Contemporary Islamic Synthesis
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Bibliotheca Alexandrina:
October 4 -5, 2003
Islam is perhaps the most
misunderstood religion today among both non‑Muslims and Muslims alike. The
West views Islam as quintessentially foreign and Muslims feel estranged from the
ideals and precepts that once represented the driving force and theological
underpinnings of Islam. These and other issues will be discussed in a two-day
conference, which is organized by the American University’s Center for Global
Peace and the Mohammed Said Farsi Chair of Islamic Peace. The conference is
designed to offer reflections on questions such as: “What is the Islamic
synthesis prevailing in the Muslim world today?” “What are the most
important issues and forces behind this contemporary Islamic synthesis?” With
these questions in mind, the conference provides an opportunity to construct a
genuine intra-Muslim dialogue on a number of themes that are of particularly
critical importance for present day Muslims, such as social justice, democracy,
and civil society in Islamic thought and practice.
When
considering Islam, what both Muslims and non-Muslims often overlook is that
religion is not only an abstract theological doctrine, but also a historical
dynamic that finds expression in the experiences and circumstances of people.
Understanding the essence of Islam requires willingness to discover creativity
in the tension between the real and the ideal, between expectations and
achievements. The complexity of understanding Islam arises when people focus
selectively on either the ideal or the real, while ignoring the endeavors of
Muslims to reconcile them. The history of Islam is a story of never-ending
efforts on the part of Muslims to comprehend the ideals of the Qur’an, and
then transform this understanding into a reality. Every historical period and
cultural milieu has given a different synthesis of Islamic command. Every
generation in the Muslim world develops a unique, yet, integral Islamic
synthesis, which distinguishes that generation from previous ones.
The
conference will act as a catalyst for continuing dialogue and exchange amongst
Muslim scholars of Islam, religious authorities, governmental officials, and
community leaders in the Islamic world. The organizers hope that this will
contribute to fostering a larger discourse through which Muslims derive new
insight about the meaning of Islam for the contemporary world. An introductory
session, four thematically organized panels and a concluding session will help
structure the conference’s deliberations. Extracts from the statements and
summaries of conference deliberations and conclusions will be compiled in a
final report which will become the first in a series of reports on
“Contemporary Islamic Synthesis,” published by the organizers.