Second Annual Conference of the Center for the Study of Islam & Democracy (CSID)

Abstract

The Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy (CSID) held its second annual conference at Georgetown University on April 7, 2001. Students, diplomats, liberal professionals, investors, activists and academicians were among the guests at the conference cosponsored by Georgetown University's Center for Muslim Christian Understanding (CMCU), the International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT), and the Institute of Global Cultural Studies. The conference theme, "Islam, Democracy and the Secularist State in the Post Modem Era" echoed in the presentations of Muslim scholars in the following five panels: Islam and Democracy, The Secular State, Elements of Democracy with Respect to Islam, Postmdernity, and Democracy in Practice and Islam in Context. A total of twenty presentations were made by the panelists in these five sections. Since the CSID is a research organization with a membership of academics, entrepreneurs, Muslim intellectuals, liberal professionals and activists committed to promoting democracy in the Muslim world, its annual conferences and monthly publication "The Muslim Democrat" serve as a forum through which the relationship between Islam and democracy is defined and democratic elements inherent in Islam are identified. As a think-tank dedicated to defining the historical and philosophical basis of democracy and its compatibility with the elements of Islam, CSID's presentations underscored justice, equality and tolerance as democratic concepts intrinsic to Islamic principles. By outlining the historical development of secularism and its role in Muslim societies, the panelists did not only encourage Muslim activists to institutionalize democratic practices, but they also addressed Muslim scholars and activists from both the western and the Muslim worlds who are convinced that Islam is incompatible with democracy. By presenting the causes of problems inherent in secular trends in Muslim countries like Yemen, Jordan, Indonesia and Malaysia, and identifying the shortcomings in their democratization process, CSID's presentations simultaneously sought to convince both Islamists and secularists that democratic ideals and Islamic principles were compatible. Since a distinction must be made between the separation of church and state and the separation of religion from politics in order to advance the ...