Islam-democracy discourse,a hotly debated topic and a burning issue,has highly intensified over the last few decades and throughout the world with several Muslim thinkers/intellectuals having taken strides to shape Mu...Islam-democracy discourse,a hotly debated topic and a burning issue,has highly intensified over the last few decades and throughout the world with several Muslim thinkers/intellectuals having taken strides to shape Muslim understanding of“Islamic democracy”.To offer a new direction and advance this discourse some steps further,this paper seeks to address this issue in the thought and writings,by way of a comparative study,of two prominent intellectuals of Iran:Abdulkarim Soroush(b.1945),who sees no contradiction between Islam and the freedoms inherent in democracy,and Hasan Yousuf Eshkevari(b.1949/50),who is at the forefront of articulating the relationship between Islam and democracy.The essay argues that(i)the efforts of Soroush and Eshkevari,along with those of many other religious reformist intellectuals and political activists,have collectively given rise to a vibrant,intellectually sophisticated,and expansive discourse of Islamic reformism;(ii)although,theoretically,there is no doubt in the argument that Islam and democracy are indeed compatible(on many grounds),there is lack and scarcity of literature on the practical framework/implementation of this envisioned formula of“Islamic democracy”—a challenge still faced by Muslim political theorists especially in the 21st century.展开更多
Islam-democracy compatibility or Islamic democratic discourse-the relation between Islamic socio-political concepts and institutions and positive features and notions of modern democracy-has gained an impetus from the...Islam-democracy compatibility or Islamic democratic discourse-the relation between Islamic socio-political concepts and institutions and positive features and notions of modern democracy-has gained an impetus from the final decades of 20th century.Democracy in Islam is strongly debated,defined and discussed by the diversity of voices ranging from those who deny a connection between Islam and democracy to those who argue that the Islamic system of government contains a number of‘concepts and values’which are present in modern democracy.In this direction,this paper attempts to make an analysis of the views,arguments and observations of four most prominent modernist Muslim intellectuals-‘Muslim Democrats’-regarding Islam-democracy compatibility and co-existence.The views of scholars presented here include:Sadek Jawad Sulaiman,Louay M.Safi,Radwan A.Masmoudi,and M.A.Muqtedar Khan.It argues(among others)that more reflection,research,and(re)interpretation is required to reconcile the tenets of Islam with the modern notions of democracy,liberty,justice,equality,and human rights as the Islamic primary sources throw ample light and guidance on these concepts and values.展开更多
The continuously evolving political turbulences and upheavals of the Arab countries can be regarded as an endogenous Arab democratic movement.In this evolving process,“the Islamic Elements”once again become an impor...The continuously evolving political turbulences and upheavals of the Arab countries can be regarded as an endogenous Arab democratic movement.In this evolving process,“the Islamic Elements”once again become an important source of spiritual and ideological resources for its social transformation.Now as the situation becomes more and more obvious that various factions of Islamic forces are accelerating their proceedings of“realignment”and“differentiation”,an extremely intrigue complex of interconnections is emerging between different Islamic factions and between religious politics and geopolitics.This situational evolution is not only influencing the Middle East region,but also affecting the peace and development of the whole world.展开更多
文摘Islam-democracy discourse,a hotly debated topic and a burning issue,has highly intensified over the last few decades and throughout the world with several Muslim thinkers/intellectuals having taken strides to shape Muslim understanding of“Islamic democracy”.To offer a new direction and advance this discourse some steps further,this paper seeks to address this issue in the thought and writings,by way of a comparative study,of two prominent intellectuals of Iran:Abdulkarim Soroush(b.1945),who sees no contradiction between Islam and the freedoms inherent in democracy,and Hasan Yousuf Eshkevari(b.1949/50),who is at the forefront of articulating the relationship between Islam and democracy.The essay argues that(i)the efforts of Soroush and Eshkevari,along with those of many other religious reformist intellectuals and political activists,have collectively given rise to a vibrant,intellectually sophisticated,and expansive discourse of Islamic reformism;(ii)although,theoretically,there is no doubt in the argument that Islam and democracy are indeed compatible(on many grounds),there is lack and scarcity of literature on the practical framework/implementation of this envisioned formula of“Islamic democracy”—a challenge still faced by Muslim political theorists especially in the 21st century.
文摘Islam-democracy compatibility or Islamic democratic discourse-the relation between Islamic socio-political concepts and institutions and positive features and notions of modern democracy-has gained an impetus from the final decades of 20th century.Democracy in Islam is strongly debated,defined and discussed by the diversity of voices ranging from those who deny a connection between Islam and democracy to those who argue that the Islamic system of government contains a number of‘concepts and values’which are present in modern democracy.In this direction,this paper attempts to make an analysis of the views,arguments and observations of four most prominent modernist Muslim intellectuals-‘Muslim Democrats’-regarding Islam-democracy compatibility and co-existence.The views of scholars presented here include:Sadek Jawad Sulaiman,Louay M.Safi,Radwan A.Masmoudi,and M.A.Muqtedar Khan.It argues(among others)that more reflection,research,and(re)interpretation is required to reconcile the tenets of Islam with the modern notions of democracy,liberty,justice,equality,and human rights as the Islamic primary sources throw ample light and guidance on these concepts and values.
基金This article is an early stage achievement of the research work for“the Studies on New China’s Humane Diplomacy towards Middle East States”,a Key Research Program(10JJDGJW021)of the Key Research Bases of Chinese Education Ministryfor“the Studies of New China’s Humane Diplomacy&Strategies towards the Middle East&Islamic Countries”,a research program(11BGJ033)financed by China’s National Foundation for Social Sciences+1 种基金for Chinese Educational Ministry program“Islamic Middle East Region and the Transition of International System”(08JZD0039)it is also supported by the Shanghai International Studies University“211”program(Stage III).
文摘The continuously evolving political turbulences and upheavals of the Arab countries can be regarded as an endogenous Arab democratic movement.In this evolving process,“the Islamic Elements”once again become an important source of spiritual and ideological resources for its social transformation.Now as the situation becomes more and more obvious that various factions of Islamic forces are accelerating their proceedings of“realignment”and“differentiation”,an extremely intrigue complex of interconnections is emerging between different Islamic factions and between religious politics and geopolitics.This situational evolution is not only influencing the Middle East region,but also affecting the peace and development of the whole world.
