Hamid Entezam

The Western media typically portrays the 1.2 billion Muslims as a monolith- a uniform mass with traditional outlook, conservative life-style and extremist political tendencies. Contrary to this inaccurate depiction, Muslims are quite diverse in every respect: theological beliefs, educational level, life-style, outlook and political orientation.

This diversity is quite apparent in Muslims’ response to modernity. In the past few decades, there has been an intense debate within the Muslim scholarly circles on whether Muslims should embrace or reject modernity? Can Islam accommodate the modern norms, life-styles and socio-political institutions?

Two opposing camps have emerged: Traditional-minded conservatives and liberal-minded reformers. These two groups of Muslim scholars have opposing views on the nature and merits of modernity. Conservatives still dominate the Muslim world, but reformers are growing in numbers and social influence (particularly in Iran, Egypt and Turkey).

This lecture examines the theological debate between conservatives and reformers in the contemporary Islamic world- a debate that will have far-reaching consequences for the future of Islam and international relations.

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Faith is the bedrock of religious life. Dedication to God is typically measure by the strength on one’s faith. However, ‘faith’ means different things to different people. Sometimes it is viewed as subscribing to a set of theological beliefs (e.g., God exists), or unwavering self-assurance about the truth of certain theological propositions. And, faith is sometimes viewed in terms of ‘good’ deeds, where the behavior of a person of faith is guided by compassion and selflessness.

In this lecture we will explore the meaning and essence of faith from the perspective of Islam’s sacred scripture (the Quran).

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Justice is a critical concept in Islamic thought. One of God’s beautiful names in the Quran is “Just”, indicating that justice is the bedrock of creation. It is the glue that holds any system together.

The Quran is very keen on nurturing a sense of justice by its frequent commandments for upholding justice in our daily lives. It also states that social justice was the cornerstone of the missions of all God’s messengers. Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Mohammad- they all stood for social justice. As such, any community built on their names should incorporate justice in its fabric.

This lecture will examine what Islam teaches about justice.

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There is a great deal of misinformation- and sometimes disinformation- about Islam in the Western media. Unfortunately, some North African and Middle Eastern cultural practice are falsely attributed to Islam, simply because Muslims are the dominant religious group in these regions. For example, ‘honor killing’, ‘female circumcision’ and ‘stoning’ are incorrectly viewed as sanctioned- or even promoted- by Islam.
This lecture addresses these misconceptions; it draws a distinction between Islam as a system of faith, and local social customs and cultural practices some Muslims might engage in.

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Invariably, all world religions have formal prayers. Their forms and mechanics vary, yet formal prayers play a key role in a faith-based life. What functions do they serve? What goals do they achieve? This lecture examines the role of formal prayers in spiritual life, using the Islamic daily prayer (or صلاة) as an example.

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There has been an ongoing debate in Western academic circles and popular press about the compatibility of political democracy with Islam: can Islamic nations retain their faith and still embrace modern democratic institutions? Some analysts are skeptical and argue that at the end, Muslims have to choose between their religion and democracy. They claim that until Islam is relegated to the sidelines of Muslim life, their societies cannot enjoy progress, modern civilization and democracy.

Muslim scholars and political activists have vigorously debated this issue for over a century. Generally speaking, two camps have emerged: reformers and conservatives. Conservatives believe that political democracy is not compatible with Islam; they claim that Islam has an authentic form of government commonly known as the Caliphate- a system of government where an observant and pious ruler leads the state and ensures that the orthodox Islamic legal code is enforced. Muslim Reformers, on the other hand, argue that authentic Islam does not have any specific form of government. In every historical era, Muslims are free to choose a form of government that is in line with their religious values and responsive to the demands of the times. For this group, democracy is compatible with Islam- its principles and institutions can best safeguard Islam’s social values and facilitate the modernization of a stagnant Islamic world.

This lecture aims to shed some light on this important debate and examine the challenges facing the Islamic world in its pursuit of democratic transformation.

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There has been an ongoing debate in Western academic circles and popular press about the compatibility of political democracy with Islam: can Islamic nations retain their faith and still embrace modern democratic institutions? Some analysts are skeptical and argue that at the end, Muslims have to choose between their religion and democracy. They claim that until Islam is relegated to the sidelines of Muslim life, their societies cannot enjoy progress, modern civilization and democracy.

Muslim scholars and political activists have vigorously debated this issue for over a century. Generally speaking, two camps have emerged: reformers and conservatives. Conservatives believe that political democracy is not compatible with Islam; they claim that Islam has an authentic form of government commonly known as the Caliphate- a system of government where an observant and pious ruler leads the state and ensures that the orthodox Islamic legal code is enforced. Muslim Reformers, on the other hand, argue that authentic Islam does not have any specific form of government. In every historical era, Muslims are free to choose a form of government that is in line with their religious values and responsive to the demands of the times. For this group, democracy is compatible with Islam- its principles and institutions can best safeguard Islam’s social values and facilitate the modernization of a stagnant Islamic world.

This lecture aims to shed some light on this important debate and examine the challenges facing the Islamic world in its pursuit of democratic transformation.

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Lecture Title: Jihad: Clarification of Myths and Misconceptions

Abstract: Principles of Sprituality and Islam

Time: August 2007

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