Two-day Consultation Workshop on Islam and Politics

• Islam’s vision is universal and its aspiration as well as the scope of its early history is trans-national. Moreover, the orientation and evolution of the early Muslim community was worldly and pragmatic, with public utility as the overarching principle.

• The relationship between religion and the state in Islam is a rich source of ideas and guidance is available from the time of the prophet on the proper relationship between religion and society.
• The tradition of Islamic statecraft (or social norms) has much of contemporary relevance to say about justice and welfare, the rights of minorities, unity within the Muslim community and cohesion with non-Muslim minorities and neighbours.
• There is a notable diversity within Islam and there is no singular ‘Muslim mind’ but rather multiple Muslim experiences, and multiple identities enjoyed by Muslims, including their national, linguistic, regional, class and other secular ones. The Muslim world possesses a rich variety of intellectual currents and cross-currents and Islamic thought.
• Mobilization is a central principle of Islam, which is an intellectual and social tradition based neither on anarchy nor on authority and obedience. Thus the beneficial organization of an Islamic society is seen as requiring mobilization based upon an ideological understanding by members.
• It is necessary to have a dispassionate and empirical approach to the understanding of developments in political ideology in the Muslim world. There is a widespread sense that the West is engaged in a “blame game”, which would have detrimental effects on the stability and freedom of Muslim societies and on the standing of the United States in the Muslim world.
• US policy in the aftermath of 9/11 has also had its effects in this regard. It has led to a hardening and radicalization on both sides of the Western-Muslim encounter and led to mutual broad brush (mis)characterization of the other and its intentions.
• There is serious concern in the Muslim world at the use of negative terms such as “extremist” or “radical” for the Muslims. These terms are seldom seen as a categorisation based on real trends in the Muslim World and often considered as a psy-war or media war against Muslims and Islam.
• If terrorism means resort to violence against innocent civilians, then all forms of terrorism, individual, group and state should be equally condemned. The issue of legitimacy and justness of the objectives as well as of the means used to counter terrorism are equally important and relevant.
• Traditions of violent resistance are seen as rooted in anti-colonial struggles, or in resistance to indigenous oppression, and the extent to which violence is accepted as legitimate in contemporary Muslim societies depends on the perceived commonality of current conflicts with those.
• The broader aspirations of Muslim societies are reflected through a struggle against an unjust global order, comprising injustice and inequality in international economic and political relations and injustice and inequality in arrangements within autocratic Muslim societies, most often sponsored and protected by the West.

The conference was convened in collaboration with the Henry L. Stimson Center, Washington. A report based on the proceedings of the workshop will be published.