L’opinion courante, aussi bien chez le public non averti que dans une certaine littérature, soutient que l’islam ne connaît pas de distinction entre le temporel et le spirituel, entre l’Etat et la religion. D’aucuns affirment cette confusion en se livrant à une lecture de l’histoire islamique, d’autres en se basant sur l’autorité des textes et en particuli […].
Islam 613
Sécularisation, Démocratisation et Monde musulman : Processus de changement
L’AFEMOTI a organisé les 25-26 novembre 2002, en collaboration avec l’Institut norvégien des relations internationales, et l’UNESCO dans le cadre du programme de ce dernier concernant “Gestion des transformations sociales” (MOST), un colloque international sur « Sécularisation, Démocratisation et Monde musulman : Processus de changement ». Un poi […].
Expérience et doctrine de l’amour chez Ibn Arabî.
“Par Dieu, j’éprouve de l’amour à un point tel que, me semble-t-il, les cieux se disloqueraient, les étoiles s’affaisseraient, les montagnes s’ébranleraient si je leur en confiais la charge [1] : telle est mon expérience de l’amour…” Par Dieu, j’éprouve de l’amour à un point tel que, me semble-t-il, les cieux se disloqueraient, les étoiles s’affaissera […].
The Contradictions of the Islamic World
Tariq Ramadan, controversial Professor of Islamic Studies at the University of Fribourg, argues that instead of blaming only the West, Muslims need to start to criticise themselves in order to strengthen their position. For almost a century the Arab world seems immobilised, rooted in its failures as much as in its divisions. No other region in the world […].
Social, Religious & Political Dimensions of Prejudice: Reflections of a Muslim (II)
Who am I? Where do I come from? In two sentences, I am a South African Muslim male from an impoverished working class background who was reared in a gang-infested area by a single parent. Many of our neighbours were Christians and the debt collectors – of which there were always many – were invariably Jewish. Abstract The encounter of East and West has […].
An Introduction to the Public & Private Debate in the Islamic Culture
Religion, in particular among the cultural components, is one of the most influential factors in determining the extent of public and private spheres. Religions descending from Abraham (i.e. Judaism, Christianity and Islam) give rise to the human identity, through emphasis on the private life of the individual. What is the extent of privacy in the Islamic […].
Globalisation and the Future of Islamic Civilisation
Let me begin with civilisation. A British philosopher, Bertrand Russel, once said ’civilisation was born out of the pursuit of luxury’. Because luxury was pursued you ended up with great works, music, the Palace of Versailles, the Taj Mahal etc. Then much closer to our times you had civilisation interpreted more in economic terms, and you had Adam Smith vi […].
Islam and liberal democracy
Of all the challenges facing democracy in the 1990s, one of the greatest lies in the Islamic world. Only a handful of the more than four dozen predominantly Muslim countries have made significant strides toward establishing democratic systems. Among this handful—including Albania,Bangladesh, Jordan, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Mali, Pakistan, and Turkey—not […].
Jihad International Inc
The violence of Islamism has emerged as a subject of anxious concern throughout the world, especially the Muslim world. In the United States, the Islamic resistance to Israel’s occupation of Lebanon, the West Bank, Gaza, and Golan and such incidents as the alleged plot to blow up the International Trade Center in New York City, have aided the media and oth […].
Emerging Civil Society in Iran
In recent years the issue of civil society has taken on new salience among students of international affairs. The emergence of civil society as a vehicle for democratization in Eastern Europe and Latin America has led to increasing scholarly attention to the role of non-state actors in promoting political and economic reform In recent years the issue of […].
Letter to a Young Muslim, by Tariq Ali
Dear friend Remember when you approached me after the big antiwar meeting in November 2001 (I think it was Glasgow) and asked whether I was a believer? Dear friend Remember when you approached me after the big antiwar meeting in November 2001 (I think it was Glasgow) and asked whether I was a believer? I have not forgotten the shock you registered when […].
الأصولية.. محاولة للفهم والتفسير
الإسلام ليس مجرد نص جامد معلق في السماء، وحين تتم قراءة إفرازاته إنما تتم مقاربته بوصفه ظاهرة تاريخية منبثقة عن جدل النص مع الواقع من خلال حركة العقل البشري بالرغم من الجدل الذي يقوم حول دلالة مصطلح “الأصولية” ونشأته، وما يستتبع ذلك من أسئلة وإشكالات لعل أبرزها تلك الدراسات التي تحاول حصر “الأصولية” في الإسلام، واعتبارها صفة جوهرية له للقول: إنه بطب […].
Globalized Islam
In 2002, after years of work on political Islam, French scholar Olivier Roy published a major book on “globalized Islam” *. A revised and updated version of this work has now been published in English. According to Roy’s analysis, contemporary Islamic projects are becoming increasingly disconnected from a particular territory, partly as a consequence of […].
Le Vaisseau de pierre. Claude Addas
Ces dernières décennies ont vu la multiplication des publications sur Ibn Arabî et son école [1] : traductions et essais se succèdent à une cadence accélérée et la doctrine d’Ibn Arabî est commentée, analysée, disséquée, avec plus ou moins de bonheur selon les cas. Ces dernières décennies ont vu la multiplication des publications sur Ibn Arabî et son éco […].
La pensée exégétique de Muhammad Khalafallah.
Est il besoin d’une nouvelle approche herméneutique du Coran ? Pour pouvoir entrer réellement dans la modernité, le monde musulman doit-il réfléchir à une nouvelle conception de la révélation coranique ? Afin de sortir d’une accablante torpeur et d’un immobilisme stérile qui marquent les sociétés islamiques, pour retrouver une réelle vitalité, la “praxis” […].
The experience and doctrine of love in Ibn Arabî
By God, I feel so much love that it seems as though the skies would be rent asunder, the stars fall and the mountains move away if I burdened them with it: such is my experience of love…” If I attributed this quotation to Rûmî or to Ruzbehân Baqlî, no one would be surprised: they are both unanimously acknowledged to be among the most illustrious represent […].
Whither Political Islam?
Thinking of modern jihad as simply a cultural extension of Islam is a common, and unfortunate, mistake. Two new books by Gilles Kepel and Olivier Roy offer better historical and sociological explanations, but they are only a start. The War for Muslim Minds: Islam and the West. By Gilles Kepel. Cambridge: Belknap, 2004, 336 pp. $23.95. Globalized Islam: […].
Beyond Jihad Vs. McWorld
The terrorist attacks of September 11 did without a doubt change the world forever, but they failed to change the ideological viewpoint of either the left or the right in any significant way. The terrorist attacks of September 11 did without a doubt change the world forever, but they failed to change the ideological viewpoint of either the left or the ri […].