Who Speaks for Islam? Who
Speaks for the West?
continued
EVALUATION
18. From the outset, Dialogues intended the conference to produce recommendations for achieving the following four objectives: (i.) promoting internal debate within the Islamic world; (ii.) policy change; (iii.) education; and (iv.) conflict resolution.
19. With the Islamic world in the grips of a deep crisis over a vision of its future, a primary motivation behind the conference was to encourage debate among Muslims of all varieties of thought on such questions as: “Who speaks for Islam?” and “What roles, if any, should religion play in politics and government?” Thus, Dialogues sought participants who represented a broad spectrum of views from within the Islamic world — from innovative thinkers who in their efforts to reconcile Islam and modernity have launched a “new ijtihad” (the North Africans Mohammed Arkoun, Abdelmajid Charfi, and Mohamed Charfi) to advocates for gender equality (Hoda Badran and Boutheina Cheriet), to spiritual and community leaders (Mustafa Ceric), to the reform-minded yet still “traditionalist” former head of state (Mohamad Khatami), to professional practitioners in business, science, and technology (Imran Ali and A. Riawan Amin).
20. A significant debate took place among the Muslim participants over critical introspection. Self-criticism, a number of participants agreed, while a difficult and uncomfortable process, can result in pragmatic programs for concrete change. Those participants who strongly advocate auto-reform, however, noted that to be most effective, self-criticism relies on freedom, equality, incisiveness, and tolerance, conditions still lacking in many Muslim countries. Calls were made by various Muslim participants to consider reopening the interpretation of religious texts; to remedy the impoverishment of so many nations’ public education systems and instead encourage critical thinking and cultural openness; and to embrace good governance by fostering a healthy civil society able to challenge official doctrine.
21. Although there was no consensus on how to heal internal rifts and ills within the Islamic world (nor did the organizers reasonably think that such a resolution could be achieved), the conference provided a forum for different perspectives to be aired and debated. Given the extensive media coverage, these debates had the chance to affect Muslim and Western viewers across the globe. Participants felt this to be an important achievement since how a culture is heard, both internally and externally, often matters as much as what is said.
22. An equally important goal of the conference was to recommend policies in both the Muslim and Western worlds that promote tolerance, reason, and mutual respect. Dialogues had hoped that the debate in Kuala Lumpur would result in the development of policy recommendations to be submitted to government leaders and other relevant authorities and organizations, including media. Although there were no concrete recommendations agreed upon by participants, a number of NGOs, governments, and international institutions, including the United Nations’ High-Level Group for an Alliance of Civilizations, have expressed great interest in the conference proceedings. Dialogues is expediting the publication of the conference report with the intention of making it available in early summer 2006.
23. In keeping with precedent and with the objective of educating the broader public about the issues addressed at the conference, the conference report will be distributed worldwide to educational institutions for use by students, academics, and researchers, and will also be circulated to governments, non-governmental organizations, think tanks, and the media throughout the U.S., Europe, and the Islamic World. In addition, Dialogues intends to organize a number of events in summer and fall 2006 to publicize the report among academic, NGO, and policy-making audiences.
24. Finally, Dialogues envisioned the conference as a tool for conflict resolution in a time of escalating tension. The timing of the conference proved extremely fortuitous, given the crisis precipitated by the Danish cartoons. Through calls for mutual respect and tolerance in session debates, as well as public statements to that end by a number of eminent participants, the conference played a role in diffusing tensions.
25. Moreover, the conference provided an opportunity for productive networking among participants who represent a cross-section of fields, and who would not have been likely to meet in other contexts. One of Dialogues’ fundamental goals since the program’s inception has been to build a network of leaders who might become a valuable asset for negotiating peace in times of crisis. Dialogues encourages networking by creating an atmosphere of conviviality at program events, and participants judged the Kuala Lumpur conference to be a success in this regard. Dialogues is developing a proposal to expand the capabilities of the program’s website, www.islamuswest.org, to function also as a crisis management tool and a concrete, dynamic expression of the personal and professional network that the program has generated in connection with that goal.
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