May  06 Newsletter

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       ICDS Hosts Workshop on Islamic Reformation
Mohamed Abdel Aziz

In his book “What Went Wrong?”, Bernard Lewis observed that Muslims are questioning the reasons behind their perceived incessant weakness. A common question seems to be “who did this to us?” – a question whose answer is commonly found in Arab conspiracy theories. The second and more pertinent question of course is “how do we put it right?”  The answer to this latter question involves not only thinking long and hard about the appropriate course of action to be taken to bring about a solution to the problems currently facing the Muslim world, but first facing squarely  some hard truths about the defeats and deficiencies in Muslim societies.  Accordingly the Islamic Reformation workshop, organized by the Ibn Khaldun Center for Development Studies in co-operation with the Canadian Embassy in Egypt, held on May 17th, sought to identify practical answers to this question. 

            The workshop first focused on discussing the parameters of reform within Islam, seeking to identify how Muslims can reconcile the apparent conflict between verses of the Qur’an.  Most participants at the workshops emphasized the necessity of reframing a new intellectual Islamic context “in line with the inescapable transformation taking place in Muslim’s societal lives. Additionally, participants stressed the importance of implementing a radical revision of the Islamic heritage including the Sunna of the prophet, from which Islamic Jurisprudence was developed during the first three centuries of Islam.  It was generally agreed that the best definition of Jihad is the process of exerting many efforts to bring about better life for all Muslims and attain scientific developments. When discussion moved to the issue of minorities, most of the participants called on the United Nations and other international institutions to perform their duties and put an end to the culture of hatred that is highly intolerant to the “other.” Without a single dissenting note, the participants called for the liberation of women through amending the current laws and regulations that discriminate against them and through the promotion of the culture of tolerance to women whose role is indispensable to development.

            The second session of the conference was entitled “Islamists vs. secular parties in the Arab World.” Both the Jordanian and the Moroccan party experiments were discussed in detail. In this context, restrictions imposed on the formation and the activities of political parties –  specifically the secular ones –  were discussed. Most of the participants agreed to the necessity of removing all the laws and practices that stand as obstacles to the operation and the effectiveness of political parties.

            The third session focused on Democracy and the limits of liberalism within an Islamic Context. In these sessions the majority of the participants emphasized that democracy was the best rule that guarantees peoples’ rights and freedom. In this regard, the participants concurred that the separation of religion and politics is paramount to achieve such rights and freedoms. Other views maintained that Islam did not in anyway contradict the universal liberal values of democracy.  The participants forwarding these ideas sought to detach themselves from the  fundamentalists, whom they believe are responsible for the persistent deterioration that the Islamic world has been suffering. Originally, Islam includes many sanctions that promote respect of human rights and freedom to shift from one religion to another without any kind of restrictions.

            Finally, the fourth session focused on the potential for participation of Islamist groups within democratic systems. In this regard, the participants were divided into two opposing modes of thought: those who support the inclusion of the Muslim Brotherhood into the political arena and the those who rejected such involvement. Proponents of inclusion supported conveyed their belief that nobody was born either democratic or non-democratic, emphasizing that the evolution of thought was possible. Hence it was suggested that encouraging the MB to participate would actually motivate them to revisit their anti-democratic literature and accept democracy as a strategic alternative. However, those who rejected the inclusion of the MB into the political life maintained that their coming to power would be marked with the abrogation of all democratic aspects and practices that people seek to attain.