One of the assumptions in the dialogue of the civilizations is accepting the variety of ideas and religions. The civilizations are based on different cultures and different cultures have been found on the basis of various schools of thought and religions. Dialogue of civilizations and cultures is not possible without freedom of religion and thought. Firs […].
The Call for Islamic Protestantism
Dr. Hashem Aghajari, a University of Hamedan history lecturer, journalist, and active member of the reformist Islamic Revolution’s Mujahideen Organization (IRMO), is a disabled veteran of the Iran-Iraq war. In June 2002, Aghajari delivered an address commemorating the 25th anniversary of the death of Dr. ’Ali Shari’ati, a prominent intellectual and one of […].
The Clash of civilizations.
This article does not argue that civilization identities will replace all other identities, that nation states will disappear, that each civilization will become a single coherent political entity, that groups within a civilization will not conflict with and even fight each other. THE NEXT PATTERN OF CONFLICT World politics is entering a new phase, and […].
Cultures in the 21st Century: Conflicts and Convergences.
Delivered at Colorado College February 4, 1999. Introduction I am greatly honored by and deeply grateful for the opportunity to address this important assembly concerned with the role of culture in the coming century. Let me begin by congratulating Dean Fuller, Professor Carter, and their associates on two points. First, I congratulate them on the 125th […].
Global Crisis
A SMALL news item reported that Prince Walid Ibn Talal of Saudi Arabia had donated $10m to the American University of Cairo to establish a centre of American studies. The young billionaire had offered an unsolicited $10m to New York City soon after 11 September 2001, with a letter that described the gift as a tribute to New York and suggested that the Uni […].
Islamic Civil Society.
We can certainly move the present as well as the future generation towards the new Islamic civilization through setting our eyes on horizons farther away, being together with understanding and helping each other as brothers. For this to become a reality, all of us must dedicate ourselves to the realization of the “Islamic civil society in our respective co […].
Malaise social, islamisme et replis identitaires dans le monde arabe.
Avec l’échec des idéologies du nationalisme et du panarabisme, et l’avortement des tentatives de modernisation par le haut, les années 80 ont été marquées par la montée en puissance de l’islamisme dans la plupart des pays arabes. Avec l’échec des idéologies du nationalisme et du panarabisme, et l’avortement des tentatives de modernisation par le haut, le […].
The Rise and Fall of Political Islam
Porsesh : What is your interpretation of concepts such as Islamic fundamentalism and political Islam ? What is the difference between the two ? Mansoor Hekmat : I do not use the expression Islamic fundamentalism because I believe it is a calculated Right wing interpretation, which deliberately presents a misleading image of contemporary Islam and Islamic […].
Fundamentalism and Modernism in the Contemporary Iranian Islam
Summary: `Islamic fundamentalism’ and `Islamic modernism’ are questions that Hojjatoleslam Hassan Yousefi Eshkevari has discussed in a lecture delivered at the University of Sorbonne in France in February 26, 1997. Text: In this article we will try to answer the following questions: a. What is Islamic fundamentalism? b. What is Islamic modernism? c. Wh […].
Contraction and Expansion of Women’s Rights
Q. New religious thinking in our society has remained consistently silent on women’s issues. There may be a number of reasons for this silence : it may be that some of the thinkers involved feel that there’s no such thing as women-specific issues ; or that women’s problems will be solved when the fundamental problems of society are solved and that the more […].
Islamists in Postmodern Times
Why are the postmodern times in which we are living important and what isso different about them. In general, every generation that lives assumes itis unique and is different from the generation that came before it. So ifwe are going to claim that we are living in a time which is different fromother times we have to justify that to some extent. Why are t […].
The democrat [Abdolkarim Soroush].
IF IRAN’S DEMOCRATIC REFORM movement has a house intellectual, it’s Abdolkarim Soroush. IF IRAN’S DEMOCRATIC REFORM movement has a house intellectual, it’s Abdolkarim Soroush. A small, soft-spoken philosopher with fiercely expressive eyebrows, Soroush specializes in mysticism, Sufi poetry, Islamic theology, chemistry, pharmacology, and the philosophy of […].
Abdolkarim Soroush and Islamic liberation theology.
Abdolkarim Soroush has emerged as the foremost Iranian and Islamic political philosopher and theologian. His sprawling intellectual project, aimed at reconciling reason and faith, spiritual authority and political liberty, ranges authoritatively over comparative religion, social science, and theology. However, it is only by understanding the local context […].
Islam Through Western Eyes
The media have become obsessed with something called “Islam,” which in their voguish lexicon has acquired only two meanings, both of them unacceptable and impoverishing. The media have become obsessed with something called “Islam,” which in their voguish lexicon has acquired only two meanings, both of them unacceptable and impoverishing. On the one hand, […].
Reason and revelation.
“Reason defines truth, justice, public interest, and humanity”. From chapter entitled “The Idea of Democratic Religious Government” in Reason, Freedom and Democracy in Islam: Essential Writings of Abdolkarim Soroush (Oxford University Press, 2000), edited by Mahmoud Sadri and Ahmad Sadri. Also see editors’ introduction. Modern science explains the world […].
Islamic Democracy and Islamic Governance.
A summary of remarks by Abdolkarim Soroush and Charles Butterworth at The Middle East Institute, November 21, 2000 On November 21, MEI gathered two scholars, the Iranian thinker Abdolkarim Soroush, visiting professor at Harvard University, and Charles Butterworth, Professor of Political Science at the University of Maryland, for a discussion on “Islamic […].
Types of Religiosity.
Identical words often misinform Believer and unbeliever seem identical in form Take words alone and many a feud follows Once meaning enters, calm follows Errors of judgement often arise from the fact that a single term can carry multiple meanings or a single meaning can go under different names. Reaching uniform judgements about those multiple meaning […].
Europe versus America.
Although I have visited England dozens of times, I have never spent more than one or two weeks at a single stretch. This year, for the first time, I am in residence for almost two months at Cambridge University, where I am the guest of a college and giving a series of lectures on humanism at the university. Although I have visited England dozens of times […].
