Islam and Society in the Twenty-First Century

Abstract

The Twenty-Ninth Annual Conference of the Association of Muslim Social Scientists took place October 13-15 at Georgetown University in Washington, DC. The event was titled Islam and Society in the Twenty- First Century and was cosponsored by John Esposito’s Center for Muslim Christian Understanding. Most members of this organization, old and new, considered this AMSS conference among the most successful for several reasons. It scored the best attendance record in years and the presence of a new generation of both male and female Muslim academics. Participants commented positively on the high quality of papers. The quality and quantity of the presenters and audience members confirmed that the presence of Muslims in western academic institutions is growing. The conference was an international collection of Muslim and non- Muslim scholars with eighty academic papers and over ninety participants presenting throughout the three-day event in panel sessions and roundtables. Running parellel to the academic session were community issues panels that drew in those who were interested in policy-related matters pertinent to the Muslim community. The academic participants of the conference reflected upon topics that ranged from conceptual and theoretical issues to area and strategic studies. Some of the themes explored were gender, global warming, globalization, Islamic law, Muslims in the West, cross-cultural communication, family and society, political theory, economics, Islamic philosophy and strategic studies panels on Pakistan and Afghanistan. The conference featured two plenary sessions that provided seminal scholars an opportunity to reflect upon issues facing Muslims in the new millennium. Islam, Pluralism, and Democracy, moderated by Kamal Hassan (Rector of the International Islamic University of Malaysia), featured Murad Hofmann, Abdel-Karim Soroush (Director of Institute of Epistemological Research, Tehran), John Voll (Georgetown Univeristy), and Mumtaz Ahmad (President of AMSS). The session encouraged academic scholars to have a reflective rather than apologetic approach regarding Islam and to deflect questions from haw Islam is compatible with democracy to what type of democracy is compatible with Islam ...