Naked Punch Review
Presented
THE FUTURE OF ISLAM: POSSIBLE PATHS
A FREE PUBLIC DEBATE
Programme
5.30 PM - Dr. John Chalcraft – Introductory Remarks
5.45 PM - Prof. Tariq Ramadan
6.00 PM - Prof. Ziauddin Sardar
6.15 - 7 PM - Panel Discussion and Question and Answers
Speakers
-Prof. Tariq Ramadan
 Currently at St Antony's College at the University of Oxford on a Visiting Fellowship, Tariq Ramadan is a leading international Islamic thinker who has for years endevoured to shape the european view of Islamic Faith, convinced as he is that this must be part of the broader debate on the desired and actual prospects of European society. Widely read, his most recent publications include: Western Muslims and the Future of Islam (2005) and Islam, the West and the Challenges of Modernity (2000)
-Prof. Ziauddin Sardar
 A writer, broadcaster, critic and currently a Visiting Professor of Postcolonial Studies, Department of Arts Policy and Management at the City University, London, Ziauddin Sardar is a leading Muslim figure and has published over 40 books on various aspects of Islam, imperialism, science policy, cultural studies and related subjects. His most recent books include Desperately Seeking Paradise: Journeys of a Sceptical Muslim (2004) and Why Do People Hate America (2003)
-Dr. John T. Chalcraft:
Lecturer in the History and Politics of Empire, Government Department, LSE, Dr Chalcraft is interested in the popular history of the Middle East and the global South, issues of hegemony and resistance, political contention, Eurocentrism, uneven capitalism, and imperialism. His latest publication is The Striking Cabbies of Cairo and Other Stories: Crafts and Guilds in Egypt, 1863-1914, (2004).
Description of the event
The dominant image in the Western media and literature is of a monolithic, fundamentalist Islam. In what is an extremely complex scenario, the Orientalist stereotipification of the Muslim world in the West is still a relevant historical and intellectual force, depicting it as largely unresponsive to modernity and therefore an anachronism in the contemporary world. Although this does not accurately reflect the dynamics in the region, there certainly is an issue of specific versions of Islamist politics/revivalism that contribute to the reduction of Islam to a 'penal code'. It is in such an urge to a literal reading of Quranic and Hadith texts and in such an obsession with textual veracity that fundamentalism lies. In order to resolve this central problematic, to fill this grey area between Orientalism and Nativism, Muslim intellectuals therefore have to battle on two fronts.
Firstly, against the Western image of a tyrannical "old mule" they plunge into history and cite numerous counter examples of reform, humanity and differences within the Islamic tradition. Secondly, and surprisingly, the harder task is to open up Islamic sources for hermeneutic readings from within. Ziauddin Sardar and Tariq Ramadan have fought on both fronts. Sardar has relentlessly addressed the Muslim world and proposed internal reform since the 1970's; he has argued that the reform of Islam to be successful has to come from within the Islamic world. He lays his hopes on Islamic peripheries and points to the examples of Malaysia, Indonesia and Morocco. Tariq Ramadan has likewise championed a challenge to fundamentalist reading of Islamic texts by vociferously addressing European Muslims and asking them to form an identity that is at once European and Islamic. He believes that it is the example of such European Muslims that will lead to reform of more fundamentalist Islamic states. The discussion, by bringing this debate into the public domain, challenged both the Western image of a lethargic Islam while also questioning fundamentalist interruptions of Islamic text.
Review of the event
Some four hundred people gathered at the LSE’s Old Theatre last Friday to hear a debate on the “Future of Islam” between Tariq Ramadan and Ziauddin Sardar. The event, chaired by LSE government department lecturer John Chalcraft, drew LSE students as well as outsiders to a conversation about the role and challenges of Islam in the contemporary world.
Ramadan and Sardar are both “reformers” with impressive backgrounds in scholarship. Ramadan holds an MA in philosophy and French literature as well as PhD in Islamic philosophy from the University of Geneva. He also studied Islamic philosophy at the Al-Azhar University in Cairo. Sardar is a writer, scientist and journalist, who has written widely on the subject of science, Islam, and modernity.
Both speakers spoke of the need for unity in the Muslim community, but beyond this the focus of their comments diverged. Ramadan, who is currently based at St. Anthony’s College, Oxford, spoke of the need for a synthesis of religious learning and the “context” of the modern world. Islamic scholars, he said, need to broaden their studies and include scientists, engineers, and other specialists in a dialogue about Islam. Without this adjustment, Islamic thinkers will be unable to help Muslims navigate their lives. Sardar called on Muslims to reject rigid legalistic approaches to understanding Islam, urging Muslims to read the Koran and interpret it for themselves. Muslims need to be independent thinkers, Sardar argued, rather than blindly following scholars who are themselves limited by their legalistic approach.
In the question and answer session that followed the fifteen minutes introductory comments, members of the audience challenged both speakers. Sardar, in particular, was met with a certain degree of skepticism (and at times, hostility). A young woman questioned the ability to achieve unity if every Muslim worked out his own interpretation of the faith. “Wouldn’t that lead to chaos?” she asked. Sardar’s reply was met with audible disbelief. “You know,” he said, “sometimes chaos is a good thing.”
The appeal of their message was hardly universal. In fact, it seemed that some people showed up for the express purpose of challenging Ramadan and Sardar. “You’re not a true Muslim,” a young man shouted as Ramadan left the building. “Did you even pray today?” Both speakers generally handled themselves with poise, although Sardar seemed flustered by the emotion behind some of the questions.
Controversy is nothing new for the speakers. The Islamic society, which was originally a co-sponsor of the event, ultimately chose to dissociate itself because Ramadan and Sardar’s views were seen to be too divisive.
Naked Punch editor Jacopo Moroni said that he had expected the speakers to be challenged. “The format of the event, with a very long questions and answers session, was specifically designed to engage the speakers with the audience. Given the emotionality that surrounds the debate on contemporary Islam, we were expecting some animosity. Nevertheless, it proves the interest of the LSE student body to confront the issue, which is at the heart of our understanding of contemporary social, political and geo-political trends,” Moroni said.
Chalcraft, the chair, said the debate “afforded a glimpse” at some of the sharpest controversies among Muslims. “Although the short presentations by the speakers were hardly long enough to capture the nuances, Tariq Ramadan and Zia Sardar did convey their main idea that there is broad scope for the re-interpretation of Islam according to a changing social context,” Chalcraft said. Chalcraft also said that the questions from the audience contributed to an informative and substantial debate.
“The controversy among the audience that followed was interesting in that for all the passion aroused, the questions were not merely ad hominen or point-scoring, but probed and pushed on the question of where the limits of re-interpretation where, what could still be held sacred and unchanging, and what exactly was the re-interpretation being proposed. This focus to the questioning made me feel that a useful purpose was being served by the exchanges and therefore by the event in general.”
Artemy Kalinovsky – Editorial Assistant Naked Punch Review
Video of the event available soon from online store
Presented in Association with
The Forum For European Philosophy LSE Islamic Society LSE Naked Punch Society
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