The Islam West Debate

In 2002, sixty prominent American intellectuals released an open letter defending the use of military force against al-Qa'ida, sparking an impassioned international debate unlike any other, in which jihadists, journalists, liberal Muslims, and German pacifists engaged one another on the most pressing issues of our time: terrorism, U.S. policy, and Islam-West relations. This volume chronicles that debate and includes contributions from both sides of the political spectrum in America and the Middle East-and even from al-Qa'ida.

Brings together prominent Muslim voices to debate the nature of moderate, as opposed to fundamentalist, Islam and what moderation means in both a theological and a geopolitical sense.

This book analyzes the development of Islam and Muslim communities in the West, including influences from abroad, relations with the state and society, and internal community dynamics. The project examines the emergence of Islam in the West in relation to the place of Muslim communities as part of the social fabric of Western societies. It provides an overview of the major issues and debates that have arisen over the last three to four decades surrounding the presence of new Muslim communities residing in Western liberal democracies. As such, the volume is an ideal text for courses focusing on Islam and Muslim communities in the West.

The interaction between the Muslim World and the West stretches back centuries and although the points of conflict are well known, the exchange of knowledge and cultural awareness cannot be under-estimated and their impact on both civilizations is palpable. Recent historical events have once again focused attention on perceived points of conflict and their associated negative connotations and the resultant criticisms and stereotypes of the West and Islam in general. By reaching back to the past we can sometimes find a way to pursue a more peaceful future, and past examples of cooperation and co-existence between the West and the Muslim World – if the historical context and perspective of these periods is taken into account – can offer a path to mutual understanding and respect. If we take the positive from the past and promote what we hold in common today, then the noise of extremism will always be held at bay. In order to examine these issues and provide an in-depth overview of the relationship between the West and the Muslim World, the Emirates Center for Strategic Studies and Research (ECSSR) held a Symposium under the title “Islam and the West: A Civilized Dialogue,” on May 16–17, 2011 in Abu Dhabi, hosting a group of distinguished experts from various academic, political and educational backgrounds in conjunction with the School of Policy and International Affairs at the University of Maine, United States. This book comprises a valuable collection of the papers presented at the Symposium. It identifies how relations between the West and the Muslim World have developed; where mutual interests meet and diverge; and prospects for peaceful co-existence. This book draws on the in-depth knowledge and varied opinions of its contributors who share a wealth of experience in all facets of inter-cultural awareness, European and Islamic history, contemporary international relations, media and education, and includes experts native to the Muslim World and the West as well as those who have chosen both regions as their adoptive homes.

Scholars from an extensive range of academic disciplines have focused on Islam in cyberspace and the media, but there are few historical studies that have outlined how Muslim 'ulama' have discussed and debated the introduction and impact of these new media. Muslims and the New Media explores how the introduction of the latest information and communication technologies are mirroring changes and developments within society, as well as the Middle East's relationship to the West. Examining how reformist and conservative Muslim 'ulama' have discussed the printing press, photography, the broadcasting media (radio and television), the cinema, the telephone and the Internet, case studies provide a contextual background to the historical, social and cultural situations that have influenced theological discussions; focusing on how the 'ulama' have debated the 'usefulness' or 'dangers' of the information and communication media. By including both historical and contemporary examples, this book exposes historical trajectories as well as different (and often contested) positions in the Islamic debate about the new media.

With resurgent interest in the Muslim world and in particular political Islam, this collection of translated essays by major Muslim thinkers from the Middle East and South Asia demonstrates the ongoing and contentious debate between modernizers seeking to adapt Western ways and fundamentalists who rejected them. From Jamal al-Din al-Afghani in the nineteenth-century to Ayatollah Khomeini in the twentieth, the selections provide an opportunity to examine a diversity of Muslim thinkers thoughts on important topics like jurisprudence, politics, relations with the west, and women in their own words.

Also available in paperback as "Modernist and Fundamentalist Debates in Islam"During the second half of the nineteenth century, a group of prominent Muslim theologians began to critically examine classical conceptions and methods of jurisprudence and devised a new approach to Islamic theology. This new approach was nothing short of an outright rebellion against Islamic orthodoxy, displaying an astonishing compatibility with nineteenth century Enlightenment-era thought. In the 20th century this modernist movement declined, to be replaced by another cultural episode, characterized by the growing power of Islamic fundamentalism. This volume looks at these two very different approaches to Islam. The editors have selected the most prominent Islamic thinkers of modernist and fundamentalist viewpoints, diverse nationalities, and from both the late decades of the nineteenth century and the early decades of the 20th century. The writers discuss their own views with regard to such issues as philosophical and political perceptions of democracy, the state, the history of Islam, women's rights, personal lifestyle, education, and the West.

The first volume in a new series of Easneye Lectures. A study of the relationship between the Muslim community and the West. Areas covered are: -- The idea of Islamic mission -- Conversion to Islam in the West -- Theological debate with Christianity -- Human Rights Issues -- Issues in Education -- Church -- State relationships

Tariq Ramadan attempts to demonstrate, using sources which draw upon Islamic thought and civilization, that Muslims can respond to contemporary challenges of modernity without betraying their identity. The book argues that Muslims, nurished by their own points of reference, can approach the modern epoch by adopting a specific social, political, and economic model that is linked to ethical values, a sense of finalities and spirituality. Rather than a modernism that tends to impose Westernization, it is a modernity that admits to the pluralism of civilizations, religions, and cultures. Table of Contents: Foreword Introduction History of a Concept The Lessons of History Part 1: At the shores of Transcendence: between God and Man Part 2: The Horizons of Islam: Between Man and the Community Part 3: Values and Finalities: The Cultural Dimension of the Civilizational Face to Face Conclusion Appendix Index Tariq Ramadan is a professor of Islamic Studies at the University of Oxford and a visiting professor in Identity and Citizenship at Erasmus University. He was named by TIME Magazine as one of the one hundred innovators of the twenty-first century