Search results

"Was Salman Rushdie right to have written The Satanic Verses? Were the protestors right to have protested? What about the Danish cartoons? Is giving offence simply about the right to freedom of expression, and what is really happening when people take offence? Using case studies of a number of Muslim-related freedom of speech controversies surrounding (in)famous, controversial texts such as The Satanic Verses, The Jewel of Medina, the Danish cartoons of Muhammed and the film Submission by Theo van Gogh, this book examines the moral questions raised by such controversies, questions that are often set aside at the time, such as whether the authors and artists involved were right to have done what they did and whether those who protested against them were right to have responded in such a way. In so doing, it argues that the giving and taking of offence are political performances that struggle to define and re-define freedom, and suggests that any attempt to establish a language of inter-cultural communication appropriate to multicultural societies is an ethical as opposed to merely political or legal task, involving dialogue and negotiation over fundamental values and principles. Overall, this important book constitutes a sustained critique of liberal arguments for freedom of speech, in particular of the liberal discourse that took shape in response to the Rushdie controversy and has, in the twenty-five years since, become almost an orthodoxy for many intellectuals, artists, journalists and politicians living and working in Britain (and elsewhere in the West) today. "--

Using the high-profile 2017 blasphemy trial of the former governor of Jakarta, Basuki Ahok' Tjahaja Purnama, as its sole case study, this book assesses whether Indonesia's liberal democratic human rights legal regime can withstand the rise of growing Islamist majoritarian sentiment. Specifically, this book analyses whether a 2010 decision of Indonesia's Constitutional Court has rendered the liberal democratic human rights guarantees contained in Indonesia's 1945 Constitution ineffective. Key legal documents, including the indictment issued by the North Jakarta Attorney-General and General Prosecutor, the defence's Notice of Defence', and the North Jakarta State Court's convicting judgment, are examined. The book shows how Islamist majoritarians in Indonesia have hijacked human rights discourse by attributing new, inaccurate meanings to key liberal democratic concepts. This has provided them with a human rights law-based justification for the prioritisation of the religious sensibilities and religious orthodoxy of Indonesia's Muslim majority over the fundamental rights of the country's religious minorities. While Ahok's conviction evidences this, the book cautions that matters pertaining to public religion will remain a site of contestation in contemporary Indonesia for the foreseeable future. A groundbreaking study of the Ahok trial, the blasphemy law, and the contentious politics of religious freedom and cultural citizenship in Indonesia, this book will be of interest to academics working in the fields of religion, Islamic studies, religious studies, law and society, law and development, law reform, constitutionalism, politics, history and social change, and Southeast Asian studies.

Frontmatter -- Table of Contents -- Acknowledgements -- Introduction: Constructing Pathways to Contemporary Islam / Nawab, Mohamad -- Section 1. Historical Trends in Contemporary Perspective -- 1. Pathways to Modern Islam / Allawi, Ali -- 2. A Theoretical Pathway to Contemporary Islam / Lumina, Iulia -- Section 2. Contesting the Islamic Intellectual Tradition -- 3. A New Approach to Islamic Intellectual Tradition / Unsal, Ali -- 4. The Best and Most Trying of Times / Hefner, Robert W. -- 5. The Function of Myths in the Justification of Muslim Extremism / Alatas, Syed Farid -- Section 3. Beyond the Arab Revolutions: Political Islam Revised -- 6. Building Trust in the Democratic Process / Saleem, Saleena -- 7. The Failure of Political Islam Revisited / Roy, Olivier -- 8. Regaining the Islamic Centre? / Abdul Hamid, Ahmad Fauzi -- Section 4. Contemporary Spaces of Critical Engagement -- 9. Enhancing Dialogue Between Religious Traditions / Bakar, Osman -- 10. The Ethical in Shari'a Practices / Moosa, Ebrahim -- 11. The New Horizons of Piety / Amer, Sahar -- Notes on the Contributors -- Index

Based on a comparative project on media and religion across Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, this article analyzes relationships between religiosity and political attitudes in Scandinavia and how these connect with attitudes regarding the representation of Islam in various media. Data comes from population-wide surveys conducted in the three countries in April 2015. Most Scandinavians relate 'religion' with conflict, and half of the population perceives Islam as a threat to their national culture. Scandinavians thus perceive religion in terms of political tensions and predominantly feel that news media should serve a critical function towards Islam and religious conflicts. Finally, the results of the empirical analysis are discussed in view of the intertwined processes of politicization of Islam and mediatization of religion.

Khilafat Movement provided an opportunity to the Ulema of sub-continent to take part in active politics, however, Anjuman-i-Khuddam-i-Kaaba which was the first ever organized confrontation with the British raj. It eventually resulted in the formation of Jamiat Ulema-i-Hind (JUH). Although Majlis-iAhrar-i-Islam, emerged as an effective instrument of Deobandi activism yet it denounced the creation of an independent Muslim state. Majority of Ulema believed that with the demise of British regime in India, the Muslims being a strong minority, could not be impoverished, therefore, JUH worked closely with the Congress. Interestingly, the history of the Ulema has been one of their perpetual conflicts with intelligentsia and the creation of Pakistan by the moderate leadership was a great setback for the "nationalist" Ulema. However, they failed to create a political constituency and continued to tag along with the Muslim League. Yet, JUI time and again denounced socialism and advocated the Islamic system for Pakistan. After 1970 Elections, both NAP and JUI emerged as majority parties in NWFP and Baluchistan. During the study, it will be analyzed that how JUI, a conservative Islamic party could form an alliance with NAP that had won the elections on the basis of secular ideas.

"This book presents a critical study of citizenship, state, and globalization in societies that have been historically influenced by Islamic traditions and institutions. Interrogating the work of contemporary theorists of Islamic modernity such as Mohammed Arkoun, Abdul an-Na'im, Fatima Mernissi, Talal Asad, Saba Mahmood, and Aziz Al-Azmeh, this book explores the debate on Islam, democracy, and modernity, contextualized within contemporary Muslim lifeworlds. These include contemporary Turkey (following the 9/11 attacks and the onset of war in Afghanistan), multicultural France (2009-10 French burqa debate), Egypt (the 2011 Tahrir Square mass mobilizations), and India. Ali Mirsepassi and Tadd Fernee; critique particular counterproductive ideological conceptualizations, voicing an emerging global ethic of reconciliation. Rejecting the polarized conceptual ideals of the universal or the authentic, the authors critically reassess notions of the secular, the cosmopolitan, and democracy. Raising questions that cut across the disciplines of history, anthropology, sociology, and law, this study articulates a democratic politics of everyday life in modern Islamic societies"--