Parliament of Worlds Religion 2009 Melbourne Australia

Author(s): Parliament of the World’s Religions
Publisher: USA Parliament of the Worlds Religions

Page 317

PROGRAM DESCRI
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
perspective, is quite different from truths espoused by actual practitioners of Islam. In this session, panellists will address the disparity between the doctrinal reality and popular perceptions of these issues. They will also discuss important topics, such as honouring views shared with the Abrahamic faiths, the importance of the Amman Message which promotes tolerance and unity among Muslims worldwide, defining what social justice and gender justice means from an authentically Islamic perspective, and others. This panel is one of six sessions in the Islam 101 Series designed to highlight critically important issues regarding Islamic beliefs, practice and history that are all too commonly misunderstood.
Dr Fahad A Alhomoudi obtained his PhD in Islamic Law from McGill University. He was appointed Vice Dean for academic research at Imam University in Saudi Arabia and awarded the Fulbright Scholar award. In addition to his native Arabic, Alhomoudi speaks English, French, and reads Persian. Professor Alhomoudi has published two books and several articles. His research area covers Islamic law, environmental law, prophetic tradition, and interfaith dialogue.
Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf is chairman of the Cordoba Initiative, a multinational, multireligious project that works to improve relations between the Muslim world and the West. Author of 'What's Right With Islam Is What's Right With America: A New Vision for Muslims and the West'. he is also founder of the American Society for Muslim Advancement. Imam Feisal is a graduate of Columbia University, New York and holds a Master's degree from Stevens Institute of Technology.
Dr Burhanettin Tatar is the official representative of the Presidency of Religious Affairs of Turkey at the 2009 Parliament. He is a professor at Ondokuz Mayis University, in the faculty of Theology and the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies. He is also a member of the Higher Committee of Religious Affairs. Burhanettin Tatar received his PhD degree from the Catholic University of America in 1997.
Ayisha Ali is an Islamic Studies Lecturer at Dar Al-Hekma College, a premier women's college in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. She holds a BA in The Book (Holy Qur'an) and Sunna (The Prophets Traditions) and a Master's degree in Islamic Law & Its Origin from Umm Al Qura University, Makkah, Saudi Arabia. She is also an active member at the Islamic Education Foundation.
Dr Din Syamsuddin is an author and president of Muhammadiyah, Indonesia's largest modernist Muslim social and educational organisation. He is vice general chair of the Indonesian Ulama Council, professor of Islamic political thought at the National Islamic University in Jakarta and president of the Asian Conference on Religion for Peace, based in Tokyo.
Adis Duderija is a doctoral student at the School of Social and Cultural Studies at the University of Western Australia. His academic interests include Islamic hermeneutics and the construction of religious identity among Muslim youth in Western liberal democracies. He is also interested in social justice issues and interfaith dialogue. Adis serves on the working committee of Abrahamic Alliances, a recently established interfaith group in Perth. He also volunteers with Oxfam's Campaign and Education Network.
11:30am-1:00pm
INTERRELIGIOUS SESSION
INTERRELIGIOUS 11:30am-1:00pm
Islam and the West: Creating an Accord
of Civilisations
Dr Tariq Ramadan
Dr Chandra Muzaffar
Dr Daniel C Peterson, Moderator Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf
Plenary Hall
Panel Discussion
Are Islam and the West hopelessly opposed? Does the presence of millions of Muslims living in and contributing to the success of Western countries create the historical foundations for such a question? Is the current fear of Islam and Muslims solely a result of the violence and religious extremism of a few, or is there something more? What lessons can be learned from the success of Muslims living side by side with non-Muslims in non-Western countries? Despite the saturation coverage of Islam in the media, the vast majority of Westerners, including some opinion leaders and commentators, have a limited understanding of Islam and Muslims and the possibilities for creating a harmonious accord between Islam and the West. In this session, leading scholars from around the world will examine all of these issues and provide essential cultural and historical context.
Tariq Ramadan (www.tariqramadan.com) is Professor of Contemporary Islamic Studies at Oxford University. He is currently Senior Research Fellow at Doshisha University in Kyoto, Japan. He is active both at the academic and grassroots levels and lectures extensively throughout the world on theology, ethics, social justice, ecology and interfaith as well as intercultural dialogue. Through his writings and lectures, he has contributed substantially to the debate on the issues of Muslims in the West and Islamic revival in the Muslim world. Professor Ramadan is currently president of the European think tank, European Muslim Network (EMN), in Brussels.
Dr Chandra Muzaffar is a political scientist and founding president of the Malaysian-based NGO International Movement for a Just World (www. just-international.orgl, which seeks to raise public consciousness on the moral and intellectual basis of global justice. He also served as the first director of the Centre for Civilisational Dialogue at the University of Malaya. In addition to writings on civilisational dialogue, he has published extensively on religion, human rights, Malaysian politics and international relations.
Daniel C Peterson is professor of Islamic Studies and Arabic at Brigham Young University IBYU) and currently serves as editor-in-chief of BYU's Middle Eastern Texts Initiative. He is a member of the executive council of BYU's Neal A Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship. He received a Bachelor's degree in Greek and Philosophy from BYU and a PhD in Near Eastern Languages and Cultures from the University of California at Los Angeles.
Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf is chairman of the Cordoba Initiative, a multinational, multi-religious project that works to improve relations between the Muslim world and the West. Author of 'What's Right With Islam Is What's Right With America: A New Vision for Muslims and the West', he is also the founder of the American Society for Muslim Advancement. Imam Feisal is a graduate of Columbia University, New York, and holds a Master's degree from Stevens Institute of Technology.
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