A two-day specialist seminar organised by British Muslim Initiative and supported by Al Jazeera Centre for Studies, Conflicts Forum, Demos, Forward Thinking and The Cordoba Foundation
Few topics seem to attract more interest than political Islam today. As recognized or unrecognized oppositions, parties in coalition governments or fully in power, or active players in civil society, Islamists have risen to prominence in the last two decades across much of the Muslim world. Today, Islamism is an undeniable fact of the political and cultural life of most Muslim countries in Asia and Africa, and even among Muslim minorities in Europe and the United States.
The ‘Understanding Political Islam’ seminar will bring together a unique selection of the world’s leading experts on Islam and Islamism together with a number of prominent intellectual and political figures in the field, including Professor John Esposito, Professor John O. Voll, Dr. Robert Leiken, Dr. Kamal El-Helbawy, Dr. Merve Kavakci, Alistair Crooke, Anas Altikriti, Prof. Tariq Ramadan, Dr. Azzam Tamimi, Dr Abdelwahab El-Affendi.
The aim is to open the way for a transparent and challenging discussion of a complex phenomenon.
SEMINAR PROGRAMME
Saturday 12th July
Political Islam: historical and intellectual origins; major schools and trends
Dr. Basheer Nafi, Lecturer in Islamic Studies, Birkbeck College
Professor John O. Voll, Professor of Islamic History and Associate Director of the Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding, Georgetown University
Egypt: between oppression and participation
Dr. Kamal El-Helbawy, Former spokesman of the International Organisation of the Muslim Brotherhood in the West
Dr. Robert Leiken, Director of the Immigration and National Security Program, The Nixon Center
Dr. Barbara Zollner, Associate Lecturer in Islamic Studies, Birkbeck College, University of London
Pakistan: Islamists in opposition
Abdulghafur Aziz, Jama'at e islami Pakistan
Turkey: Islamists in power
Prof. Ibrahim Kalin, Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at the College of the Holy Cross, Worcester, MA
Dr. Basheer Nafi, Lecturer in Islamic Studies, Birkbeck College
Palestine: Islamists, political participation and resistance
Dr. Azzam Tamimi, Director, Institute of Islamic Political Thought, London
Alistair Crooke, Founding Director of Conflicts Forum
Sunday 13th July
Islamism and Extremism: A Western Preoccupation (Sponsored by Demos)
Session Chair: Jamie Bartlett
Robert Lambert, Research Fellow, University of Exeter; co-founder and former head of the Metropolitan Police Muslim Contact Unit
Anas Altikriti, President, The Cordoba Foundation
Dr. Robert Leiken, Director of the Immigration and National Security Program, The Nixon Center
Dr. Tahir Abbas, Director of the Centre for the Study of Ethnicity and Culture, University of Birmingham
Political Islam: Key Issues and Themes
Islamism and Democracy
Prof. John O. Voll, Professor of Islamic history, Georgetown University
Dr. Rafik Abdessalam, Researcher, Al Jazeera Centre for Studies
Islamism and Women
Dr. Merve Kavakci, Lecturer of International Affairs at the Elliott School of International Affairs, George Washington University
Soumaya Ghannoushi, Researcher, School of Oriental and African Studies
Islamism and human rights
Prof. Tariq Ramadan, Professor of Islamic Studies at the Faculty of Theology, Oxford University
Sheikh Rached Ghannouchi, head of the Tunisian Harakat an-Nahdah (Renaissance Movement)
Islamism and the west: conflict or dialogue?
Prof. John Esposito, Professor of Islamic Studies and Founding Director of the Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding, Georgetown University
Dr. Mounir Shafiq, General Coordinator, Islamic National Pan-Arab
Conference
Roundtable discussion -
The future of political Islam: where do we go from here?
Chair: Dr Abdelwahab El-Affendi, Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for the Study of Democracy, University of Westminster
Prof. John Esposito
Dr. Basheer Nafi
Dr. Robert Leiken
Date: 12th - 13th July 2008
Venue: IslamExpo- Olympia Exhibition Centre, London
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