Reformism 116

“Islam, Empire, and the Left”.

Conversation with Tariq Ali (1). Institute of International Studies, UC Berkeley. 5/8/03 1-Background Tariq, welcome to Berkeley. Very nice to be here. Welcome back, I should say. Where were you born and raised? I was born in Lahore, long years ago in 1943, when it was still part of British India. When I was four years old, it became part of a new c […].

“The Political Imagination of Islam “.

Conversation with Olivier Roy (1). Institute of International Studies, UC Berkeley. 4/16/02 1-Background Olivier, welcome to Berkeley. Thank you. Where were you born and raised? I was born in La Rochelle in France, on the Atlantic coast, in ’49. Looking back, how do you think your parents shaped your character? Fortunately, my parents don’t unders […].

We Urgently Need Religious Reform

The moderate Islamic thinker Muhammad Shahrur’s contemporary interpretation of the Koran has attracted a lot of attention. In an interview with Ahmad Hissou, he calls for a religious reform of Islam, which he considers even more important than political reforms. Muhammad Shahrur, how has the Arab Islamic world changed in the three years since the terrori […].

“Islam and the West” .

1-Background Professor Esposito, welcome to Berkeley. Thank you. Thank you for having me. Where were you born and raised? I was raised in Brooklyn, New York. In looking back, how do you think your parents shaped your thinking about the world? My parents gave me an appreciation for education and a sense of being curious. They didn’t so much get me in […].

Farid Esack in conversation.

Farid Esack is a South African Muslim, a Koran scholar and a fascinating commentator on issues relating to politics, theology, reconciliation and gender justice. He visits Australia this week. Stephen Crittenden: This week a distinguished visitor has arrived in Australia from South Africa. Farid Esack is a Muslim scholar, a leading exponent of Koranic St […].

Islam et Occident.

Considéré comme le politologue américain le plus créatif de la génération des Kissinger, Samuel P. Huntington est ancien conseiller de Jimmy Carter, professeur émérite de relations internationales à Harvard et cofondateur de la revue Foreign Policy. Prophète du « choc des civilisations », il publie le 27 mai prochain un ouvrage qui fait déjà scan […].

Islam, modernité et laïcité.

Même dans les pays appartenant à la même culture et traversant les mêmes avatars de l’histoire comme les pays musulmans avec leur combat commun pour la rénovation religieuse et contre la colonisation européenne, les processus de modernisation ne sont pas les mêmes. Même dans les pays appartenant à la même culture et traversant les mêmes avatars de l’hist […].

The Contradictions of the Islamic World

Tariq Ramadan, controversial Professor of Islamic Studies at the University of Fribourg, argues that instead of blaming only the West, Muslims need to start to criticise themselves in order to strengthen their position. For almost a century the Arab world seems immobilised, rooted in its failures as much as in its divisions. No other region in the world […].

Globalisation and the Future of Islamic Civilisation

Let me begin with civilisation. A British philosopher, Bertrand Russel, once said ’civilisation was born out of the pursuit of luxury’. Because luxury was pursued you ended up with great works, music, the Palace of Versailles, the Taj Mahal etc. Then much closer to our times you had civilisation interpreted more in economic terms, and you had Adam Smith vi […].

Islam and liberal democracy

Of all the challenges facing democracy in the 1990s, one of the greatest lies in the Islamic world. Only a handful of the more than four dozen predominantly Muslim countries have made significant strides toward establishing democratic systems. Among this handful—including Albania,Bangladesh, Jordan, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Mali, Pakistan, and Turkey—not […].

Jihad International Inc

The violence of Islamism has emerged as a subject of anxious concern throughout the world, especially the Muslim world. In the United States, the Islamic resistance to Israel’s occupation of Lebanon, the West Bank, Gaza, and Golan and such incidents as the alleged plot to blow up the International Trade Center in New York City, have aided the media and oth […].

Emerging Civil Society in Iran

In recent years the issue of civil society has taken on new salience among students of international affairs. The emergence of civil society as a vehicle for democratization in Eastern Europe and Latin America has led to increasing scholarly attention to the role of non-state actors in promoting political and economic reform In recent years the issue of […].

Letter to a Young Muslim, by Tariq Ali

Dear friend Remember when you approached me after the big antiwar meeting in November 2001 (I think it was Glasgow) and asked whether I was a believer? Dear friend Remember when you approached me after the big antiwar meeting in November 2001 (I think it was Glasgow) and asked whether I was a believer? I have not forgotten the shock you registered when […].

Globalized Islam

In 2002, after years of work on political Islam, French scholar Olivier Roy published a major book on “globalized Islam” *. A revised and updated version of this work has now been published in English. According to Roy’s analysis, contemporary Islamic projects are becoming increasingly disconnected from a particular territory, partly as a consequence of […].

The experience and doctrine of love in Ibn Arabî

By God, I feel so much love that it seems as though the skies would be rent asunder, the stars fall and the mountains move away if I burdened them with it: such is my experience of love…” If I attributed this quotation to Rûmî or to Ruzbehân Baqlî, no one would be surprised: they are both unanimously acknowledged to be among the most illustrious represent […].