Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy Second Annual Conference Conference Proceedings ISLAM,ISLAM, DEMOCRADEMOCRACYCY ANDAND THETHE SECULARISTSECULARIST STSTAATETE ININ THETHE POST-MODERNPOST-MODERN ERAERA Saturday, April 7, 2001 Georgetown University Conference Center 3800 Reservoir Rd. NW Washington, D.C., USA Co-sponsored by the Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding, the Institute for Global Cultural Studies, and the International Institute of Islamic Thought MISSION STATEMENT The Center for the Study of Islam & Democracy (CSID) is a member- ship-based non-profit (501-c-3) research organization based in Wash- ington DC. CSID is dedicated to the study of the relationship between Islam and democracy, especially how they contribute to the realization of just and prudent government. CSID proposes to sponsor meetings, seminars, conferences, and workshops that will be open to anyone inter- ested and qualified to explore these themes. CSID will also publish periodicals relating to the foundations of sound government: Conflict resolution, political participation, and a strong civil society. Its mem- bership is open to Muslims and non-Muslims alike. Center for the Study of Islam & Democracy P. O. Box 864, Burtonsville, MD, 20866 Phone: 202-251-3036 Fax: 704-846-0629 Dr. Radwan A. Masmoudi Executive Director Board of Directors Chair: Ali A. Mazrui Vice-Chair: John L. Esposito Abdulwahab Alkebsi, Taha Jaber Alalwani, Laila Al-Marayati, Jamal al-Barzinji, Charles Butterworth, Louis Cantori, John Entelis, Muqtedar Khan, Radwan Masmoudi, Ali Memon, Fathi Osman, and Tamara Sonn www.islam-democracy.org 2001, Center for the Study of Islam & Democracy (CSID) 2 INTRODUCTION The CSID Second Annual Conference was highly successful in every respect. We were blessed with an overwhelming number of excellent paper proposals, twenty of which were accepted for presentation at the conference on April 7. These were organized into five panels of four papers each. The conference opened with a plenary session, “Islam and Democracy.” The first four papers in the proceedings that follow were presented at this plenary session. Those by Avis Asiye Allman and Louay Safi were presented in the second morning panel, “The Secular State.” Parallel to it was the panel “Elements of Democracy with respect to Islam,” and the papers by Ermin Sinanovic, Mohammed. Moniruzzaman, and Talib M. Aziz were presented at that panel. We were especially pleased that Abdolkarim Soroush accepted our invitation to present a key-note luncheon address. Unfortunately, it was not possible to include his presentation among these conference proceedings. Conference participants urged that the two panels scheduled to run in parallel during the afternoon, “Post-modernity and Islam” and “Democracy in Practice and Islam in Context.” be combined to form one large panel. The papers below by Ihsan Yilmaz, Fred R Dallmayr, and Bekir L. Yildirim are from the first of these two panels, while those by Neil Hicks, Mohamed Nimer, Kamran Asghar Bokhari, and Nadeem Kazmi are from the second. In keeping with the principle that these are conference proceedings, none of the papers has been edited by the conference organizers. Our goal in publishing them has merely been to make them available, as work in progress, to interested members and friends of CSID. Our sincere hope is that readers may learn more about the conference and the research promoted by the efforts of this fledgling organization. Prof. Charles Butterworth Chair, Program Committee* * The CSID 2001 Program Committee consisted of Charles Butterworth (Chair), Lou Cantori, John Entelis, Abdulwahab Alkebsi, and Jamal al-Barzinji. 3 ISLAM AND DEMOCRACY: IN SEARCH OF A RELATIONSHIP By Ali A. Mazrui Chair, Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy Washington, DC More than eighty years after the collapse of the Caliphate (the Khilafa), and on the eve of the Third Millennium Meeladiyya, a Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy was formed by American Muslims and their friends. In much of the Muslim world itself, there had already been an agonizing re-appraisal about the precise relationship between Islam and democracy. Those who believed in the secular state as a basis of democracy regarded Islam as a potential threat to democratic processes. However, there have been others who have insisted that the seed of democracy were inherent in the original Islamic state in Medina during the time of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and the succeeding four caliphs — sacred democratic precepts which now need to find a new appropriate expression in the twenty-first century meeladiyya. The CSID was created partly in response to this latter conviction, and partly out of the belief that a dialogue is needed between those who have faith in the compatibility of Islam with democracy and those who have reservations about the appropriateness of such a discourse. More and more Muslims and an increasing number of friends of Islam are convinced that Islamic values are not just about duties; they are also about rights. Islam is not merely about the sacred obligations of the believer; it is also about human entitlements and civil liberties of every citizen. Islamic jurisprudence and Fiqh have been dominated by those who believe in a sacred “Bill of Duties”. Should such a Bill be accompanied by a civil “Bill of Rights”? Are both duties and rights indispensable for a more balanced and more healthy moral order? The CSID has promoted discussion and dialogue through a variety of methods. Those methods have included relevant public lectures by prominent speakers; panel discussions at conventions like those of the Middle Eastern Studies Association; advisory participation to help Muslims in the American political process; the annual conferences organized by the CSID itself, and through the CSID Newsletter, THE MUSLIM DEMOCRAT. In addition the CSID is 4 seeking a greater consultative role in the Muslim world on issues of democratization and the Islamic approach to human rights. With this volume of conference-proceedings, the CSID is also launching its series of occasional books and studies on democracy and the Muslim experience. Clarifying the democratic relevance of Islam and the Islamic meaning of democracy are noble goals. But the pursuit of such noble objectives requires resources. The CSID needs help in establishing a basic endowment for its survival as an organization. Such help is needed from not only Muslims who are committed to the continuing relevance of Islam, but also from non- Muslims who are committed to the expanding boundaries of democracy. Kenyans have a Swahili slogan which proclaims “HARAMBEE”— meaning “Let us pull together.” It is a demand for solidarity and cooperation. For Muslims in Kenya the Roman letter “H” is not only for the Hijra, the Hajj and what is Halal. The letter H is also for “HARAMBEE” — let us all pull together. Dear Friends of CSID: It is time to embrace this fourth H of Harambee, and initiate an endowment fund in the name of Islam and democracy. We should await with gratitude your contribution at the following address: Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy Att. Dr. Radwan A. Masmoudi, Exec. Dir. P.O. Box 864, Burtonsville, MD 20866 E-mail: [email protected] Telephone: (202) 251-3036 Fax: (704) 846-0629 5 CONTENTS Islam and Democracy in Jordan: The Limits of Political Inclusion................................... 8 Timothy J. Piro Islam, Democracy, and the Yemeni State........................................................................ 20 Jillian Schwedler Democracy and Islam in Indonesia: NU as an Agent of Civil Society............................... 43 Robin Bush Islam, Ethnicity, Pluralism and Democracy: Malaysia’s Unique Experience .....................48 Osman Bakar LIBERAL DEMOCRACY AND THE DEMOCRATIC MUSLIM IDENTITY IN TURKEY ..............54 Avis Asiye Allman ISLAM AND THE SECULAR STATE ....................................................................................61 Louay M. Safi THE MAJORITY PRINCIPLE IN ISLAMIC LEGAL AND POLITICAL THOUGHT .....................72 Ermin Sinanovic Islam and Democracy: The Underlying Philosophy .........................................................91 Md. Moniruzzaman Popular Sovereignty in Contemporary Shi’i Political Thought ......................................106 Talib M. Aziz POSTMODERN MUSLIM LEGALITY IN A SECULAR STATE: THE TURKISH EXPERIENCE ..123 Ihsan Yilmaz ISLAM AND DEMOCRACY: REFLECTIONS ON ABDOLKARIM SOROUSH .......................... 132 Fred Dallmayr 6 Post-Modern Secularism: The Turkish Version .............................................................145 Bekir L. Yildirim The Crisis of Human Rights Implementation in the Middle East: Does Islamic Human Rights Activism Offer a Remedy? .............................................................................153 Neil Hicks Democracy in Practice: The American Muslim Experience...........................................169 Mohamed Nimer Islamist Attitudes Toward Democracy...........................................................................173 Kamran A. Bokhari Islamic Responses to Racism – A Follow-up Paper .......................................................176 Sayyed Nadeem Kazmi 7 Islam and Democracy in Jordan: The Limits of Political Inclusion by Timothy J. Piro [email protected] Paper prepared for presentation at the Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy’s annual conference at George- town University, 7 April 2001.1 Jordan’s decade old experience with a more liberal and open political