Reason Freedom Democracy In Islam

Soroush and his contemporaries in other Moslem countries are shaping what may become Islam's equivalent of the Christian Reformation: a period of questioning traditional practices and beliefs and, ultimately, of upheaval.".

Abdolkarim Soroush has emerged as one of the leading moderate revisionist thinkers of the Muslim world. He and his contemporaries in other Muslim countries are shaping what may become Islam's equivalent of the Christian Reformation: a period of questioning traditional practices and beliefs and, ultimately, of upheaval. Presenting eleven of his essays, this volume makes Soroush's thought readily available in English for the first time. The essays set forth his views on such matters as the freedom of Muslims to interpret the Qur'an, the inevitability of change in religion, the necessity of freedom of belief, and the compatibility of Islam and democracy. Throughout, Soroush emphasizes the rights of individuals in their relationship with both government and God, explaining that the ideal Islamic state can only be defined by the beliefs and will of the majority.

Challenging the view of Islamic extremists and critics of Islam, this book explores the very topical issue of Islam’s compatibility with democracy. It examines: principles of Islam's political theory and the notion of democracy therein the notion of democracy in medieval and modern Muslim thought Islam and human rights the contribution of Islamic legal ideas to European legal philosophy and law. The book addresses the pressing need for a systematic show of an Islamic politics of human rights and democracy grounded in the Qur’an. The West wonders about Islam and human rights, and its own ability to incorporate Muslim minority communities. Many Muslims also seek to find within Islam support source for democratic governance and human rights.

Many Muslim intellectuals and political activists have begun to move beyond classical political Islam to embrace a more pluralistic, democratic order by developing the concept of "Muslim democracy." Perhaps the most prominent example is the Tunisian Ennahda Party, which declared itself to no longer be "Islamist" but a "Muslim Democratic" party in 2016. While there has been some scholarship on the phenomenon of "Muslim democracy," this book represents the first volume in English to offer a translation of primary source texts elaborating its ideological contours. The head of the Ennahda Party, and an internationally prominent Muslim political thinker and intellectual, Rached Ghannouchi is known around the world as the preeminent theorist of a reconciliation between modern Islamic political thought and democratic theory. On Muslim Democracy gathers a number of Ghannouchi's most important essays, making them available in English for the first time. The book also includes a lengthy philosophical-theological dialogue between Ghannouchi and American political theorist Andrew March. In the dialogues, March and Ghannouchi discuss the influences on and evolution of Ghannouchi's thought, and the meaning of concepts like democracy, pluralism, justice, and law across Islamic and Western philosophical traditions. This volume presents a well-rounded view into the influential work of Rached Ghannouchi, further supported by previously unpublished, illuminating conversations on critical topics in Muslim politics.

Forfattere: Khaled Abou El Fadl. Nader A. Hashemi. Jeremy Waldron. Noah Feldman. M.A. Muqtedar Khan. A. Kevin Reinhart. Saba Mahmood. Bernard Haykel. Mohammad H. Fadel. David Novak. John L. Esposito. William B. Quandt.

The events of September 11 and the subsequent war on terrorism have provoked widespread discussion about the possibility of democracy in the Islamic world. Such topics as the meaning of jihad, the role of clerics as authoritative interpreters, and the place of human rights and toleration in Islam have become subjects of urgent public debate around the world. With few exceptions, however, this debate has proceeded in isolation from the vibrant traditions of argument within Islamic theology, philosophy, and law. Islam and the Challenge of Democracy aims to correct this deficiency. The book engages the reader in a rich discourse on the challenges of democracy in contemporary Islam. The collection begins with a lead essay by Khaled Abou El Fadl, who argues that democracy, especially a constitutional democracy that protects basic individual rights, is the form of government best suited to promoting a set of social and political values central to Islam. Because Islam is about submission to God and about each individual's responsibility to serve as His agent on Earth, Abou El Fadl argues, there is no place for the subjugation to human authority demanded by authoritarian regimes. The lead essay is followed by eleven others from internationally respected specialists in democracy and religion. They address, challenge, and engage Abou El Fadl's work. The contributors include John Esposito, Muhammad Fadel, Noah Feldman, Nader Hashemi, Bernard Haykel, Muqtedar Khan, Saba Mahmood, David Novak, William Quandt, Kevin Reinhart, and Jeremy Waldron.

Are Islam and democracy on a collision course? Do Islamic movements seek to "hijack democracy?" How have governments in the Muslim world responded to the many challenges of Islam and democracy today? A global religious resurgence and calls for greater political participation have been major forces in the post-Cold War period. Across the Muslim world, governments and Islamic movements grapple with issues of democratization and civil society. Islam and Democracy explores the Islamic sources (beliefs and institutions) relevant to the current debate over greater political participation and democratization. Esposito and Voll use six case studies--Algeria, Egypt, Iran, Malaysia, Pakistan, and Sudan--to look at the diversity of Muslim experiences and experiments. At one end of the spectrum, Iran and Sudan represent two cases of militant, revolutionary Islam establishing political systems. In Pakistan and Malaysia, however, the new movements have been recognized and made part of the political process. Egypt and Algeria reveal the coexistence of both extremist and moderate Islamic activism and demonstrate the complex challenges confronting ruling elites. These case studies prove that despite commonalities, differing national contexts and identities give rise to a multiplicity of agendas and strategies. This broad spectrum of case studies, reflecting the multifaceted relationship of Islam and Democracy, provides important insight into the powerful forces of religious resurgence and democratization which will inevitably impact global politics in the twenty first century.

Available now for the first time in English, the most important work of one of the great moderate political leaders of the Muslim world Rached Ghannouchi has long been known as a reformist or moderate Islamist thinker. In Public Freedoms in the Islamic State, his most influential book, he argues that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights—in its broad outlines—should be widely accepted by Muslims under the correct interpretation of Islamic law and theology. Under his theory of the purposes of Shari‘a, justice and human welfare are not exclusive to Islamic governance, and the objectives of Islamic law can be advanced in multiple ways. Appearing in English translation here for the first time, this book is a major statement by one of the most important political theorists in the modern Middle East.