THE CENTER FOR ISLAM, DEMOCRACY AND THE FUTURE OF THE MUSLIM WORLD,in conjunction with
THE LEFRAK FORUM/SYMPOSIUM ON SCIENCE, REASON AND MODERN DEMOCRACY,
cordially invites you to a major three-day conference entitled:
"Beyond Radical Islam?"
Session 5: Cultivating a Liberal Islamic Ethos
What Islamic institutions would support a liberal democratic ethos in the Muslim world? What habits and practices, modes of scriptural interpretation, and attitudes are best suited for Muslims to embrace and engage more fully in the public life of liberal democracies? What are the sources of citizenship, social and economic entrepreneurship, and civility and tolerance within Islamic tradition? How can the development of such practices and sentiments be encouraged and supported? How might orthodox Muslim piety and modern life come to coexist in Islamic thought and practice?
THIS SESSION IS CHAIRED BY:
M. Richard Zinman
Mr. Zinman is University Distinguished Professor, James Madison College, and Executive Director, LeFrak Symposium, Michigan State University.PAPER IS PROVIDED BY:
Sohail Hashmi
An associate professor of international relations at Mt. Holyoke College, his doctoral work focused on contemporary Islamic discourse on just war and peace. Dr. Hashmi's teaching and research interests lie at the intersection of Western and Islamic political and moral philosophy as they relate to normative issues in comparative and international politics. Professor Hashmi has published on such topics as sovereignty, humanitarian intervention, international society, and the theory of jihad.RESPONSES ARE PROVIDED BY:
Qamar-ul Huda
An assistant professor of Islamic studies and comparative theology at Boston College, Mr. Huda writes about medieval Islamic texts and mystical Sufi treatises. A scholar of Islamic thought and history, he is the author of Striving for Divine Union: Spiritual Exercises for Suhraward Sufis, and is presently writing Sufi commentaries on the Qur'an and on contemporary issues of violence, religion, and Islamic moral philosophy. Professor Huda is also editor of Sufi Illuminations, a journal dedicated to the study of Islam and Sufism,and serves as advisor to the Archdiocese of Boston and the Islamic Council of New England Christian-Muslim Dialogue.Nathan Tarcov
A professor in the Committee on Social Thought and director of Olin Center for Inquiry into the Theory and Practice of Democracy at the University of Chicago, Dr. Tarcov has served on the Policy Planning Staff of the US Department of State. He is the author of Locke's Education for Liberty and of many articles on the origins, development, and nature of liberalism. He is also editor of Locke's Some Thoughts Concerning Education and Meanings of Revolution.A PDF version of the transcript is available here.
Support for this conference has been provided by James Madison College and the Center for European and Russian Studies at Michigan State University.
