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Islam and the Challenge of Democracy: A Boston Review Book
The events of September 11 and the subsequent war on terrorism have provoked widespread discussion about the possibility of democracy in the Islamic world. Such topics as the meaning of jihad, the role of clerics as authoritative interpreters, and the place of human rights and toleration in Islam have become subjects of urgent public debate around the world. With few exceptions, however, this debate has proceeded in isolation from the vibrant traditions of argument within Islamic theology, philosophy, and law.
"Islam and the Challenge of Democracy" aims to correct this deficiency. The book engages the reader in a rich discourse on the challenges of democracy in contemporary Islam. The collection begins with a lead essay by Khaled Abou El Fadl, who argues that democracy, especially a constitutional democracy that protects basic individual rights, is the form of government best suited to promoting a set of social and political values central to Islam. Because Islam is about submission to God and about each individual's responsibility to serve as His agent on Earth, Abou El Fadl argues, there is no place for the subjugation to human authority demanded by authoritarian regimes. The lead essay is followed by eleven others from internationally respected specialists in democracy and religion. They address, challenge, and engage Abou El Fadl's work. The contributors include John Esposito, Muhammad Fadel, Noah Feldman, Nader Hashemi, Bernard Haykel, Muqtedar Khan, Saba Mahmood, David Novak, William Quandt, Kevin Reinhart, and Jeremy Waldron.
"Islam and the Challenge of Democracy" aims to correct this deficiency. The book engages the reader in a rich discourse on the challenges of democracy in contemporary Islam. The collection begins with a lead essay by Khaled Abou El Fadl, who argues that democracy, especially a constitutional democracy that protects basic individual rights, is the form of government best suited to promoting a set of social and political values central to Islam. Because Islam is about submission to God and about each individual's responsibility to serve as His agent on Earth, Abou El Fadl argues, there is no place for the subjugation to human authority demanded by authoritarian regimes. The lead essay is followed by eleven others from internationally respected specialists in democracy and religion. They address, challenge, and engage Abou El Fadl's work. The contributors include John Esposito, Muhammad Fadel, Noah Feldman, Nader Hashemi, Bernard Haykel, Muqtedar Khan, Saba Mahmood, David Novak, William Quandt, Kevin Reinhart, and Jeremy Waldron.
144 pages, Hardcover
First published March 8, 2004
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About the author
Khaled Abou El Fadl
38 books198 followersDr. Khaled Abou El Fadl is the most important and influential Islamic thinker in the modern age. An accomplished Islamic jurist and scholar, he is Professor of Law at the UCLA School of Law where he teaches Islamic law, Immigration, Human Rights, International and National Security Law. Dr. Abou El Fadl previously taught Islamic law at the University of Texas at Austin Law School, Yale Law School, and Princeton University. He holds degrees from Yale University (B.A.), University of Pennsylvania Law School (J.D.) and Princeton University (M.A./Ph.D.).
A high-ranking shaykh, Dr. Abou El Fadl also received formal training in Islamic jurisprudence in Egypt and Kuwait.
Dr. Abou El Fadl is a world-renowned expert in Islamic law and an American lawyer, offering a unique and seasoned perspective on the current state of Islam and the West. He is a strong proponent of human rights and is the 2007 recipient of the University of Oslo Human Rights Award, the Lisl and Leo Eitinger Prize. He was also named a Carnegie Scholar in Islam for 2005. He serves on the Advisory Board of Middle East Watch and was previously on the Board of Directors of Human Rights Watch. He was also previously appointed by President George W. Bush as a commissioner on the US Commission on International Religious Freedom. He regularly provides expert testimony in a wide variety of cases ranging from human rights and political asylum to terrorism, national security, and international and commercial law.
Dr. Abou El Fadl is a prolific author and prominent public intellectual on Islamic law and Islam, most noted for his scholarly approach to Islam from a moral point of view. He writes extensively on universal themes of morality and humanity, and the notion of beauty as a moral value. Dr. Abou El Fadl is a staunch advocate and defender of women's rights and focuses much of his written attention on issues related to women. As the most critical and powerful voice against puritan and Wahhabi Islam today, he regularly appears on national and international television and radio including CNN, NBC, PBS, NPR, and Voice of America (broadcast throughout the Middle East). His most recent work focuses on issues of authority, terrorism, tolerance, Islam and Islamic law.
He is the author of ten books and over fifty articles on Islamic law and Islam. His recent books include: The Search for Beauty in Islam: A Conference of the Books (Rowman and Littlefield, 2006); The Great Theft: Wrestling Islam from the Extremists (HarperSanFrancisco, 2005); Islam and the Challenge of Democracy (Princeton University Press, 2004); The Place of Tolerance in Islam (Beacon Press, 2002); Conference of the Books: The Search for Beauty in Islam (University Press of America/Rowman and Littlefield, 2001); And God Knows the Soldiers: The Authoritative and Authoritarian in Islamic Discourses (UPA/Rowman and Littlefield, 2001); Speaking in God's Name: Islamic law, Authority and Women (Oneworld Press, Oxford, 2001) and Rebellion and Violence in Islamic Law (Cambridge University Press, 2001).
A high-ranking shaykh, Dr. Abou El Fadl also received formal training in Islamic jurisprudence in Egypt and Kuwait.
Dr. Abou El Fadl is a world-renowned expert in Islamic law and an American lawyer, offering a unique and seasoned perspective on the current state of Islam and the West. He is a strong proponent of human rights and is the 2007 recipient of the University of Oslo Human Rights Award, the Lisl and Leo Eitinger Prize. He was also named a Carnegie Scholar in Islam for 2005. He serves on the Advisory Board of Middle East Watch and was previously on the Board of Directors of Human Rights Watch. He was also previously appointed by President George W. Bush as a commissioner on the US Commission on International Religious Freedom. He regularly provides expert testimony in a wide variety of cases ranging from human rights and political asylum to terrorism, national security, and international and commercial law.
Dr. Abou El Fadl is a prolific author and prominent public intellectual on Islamic law and Islam, most noted for his scholarly approach to Islam from a moral point of view. He writes extensively on universal themes of morality and humanity, and the notion of beauty as a moral value. Dr. Abou El Fadl is a staunch advocate and defender of women's rights and focuses much of his written attention on issues related to women. As the most critical and powerful voice against puritan and Wahhabi Islam today, he regularly appears on national and international television and radio including CNN, NBC, PBS, NPR, and Voice of America (broadcast throughout the Middle East). His most recent work focuses on issues of authority, terrorism, tolerance, Islam and Islamic law.
He is the author of ten books and over fifty articles on Islamic law and Islam. His recent books include: The Search for Beauty in Islam: A Conference of the Books (Rowman and Littlefield, 2006); The Great Theft: Wrestling Islam from the Extremists (HarperSanFrancisco, 2005); Islam and the Challenge of Democracy (Princeton University Press, 2004); The Place of Tolerance in Islam (Beacon Press, 2002); Conference of the Books: The Search for Beauty in Islam (University Press of America/Rowman and Littlefield, 2001); And God Knows the Soldiers: The Authoritative and Authoritarian in Islamic Discourses (UPA/Rowman and Littlefield, 2001); Speaking in God's Name: Islamic law, Authority and Women (Oneworld Press, Oxford, 2001) and Rebellion and Violence in Islamic Law (Cambridge University Press, 2001).
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August 9, 2024
Published in 2004, this is still a helpful essay on reconciling democracy and Islamic political thought. The format--an essay by Abou El Fadl with responses from eleven scholars and then a final reply by Abou El Fadl--is helpful in revealing some of the nuances of his argument. I plan to use this text in an undergraduate course on political thought.
Displaying 1 of 1 review