Rethinking the relationship between religion, secularism and liberal democracy : toward a democratic theory for Muslim societies
01 Jan 2005-
About: The article was published on 2005-01-01 and is currently open access. It has received 20 citations till now. The article focuses on the topics: Secularism & Liberal democracy.
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Book•
19 Jul 2018
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that European Islam is possible, arguing that the contribution of European Islam has made to the formation of an innovative Islamic theology that is deeply ethicist and modern, and that this constructed European Islamic theology is able to contribute to the various debates that are related to secular-liberal democracies of Western Europe.
Abstract: Suspicions about the integration of Islam into European cultures have been steadily on the rise, and dramatically so since 9/11. One reason lies in the visibility of anti-Western Islamic discourses of salafi origin, which have monopolized the debate on the "true" Islam, not only among Muslims but also in the eyes of the general population across Europe; these discourses combined with Islamophobic discourses reinforce the so-called incompatibility between the West and Islam.
This book breaks away from this clash between Islam and the West, by arguing that European Islam is possible. It analyzes the contribution that European Islam has made to the formation of an innovative Islamic theology that is deeply ethicist and modern, and it clarifies how this constructed European Islamic theology is able to contribute to the various debates that are related to secular-liberal democracies of Western Europe. Part I introduces four major projects that defend the idea of European Islam from different disciplines and perspectives: politics, political theology, jurisprudence and philosophy. Part II uses the frameworks from three major philosophers and scholars to approach the idea of European Islam in the context of secular-liberal societies: British scholar George Hourani, Moroccan philosopher Taha Abderrahmane and the American philosopher John Rawls. The book shows that the ongoing efforts of European Muslim thinkers to revisit the concept of citizenship and political community can be seen as a new kind of political theology, in opposition to radical forms of Islamic thinking in some Muslim-majority countries.
Opening a new path for examining Islamic thought "in and of" Europe, this book will appeal to students and scholars of Islamic Studies, Islam in the West and Political Theology.
54 citations
DOI•
01 Jan 2017
TL;DR: In this paper, a comparative analysis of two similar cases with different outcomes: Turkey and Indonesia is presented, where the authors analyze specifically two cases and outcomes: the securitization (Buzan et al., 1998) of Kurds in Turkey and the autonomy of Acehnese in Indonesia, to understand what independent variables affect these different results.
Abstract: THE TREATMENT OF ETHNIC MINORITIES IN DEMOCRATIZING MUSLIM COUNTRIES: THE SECURITIZATION OF KURDS IN TURKEY VERSUS THE AUTONOMIZATION OF ACEHNESE IN INDONESIA Maurizio Geri Old Dominion University, 2017 Director: Dr. David Earnest Samuel Huntington, almost half century ago, explained how the state capacity is fundamental to guarantee order in societies in transition. Francis Fukuyama, recently, recuperated this concept arguing that a strong effective state is fundamental for stability of democratizing countries. But strong institutions are not enough to make democracy and political order compatible: institutions need to be also inclusive, to foster participation of all parts of society, including ethnic minorities. The main question this study wants to answer is: what factors explain the differences in how democratizing Muslim countries treat their ethnic minorities? Studies of social conflict or democratization in Muslim countries typically emphasize sectarian divisions but ignore ethnic differences. The research is a comparative analysis of two similar cases with different outcomes: Turkey and Indonesia. The focus of the study is to analyze specifically two cases and outcomes: the securitization (Buzan et. al., 1998) of Kurds in Turkey and the “autonomization” (Lijphart, 2004) of Acehnese in Indonesia, to understand what independent variables affect these different results. The cases chosen are the two most scholarly recognized democracies in the Muslim world. The hypotheses to test are four: the elites’ power interest, following the Rational Choice theory, the international factors, following the structural theories, the institutions and history of the state, following the Historical-Institutionalist theory, and finally the ontological security of the country, following the Critical theories. Also, by examining states with ethnic diversity but very little religious diversity, the research controls for the effect of religious conflict on minority inclusion, and so allow future generalization and comparison to minority inclusion in 1 Samuel P Huntington, Political order in changing societies (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1968). 2 Francis Fukuyama, Political order and political decay (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2014). 2 Francis Fukuyama, Political order and political decay (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2014). democratizing states that are not Muslim. The research design is based on the ‘most similar systems’ (Miller criteria) and on ‘process tracing’, to clarify the causal chain.
32 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors focus on the ideas of four leading Iranian religious scholars who advocate a secular-democratic conceptualisation of state authority and promote the principle of popular sovereignty based on Islamic sources and methods.
Abstract: Disputes over the outcome of the June 2009 presidential election in Iran rapidly developed into a contest about the legitimacy of the Islamic state. Far from being a dispute between religious and non-religious forces, the main protagonists in the conflict represented divergent articulations of state–religion relations within an Islamic context. In contrast to the authoritarian legitimisation of an Islamic state, the Islamic reformation discourse is based on secular-democratic articulations of state–religion relations. This article focuses on the ideas of four leading Iranian religious scholars who advocate a secular-democratic conceptualisation of state authority. Disputing the religious validity of divine sovereignty, they promote the principle of popular sovereignty based on Islamic sources and methods. This reformist conceptualisation is rooted in the notion that Islam and the secular-democratic state are complementary.
26 citations
Dissertation•
03 Jun 2013
TL;DR: Tariq Ramadan and Tareq Oubrou as discussed by the authors presented theologico-political justifications for European Islam and the Islamic Sources of Law: from Adaptation to Transformation.
Abstract: Bassam Tibi – Political Justifications for Euro-Islam. Islam’s Predicament with Modernity. Cultural Modernity for Religious Reform and Cultural Change: towards Euro –Islam. Tariq Ramadan – Theologico-Political Justifications for European Islam. Renewing the Islamic Sources of Law: from Adaptation to Transformation. European Islam within Radical Reform. Tareq Oubrou and Abdennour Bidar – Theologico-Philosophic Justifications for European Islam. Tareq Oubrou: Geotheology and the Minoriticization of Islam. Abdennour Bidar: from Self Islam to Overcoming Religion. European Islam in Context: Renewal for Perpetual Modernity. European Islam and the Islamic Tradition: Revisionist-Reformist. Conceptualizing the Idea of European Islam: Overcoming Classical.
24 citations