Arkoun possessed a rhetorical passion capable of enchanting his listeners. He powerfully laid claim to the internal resources of a tradition he never ceased to belong to, such as the Muslim and Arab humanism of the golden age of Islam (12th century) that could have flourished and produces its own Enlightenment in the sciences, the arts and critical thought, if it had not been destroyed at birth by political circumstances.
According to Filali-Ansary, religion provides a cohesive contribution to collective life in the Arab world, as religion does for many Christians in Western countries. The presence of religion can thus be invoked to oppose excesses of individualism, consumerism, and capitalism, without necessarily compromising the secularity of political institutions.
What was his offense? He had not directly rebelled against or attacked the government. But he did something much more far-reaching: he claimed the right of the free interpretation of scriptures (not arbitrary, but free and responsible interpretation).
“It seems today that the acceptance of secularism within the Muslim world is extremely far away. It is as if, on the basis of deeply-held convictions, Muslim society were demanding a form of not exactly theocracy, but certainly a ‘moralisation’ of public life.” So says Abdou Filali-Ansary, director of the Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilizations at the University of Aga Khan, London. The director and founder of the Moroccan literary review ‘Prologues,’ Filali-Ansary is also the author of a number of works on the reformist tradition within the Islamic world, including L’Islam est-il hostile à la laïcité? (2002) and Réformer l’Islam? - Une introduction aux débats contemporains (2003). He recently spoke at ResetDoc's Istanbul Seminars 2011 (19-23 May).
Abu Zayd instead wished to return to the Koran all the potentiality of its contents, not only normative but also ethical, social, theological, narrative, artistic contents, etc. Once the revelation had started, the Koran became part of history; it was secularized. This is a process that involves the entire cosmos. It is rather those who read the text only as a system of eternal rules, set beyond time and space, as a sense deprived of meaning, who have “mummified” the Koran, losing the qualities of the authentic Word of God answering humankind’s most intimate needs.
Nasr is the very up to date descendant of the long line of courageous, bold, outspoken and critical Arab intellectuals, dating back to Qassim Amin from the end of the 19th century, who adopted and vehemently defended the most enlightened, progressive and advanced positions of their times on the major issues vexing Arab and Muslim societies to this very moment, such as progress, renewal, development, education, women’s emancipation, secularism, democracy, human rights, heritage, Islam, modernity, science, rationality and so on.
During the Nineties, in Algeria, together with a number of friends I found courage and support in a book entitled “Naqd al Khitab al Dini” (Critique of the Religious Discourse), written by Nasr Abu Zayd, an Egyptian intellectual who was a professor at Cairo university. I was lucky enough to meet him in Rome in December 2005 and gave him a copy of a novel I had written, “Scontro di civiltà per un ascensore a piazza Vittorio” [A clash of Civilizations over an Elevator in Piazza Vittorio] , in the Arabic version. He called me the next day to pay his compliments. He had read it in just one night!
Within the framework of the in-depth analysis that Reset devotes to the subject of liberal Islam, we wish to present an interview with the Egyptian thinker Abu Zayd, who is one of the most respected and influential Muslim reformists. Abu Zayd explains that, contrary to widespread belief, within the Muslim world there are many reformists and organisations that spread the principles of liberalism, equality, democracy and human rights. Unfortunately, however, the West appears not to acknowledge this and instead of contributing to strengthen these tendencies, it tends to emphasise Islam’s negative aspects and, in particular, its links with terrorism. The problem – continued Abu Zayd – does not lie in Islam or in the Koran, but rather in the stubbornness that characterises extremists in interpreting the Holy Book in a rigid and literal manner, without allowing for any kind of critical debate. Applying hermeneutics to the Koran would instead facilitates its understanding and a more current interpretation, opening the way to a modernisation of the text without corrupting its sacredness.
Nasr Hamid Abu Zaid upheld the belief that the Koran is a book passed down through oral communication and one destined to poetic recitation. He was a believer and, as a Muslim, accusations of apostasy offended him profoundly. Should the conquering of democracy ever be achieved in the entire Muslim world, the history that will be written will have to linger at length on this small man with his frail health.
Racism, the symbols of Islam, the relationship between Europe and the Muslim community were at the centre of the first day of the third edition of the Istanbul Seminars, the yearly conference organised by Resetdoc at the Bilgi University. Giancarlo Bosetti, Reset’s editor-in-chief, opened the sessions, reminding everyone how fear has become the main instrument of governments in applying pressure on society’s weaker and more easily influenced groups to incite hostile sentiments such as xenophobia and racism. Nilüfer Göle, chair of the Faculty of Sociology at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes in Paris, instead analysed the perverse perspective according to which, for many westerners, minarets symbolically represent missiles and veiled women are an omen of the imposition of Shari’ a in Europe.An article by Marco Cesario.
The crux of the relationship between Islam and its journey to modernity, between the orthopraxy of this religion, with its judicial rules (shari’a) and the creation of democratic and pluralist systems, will soon become apparent. Ranging from the Egyptian Constitution to civil law, much must be rewritten, from family law to the policies needed to protect the rights of women. All of these issues are already on the agenda. Work can but start again from here to address the controversial issues that have fueled the work of the authors ResetDoc discusses here.
Tolleranza
A partire dagli anni Novanta del XX secolo la tolleranza è ritornata al centro della riflessione politica, riportando in auge un concetto certamente centrale nell’ambito della storia del pensiero politico in età moderna, ma rispetto a cui la partita sembrava essere stata chiusa con la Rivoluzione francese, che sulle proprie bandiere portava scritte le parole libertà, eguaglianza, fraternità, e non tolleranza..
Continua a leggere
