Download 2004 Announcement -5th conf - Center for the Study of Islam

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CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF ISLAM AND DEMOCRACY (CSID)
Fifth Annual Conference
DEFINING & ESTABLISHING JUSTICE
IN MUSLIM SOCIETIES
May 28-29, 2004
Wyndham Washington D.C. Hotel
1400 M Street, NW, Washington, D.C. 20005
CSID’s Fifth Annual Conference offers a unique forum to examine the best way to establish justice in
Muslim countries and to address the inequalities, injustices, and discriminatory practices that are
prevalent today. Since the Qur’an states that one of the primary goals and responsibilities of Muslims is
establishing justice on earth, justice (adl) is central to Islam. Justice in Islam requires fairness,
reciprocity, and equality. Since it also mandates consensus (ijma’a) and consultation (shura), justice is
the foundation of democracy.
This conference provides an opportunity to explore the following questions:
1. What are the political foundations of justice and their relationship to democracy in
Muslim states? What does it mean to say that consensus and consultation are the basis of
political justice?
2. How central is economic justice to democracy in Islamic societies? Does Islam have a just
theory of economics? What examples from the past and the present can best reflect this
theory?
3. Does social organization limit justice in Islam? Are the traditional patterns of social
organization and authority in Islam just?
4. What constitutes justice for women in Islamic democracy? What is the meaning of justice
for women in Islamic democracy? Can women participate as equals to men in society?
5. How is the justice of religious law (shari’ah) related to democracy? Is the justice of
Shari’ah laws democratic? What legal structures and protections are required to administer
justice?
Program Chair: Prof. Akbar Ahmed – American University, Washington, DC
For more details, visit CSID website at www.islam-democracy.org
or contact CSID Conference Coordinator, Ms Layla Sein,
[email protected] or call (202) 772-2022