Reading Session on “Has Political Islam Failed?”
Date: Sunday 7 December
Time: 4PM – 6PM
Venue: Graha Pemuda, Sri Hartamas, Kuala Lumpur
Registration: http://www.eventbrite.com/e/
The “Arab Spring’ that opened a door for Islamists to come to power through ballot boxes posed a serious challenge to the ideology behind those movements. The so-called ‘neo-fundamentalists’ seemingly failed to find effective solutions to the economic and social problems of their peoples.
Islamists that concentrate mostly on certain aspects of Islam as morals, mixed education and Western intrusion have failed to fully exercise the ideas and principles of Islamic governance in the Qur’an. Inability of the newly elected politicians, sometimes modernized only on the surface, to provide effective economic programs resulted in inability to solve the problems of the countries that had undergone the hurricane of ‘Arab Awakening’. Muslim Brotherhood for example, was seen unable to prove the slogan “Islam is the solution” to be the real solution.
This makes the participants of political process in the Middle East and North Africa and other parts of the Muslim world to rethink on the methods of ruling a state. Indeed, separation of state and religion and the modest place of Islam in governmental affairs in several post-colonial countries were not only political and cultural influence of the post-renaissance West but could also be a necessity of pragmatic approach to state affairs. Perhaps the Islamist parties should concentrate on producing a cure to social problems that have triggered the “Arab Spring’ which have less to do with morals and more with economic hardships.
This session will look into these pertinent issues regarding Islam, politics and the state in the Muslim world at large.
Program
400-415PM: Introduction by the Chairman, Hazman Baharom
415-500PM: Presentation by Prof Ebrahim Moosa
500-600PM: Discussion