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 ...