The presence of a parliament does not a democracy make.
Mernissi's assertion that the Third World has enabled much of Arab and Muslim societies to be cut off from the philosophical underpinnings of democracy can easily explain why Islam seems incompatible with secular humanism. Arabs, "like the rest of the citizens of the third World, have never had systematic access to the modern advances rooted in" the Enlighenment (Mernissi 46-47). Mistrust of colonial overlords has fueled an anti-Western sentiment. This also prevents democracy as a worldview from taking root, let alone democracy as a reality. The result is that people in the Muslim world are experiencing "modernity without understanding its foundations, its basic concepts," (Mernissi 47).
In the Arab world "the state and its public schools...remain the only means of creating and propagating democratic culture and educating tolerant citizens," (Mernissi 47). The goal is to interject democratic principles into teachings of Western civilization. This might help minimize the misunderstandings of what democracy is and thereby prove that Islam is absolutely compatible with it. After all, Islam has spearheaded scientific inquiry even when Christianity was in the Dark Ages. The fact that there is no Arab word for "democracy" is meaningless in a world in which societies learn and grow from and with each other (Mernissi).
Berman's analysis of Sayyid Qutb also shows that Al Qaeda does not speak for the entire Muslim world. Eikelmann agrees. "Muslim religious scholars, both in the Middle East and in the West, have already soken out against Al Qaeda's claim to act in the name of Islam," (p. 39) Al Qaeda is like the Tea Party in the United States, only more overtly violent; Al Qaeda is a core group of fundamentalists who cling to a religious conservatism by blinding followers...
Islam and the West How do you see Islam offering an alternative to modernity as defined by the West? Is this alternative oppositional to or complementary with the West or both? Why or why not? Focus on specific examples. Globalization is a phenomenon that has touched all spheres of human life. Made pervasive with the aid of technology, globalization has come to define the manner in which we lead our lives. Be
Islam in the Age of Globalization The three major religions in the 21st century are all Abrahamic in historical basis. These religions, Judaism, Islam and Christianity remain at the edge of political, social, and cultural issues, particularly now in that globalism has become so predominant. These religions are noted as Abrahamic because each uses the basic teachings of the Prophet Abraham in their general world view. All three faiths are monotheistic
More recently, reports have begun coming from the Middle East that women will no longer be "expected" to participate in the pilgrimage to Mecca, thereby eliminating women from the holiest rite associated with Islam. Having once done that, it would then be easy to keep women physically, mentally, emotionally isolated within any Muslim society. Of equal concern is the way in which the Koran is interpreted to facilitate and carry
Islamic History In Russia and Central Asia Approximately twenty million of the world's one billion Muslims live in Russia, even more in Eastern Europe. The media and academics alike are scurrying to react to this seemingly new wave of Islam in Russia, however attention is mainly focused on extremist activity. "Fundamentalism," "Wahhabism," "Islamism," and other such banner concepts are tainting our perception of Islam in Russia. The place of Islam in
Yet it is somewhat biased, due to the author being a strict fundamentalist. Said, Edward. "The Clash of Definitions." Emran Qureshi & Michael a. Sells, eds. The New Crusades: Constructing the Muslim Enemy. New York: Columbia University Press, 2003, 70-80. This essay presents a very divergent viewpoint as compared to that of political theorist and practitioner Samuel P. Huntington whose views on the "Clash of Civilizations" is now being questioned and
In 2006 the government of Great Britain is stated to have: "...toughened anti-terrorism laws, making it a crime to 'glorify' terrorism and easing procedures for deporting clerics and others who advocate violence. There are presently approximately 2 million plus Muslims residing in Britain's Muslim community. In August 2006 a plot to bomb jumbo jets from the skies of Great Britain, jets that were headed to major U.S. cities was
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