Pluralism and Ethnic and Sectarian Diversity in the Arab World 12-16 Jumada al Akhir/26-30 November 1993 International Institute of Islamic Thought Herndon, Virginia

Abstract

lbis seminar, sponsored jointly by the International Institute of Islamic
Thought and the Waqf Fund of the Kuwaiti Ministry of Awqaf, was
held at Herndon, Virginia. Twenty-five papers were presented during the
seminar's eight sessions, which were attended by scores of Arab Muslim
scholars and intellectuals from the United States and abroad, either as primary
authors of research papers, commentators, or contributors to the
serious and in-depth debate that followed each session.
Issues of democratization and how to deal with ethnic and sectarian
diversity in a context of modem society have become topical and central
to the political and intellectual debates in the Arab world. During the past
few decades, social and political instability has nndermined profoundly
the prospects for progress and prosperity in the Arab world. Pertinent to
this instability was the failure to establish consensual policies and institutions
in the post-Ottoman era. Hence, questions relating to "traditional"
and "modem," "pan-Islamic" and "nationalist," "absolute" and "relative,"
and "us" and "others" were raised prominently and discussed during the
seminar's five days.
The opening session, chaired by Hisham Altalib (IIIT), consisted of
three contributions. The first was that of Khalid al Zir (Kuwaiti Ministry
of Awqaf), who foc.ussed on the value of research as a higher value and
emphasized the role of waqf in Islamic life. Taha J. al 'Alwani (President,
lllT), spoke on behalf of IIIT and elaborated on the significance of ...