THE WEST and Muslim world, for one reason or another, have always viewed each other with suspicion and mistrust. The atmosphere of distrust and disharmony among followers of different faiths touched new heights after the events of 9/11 and the US-led invasion on Afghanistan and Iraq.
In the backdrop of these disturbing incidents, moderate voices have called for a greater tolerance and mutual understanding among followers of different faiths but all the efforts to contain the situation have proved to be futile. Now there is a growing feeling among various quarters that scholars and intellectuals are the best people in the present scenario who can promote inter-faith harmony.
Professor Akbar S Ahmed is one of those moderate and forward-looking Muslim scholars who has taken lead in this context and believes it is high time for entering into an intellectual dialogue to address the situation. He feels there is a great need to show respect for one another’s faith and belief. Ahmed has recently embarked upon a project titled “Islam in the age of globalisation,” which will give him the opportunity to meet with the officials and decision-makers of various countries and seek their views on a number of issues that have contributed towards worsening relations between the West and Muslim world.
The novel project, aimed at addressing the role of religion in the twenty-first century, has been launched by the US-based The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution, and American University’s School of International Service. The project is intended to help heads of states, policy-makers and scholars to comprehend the diversity of Islam and evolve a strategy to meet the future challenges, especially those emerging from the backdrop of 9/11.
Professor Ahmed, who is the Ibn Khaldun Chair of Islamic Studies and professor of International Relations at American University in Washington, DC was recently in Doha to attend the annual session of US-Islamic World Forum 2006. He is the former High Commissioner of Pakistan to Britain and has advised Prince Charles and met with President George W Bush on issues related to Islam. Professor Ahmed is a distinguished anthropologist, writer, and filmmaker. He has been actively involved in interfaith dialogue and the study of global Islam and its impact on contemporary society for many years.
“It is a very critical phase of world history. Both the West and Muslim world are reaching a point of no return and there is a need of initiating a serious intellectual dialogue between both sides to remove misunderstandings,” remarked Professor Ahmed, who has been holding the AU’s prestigious Ibn Khaldun Chair of Islamic Studies since 2001.
Professor Ahmed is the author of many books on contemporary Islam, including Discovering Islam: Making Sense of Muslim History and Society, which was the basis of the BBC six-part TV series called “Living Islam”. His Postmodernism and Islam: Predicament and Promise was nominated for the Amalfi Award, and his “Jinnah Quartet,” a four-part project on Pakistan’s founding father, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, has won numerous international awards.
Professor Ahmed, who holds Ph D degree form the University of London, said the research project “Islam in the Age of Globalization” recognises the dual challenges the United States faces in its relations with the Muslim world and in addressing the role of religion in twenty-first century world politics. It will explore the question of “Who speaks for Islam?” in an era of globalisation. He noted the project will examine how authority within Islam is legitimated in the modern Muslim world. It will also be examined how leaders establish their authority, especially in relation to divine texts, public reception of leaders claiming to speak for divine texts, and the effect of such issues on politics and policy, he said.
Born in Allahabad, India, Professor Ahmed joined the Civil Service of Pakistan, the elite cadre of the Central Superior Services of Pakistan, in 1966. He has held important posts including commissioner of Quetta, political agent of South Waziristan Agency before resigning from service in 2000. Parallel to his civil service career, Professor Ahmed was visiting professor at Harvard University, Cambridge University, and the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton.
He is recipient of various multiple teaching and scholarship awards including the 2004 Professor of the Year Award for Washington DC by the Carnegie Foundation and the 2004 Scholar of the Year Award by the Pakistani-American Congress. He was honored earlier this year at the National Cathedral in Washington, DC for his years of interfaith work.
Professor Ahmed will be assisted in the project by Frankie Martin, a senior at the AU, pursuing majors in History and International Relations and a Minor in Philosophy, Hailey Woldt, a second year student at Georgetown University in the School of Foreign Service and Hadia Mubarak, former president of the Muslim Students Association National, an umbrella organisation of approximately 500 chapters in the US and Canada, which serves to promote religious awareness on college campuses and foster an atmosphere that accommodates the religious diversity of its student body.
About the initiative partners, Professor Ahmed said The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life delivers timely, impartial information to national opinion leaders on issues at the intersection of religion and public affairs. It also serves as a neutral venue for discussions of those matters. The Forum is a project of the Pew Research Center, a nonpartisan “fact tank” that provides information on the issues, attitudes and trends shaping America and the world.
The Brookings Institution, he said, is one of Washington’s oldest think tanks. It is an independent, nonpartisan organisation devoted to research, analysis, and public education. The Brookings Project on US Policy towards the Islamic World, housed under the auspices of the Saban Center for Middle East Policy, seeks to examine how the United States can reconcile its need to defeat terrorism and reduce the appeal of extremist movements with its need to build more positive relations with Muslim states and communities.
The third partner is AU’s School of International Service, which is the largest school of international affairs in the United States. Its Ibn Khaldun Chair of Islamic Studies was established in 1981 to create broader understanding of Islam among Muslims and non-Muslims.
Professor Ahmed, who has been described by the BBC as “the world’s leading authority on contemporary Islam said the West and Muslim world were reaching a point of no return and there was a need of initiating a serious intellectual dialogue between both sides to remove misunderstandings. “Its important for both sides to pull back and have some mutual respect for each other and start a meaningful dialogue and build bridges of understanding between each other,” remarked Professor Ahmed.
He noted that it was high time when Muslims intellectuals, scholars and writers must come forward and begin the process of explaining things to the world rationally rather than emotionally. “If you burn someone’s embassies you don’t impress any one. That’s not the way of expressing you difference of opinion. So it has to be done on a long term sustained basis by exchanging ideas. That must come from the Muslim world,” asserted Professor Ahmed.
Professor Ahmed makes frequent media appearances in the United Kingdom and the United States to bring understanding between Islam and the West. With Dr Judea Pearl, father of slain Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl, he has been engaged in public dialogues across the US and abroad.