First Contemporary Muslim Philosophers Conference

Abstract

Early Saturday morning on 16 May 1998, fifty people made their way
into the conference room of Georgetown University’s Salaam
Intercultural Center for the first annual conference of the Association of
Contemporary Muslim Philosophers. Looking into their eyes, one could
see a glimmer of hope and the fire of enthusiasm. Clearly, this was not
going to be a run of the mill encounter of Muslim minds. Some of the
greatest intellects of the Muslim world were present, among them
Professor Seyyed Hossein Nasr, Dr. Taha B Jabir al ‘Alwani, and Dr. Kamal
Hassan. Young students with fresh countenances and effervescent comments
waited to deliberate upon such issues as the difference between
public and private philosophy, the role of postmodernism in the Muslim
world, and why and in what condition does the Muslim intellectual tradition
find itself.
Ironically, this occurred in view of an immense Jesuit Crucifix heralded
by the Greek letters alpha and omega, which symbolize Christ.
While for some this signified the contradiction and turmoil present
within current Muslim philosophical discourse, for others it embodied
a promising message. For those who saw it as a positive symbol,
including myself, the cross served to illustrate the universe, marking
the four cardinal directions of space, and the surrounding alpha and
omega symbolized the all-encompassing nature of the Qur’an. On a
terrestrial level, it verified the resilient nature of the Muslim intellect
for, quite obviously, we were a group of Muslims meeting in a Jesuit
institution to talk about reviving Islamic philosophy. Nevertheless, the
universal significance of that symbol was realized by the spirit of the
gathering and in the profound discussions afforded by all those present.
The conference started with a moment of reflection upon the verses
of the Qur’an found in Surat al ‘Alaq: ...