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Helsinki Policy Forum Discussion Papers Religious Literacy, Foreign Helsinki Policy Forum Discussion Papers Religious Literacy, Foreign Policy & Diplomacy September 2016 FORWARD THINKING FORWARD THINKING Contents Foreword by Religion and the state in the Lord Hylton Arab world by Faisal Abual- 03 Hassan 25 Religious Literacy, Religious Literacy in a political Foreign Policy and context by Hassan Annabi 04 Diplomacy 29 Summary of themes raised The challenges of religious in Helsinki Policy Forum illiteracy and radicalism by 06 Meetings Dr Ahmad Iravani 32 Recommendations Religious Literacy in an International context by Peter 09 Weiderud 37 Religious Literacy and Policy Violence in the Name of 11 Making by Faruk Loğoğlu Religion, by Oliver McTernan 39 The Importance of Biographies Terminology by Hamadi 13 Jebali 43 Religious Literacy and Islam The Helsinki Policy Forum in the Middle East by 20 Dr Abd El-Monem Abo 46 El-Fotouh This report is a collection of essays from different authors and does not necessarily represent the formal position of any participating organisation or government in the Helsinki Policy Forum. Any errors contained in the report are the responsibility of authors alone. FORWARD THINKING FORWARD THINKING Foreword By Lord Hylton he Helsinki Policy Forum has done a service There is the deeper level of dialogue between religious by gathering Discussion Papers from a wide and secular perspectives. For this to be successful, range of contributors covering the Middle it is desirable that the participants come as close TEast and North Africa, together with views from as possible to understanding the faith of the other, Europe and USA. as well as he or she understands it for themselves. This may sound like a counsel of perfection, but it It can no longer be assumed that religions don’t should still be the aim. matter, because they will wither away under the impact of modern scientific thought. On the other At all levels religious literacy cannot be ignored, hand, it is mistaken to treat them as the root of all because it is a powerful tool for understanding evil. We should, I suggest, recognize that faiths behaviour and guiding practical and sensitive policies. do influence behaviour, sometimes positively and sometimes harmfully. It is important also to be aware Lord Hylton is a Member of the House of Lords and of the interaction between religious faith and social is a trustee of Forward Thinking. factors, such as poverty and unemployment. These often deny young people all prospect of a reasonable career and the chance to marry and raise a family. When humiliation and oppression aggravate existing grievances, the result can be explosive, leading sometimes to whole society uprisings and sometimes to acts of individual violence. Lord Hylton Religion is closely linked with personal and group identity. Those whose identity is denied or suppressed will often grasp any available identity, even if they are not normally strongly religious. Equally, those who do believe, may well derive strength from their faith to resist their enemies and oppressors. It seems that religious literacy is needed on at least two levels. People active in the public and international sphere need basic knowledge of what the various faiths teach and what are the sensitivities of their adherents. Attitudes can, of course, vary widely from the tolerant cultural believers to the ultra-conservative, literal and zealot types. HELSINKI POLICY FORUM - DISCUSSION PAPER | 3 FORWARD THINKING FORWARD THINKING Religous Literacy, Foreign Policy and Diplomacy By Forward Thinking Background The risk is that this process has created a form of de-intellectualisation that has removed the wider There is an increasing view that, in today’s modern historical context into which the notion of secularism world, religious literacy is an important skill for was born. policy-makers, supporting their ability to engage with difficult and complex challenges. For many people Addressing the challenge across the world, religious and spiritual values inform the living of their daily lives. However, political and Religious illiteracy can also exist in religious institutions social sciences – the intellectual backdrop to western themselves. There is the notion of what could be diplomacy – have often been accused of ignoring the termed a ‘two book preacher’ or a ‘two book imam’ religious dimension in their approach and analysis – an individual who assumes religious literacy having of political challenges, or misrepresented it, only read two books about the religion, and then tries to addressing issues with a religious element through assert themselves as an authority within the faith. a security prism. Policy makers would benefit from the religious literacy skills to differentiate between such individuals and In order to explore a new framework that would other religious leaders, or between cultural and accommodate religious perspectives and increase religious norms. religious literacy amongst policy-makers, it is worth questioning (what to some might be) received wisdom. One of the mistaken approaches towards addressing Arguably, the notion of secularism was initially as the challenge of how to increase religious literacy a market place that created space for freedom of amongst policy-makers has focused on the idea that expression and competition of ideas, religious and what needs to be done is to teach the religion, for non-religious. example Islam. To many, it was a mechanism for diffusing tensions, This becomes a process of the translation of a series of rather than confronting religion. However, over time facts, rather than understanding. The key question is the notion of ‘secularist’ developed, and influenced whether a series of tools can be identified that could by Marxist ideas about religion. Whereas the idea of be recommended to policy-makers to increase their ‘secular’ provides space, ‘secularist’ carries notions understanding of religion(s), religious communities, of exclusion. Such conceptions of secularism became and ultimately provide them with a degree of religious rooted in social sciences. literacy that can inform policy-making and react to events as they unfold. “Religious literacy is an important skill for policymakers, supporting their ability to engage with difficult and complex challenges" 4 | HELSINKI POLICY FORUM - DISCUSSION PAPER FORWARD THINKING FORWARD THINKING Source: Hieu Le, 2015. CC0 Public Licence There are many instances one could point to, to By sharing this paper, the aim is to draw out the unique highlight the importance of religious literacy for experience, insight and expertise of participants policy-makers. Perhaps none is more timely, than in the Helsinki Policy Forum. Participation in the the challenge of understanding the rapid growth of Helsinki Policy Forum comes from across Europe, the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq (ISIS/ISIL/Da’esh); the Middle East, North Africa and the Gulf, and from its appeal to its supporters and potential supporters; across the political spectrum. It aims to cast new its relation to Islam and other political movements light on developing a deeper understanding of the that reference Islam; and what measures and policies issues through sharing insights, and to probe at our could be adopted that would be most effective at collective knowledge through drawing on learning addressing the challenges it poses. from others. The current phenomenon of ISIS poses all sorts of This paper contains a number of contributions, made challenges to policy-makers. There is a lack of clarity by a wide range of individuals, each with a unique in the public domain as to the relationship between understanding of the current situation. Each has shared ISIS and Islam, those who support ISIS and Muslims their own thoughts, reflected on the experience of and Muslim communities. their society, as well as furthering the debate by questioning some well found assumptions. It is generally recognised that the majority of Muslims do not adhere to or share the same values, goals or It is our hope that through this, policy makers will practices as the followers of ISIS; and religious scholars gain better insight into the importance of religious have issued communiqués clearly articulating actions literacy, as well as into the deep impact that religion permitted under Islamic law as a way of a rebuttal has had on modern societies. to arguments made by ISIS justifying their actions. HELSINKI POLICY FORUM - DISCUSSION PAPER | 5 HELSINKI POLICY FORUM - DISCUSSION PAPER | 5 FORWARD THINKING FORWARD THINKING Summary of themes raised in HPF meetings By Forward Thinking ver the course of the three Helsinki Policy Forum Secular actors from the region often hold similar Omeetings, participants have implicitly engaged concerns, expressing fears that groups such as the with the question of religious literacy through their Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood operate in a secretive discussions on major regional and international manner, have shown themselves unwilling to challenges. The meetings took place on 2-4 June accommodate the concerns of others or engage in 2014 in Helsinki, 21-22 October in Madrid, and 17-19 dialogue, have refused to acknowledge their mistakes, March 2015 in Helsinki. The following is a summary and have attempted to devise rules and systems that of those issues discussed that address the subject disenfranchised opponents. of religious literacy in foreign policy. Double Standards Religious/Secular - how to accommodate political Islam It was acknowledged that there is a degree of “double standards” in operation with regards to the West’s The European experience produces a particular approach to Islamist parties, holding them to higher analytical framework. Within Europe, the divide standards than other actors they engage with in the between religion and politics (though not as clear region. Western powers have shown themselves willing as often asserted) is taken by politicians to be an to work with nationalists, Socialists and Monarchies, essential means of offering equal space to all groups none of whom had succeeded in establishing democracy and recognising essential rights such as freedom of or meaningful gender equality and yet it is Islamists conscience.
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