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Engaging Sectarian De-Escalation Proceedings of the Symposium on Islam and Sectarian De-Escalation at Harvard Kennedy School

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Engaging Sectarian De-Escalation Proceedings of the Symposium on Islam and Sectarian De-Escalation at Harvard Kennedy School IRAN PROJECT Engaging Sectarian De-Escalation Proceedings of the Symposium on Islam and Sectarian De-Escalation at Harvard Kennedy School EVENT REPORT AUGUST 2019 The Iran Project Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs Harvard Kennedy School 79 JFK Street Cambridge, MA 02138 www.belfercenter.org The authors of this report invites use of this information for educational purposes, requiring only that the reproduced material clearly cite the full source. Statements and views expressed in this report are solely those of the authors and do not imply endorsement by Harvard University, the Harvard Kennedy School, or the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. This symposium was co-sponsored by the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Islamic Studies Program, the Harvard Asia Center, the Center for Middle Eastern Studies, and the Lakshmi Mittal South Asia Institute. Design and layout by Andrew Facini Cover photo: In this picture taken with a slow shutter speed, Muslim pilgrims circumambulate the Kaaba during the hajj pilgrimage in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2019. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil) Copyright 2019, President and Fellows of Harvard College Printed in the United States of America IRAN PROJECT Engaging Sectarian De-Escalation Proceedings of the Symposium on Islam and Sectarian De-Escalation at Harvard Kennedy School EVENT REPORT AUGUST 2019 Acknowledgements The Symposium on Islam and Sectarian De-Escalation at the Harvard Kennedy School, convened by the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs’ Iran Project, would not have been possible without our co-sponsors at Harvard University and the hard work of a dedicated team of staff, students, advisors, and volunteers who devoted many days and nights to ensure the symposium and proceedings would come to fruition. We very much appreciate the co-sponsorship and kind support provided from multiple centers and institutions across Harvard University including the Center for Middle East Studies, the Asia Center, the Alwaleed Islamic Studies Program, and the South Asia Institute. We would like to thank Mohammad Sagha, our Iran Project Coordinator, for assistance in the planning, conceptualization, and implementation of the symposium as well as editorial assistance for the present report. We would also like to thank Gary Samore, Ali Asani, and Seyed Ammar Nakhjavani for their help in planning and organizing the symposium as well as for their intellectual contributions which helped frame the symposium, as well as Iran Project Fellows Sahar Nowrouzzadeh and Hassan Ahmadian for their assistance and support for the symposium. We would also like to particularly mention Michel Nehme and Cayanne Chachati for going above and beyond in their contribution and assistance for this report. These aforementioned individuals devoted considerable time and effort to ensure the highest quality for the proceedings. We also thank Tasriqul Islam, Kane Magnuson, and Sahar Mohammadzadeh who contributed much time and effort to the transcripts and editing the proceedings. Our volunteers assisting throughout the days of the symposium itself also took great initiative and ensured everything ran smoothly; we would like to thank Sean Ashley, Ashley Broin, Cayanne Chachati, Peter Dahabreh, Fridtjof Falk, Barnaby Myrhum, and Tasriqul Islam for their commitment and hard work. We sincerely thank all of these individuals and organizations for their contributions and assistance on this timely and pressing issue in global affairs. ii Engaging Sectarian De-Escalation: Proceedings of the Symposium on Islam and Sectarian De-Escalation Table of Contents Executive Summary ...........................................................................1 Geopolitical Literacy ..................................................................................................................2 Religious Literacy, Historical Literacy, and Precedents for Unity ...........................................3 Recalling Vehicles of Culture .....................................................................................................5 Moving Forward ..........................................................................................................................6 Five Myths of Sectarianism within Islam in the Contemporary Middle East .............................................................. 9 Payam Mohseni and Mohammad Sagha PROCEEDINGS OF THE SYMPOSIUM ON ISLAM AND SECTARIAN DE-ESCALATION Panel 1: Regional Geopolitics and the New Sectarianism in the Middle East .........................23 Simon Mabon ............................................................................................................................................ 24 Lenore Martin ............................................................................................................................................ 29 Payam Mohseni ......................................................................................................................................... 33 Hussein Kalout .......................................................................................................................................... 36 Panel 2: Clergy & Religious Authority in Sectarian De-Escalation...........................................39 Fadhel Al-Sahlani, Khalid Nasr, Seyed Ammar Nakhjavani, Yasir Fahmy Panel 3: Religious Pluralism and Muslim Identity in the West and Islamic World ..................43 Diana Eck ................................................................................................................................................... 44 Wasif Rizvi .................................................................................................................................................. 45 Syed Meesam Razvi .................................................................................................................................. 48 Mohamad Bashar Arafat ........................................................................................................................... 52 Sajjad Rizvi ................................................................................................................................................. 56 Special Interview with Jassim Qabazard .................................................................................... 61 Panel 4: Religion & Civic Activism in the North American Muslim Diaspora Community .....65 Hassan Abbas ............................................................................................................................................ 66 Daisy Khan ................................................................................................................................................. 67 Hasnain Walji ............................................................................................................................................. 70 Arif Asaria ...................................................................................................................................................72 Rahat Husain ..............................................................................................................................................73 iv Engaging Sectarian De-Escalation: Proceedings of the Symposium on Islam and Sectarian De-Escalation Panel 5: Fireside Chat – U.S. Policymakers and Sectarian Geopolitics in the Middle East ... 77 Hassan Abbas ............................................................................................................................................ 78 Farah Pandith ............................................................................................................................................. 82 Panel 6: Geopolitics in Iran and Iraq ...........................................................................................89 José Antonio Sabadell ..............................................................................................................................90 Heidi Lane ...................................................................................................................................................91 Muhamed Almaliky.................................................................................................................................... 95 Hassan Ahmadian ..................................................................................................................................... 98 Lukman Faily ............................................................................................................................................. 101 The Seventy-Two Sects, by Hafez-i Shirazi .............................................................................. 107 Panel 7: Resources for Engaging with Difference: Theology, Literature and the Arts .......... 111 Nicholas Boylston .................................................................................................................................... 112 Mohd Faizal Musa ..................................................................................................................................... 117 Shenila Khoja-Moolji ............................................................................................................................... 120 Mohammad Sagha ...................................................................................................................................123 Panel 8: Does Theology Matter? Politics
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