Symposium on the Futures of the Islamic World Algiers, Algeria 8-11 Shawwal 1410 / 4-7 May 1990

Abstract

I am honored to be among such a distinguished group of people who
have contributed so much to identifying the problems besetting the Islamic
world. The subject under discussion highly strategic, especially at
this time of sweeping upheaval and disruption that has been anticipated
for years by future studies specialists. I thus have no illusions about the
awesome task we face and am fully aware of the subject’s complexity.
I have been working in the field of future studies for over twenty-five
years and have participated in approximately two hundred international
conferences and seminars related to this subject. This is the first time, I
think, that an international symposium has been entirely devoted to the
identification and analysis of current and anticipated problems as related
to Islam. This is a sign of the maturity of the Islamic world, and similar
initiatives must be encouraged in the future with the hope of initiating
and supporting concrete research projects in this important am.
Given the countries of origin of this symposium’s participants, I hope
that its sponsors Will consider extending its activities beyond the scope
of the Arab world. After all, Arabs are only 20 percent of the total Muslim
population. When dealing with Islam, we must all beware of ethnocentric
temptations, for Islam calls for a diversity that is conducive to
unity. This prescription is enshrined in the Qur’an:
0 mankind! Lo! We have created you male and female, and have
made you nations and tribes that ye may know one another. Lo!
the noblest of you, in the sight of Allah, is the best in conduct.
(49: 13)
Accordingly, I consider this symposium to be a sort of rehearsal for
other meetings to come and which will be more representative of the realities
and potentialities of the Islamic world. We should therefore avoid
the confusing generalization which has l&l the West to apply the specific
reality of the Arab region to all countries of the Islamic world. This is not
to be regarded as a critical stand against this symposium, but rather as an
expression of a personal reservation concerning possible attempts to ...