Inside the Jihad.

Interview with Ahmed Rashid. Few governments are as shrouded in secrecy as the ruling Taliban in Afghanistan. Ever since these mysterious bearded clerics emerged from obscurity in 1994 to overrun almost the entire country — imposing a radical version of Islamic law that forbids women from employment and education, bans entertainment such as card-pl […].

The Real Islam.

Conversation with Stephen Schwartz. In The Two Faces of Islam the journalist Stephen Schwartz argues that in order to appreciate the pluralist, tolerant side of Islam, we must confront its ugly, extremist side. In the mid-1700s a new strain of Muslim extremism began to flourish in a small village in the Arabian desert—a strain that would have a profound […].

Travel.

Interview with Abdolkarim Soroush. April 1997 – Following his return to UK from the United States and shortly before he left London for Tehran to end a twelve-month absence from the country, Dr Soroush spoke to SERAJ in an exclusive interview. Here is a summarised translation of this conversation. Dr. Soroush, over the last few months, you have travelle […].

“I Defend a Moderated Version of Socialism”.

nterview with Hashem Aghajari. Interviewer: Hamshahri (Persian Morning Daily) Sunday, May 12, 2002. Hamshahri: The left-wing of government has a heavy past which nobody has ever tried to deal with seriously, nor have the leftists been ready to defend the performance of their predecessors in a transparent manner or frankly. Many of the projects implement […].

A Generation in the Process of Development.

Summary: Ehsan Naraqi, the advisor to the former UNESCO director-general Federico Mayor, believes that although Iran has ranked second among the Muslim nations in terms of publication, it has hit the bottom of the list in terms of international recognition. It has led to American universities have dropped Iranology from their curriculum despite the West’s […].

Ethics and Ethical Critiques.

Interview with Abdolkarim Soroush. Q: Dr Soroush, you have been away from Iran for some time and we have been deprived. The fact of the matter is, when we look at your works over the past one or two years, we see a common denominator. Ethics of the Gods is a collection of your articles that was published in 2001. Articles such as “Civil Society, Ethical […].

Democracy and Rationality.

Interview with Abdolkarim Soroush. Q: Dr Soroush! I’d like us to discuss the question of rationality. Would you be so kind as to begin by pointing out the different interpretations that there are of rationality and also mentioning your own chosen interpretation, so that we can go on from there? A: Let me first say that I don’t know what you mean by reas […].

Tune into the “new conscience of Islam”.

Interview with Abdou Filali-Ansary. Interview by Sophie Boukhari, UNESCO Courier journalist. There is a reformist current in Islam, one that takes a critical approach to its origins. For Moroccan philosopher Abdou Filali-Ansary*, if Muslims had more room to freely debate issues, religion and politics might no longer be so closely entwined Since the 19th […].

Hilyatu al Abdal. De Ibn ’Arabi

La parure des Abdal, Par Ibn ’Arabi, Sheikh al Akbar Au nom d’Allah, le Tout Miséricordieux, le Très Miséricordieux ! Louange soit rendue à Allah pour ce qu’Il a inspiré et “parce qu’Il nous a enseigné ce que nous ne savions pas ! Il nous a accordé ainsi une faveur magnifique” ! (Coran, 4, 113) Et qu’Allah prie sur le Chef le plus auguste, le Prophète […].

Qisat al ghurba al gharbiya. S.Y. Sohrawardi

Le récit de l’exil occidental Sohrawardi, sheikh al Ishraq Prélude Lorsque j’eus pris connaissance du “Récit de Hayy ibn Yaqzân”, malgré les admirables sentences spirituelles et les suggestions profondes qu’il contient, je le trouvai dépourvu de mises en lumière relatives à l’expérience suprême qui est le Grand Ebranlement (Coran 79/34), gardé en trésor […].

الحرية.. تكليفات وليست حقوقا

الجماد لا يحرك نفسه، والنبات يحرك نفسه، ولكنه لا يعرف إلى أين، والحيوان يتحرك، ويعرف إلى أين يتحرك، ولكنه لا يعرف لماذا يتحرك، والإنسان هو الذي يعرف لماذا يتحرك، وما تأتى لـه ذلك إلا عن طريق الحرية، والإرادة المختارة التي تحدد لـه المسير، وتوضح لـه الاتجاه، وتكشف لـه علة اتخاذ هذا الاتجاه. إذا سلبت الإرادة الحرة المختارة من الإنسان نزل عن مرتبته، وانح […].

La théorie constitutionnelle dans la tradition sunnite

Le patrimoine juridique islamique doit être repensé, réécrit par les juristes des facultés de droit, en dehors de l’islamologie aussi bien que de l’enseignement d’autofondation qui remonte à la tradition kairouanaise (qui a essaimé dans tout le monde musulman). C’est ce que j’ai essayé de faire. J’ai déjà eu l’occasion, devant l’Académie internationale d […].

« La réforme a déjà eu lieu ». Mahmoud Azab.

Le savant égyptien montre comment le mouvement réformiste s’est scindé en deux, engendrant d’un côté une mouvance intégriste, tournée vers le passé, et de l’autre un réformisme moderne, inspiré des sciences de l’homme. Moderniste de formation classique, Mahmoud Azab est professeur d’hébreu à la grande université islamique al-Azhar, au Caire. Il a particu […].