Singapore's Muslim Community - A Moral Voice? (click to open) (click here for a Turkish translation)
Singapore's Muslim Community: A Moral Voice? Comparative Perspectives on Integration in Global Age (Singapore: Centre for Research on Islam and Malay Affairs, 2013). An abridged Turkish translation of this paper was published in Yeni Turkiye 96 (August 2017): 254-262.
In this occasional paper, based on a public lecture I delivered in Singapore in 2012, I argue that the Singaporean Muslims are already integrated in their society - the argument that runs counter to claims sometimes heard in public discourse about this population. I analyzed the Muslim in Singapore in a comparative perspective, comparing them with Muslims in the US, Europe, and the Southeast Asian region. I came to a conclusion that the Singaporean Muslims are much better off in many ways than their counterparts in other countries. The challenge for the Singaporean Muslims is not to be integrated; it is to have their voices heard and to convert their moral vision into concrete programs. The paper suggests specific ways how that could be achieved.
In this occasional paper, based on a public lecture I delivered in Singapore in 2012, I argue that the Singaporean Muslims are already integrated in their society - the argument that runs counter to claims sometimes heard in public discourse about this population. I analyzed the Muslim in Singapore in a comparative perspective, comparing them with Muslims in the US, Europe, and the Southeast Asian region. I came to a conclusion that the Singaporean Muslims are much better off in many ways than their counterparts in other countries. The challenge for the Singaporean Muslims is not to be integrated; it is to have their voices heard and to convert their moral vision into concrete programs. The paper suggests specific ways how that could be achieved.
"Islamic Revival as Development: Discourses on Islam, Modernity, and Democracy since the 1950s" Politics, Religion & Ideology 13, no.1 (2012): 3-24.
The article argues that Islamic Revival can be read as the Muslim thinkers and activists’ critique of, and engagement with modernity. It further makes a case for multiple modernities and multiple Islamic discourses which have marked the last six decades of Muslim activism. Islamic Revival has gone through three distinct periods during this time. In each of these periods, the Revivalists have engaged in conversation with modernity, which manifests the co-constitutive nature of both Islamic Revival and modernity. During these conversations, both of these phenomena have been re-constituted and re-shaped by each other. In the first period, the conversation put Islamic Revival amidst the debates on capitalism, communism, and political development in general, within the contexts of postcolonial liberation and the Cold War struggles. In the second, the emphasis was on democracy, economic development, and human rights. Finally, in the third period, which we are still witnessing, the focus of Islamic Revival’s conversation with modernity is on civic engagement and citizenship rights. Through these three periods, the paper traces the evolution of Islamic Revival from its often reactive past to the more proactive present.
The article argues that Islamic Revival can be read as the Muslim thinkers and activists’ critique of, and engagement with modernity. It further makes a case for multiple modernities and multiple Islamic discourses which have marked the last six decades of Muslim activism. Islamic Revival has gone through three distinct periods during this time. In each of these periods, the Revivalists have engaged in conversation with modernity, which manifests the co-constitutive nature of both Islamic Revival and modernity. During these conversations, both of these phenomena have been re-constituted and re-shaped by each other. In the first period, the conversation put Islamic Revival amidst the debates on capitalism, communism, and political development in general, within the contexts of postcolonial liberation and the Cold War struggles. In the second, the emphasis was on democracy, economic development, and human rights. Finally, in the third period, which we are still witnessing, the focus of Islamic Revival’s conversation with modernity is on civic engagement and citizenship rights. Through these three periods, the paper traces the evolution of Islamic Revival from its often reactive past to the more proactive present.
I wrote this background paper for the conference on the same topic, organized by the IIIT and the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, DC. I highlighted some of the pertinent problems with higher education in Muslim societies, pinpointed roots of those problems, and suggested an agenda for the conference in order to address the issues raised in the paper.
"Post-Islamism: The Failure of Islamic Activism" International Studies Review (2005): 433-436.
In this review essay, I look at Olivier Roy's Globalized Islam: The Search for a New Ummah and, in particular, at the concept of post-Islamism. I critique post-Islamism for being a pre-mature writeoff of Islamism.
In this review essay, I look at Olivier Roy's Globalized Islam: The Search for a New Ummah and, in particular, at the concept of post-Islamism. I critique post-Islamism for being a pre-mature writeoff of Islamism.
"The Majority Principle in Islamic Legal and Political Thought" Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations 15. no.2 (2004): 237-56.
This article studies the concepts of ijma', al-sawad al-a'zam, jumhur, al-tarjıh bi-al-kathra and legal maxims (al-qawa'id al-fiqhiyya) at some length and relates them to the majority principle. These concepts represent a rich field of legal rules, principles and opinions, and the study has found that most—if not all—of them could strengthen the case for the legitimization of the majority principle in Islamic political thought and decision-making processes. The article also considers Islamic political thought in relation to popular sovereignty, equality, popular consultation and the adoption of majority decisions by all the participants in political processes. While it is by no means conclusive, the article clearly favors the adoption of the majority principle—alongside other principles validated in Islam—in shuratic processes.
This article studies the concepts of ijma', al-sawad al-a'zam, jumhur, al-tarjıh bi-al-kathra and legal maxims (al-qawa'id al-fiqhiyya) at some length and relates them to the majority principle. These concepts represent a rich field of legal rules, principles and opinions, and the study has found that most—if not all—of them could strengthen the case for the legitimization of the majority principle in Islamic political thought and decision-making processes. The article also considers Islamic political thought in relation to popular sovereignty, equality, popular consultation and the adoption of majority decisions by all the participants in political processes. While it is by no means conclusive, the article clearly favors the adoption of the majority principle—alongside other principles validated in Islam—in shuratic processes.
"Humanitarian Intervention in International and Islamic Law," American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences 20, no.1 (2003): 88-106.
In this paper, I look into the moral foundation of humanitarian intervention in international law and its Islamic counterpart. My objective is to identify the traits shared by both sets of laws, and to see if the same or similar justification can be used across cultures to reach the same goal. In other words, one goal is to assess the claims that the basis upon which humanitarian intervention is justified has a universal appeal. Both international and Islamic law justify humanitarian intervention on moral grounds. International law bases its justification upon the human rights discourse. Islamic law provides enough bases for legitimizing humanitarian intervention, and Qur’anic verses, scholarly opinions, and Islamic principles provide a sound background for it. Paramount in this task is the concept of human dignity (karamah al-insan). We found no disagreement on this fundamental issue between the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and Islamic law. Human dignity, as understood in international human rights and its Islamic counterpart, thus could form the jus cogens of international law, a common human heritage upon which everybody can agree.
"Hanafi Biographical Dictionaries: A Survey," Intellectual Discourse 9, no.1 (2001): 47-66.
This paper covers one of the main genres in Muslim historiography - biographical dictionaries. In the first part, I discuss theoretical and historiographic considerations related to biographical dictionaries, their emergence, and motivations that spurred the genre. The second part of the paper surveys five classical Hanafi biographical dictionaries by looking at their content and relating it to the theoretical consideration discussed in the first part.
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