Contents v Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung in Southeast Asia vii Editorial Axel Schmidt 1 Islam, International Peace and Security The Honourable Abdullah Ahmad Badawi 9 Europe: Muslims and the Secular State Mathias Rohe 27 The Secular Nature of Law in Islam: A Basis for Democracy Mohammad M. Shabestari 33 The Evolution of the European Secular State Donald Sassoon 43 Multiculturalism and Christian-Muslim Dialogue Syed Farid Alatas 53 Multiculturalism in Malaysia and Europe: Creating or Nurturing the Middle Ground? Fazil Irwan 63 Amity and Enmity: Is Europe Ready for Multiculturalism? Yeo Lay Hwee 69 ‘Islam Hadhari’—a Model for Islamic Countries? Patricia A. Martinez 85 Social Democracy—Not Only in Europe Thomas Meyer 97 Conference Summary Pauline Puah iii Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung in Southeast Asia Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung has been present in Southeast Asia for more than 30 years. Its country offices in Bangkok, Jakarta, Manila and Hanoi have been active in implementing national cooperation programmes in partnership with parliaments, civil society groups and non-governmental organizations, academic institutions and ‘think-tanks’, government departments, political parties, women’s groups, trade unions, business associations and the media. In 1995, the Singapore office was transformed into an Office for Regional Cooperation in Southeast Asia. Its role is to support, in close cooperation with the country offices, ASEAN cooperation and integration, Asia-Europe dialogue and partnership, and country programmes in Cambodia and other ASEAN member states where there are no Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung offices. Its activities include dialogue programmes, international and regional conferences (e.g. on human rights, social policy, democratization, comprehensive security), Asia-Europe exchanges, civil education, scholarship programmes, research (social, economic and labour policies, foreign policy) as well as programmes with trade unions and media institutes. Dialogue + Cooperation is a reflection of the work of the Office for Regional Cooperation in Southeast Asia of Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung in Singapore: it deals with ASEAN cooperation as well as the Asia- Europe dialogue. ! Dialogue + Cooperation will tell you about our activities in Southeast Asia by publishing important contributions to our conferences and papers from our own work. ! Dialogue + Cooperation will contribute to the dialogue between Asia and Europe by systematically covering specific up-to-date topics which are of concern for the two regions. ! Dialogue + Cooperation will be an instrument for networking by offering you the opportunity to make a contribution and use it as a platform for communication. Head of Office: Axel Schmidt Address: 7500A Beach Road #12 - 320/321/322 The Plaza Singapore 199591 Tel: (65) 62976760 Fax: (65) 62976762 E-mail: [email protected] Web site: http://www.fesspore.org v Editorial: Dialogue + Cooperation 1/2006 Dear Reader, In 2002 the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Office for Regional Cooperation in Southeast Asia initiated the Asia-Europe Dialogue of Cultures by connecting academics, policy makers, religious scholars, representatives from international institutions and civil society from east and west. The objectives of this ongoing dialogue are: ■ to overcome cultural misunderstandings between the different civilisations in Asia and Europe and to deepen mutual understanding about problems and conflicts on both sides, their multiple cultural, political, socio-psychological, social and economic causes, as well as their anti-democratic, xenophobic, aggressive and violent expressions; ■ to try to define common ground that allows civilisations in the east and the west to live together peacefully and at the same time enables them to remain ‘different’; in other words, to think about how to avoid clashes within civilisations and clashes between civilisations on the basis of common values, such as democracy, pluralism, equality, trust and responsibility. The 9/11 event gave Samuel Huntington’s controversial prophecy of ‘the clash of civilisa- tions’ new prominence. Therefore, the first Asia-Europe Dialogue of Cultures, held in Singapore in September 2002, examined the legitimacy of Huntington’s theses and came to the conclusion that externalised clashes within civilisations are at the root of what, in a globalised world, many perceive as a clash of civilisations. When one participant in the dialogue argued that ‘the real clash is between tradition and modernity within every civilisation’, his remark was taken as a lead for the second Asia- Europe Dialogue of Cultures, which the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung convened in March 2004 in Berlin. At the end of the second meeting, the participants concluded that tensions between ‘tradition’ and ‘modernity’ are a necessary condition for development and that ‘culture’ is not static but constantly changing. Whereas Asia and Europe share similar problems with regard to these tensions, they seem to be less controversial in Europe than in Asia due to a historically longer modernisation process. The participants called for a continuation of the dialogue and suggested as subject ‘the concept of justice in Asian and European cultures’ as a potential source for peace or conflict in or between civilisations. When I took over our regional office in Singapore in February 2005, I inherited from my predecessor, Norbert von Hofmann, the task among others of preparing the third Dia- logue of Cultures. This proved a challenge. The topic, ‘the concept of justice in Asian and European cultures’, suggested at a first glance that there might be different concepts. After a lengthy research of the relevant legal, philosophical and theological literature, I felt somehow lost. Instead of enlightened, I had become more confused, and I wondered how to conduct a conclusive dialogue about justice and more specifically a dialogue about justice in different cultures. Then I discovered that I had embarked on my research with the wrong question. I read the literature with ontological lenses to find an answer for vii ‘What is justice?’. My question about the nature, the essence, the very being of justice led nowhere. However, when I started to ask ‘How do people perceive justice, how do they concretise and organise justice in daily life?’, I opened a door to a myriad of answers. I had found common grounds for a cross-cultural dialogue about justice since justice is linked to political and legal systems, to belief and ideology as well as to human and social interac- tion. The concept for the third Asia-Europe Dialogue was born. Furthermore, I discovered another phenomenon. Islam from its very beginning has seemed to be more concerned about justice than other religions. From my cursory reading of relevant Christian literature—and with due respect to some mediaeval and modern schol- ars—I had the impression that the theological discussion about justice somehow lost steam when Christianity became the state religion in the Roman Empire in 380 A.D. Therefore, I took the liberty to focus the third Asia-Europe Dialogue on Islam. To evoke debate, I choose some subjects where I personally saw inconsistencies, contra- dictions or conflicts, either in the relationship between state and religion as organisers and ‘guardians of justice’ or between ideology and reality. I admit that I composed the pro- gramme of the third Asia-Europe Dialogue in a somewhat eclectic manner and that it resembled more a construction site than a perfect monument. Nonetheless, it provided for sufficient time and space so that the participants could scrutinise, accept, reject or rear- range the different ‘building materials’ I had delivered to them. The current edition of Dialogue + Cooperation presents some selected papers, essays and discussions from the dialogue. Additionally, a speech of Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has been included, which he delivered in Berlin on the occasion of his state visit to Germany in May 2005. Since it inspired to a certain extend the third Asia-Europe Dialogue of Cultures on ‘How do we shape a more just world?—Exploring some concepts of justice in Asia and Europe’, and since the dialogue was convened in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, I felt it to be more than appropriate to give Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s speech a prominent space in this issue. I would like to express my gratitude to the Office of the Prime Minister for the kind permission to reprint his speech in full, without changes or editing. Justice is translated into reality through laws. Nowadays it is the constitutional state that claims the power to make and enforce laws through its government. One may assume that, in a state with a culturally and religiously homogeneous society, there are fewer conflicts about individual and collective rights than in a state with a culturally and reli- giously heterogeneous population, in particular if these different cultures or religions claim the application of their own legal norms and practices. In Europe, religion and state are in principle separated. However, there is a lively debate about a partial au- tonomy for Muslim communities in matters of family law or the right to display reli- gious symbols in public institutions. Can the European secular state, in terms of fair- ness, allow the co-existence of legal orders? In his paper, the German law professor and judge at the Court of Appeal of Nürnberg, Mathias Rohe, points out how Muslims in Europe and particularly in Germany can pursue their religion. Only the secular state under the