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 ...