Cordoba Workshops Reports Experts’ Workshop on the Interaction of Religion and Politics in the Public Sphere 28 February – 1 March 2016 Author Salaheddine Jourchi Fondation Cordoue de Genève Cordoba Foundation of Geneva - © The Cordoba Foundation of Geneva, 2016 Fondation Cordoue de Genève Case postale 360 CH -1211 Genève 19 Tel: +41 (0) 22 734 15 03
[email protected] www.cordoue.ch The Interaction of Religion and Politics in the Public Sphere About the Author: Slaheddine Jourchi is a writer and journalist from Tunisia. He participated in the founding of the Islamic Movement, before separating from it and contributing to the establishment of the Progressive Islamist movement. He holds many media roles and has been involved in a wide variety of civil society initiatives locally, regionally and internationally, including the Tunisian League for the Defense of Human Rights, the Arab Network of Non-Governmental Organizations for Development and the Arab Organization for Human Rights. Editor: Kheira Tarif, Lakhdar Ghettas This report can be accessed online at www.cordoue.ch Opinions expressed in this research paper are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Cordoba Foundation of Geneva nor of the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs. 2 Table of Contents I. Background .............................................................................................................. 4 II. Religion and Politics in the Public Sphere: The Muslim and the Western Contexts .......................................................................................................................... 5 III. Religion and Politics: Unity, Separation, or Distinction? ............................... 9 IV. Religion and Politics in the Islamic Tradition: Distinction not Separation 11 V. Shari’a and Democracy ......................................................................................... 14 VI. The Question of the Relationship between Values and Freedoms ............