|
| HLG Authored Articles |
|
The Need for an Alliance of World Civilizations, Ali Alatas May 10, 2007 The Jakarta Post. The article is an excerpt of a paper recently presented by Indonesian former foreign minister Ali Alatas to the First Standing Committee on Peace and International Security of the Inter-Parliamentary Union. My years in a habit taught me the paradox of veiling. If ministers really want a proper debate, they must learn that where the veil is forbidden, women hasten to wear it. Karen Armstrong Thursday October 26, 2006 The Guardian Today the veiled Muslim woman appears to symbolise the perceived Islamic threat, as nuns once epitomised the evils of popery. She seems a barbaric affront to hard-won values that are essential to our cultural identity: gender equality, freedom, transparency and openness. But in the Muslim world the veil has also acquired a new symbolism. If government ministers really want to debate the issue fruitfully, they must become familiar with the bitterly ironic history of veiling during the last hundred years. We cannot afford to maintain these ancient prejudices against Islam.The Pope's remarks were dangerous, and will convince many more Muslims that the west is incurably Islamophobic. Karen Armstrong Monday September 18, 2006 The Guardian In the 12th century, Peter the Venerable, Abbot of Cluny, initiated a dialogue with the Islamic world. "I approach you not with arms, but with words," he wrote to the Muslims whom he imagined reading his book, "not with force, but with reason, not with hatred, but with love." Yet his treatise was entitled Summary of the Whole Heresy of the Diabolical Sect of the Saracens and segued repeatedly into spluttering intransigence. Words failed Peter when he contemplated the "bestial cruelty" of Islam, which, he claimed, had established itself by the sword. Was Muhammad a true prophet? "I shall be worse than a donkey if I agree," he expostulated, "worse than cattle if I assent! Benedict XVI and Islam Sep-18-06 09:11 am by John L. Esposito Prince Alaweed Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding The primary purpose and message of Benedict XVI's address in Regensburg, Germany was not about Islam, referred to in only four paragraphs of his eight- page lecture. And yet, this Papal address to a university audience turned into an occasion for an international protest across the Muslim world. Morocco withdrew its ambassador to the Vatican, heads of state from Turkey to Indonesia voiced criticism, the Sheikh of Al-Azhar commented on the Pope’s ignorance of Islam, and leaders of Muslim organizations called for a public apology. The incident has also triggered public demonstrations, the burning of the Pope in effigy in Pakistan and acts of violence against Christians and Christian churches. The power of forgetting The Daoist ideal of 'sitting quietly' could help us break the cycle of escalating violence Karen Armstrong Saturday August 19, 2006 The Guardian Zhuangzi, the great Daoist sage who lived in the 4th century BCE, told an illuminating story about Confucius. One day his favourite disciple Yan Hui triumphantly announced that he could not remember anything Confucius had taught him. "What do you mean?" Confucius asked uneasily. "I sit quietly and forget!" beamed Yan Hui. Instead of being dismayed, Confucius acknowledged that his pupil had surpassed him. The intellect, he explained, could only "tally things up", but the deepest core of the human being, whence enlightenment comes, was vacant and receptive. "The Way is found in emptiness. Emptiness is the mind's fast." I was reminded of this story last weekend, when I learned with horror that because of the new security restrictions [..] Our truth is just a bit-player in the tragic, conflicted whole Religion recognises that there can be coherence in apparently contradictory narratives. The same applies to global politics Karen Armstrong Saturday August 26, 2006 The Guardian When Sophocles presented Oedipus Rex at the festival of Dionysus in 430BCE, he changed the plot in a way that would have shocked his Athenian audience. In earlier versions, after Oedipus discovered that he had unwittingly killed his father and committed incest with his mother, he continued to reign as king of Thebes. In Sophocles's play, he gouged out his eyes and became an outcast and perpetual exile. Despite his reputation for vision (oidos), Oedipus had been blind to basic realities of his identity. All his life, he had tried to act rightly and find the truth, but it eluded him and, through no fault of his, he had brought pestilence upon his city. At the start of the disastrous Peloponnesian war, Sophocles was trying to make Athens aware that humans can never hope to understand the full significance of their actions; there is usually an aspect of the situation that - sometimes fatally - escapes our grasp.In our increasingly polarised world, we desperately need this kind of insight. Violent Islamic radicals know they are heretical Extremists are proud of their deviance, and moderate Muslims can't be held responsible Karen Armstrong Saturday July 8, 2006 The Guardian A few years ago at a conference in the US, a Christian fundamentalist erupted into the hall and launched a vitriolic attack on me and my fellow panellists. His words were tumbling over one another incoherently, but the note of pain was clear. We had obviously assaulted him at some profound level. For three days my colleagues and I had discussed complex and radical issues in theology, not once at a loss for words; but stunned by the impact of this attack, we could find nothing to say. Dumbfounded, we gazed bleakly at our assailant across an abyss of incomprehension, until he was hustled out. John Esposito - Out of a cycle of ignorance 7 July 2006 The Guardian, UK As we remember the tragedy of the London bombings, voices in Europe and America issue ominous warnings of an Islamic threat: the rise of Eurabia, Londonistan and an Islamic caliphate. Recently, a prominent political commentator warned: "Even as Christianity seems to be dying in Europe, Islam is rising to shake the 21st century as it did so many previous centuries." The Bin Ladens and Zarqawis of the world shape perceptions of Muslims. How do we prevent the militant rhetoric and actions of a minority from defining Islam and relations between Muslims and the west? Ismail Serageldin - The Bibliotheca Alexandrina Proposal on Muslim Classics (PDF file) Draft - 15 June 2006 The Bibliotheca Alexandrina, with a number of other partners and sponsors, seeks to launch a comprehensive program to revive the great classics of Islam and to bring forth the enlightened views of the great Muslim reformers. This material, much of which is out of print, or has never been translated from its original language, would be then translated as needed to have editions in Arabic, English, French, and Farsi and put on line in a new portal that would also provide links to other scholarly sites for those who seek additional contacts. Publication of this material will also be discussed with appropriate publishers, but the main intent is to put it all on-line to encourage access for a broad public. The purpose of this exercise is twofold: (1) to show a younger generation of Muslims the progressive, open and tolerant face of so much of their tradition; and (2) to present to westerners another face of Islam and Muslims. Karen Armstrong - The Role of Religion in Today’s Conflict (PDF file) 7 June 2006 As we are all agreed, the conflict between the Muslim world and the West is essentially political but on a popular level religion is seen as one of its root causes. Islam is regarded in the West as an essentially violent faith that impels worshippers to acts of terror and on the Muslim side claim to be inspired wholly by the Qur’an and the Shari’ah. Secularists sometimes regard all religion as essentially divisive and obscurantist. There is a symbiotic relationship between religion and contemporary politics: each influences and exacerbates each other. It is, therefore, essential that our report looks at this dimension of the current impasse, dispels misapprehensions, gives an accurate appraisal of the precise role of religion in the current crisis, and makes some practical recommendations for the future. Draining The Resevoir 20 - 26 April 2006 Al-Ahram Weekly Online Following months of controversy over the publication of cartoons insulting to the prophet it is clear that those who have benefited from the episode are extremists from both sides, writes Ismail Serageldin. Alliance of Civilizations – A Future Yet to Be Determined – Prof. F. Mayor (PDF file) Alianza de Civilizaciones – Porvenir por hacer – Prof. F. Mayor - Español (PDF file) Declaración Afganistán, Irak, Palestina, Sudán....¡no más violaciones de la legalidad democrática internacional! – Prof. F. Mayor - Español (PDF file) In the Name of the Dead Children – Prof. F. Mayor (PDF file) In the Name of the Dead Children – Prof. F. Mayor - Español (PDF file) In the Name of the Dead Children – Prof. F. Mayor - Français (PDF file) Stop the War Immediately – Prof. F. Mayor (PDF file) Stop the War Immediately – Prof. F. Mayor - Español (PDF file) References – The Roots and Causes of Islamic Radicalism – Prof. Naumkin (PDF file) Accumulated Fuel and Dangerous Sparks - I. Serageldin on the Cartoon Controversy (PDF file) Beyond the Headlines - J. Esposito (PDF file) Claiming the Center- Political Islam in Transition, J. Esposito (PDF file) Islam and the West After Sept. 11, J. Esposito (PDF file) Jihad-Holy or Unholy War? J. Esposito (PDF file) Muslims and the West A Culture War? J. Esposito (PDF file) Unveiling Islam, J. Esposito (PDF file) Safe in the West, M.A.M. Khan & J. Esposito (PDF file) Muslim world will evolve its own democracy - J Esposito (PDF File) |