DAR AL HARB - U.S.A. - MASSACHUSETTS: A HARVARD PROFESSOR ENVISIONS 'ISLAMIC DEMOCRACY'

Saudi donations to universities are paying off big time:

Envisioning Islamic democracy

Boston, Massachusetts - Islam is often perceived as a potential threat to democratisation, and justifications for this view tend to repeat ad nauseam the idea that for Islam, there is no separation between politics and religion.

In the West, politics based on individual rights (as opposed to the common good) and religion as independent of the state have marked the triumph of a liberal vision of the self within a secularised public arena. No similar movement has taken place in the Muslim world. It may be tempting, then, to consider the absence of this development as evidence that the Muslim mind is resistant to secularisation in toto.

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Muslims want to be democratic on their own terms [In other words, when moslems move to the West, they want Westerners to accomodate them & allow them to practice shari'ah, the very shari'ah that they had just escaped from...I have a suggestion for moslems immigrants that are contemplating on moving to the West & expect us to change: DON'T BOTHER COMING, IF YOU WANT SHARI'AH, STAY WHERE YOU ARE AT...The professor is nothing more than an islamic apologist & handmaiden, used by islam to fill the minds of young Americans, soon to be our leaders with the idea that islam is no danger to The West...ed. A.I.] Is the professor a moslem, and for Muslims living both in the West and in Muslim-majority societies, this means that they want religious norms to be visible in their personal, daily lives. Moreover, this means that members of democratic, Muslim-majority societies would want religious norms to regulate public social life.

This raises legitimate concerns about the recognition and freedom of other religious minorities within a social system dominated by Islamic references. In some ways, American (more than European) democracy may reflect key elements of an Islamic democracy: sovereignty of the people, separation of church and state, and socio-political acknowledgment of the importance of religions to private citizens and public social life.

It is crucial that Western politicians and intellectuals acknowledge processes of modernisation and democratisation that include Islamic references, while striving to protect religious and cultural minorities and guarantee freedom of expression. Without these safeguards, it is impossible to envision any democracy, Islamic or otherwise.

and

Professor Jocelyne Cesari (islamic apologist & handmaiden) defends Tariq Ramadan (grandson of the found of the Moslem Brotherhood, the precursor to Al-Queda)...

You can read more here:

Tariq Ramadan & Jocelyne Cesari: Al Qaeda linked 'scholar' and apologist propagate hoax of Islamophobia at EPC conference



Pertinent Links:

1) Envisioning Islamic democracy