Religion and Public Life

Recent developments in the political discourse on the relevance of religion to public life have reinforced the general impression, shared by scholars the world over, that religion is making a comeback to the public sphere. One example of this renewed interest in religion is the new Faith-Based and...

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Autor principal: Louay M. Safi
Formato: article
Lenguaje:EN
Publicado: International Institute of Islamic Thought 2001
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Acceso en línea:https://doaj.org/article/35f73b45c81b40b793c4ad8487feff7f
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spelling oai:doaj.org-article:35f73b45c81b40b793c4ad8487feff7f2021-12-02T17:26:16ZReligion and Public Life10.35632/ajis.v18i2.20192690-37332690-3741https://doaj.org/article/35f73b45c81b40b793c4ad8487feff7f2001-04-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.ajis.org/index.php/ajiss/article/view/2019https://doaj.org/toc/2690-3733https://doaj.org/toc/2690-3741 Recent developments in the political discourse on the relevance of religion to public life have reinforced the general impression, shared by scholars the world over, that religion is making a comeback to the public sphere. One example of this renewed interest in religion is the new Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, announced by President Bush. These initiatives are presented as a way to enhance the welfare and social programs of the United State government, which were challenged in the late eighties, and were seriously disrupted in the nineties. The revitalization of religion in the last few decades, and the increased recognition of the need for acknowledging the vital role played by religion and religious consciousness in maintaining the moral cohesiveness of public life, have ignited a new public debate in the West over the extent to which religion can be allowed to venture into the public square without violating the principle of separation of church and state. Muslim scholars, on the other hand, are adamant on the inseparability of religion and state in an Islamic society, where an organized religion is absent. Needless to say, such a position is usually received with great amusement and suspicion by western scholars and thinkers, often concerned about the possible stifling of the rational debate of public policy and the likely infringement of the rights of religious minorities. The conflicting positions of Muslim and western scholars is at one level a problem of incommensurability between two political cultures. On a deeper level, the incongruence between the two positions reveals a need for more profound analysis of the relevance of religion to public life in a globalizing world that is increasingly yearning for meaning and direction. Incommensurability and Political Maturation Muhyiddin Bin Arabi, the famous Andalusian Muslim mystic-scholar who lived in the fifth century of the Islamic era, (twelfth century of the Christian era), wrote the following statement in his voluminous work, Al-Futuhat a1 Makkiyyah [Makkan Insights]: ... Louay M. SafiInternational Institute of Islamic ThoughtarticleIslamBP1-253ENAmerican Journal of Islam and Society, Vol 18, Iss 2 (2001)
institution DOAJ
collection DOAJ
language EN
topic Islam
BP1-253
spellingShingle Islam
BP1-253
Louay M. Safi
Religion and Public Life
description Recent developments in the political discourse on the relevance of religion to public life have reinforced the general impression, shared by scholars the world over, that religion is making a comeback to the public sphere. One example of this renewed interest in religion is the new Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, announced by President Bush. These initiatives are presented as a way to enhance the welfare and social programs of the United State government, which were challenged in the late eighties, and were seriously disrupted in the nineties. The revitalization of religion in the last few decades, and the increased recognition of the need for acknowledging the vital role played by religion and religious consciousness in maintaining the moral cohesiveness of public life, have ignited a new public debate in the West over the extent to which religion can be allowed to venture into the public square without violating the principle of separation of church and state. Muslim scholars, on the other hand, are adamant on the inseparability of religion and state in an Islamic society, where an organized religion is absent. Needless to say, such a position is usually received with great amusement and suspicion by western scholars and thinkers, often concerned about the possible stifling of the rational debate of public policy and the likely infringement of the rights of religious minorities. The conflicting positions of Muslim and western scholars is at one level a problem of incommensurability between two political cultures. On a deeper level, the incongruence between the two positions reveals a need for more profound analysis of the relevance of religion to public life in a globalizing world that is increasingly yearning for meaning and direction. Incommensurability and Political Maturation Muhyiddin Bin Arabi, the famous Andalusian Muslim mystic-scholar who lived in the fifth century of the Islamic era, (twelfth century of the Christian era), wrote the following statement in his voluminous work, Al-Futuhat a1 Makkiyyah [Makkan Insights]: ...
format article
author Louay M. Safi
author_facet Louay M. Safi
author_sort Louay M. Safi
title Religion and Public Life
title_short Religion and Public Life
title_full Religion and Public Life
title_fullStr Religion and Public Life
title_full_unstemmed Religion and Public Life
title_sort religion and public life
publisher International Institute of Islamic Thought
publishDate 2001
url https://doaj.org/article/35f73b45c81b40b793c4ad8487feff7f
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