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Islam and Civilisational Renewal A journal devoted to contemporary issues and policy research Volume 5 • Number 1 • January 2014 Produced and distributed by ISLAM AND CIVILISATIONAL RENEWAL EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Professor Mohammad Hashim Kamali EDITORIAL TEAM Dr Mohamed Azam Mohamed Adil Dr Karim Douglas Crow Dr Daud AbdulFattah Batchelor Abdul Karim Abdullah Tengku Ahmad Hazri Norliza Saleh Siti Mar’iyah Chu Abdullah REGIONAL EDITORS Americas: Dr Eric Winkel Europe: Dr Christoph Marcinkowski Africa & Middle East: Mahmoud Youness Asia & Australasia: Dr Syed Farid Alatas ADVISORY BOARD Professor Gholamreza Aavani, Professor Carl W. Ernst, Professor Ingrid Mattson, Iranian Philosophical Society University of North Carolina University of Western Ontario Dr AbdulHamid A. AbuSulayman, Professor John Esposito, Professor Ali A. Mazrui, International Institute of Islamic Georgetown University Binghampton University Thought Professor Silvio Ferrari, Professor Abbas Mirakhor, Professor Zafar Ishaq Ansari, Università degli Studi International Centre for International Islamic University HRH Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad, Education in Islamic Finance Islamabad Jordan Professor Chandra Muzaffar, Professor Azyumardi Azra, Professor Claude Gilliot, International Movement for a State Islamic University Jakarta Aix-Marseille Université Just World Professor David Burrell CSC, Professor Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu, Professor Seyyed Hossein Nasr, University of Notre Dame Organisation of Islamic George Washington University Dr Mustafa Cerić, Cooperation Professor Tariq Ramadan, Former Grand Mufti of Bosnia- Professor Yasushi Kosugi, Oxford University Herzegovina Kyoto University Professor Mathias Rohe, Professor Hans Daiber, Emeritus Professor Hermann Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Johann Wolfgang Goethe Landolt, McGill University Professor Abdullah Saeed, Universität Professor Tore Lindholm, University of Melbourne Ahmet Davutoğlu, University of Oslo Professor Miroslav Volf, Foreign Minister of Turkey Professor Muhammad Khalid Yale University Professor W. Cole Durham, Jr Masud, International Islamic Professor Abdal Hakim Murad, Brigham Young University University Islamabad University of Cambridge AIMS AND SCOPE · ISLAM AND CIVILISATIONAL RENEWAL (ICR) offers an international platform for awakening the civilisational potential of the Islamic legacy. Revitalising synergies between Islamic and other civilisations in a spirit of self enrichment through discovery and research may facilitate renewal within Muslim societies and more significant contributions by Muslims to the global human community. · ICR explores contemporary dynamics of Islamic experience in legal and religious practice, education and science, economic and financial institutions, and social and intellectual development. · We seek viable policy-relevant research yielding pragmatic outcomes informed by the best values and teachings of Islam as well as of other contemporary civilisations. · ICR is inter-disciplinary, non-political and non-sectarian. We seek to contribute to prospects of peace among all nations, and assist the conceptual and societal transformation of Muslims. · ICR encourages a fresh discourse for self renewal informed by an inclusive tolerant approach to diverse schools of thought and expression of ideas. The intent is to integrate over 1,400 years of Islam’s civilisational resources of diversity, dialogue and coexistence for meaningful exchanges with other world civilisations. · ICR promotes the Malaysian initiative of Tajdīd Haḍārī or Civilisational Renewal, with its component principles: 1. Faith, Ethics & Spirituality, 2. Just Governance, 3. Independence & Self-Determination, 4. Mastery of Knowledge & Science, 5. Islamic Economics & Finance, 6. Human Dignity & Ecological Wellbeing, 7. Cultural & Aesthetic Integrity, 8. Equity & Fraternity, 9. Diversity & Dialogue, 10. Peace & Security. CONTRIBUTIONS AND EDITORIAL CORRESPONDENCE Comments, suggestions and requests to: [email protected] or [email protected] CONTENTS Editorial 5 Mohammad Hashim Kamali Articles A Lifestyle of Moderation, or Wasaṭiyyah: The Islamic Perspective 7 Mohammad Hashim Kamali Renewal and Reform for a Post-Karzai Afghanistan: 25 A Critical Appraisal of the 2004 Constitution Daud AbdulFattah Batchelor Islamic Law and Human Rights in Malaysia 43 Mohamed Azam Mohamed Adil and Nisar Mohammad Ahmad Revisiting Khilāfah: The Role of Nonpolitical Social Factors 68 in Good Governance Abdul Kabir Hussain Solihu Restoring the Ethical Basis of Finance 84 Abdul Karim Abdullah (Leslie Terebessy) Divisiveness among Muslims in Nigeria and Its Implications for 96 National Integration Rafiu Ibrahim Adebayo Going ‘Beyond Microfinance’: Enhancing Islamic Microfinance 111 Programmes in Bangladesh Tawfique Al-Mubarak Viewpoints The Significance ofHijrah in Islam 122 Mohammad Hashim Kamali Abu l-Hasan Ali al-Nadawi’s Approach to Renewal and Reform 125 (Tajdῑd wa Iṣlāh) Mohammed Farid Ali Significant Speeches and Events ‘Education and Values’ presented at the 9th World Islamic Economic 129 Forum [WIEF] (London, 29-31 October 2013) Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi ICR 5.1 Produced and distributed by IAIS Malaysia 4 The First World Congress on Integration and Islamicisation of Acquired 134 Human Knowledge [FWCII] (Kuala Lumpur, 23-25 August 2013) Elmira Akhmetova Global Conference on Islamic Resurgence: Challenges, Prospects and 136 the Way Forward (Shah Alam, 7 September 2013) Daud AbdulFattah Batchelor 10th International Said Nursi Symposium: ‘The Role and Place of 138 Prophethood in Humanity’s Journey to the Truth: The Perspective of the Risale-i Nur’ (Turkey, 22-24 September 2013) Elmira Akhmetova 3rd SOASCIS International Conference [SICON] 2013: ‘Towards a 139 Healthy Youth Culture’ (Brunei Darussalam, 6-8 November 2013) Daud AbdulFattah Batchelor African and West Asian Nations [AFWAN] Conference 2013: 141 Can Peace and Stability be Restored in North Africa and West Asia? (Kuala Lumpur, 18 November 2013) Karim Douglas Crow Call for Papers 142 ISLAM AND CIVILISATIONAL RENEWAL EDITORIAL This January 2014 issue of Islam and Civilisational Renewal (ICR) extends our commitment to engaging with a wide scope of issues from the legal, financial, constitutional and social spheres confronting Muslim societies from Malaysia, Bangladesh and Afghanistan to Nigeria, and providing concrete policy recommendations. In our main ‘Articles’ section I myself contribute a further reflection on the important principle of Moderation or wasatiyyah, probing what an Islamic perspective teaches for contemporary Lifestyle. Balanced living integrates the physical aspects of the human being with our ethical and spiritual wellbeing. Muslims are not unaffected by the effects of capitalist market forces in becoming habituated to consume and to waste resources. Drawing upon rich resources in Qur’an and Hadith, I underline that wasatiyyah may serve as our guide to personal conduct of life and healthy social relations. Dr Daud Batchelor, Associate Research Fellow at IAIS, reviews the status of the 2004 Constitution of Afghanistan in light of the upcoming presidential elections in April this year, and for National Assembly representatives in 2015. He offers several pragmatic ideas for possible amendments to this document and for insuring more inclusive representation in governance reflecting the multi-ethnic reality of Afghans. The author also treats election reforms and jurisdictional questions regarding supervision and implementation, and the addition of clauses to safeguard peace building and to clarify the role of Shari‘ah. The Deputy CEO of IAIS, Dr Mohamed Azam Mohamed Adil and Nisar Mohammad Ahmad together provide an overview of Malaysia’s legal system related to Human Rights and Islamic Law, demonstrating the constitutional constraints hindering full application of Shari‘ah law in Malaysia. Stressing that upholding human dignity and rights is a sacred value enshrined in Islam, the authors show that the bulk of Human Rights protection are ensured by Federal based civil law in accordance with the Constitution’s assigning of jurisdiction. Dr Abdul Kabir Hussain Solihu’s interesting study of Khilafah (caliphate) substantiates the importance of social and cultural elements in their bearing upon good governance. Khilafah is a broader and more potent concept to be explored at greater depth, and need not be confined to the historical Caliphate. His emphasis on complementing political discourse with broader civilisational imperatives is most apposite, opening the door for a fresh approach to revitalising contemporary political culture in many Muslim societies. Debt financing is increasingly being subjected to cogent Islamic critiques, and two contributors, both IAIS Research Fellows, in this issue treat this crucial topic, one from the macroeconomic angle, the other dealing with microfinance in Bangladesh. Abdul Karim Abdullah whose ongoing contributions to Islamic ICR 5.1 Produced and distributed by IAIS Malaysia 6 ISLAM AND CIVILISATIONAL RENEWAL finance have appeared in the pages of ICR before, addresses with a clear and informed statement, the dilemma posed by conventionalisation of Islamic finance. He argues for the transformation of interest-based finance from lending at interest to risk sharing, with the latter embodying the veritable shari‘ah compliant practice. Injecting the ethical component into finance is central to the larger project of the Maqasid al-Shari‘ah which we have dealt with at length, and will return to in future. Nigeria is one of the largest
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