Islam and Liberty Podcast

Episode 027 - Mohd. Izharul Haque Mikrani; IMAN: Efforts for Religious Freedom in Nepal

Mohd. Izharul Haque Mikrani is a prominent media personality and a fighter for Democracy, Human Rights, Pluralism, Freedom of Religion or Belief despite challenges and threats. Currently, Mr. Mikrani is the president of the Intellectual Muslims Association of Nepal (IMAN). This organization works to promote interfaith dialogue among people of different faiths. He is also the Chief Editor of Sajha Awaz (an online news portal of Nepal). Izhar Mikrani is a founder member and current chair of SAFFoRB (South Asian Forum for Freedom of Religion or Belief), Nepal Chapter. He is also an active member of the EU working group on HRDs.

His presentation speaks about IMAN (Intellectual Muslims Association of Nepal), a non-profitable organization working for minorities’ rights in Nepal upholding the principles of freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) and its efforts.

Episode 026 - A.K.M Iftekharul Islam, Secularism, Islamism and Religious Minorities: the Case of Bangladesh

A. K. M. Iftekharul Islam is assistant professor of Department of Islamic History & Culture at University of Dhaka, Bangladesh. He has a masters in Islamic History & Culture and have various of his articles referred to in journals.

His paper is an attempt to examine the present condition of religious minorities in Bangladesh; impact of religious tension of India and Myanmar on it and policy options for the government; and the civil society to ensure religious co-existence of all sorts of people.

 

Episode 025 - Mujeeb Hussain Gattoo, The Ahmediyya question, the response of Muslim Scholars, and the (im)possibility of religious co-existence in Contemporary Islamic Thought.

Mujeeb Hussain Gattoo is an Assistant Professor at the Higher Education Department, Govt of Jammu and Kashmir.

Their paper tackles the Ahmediyya question through analyzing the issues raised above and probing into the (im)possibility of religious co-existence in Contemporary Islamic thought.It is also an attempt to compare the views of Muslim scholars (across different spectrums of thought) towards the Ahmediyya’s

Episode 024 - Amel Azzouz, Revisiting Religious Freedom in a Muslim Democracy: Case of New Tunisian Constitution

Amel Azzouz is a member of Ennahdha Party Shura Council and a former member of the Tunisian Constituent Assembly. She is a teacher of English literature in the Tunisian University, and she received her political science master’s degree from the Faculty of Juridical, Political and Social Sciences of Tunis. In her paper, she sheds light on the constitution of post-revolution Tunisia, the most progressive constitution in today’s Muslim world. She explains how this success was achieved not only thanks to the joint efforts of legislators and politicians but also to a serious social dialogue.

 

Episode 023 - Azeemah Saleem; Revisiting Religious Freedom in ‘Secular’ and ‘Islamic’ Constitution

Azeemah Saleem, Doctoral Candidate in Center for West Asian Studies, School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. She is working on “Syrian Refugees in Germany: An Understanding through the Prism of Global Justice” as her PhD Thesis. Her area of interest includes understanding Global Justice in the context of Refugees, Rawls theory of Justice, Kantian Cosmopolitanism, Humanitarian crisis, global refugee issues, women development studies, social and societal fragmentation in North Africa, conflict analysis in West Asia along with identity politics and critically analysing human rights issue.

Her paper aimed to understand religious freedom in the constitution of Lebanon and Saudi Arabia. It will scrutinise how the constitution derived from secular and Islamic values reflected the functioning of society. Is Secular constitution is moving towards an inclusive society and Islamic constitution is moving away from being a tolerant society. It also aimed to understand whether the ‘Secular’ constitution makes a nation more inclusive as compared to the ‘Islamic’ constitution. The consequences of the respective constitution in society. Lastly, it will redefine the idea of secularism compatible with the freedom of religion in both the nation of Saudi Arabia and Lebanon.

 

Episode 022 - Fida Ur Rahman, Apostasy, Religious Freedom, and Individual LIberty: Textual and Contextual Analysis of Classical Islamist and Post Islamist Narratives

Fida Ur Rahman is serving as a Lecturer in the Department of Social Sciences at University College of Zhob, BUITEMS, Balochistan, Pakistan. He holds M.Phil. in Islamic Studies. He is also alumni of Islam and Liberty Network, Malaysia and Acton University USA. His area of specialization includes Islam, State and Politics, Anthropology and Sociology of Islam, and Modern Trends in Islam.

At the 7th International Islam and Liberty Conference, "Islamic Case for Religious Freedom", he presented his paper, which is an attempt to critically analyze the text and context of the Classical, Islamist and Post-Islamist approaches regarding apostasy and religious freedom by revisiting and reexamining all the narratives in the light of the primary sources of Islam, universal moral values and charters of UNO regarding human rights.

Episode 021 - Ali Hassannia, Between “Religious Intolerance” and “Holy Ignorance”: Discussion of Misconceptions about Religious Freedom

Dr. Ali Hassannia is Assistant Professor, Department of Qur’an and Hadith Studies, Shahed University of Iran. He has a PhD in Theology and Islamic Studies and has published multiple papers in Persian, Arabic and English.

The paper he presented at the 7th International Islam and Liberty Conference was based on the analytical descriptive method using Quranic notions, traditional and Islamic teachings and views of thinkers. It aimed at discussing the limits of tolerance in Islam, particularly concerning freedom, and how some misconceptions could cause the tragic phenomenon of “holy ignorance”. It also criticized both Muslim and Western opinions in this regard. Finally, it showed the connection between intolerance, holy ignorance, radicalism, and lack of a sound understanding of religion.

Visit our website at islamandlibertynetwork.org for his paper and presentation

Episode 020 - Hakan Coruh, The Concept of Freedom (Huriyya) and Natural Rights in Classical Islamic Jurisprudence

Dr. Hakan Coruh holds his Bachelor of Divinity (Ilahiyat) degree from the Faculty of Divinity, Sakrya University. In 2007, he completed his Master’s degree in Qur’anic Exegesis (tafsir) at the same University. He then completed his PhD at Australia Catholic University in 2015. Hakan’s main field is Qur’anic exegesis (tafsir).

At the 7th International Islam & Liberty Conference, "Islamic Case For Religious Freedom", His presentation focuses on Hanafite jurist Dabusi’s fundamental natural human rights (ismah, hurriyyah, malikiyah) as a case study. Then it analysed modern discussions in the last period of Ottoman in the early modernism and what are the implications for today.

 

Episode 019 - Mohammad Hashim Kamali, Freedom of Religion and Apostasy: Issues, Responses and Developments

Professor Mohammad Hashim Kamali is founding CEO of the International Institute of Advanced Islamic Studies, Malaysia, and a world-renowned scholar in his field of specialisation. He serves on the International Advisory Board of thirteen academic journals published in Malaysia, USA, Canada, Kuwait, India, Australia and Pakistan.

At the 7th International Islam & Liberty Conference, "Islamic Case For Religious Freedom", Professor Mohammad Hashim Kamali presented his paper, “Freedom of Religion and Apostasy: Issues, Responses and Developments” which offer fresh interpretations of the scripture that seek to recapture the original callings of the qur’an and Sunnah in preference to the scholastic positions of the leading schools Islamic law of later periods.

 

Episode 018 - Democratic Transition in Tunisia

Recorded on 10th July 2019 at IDEAS' Public Forum titled "Democractic Transition: Successes and Challenges".

 

Dr Radwan Masmoudi. Radwan A. Masmoudi is the Founder and President of the Center of the Study of Islam & Democracy (CSID), a Tunisia-based non-profit think tank dedicated to promoting democracy in the Muslim world.