EXISTING GROUPS. لترشيد استعمال الصوت الانتخابي ولتوعية وتعريف المسلمين بحقوقهم في ايرلندا وان يعيشوا بتفهم للواقع وللجماعات الاخرى الموجودة على الساحة

Friday, December 5, 2008

Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy Bulletin

CSID Bulletin Header in JPG
December 1, 2008
Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy Bulletin

In This Issue
The 4th Berlin Forum for Progressive Muslims
ISLAMIC FEMINISM...Reclaiming My Religion
NEW BOOK on Reformist Islam
American Council for the Study of Islamic Societies (ACSIS)
Islamic Democracy in the Maldives
Freedom Agenda In Flames
What Moderate Islamists Expect from Obama?
The Doha Compact:...New Directions for the United States and Muslim World
Join CSID Mailing List
CSID Websites:

English

Bulletin Archive


Languages: To receive the CSID Bulletin in Arabic, in English, or both, please use the Update Profile/Email Address link at the bottom of this page.
للحصول على نشريّة المركز باللغة العربيّة أو الإنقليزيّة، إضغط على
Update Profile/Email Address

في أسفل الصفحة

Please FORWARD this bulletin to all your friends and colleagues, and invite them to subscribe to the CSID Bulletin.
The 4th Berlin Forum for Progressive Muslims


By Radwan Masmoudi

Berlin ForumDr. Radwan A. Masmoud, President of CSID,participated in the 4th Berlin Forum for Progressive Muslims, organized the 16 - 18 October 2008 on
"Political Thought in Islam: State, Religion and Governance", at the Friedrich-Ebert-Foundation, in Berlin, Germany.

In his introductory comments, George Khoury mentioned that religions in general and Islam in particular are going to play an increasingly important role in world affairs in the 21st century. Progressive Muslims are trying to reconcile Islam with modernity and develop models for the future.

Christian Troll introduced Asghar Ali Engineer, from Mumbai, India, by saying that Engineer is an internationally-renown Muslim intellectual of libertarian and equalitarian theology, who has authored more than 40 books. Islam is more than mere performance of certain rituals, it is about fighting for justice and against oppression, exploitation, and injustice.

Asghar Engineer in BerlinAli Asghar Engineer stated that scripture is never revealed in a vacuum. It is always revealed in a historical context which can never be ignored. If you try to explain or understand texts without context, you always come to wrong conclusions. The Medina covenant was exceptionally revolutionary, and emphasized equality and justice between members of the same political community, regardless of their religion. Many Indian Muslim scholars opposed partition between India and Pakistan on this basis. There is concept of society in Qur'an but not of a state. Even in Medina, the prophet never set up structures of a state (army, police, administration, etc..), everything was voluntary and emphasis was on values. The prophet never inflicted any punishment for drinking. When Islam spread outside medina, it needed a state to enforce law and order. The concept of "Islamic state" came into existence after the death of prophet Muhammad.

Adl, Ihsan, Rahmat, and Hikmah are the main values for an Islamic society.

There cannot be genuine faith without freedom. Following "what I have inherited" is not real faith. To be a real Muslim, I must be free to understand my faith in my own way, depending on my own needs and conditions.

The theory for a state in Islam has always evolved and developed based on contexts and historical conditions. There can be a Muslim State, but not an Islamic state, because there is no model state in Islam, unless you have an administration-free state like the one we had at the time of Prophet Muhammad.

Radwan in BerlinNeed new and modern jurisprudence/Fiqh. Non-Muslims should have equal political rights and be able to contest elections, and hold offices based on qualifications not on their religion. Qur'an does take care and protect minority rights. Shariah laws were influenced by historical contexts, and were formulated by human beings based on their understanding of the Qur'an in their contextual pronouncements.

Secularism in Europe emerged as a fight against religion, but in India secularism was based on equal rights for all religions (co-existence). Nehru's definition of secularism as a state that does not have a religion.

We need a modern interpretation of Shariah. For example, in India - a Muslim can divorce his wife with just saying a few words -Talaq-Talaq-Talaq, and that's it. Shariah formulation is outdated. Religion is the same everywhere, but shariah is different because it has to take norms and cultures into consideration.

Some "Ulamas" in India defended "the right to beat our wives", when India tried to ban wife-beating. Is religion or culture part of the problem? There are always different versions of interpretations of religion (any religion). Which values to you emphasize and support over others? Seven main principles/values of religion; Truth, love, compassion, justice, peace, human dignity, and consciousness about others' suffering.

Qura'nic texts is ummutable, but our understanding of Qur'an can be different (tanzeel and taa'weel). There is a human-dimension (contextual situation) in the Qur'an - we must understand the concepts of asbaab al-nuzul and naskh.

More Information
ISLAMIC FEMINISM
Reclaiming My Religion

By Nadira Artyk | The International Herald Tribune

Nadira ArtykMy relationship with Islam has never been straightforward. I grew up in Soviet Uzbekistan, hearing my grandfather recite the Koran on a daily basis. Sometimes he would translate a few verses for us. I was drawn to the beauty of the prose. I sensed a strong connection and especially admired the values of social justice, equality and generosity of human spirit.

My return to Islam began four years ago when I started a blog for women in Uzbekistan. Together with a couple of girlfriends, we raised some highly contentious and even taboo issues - domestic violence, family vs. career, child abuse, divorce, virginity, sexuality. At one point, the blog was taken hostage by some Islamist men who left highly restrictive and extremely conservative views on every topic.

I then decided to educate myself on the original sources - the Koran and the Hadith (the sayings and deeds of the Prophet Muhammad). That's how I discovered progressive Islam and Islamic feminism. I came to understand that my faith had strong egalitarian messages within it; that the Koran and the Hadith, having been interpreted for 14 centuries by men, had layers of patriarchal bias stuck on them like layers of dust.

Fast forward to late October. I am attending the International Congress of Islamic Feminism in Barcelona, organized by the Islamic Council of Catalonia, and I hear stories of Muslim women from around the world who have faced similar challenges.

With the global rise of political Islam, the traditional messages of secular, Western-style feminism based on the concepts of democracy and human rights seem not to work any longer.

Feminists from Egypt, Indonesia, Pakistan, Morocco, Senegal and elsewhere confided that when they tried to educate women about their rights based on the Western human rights agenda, they were often regarded with suspicion and asked whether those principles were compatible with Islam. Women responded with far greater enthusiasm to arguments based on the Islamic teachings, to solutions to their social problems that originated from within their own faith.

Islamic feminism is a fledgling movement, but it is fast spreading its wings. Its aim is to recuperate the egalitarian voice of the Koran. Its main struggle is to uphold gender equality within families. That's where the Muslim feminists differ from classical feminists - they say a woman will only be capable of practicing all her rights in the public sphere if her rights within her family are respected.

Full Article
The Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding (ACMCU) would like to invite you to attend a book launch for:


Reformist Voices of Islam:
Mediating Islam and Modernity


Edited By Dr. Shireen Hunter

Book Cover - Reformist Voices of IslamTuesday, December 9th --- 12:00-2:00 pm
Lunch will be provided
ICC 270 - Georgetown University
Books will be available for purchase and signing
Please RSVP HERE by Friday, December 5th

Much has been written in the last two decades on a coming Clash of Civilizations between the West and the Muslim world. Yet a significant debate with far reaching implications for the Muslim world's future, notably the struggle within Islam itself, has received little attention. This intra-Muslim debate is between those who seek to adapt Islamic laws and principles to the requirements of today's Muslims and those who insist on retaining a rigid and literalist position. Reformist Voices of Islam: Mediating Islam and Modernity analyzes the views of today's key Muslim reformist thinkers on such issues as democracy, human rights, minority rights, and women. It also analyzes the reasons why so far reformists have failed to attract Muslim masses, and the internal and external factors which could help or hinder their future progress.

RSVP
American Council for the Study of Islamic Societies (ACSIS)
The 26th Annual Conference Call for Papers

ACSIS logo The American Council for the Study of Islamic Societies (ACSIS) invites papers by intending participants for presentation at its next annual Conference. The thematic subject of the Conference is: Fourteen Centuries of Islam's encounter with the West. The Conference will be held on April 24-25, 2009 at the Wesley Center/Art Gallery, 1210 Stanford Drive, The University of Miami (Coral Gables campus), FL 33124.

The recent tension between Islam and the West and the media coverage that this topic generated since the tragic events of September 11th presented Islam as a hostile force and a threat to Western interests. Moreover, the proliferation of literature regarding the imminent "Clash of Civilizations" in the academic community, and in speeches made by Western politicians during the last decade regarding the "Islamic menace" and the imperative of fighting terrorism conveyed the message that the Western encounter with Islam was merely negative throughout the centuries. The purpose of the conference is to provide a more balanced picture of this interaction in all its manifestations, both positive and negative.

Therefore, we invite proposals dealing with the following subtopics:

  1. Doctrinal and religious differences and their impact on the relations between Islam and the West
  2. Military encounters between Islam and the West throughout history
  3. Intellectual exchange between Islam and the West throughout history
  4. Crusades and holy wars and their impact on Muslim-Western relations
  5. The impact of Western colonial rule on Islam's relations with the West
  6. The impact of the World Wars on Islam's relations with the West
  7. The impact of the Cold War on Islam's relations with the West
  8. Nuclear proliferation and its impact on Islam's relations with the West
  9. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict and its impact on Muslim-Western relations
  10. The impact of the "Neo-Imperialism"on Islam's relations with the West.
Scholars from all disciplines of the humanities and social sciences are encouraged to submit proposals. Please send proposal abstracts (maximum 250 words) and contact information to Tariq Karim (atariq@gmail.com).

Deadline for submission of proposal abstracts is December 10, 2008. (Completed papers will be due March 1, 2009.)

Call for Papers
Islamic Democracy in the Maldives


By Jonathan Upton

Ahmed Shaheed PhotoDear Drs. Masmoudi and Afsaruddin:

I was grateful to be able to speak to the last CSID conference, last May, about the reform process in the Maldives. As you will recall my colleague, Dr. Ahmed Shaheed was unable to attend due to a family matter he had to attend to.

This small Islamic state has been on the long road to democratic reform for the last 4 years and has had significant obstacles to overcome on its journey, not least the obfuscation by powerful vested interests who have long controlled the levers of political and economic power.

The declaration on 29 October of pro-democracy campaigner and former Amnesty International prisoner of conscience, Mohamed Nasheed (Anni), with just over 54% of the vote, to serve as President following 30 years of rule by defeated incumbent Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, marks a turning point for this country. It holds out the potential for the emergence of a small, yet not insignificant, liberal Islamic democracy in the region.

The record turnout across the US for the Presidential election pales in comparison to the 86.58% of the eligible electorate who turned out in the Presidential run-off election on 28 October in the Maldives. The challenges still facing the Maldives and its people are many but all of the signs emanating from the country suggest that the roots of lasting democratic reform have been planted and embraced by the people of the Maldives.

It again demonstrates that there is no conflict between Islam and democracy and should thus be seriously celebrated as a beacon, when some other countries adjoining the Indian Ocean are viewed as "failed states".

I am pleased to report that Dr Shaheed was recently appointed by the President to resume the post of Foreign Minister.

I am also pleased that I and my colleagues have been able to support the work of NGO's such as Dr Shaheed's Open Society movement in the work that led to this successful democratic outcome. For the last couple of years, The Campaign Company (TCC) have been assisting fledgling NGOs and pro-democracy campaigners in the Maldives to highlight the need for democratic reform amongst their own people and bring international influence to bear on the Maldives Government.

The close attention of the international community were instrumental in keeping the reform programme on track and delivering free and fair elections. Attention was sustained because of the integrated campaign on the Islands and beyond it. This is a lesson for other countries making a similar transition towards democracy.

Whilst eyes may be diverted to change elsewhere in the world, there will be those in the international community who continue to monitor and support economic, political and civil developments in the Maldives and who will be especially keen to ensure that the lessons to be learned from the Presidential elections are taken on board by the new Maldives authorities before the Parliamentary elections scheduled for early next year.
Freedom Agenda In Flames
Will Mideast Reformers Have a Friend in Obama?

By Jackson Diehl | The Washington Post

Fire in al-Ghad's OfficeS
ome Europeans danced in the streets when Barack Obama won the U.S. presidential election. Kenya declared a national holiday. In Egypt the celebration was somewhat different: Government-controlled goons burned down the headquarters of the liberal democratic party that tried to embrace President Bush's "freedom agenda."

Two days after Obama's election, Nour's wife, Gameela Ismail, and other party leaders held a meeting. A party faction sponsored by the regime marched on the building in which they had gathered and -- as photographs posted on the Internet clearly show - used aerosol cans to set fire to it. Police, who stood by while the attack took place, later tried to blame Ismail and the other party leaders, who were nearly trapped by the blaze. Now these leaders may face criminal charges.

The episode is significant because it demonstrates a principal conclusion that Mubarak and other "pro-Western" autocrats seem to have drawn from Obama's election: that the threat of U.S. pressure for political liberalization has passed. Eighty-year-old Mubarak, who has not visited the United States since 2003 because of resentment toward Bush, is convinced that the next president won't pester him about human rights, reports the Egyptian press. After all, in his message to the world on election night, Obama said: "To those who seek peace and security, we support you." Peace and security, in exchange for autocracy, is the bargain Mubarak has always offered Washington.

Yet Obama may not find it so easy to put Arab democracy on a back burner. Whether or not he approves, a series of fateful elections is likely to be held in the Middle East over the next three years -- in Iraq, the Palestinian territories and -- yes -- Egypt. Iraq's provincial elections early next year will reshape Sunni and Shiite leadership and perhaps determine whether the political stability Obama needs to safely withdraw U.S. troops can be achieved. A Palestinian election due next year may settle whether Hamas or the moderate Mahmoud Abbas wins the ongoing Palestinian power struggle -- and whether the Obama administration can broker a Middle East peace settlement.

The question Obama will face is not whether elections will take place -- none of those scheduled could be canceled without violence. He will, instead, have to decide whether to insist that the votes be free and fair, and their results respected. In Egypt, that will bring him back to the case of Nour, who could be released from prison by July and who in a recent statement made clear that he intends to challenge the Mubaraks again. "I am now confident more than ever before about the fairness and legitimacy of this battle," Nour said. "The battle of the last presidential election . . . will not be the last round." The burning of his headquarters underlined the message for the next American president: This is a struggle in which he will be forced to take sides.

Full Article
IN FOCUS:
What Moderate Islamists Expect from Obama?

By Khalil Al-Anani

Muslims at Obama Rally

I believe that moderate Islamists want three key points from President-elect Obama. First, not to ignore the issue of backing democracy in the region, put pressure on Arab regimes for greater freedoms and push ahead with political reform. The democracy they want is not just a means to blackmail the Arab regimes as the Bush administration did, but rather a strategic interest for the United States.

Second, they don't want President-elect Obama to be afraid of them or consider them a threat to US interests in the region, but rather as an important partner. Therefore, some of them demand that Obama realizes that the protection of his country's interests will not be through the protection of authoritarian regimes, but through the protection of the reformists and facilitating their participation in the political process. Some of them argue that the current stability in the region is fake and that the region will explode socially and economically unless there is a real political change.

Third, moderate Islamists want President-elect Obama to put pressure on the Arab states to end the repression they have suffered over the past two years. President Bush gave the green light to these regimes to violate human rights and suppress political opposition as in the case with Egypt, Jordan, Morocco and Tunisia.

I do not think that the Obama administration will be very interested in communicating with moderate Islamists, and this will be a grave error. Unfortunately, it seems that not a lot of researchers and politicians in Washington are interested in the issue of supporting democracy in the Middle East and have doubts about possible communication with moderate Islamists, not because of fear of offending US friendly Arab regimes, but because of uncertainty in the political discourse of moderate Islamists and the extent of their commitment to the values of democracy.

But the question the Obama administration should consider thoroughly is: What are the results of the exclusion of moderate Islamists from the political scene? Who will pay the price? It will be a mistake for the Obama administration to believe that the protection of American national security will be through tolerating the suppression of moderate Islamists. On the contrary, it could lead to growing anger among young Islamists, pushing some of them to join violent groups that seek to avenge the United States and threaten its interests.

Khalil Al-Anani is an Egyptian expert on political Islam and democratization in the Middle East and is a senior fellow at Al-Ahram Foundation (kalanani@gmail.com)

Full Article
BROOKINGS EVENT:
The Doha Compact:
New Directions for the United States and Muslim World


Saadeddine Ibrahim photoFriday, December 12, 2008
11:00 am - 12:30 pm
The Brookings Institution, Falk Auditorium,
1775 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Washington, DC

Relations between the United States and the Muslim world have deteriorated markedly in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks. The reasons for this deterioration are deep-seated and complex, but both the United States and Muslim-majority states and communities have a profound interest in getting this important relationship right.

For the last five years, Brookings' Saban Center for Middle East Policy has hosted an annual U.S.-Islamic World Forum designed to build bridges of understanding. On December 12, the Center's Project on U.S. Relations with the Islamic World will host a discussion of The Doha Compact - New Directions: America and the Muslim World, a new report that encapsulates the ideas developed at the forum. Signed by 46 leaders from the United States and the Muslim World, the Doha Compact argues that the election of a new U.S. president presents a moment of great opportunity for the United States and Muslim leaders to recast their relations toward a partnership based on common interests and mutual respect.

Moderator: Jackson Diehl
Deputy Editorial Page Editor, The Washington Post

Panelists:
Stephen Grand
Fellow and Director, Project on U.S. Relations with the Islamic World

Saad Eddin Ibrahim
Chairman, Ibn Khaldun Center for Development Studies, Egypt

Ahmed Younis
Analyst, Gallup Center for Muslim Studies

To RSVP for this event, please call the Office of Communications at 202.797.6105 or click here.

Dear Members, Friends, and Supporters of CSID:

RENEW YOUR MEMBERSHIP OR DONATION TODAY

Please SUPPORT our work either by renewing your membership (by credit card or by check), or by making a tax-deductible donation of $50, $100, $500 or whatever you can afford. (donate online or by check).


Center for the Study of Islam & Democracy
Membership/Donation Form - 2009

Name: __________________________________________________________

Institution:_______________________________________________________

Address: ________________________________________________________

City_________________________State___________Zip _________________

Tel.:____________________________________________________________

Fax.:____________________________________________________________

E-mail:__________________________________________________________


I would like to join CSID as:

Student Member $20 Newsletter Subscription $20
Institutional Member $200 CSID 500 Club $500
Associate Member $50 Founding Member $1000
Member $100 Lifetime Member $2500
National Advisory Board $1,000
International Advisory Board $5,000

I would like to make a tax-deductible donation for: $__________

Please mail, along with payment, to:
CSID, 10612-D Providence Road, Suite 704, Charlotte, NC, 28277
To become a member of CSID, please click here.
To make a donation, please click here.

Your membership fees and donation allow CSID to continue its mission of promoting democracy in the Muslim world and educating Americans - and American policy makers - about Islam and the Muslim world, and therefore contribute to peace, human rights, and harmony in the world.

With our best wishes and regards,
Sincerely,
Radwan A. Masmoudi
President
Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy

French Muslim girls lose veil case in European court

Europe's human rights court today threw out a complaint by two French Muslim girls who were expelled from their school for refusing to remove their headscarves during sports lessons.

France, which takes secularism in state schools very seriously, passed a law in 2004 banning pupils from wearing conspicuous signs of their religion at school after a decade of bitter debate about Muslim girls wearing headscarves in class.

"The court observed that the purpose of the restriction on the applicants' right to manifest their religious convictions was to adhere to the requirements of secularism in state schools," the European Court of Human Rights said.

The two girls were 11 and 12 when they were expelled in 1999. After French courts ruled against them, they complained to the European court that their school had violated their freedom of religion and their right to an education.

The court, based in the eastern French city of Strasbourg, rejected both complaints by a unanimous ruling of seven judges.

It said the school had done its best to balance the interests of the girls with respect for France's secular model, and their expulsion was a consequence of their refusal to respect rules of which they had been properly informed.

It also said they had been able to continue their education by correspondence classes.

The French veil debate divided a nation torn between its deep attachment to secularism and the need to accommodate Europe's largest Muslim minority. It also raised questions about how the influence of Islam was changing Europe.

Reuters