The Opening of “Renewal and Reform in Modern Islamic Thinking” Conference in the BA
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Alexandria—
Dr. Ismail Serageldin, Director of the Library of Alexandria, and Dr. Ahmed El-Tayeb, President of AlAzhar University, opened on Monday, 19 January 2009 the “Renewal and Reform in Modern Islamic Thinking” Conference. Eminent scholars and intellectuals will be participating in the Conference over the next three days.
Dr. Serageldin stated that, in a world where information and technology are rapidly changing, this Conference comes in line with the BA endeavor to revive Islamic culture and link it with world cultures. He added that the Conference aims at an objective reading of the works of pioneers in Islamic reform and renewal projects. He also stressed that the Conference is the starting point of a new intellectual movement that would eventually establish a long-awaited renaissance, one that is deeply-rooted in our cultural heritage.
Dr. El-Tayeb said that renewal is one of the inner features of Islam and the core of its heritage. He objected to tackling the concept of renewal with caution due to the ready accusations that are directed to any one dealing with the issue. Moreover, some experts in Islamic jurisprudence (Fuqaha') argue that Ijtihad, the independent endeavor in the interpretation of Islamic theology, is not accepted after the fifth century AH (after Hijrah of Prophet Muhammad). He added that this notion has resulted in a crisis: that today’s deep-rooted Islamic culture does not go in line with the actual reality of Muslims’ lives.
This crisis, said El-Tayeb, resulted from the non-differentiation between what is fixed in religion and what is subject to change, and from mixing up Islamic religious law (Sharia) and Islamic jurisprudence (Fiqh), in addition to regarding human opinions as holy.
It is worth mentioning that the Conference discusses several themes: namely: renewal and reform schools; pioneers and ideologies; the debate about Islam and the public field; renewal and the dilemmas of civilization; the dilemmas of tyranny versus freedom; and finally renewal and reform between the past and the future: an analysis of the contemporary Islamic discourse. The closing session will include a discussion entitled “What’s left and what’s next?”.