“Islam, Shari’a and Democratic Transformation in the Arab World”

Islam (Photo credit: rogiro)

Roma May 22, 2012 – 15:00 Palazzo Caetani, Via Michelangelo Caetani 32 Prof. Abdullahi Ahmad An-Na‛im Charles Howard Candler Professor of Law – Emory University- Atlanta
Discussants: Prof. Gokhan Bacik- Zirve University, Gaziantep-Turkey H.E. Lamia Mekhemar Ambassador of Republic of Egypt to the Holy See
Prof. Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na’im, born in 1946 in Sudan, is a renown scholar of Islam and Human Rights. He has published numerous books, including Islam and the Secular State: Negotiating the Future of Shari’a (2008), African Constitutionalism and the Role of Islam (2006), Toward an Islamic Reformation: Civil Lberties, Human Rights and International Law (1990).Prof. An-Na‛im sees the ongoing events in the Arab World as an opportunity for Islam to bring about political, economic and social transformations in countries such as, for example, Tunisia, Egypt and Libya. In his view, “external actors can support liberation struggles, but should not attempt to displace or impose on the independent agency of native actors”, who will need to implement their own strategies to protect women rights, freedom of religion and free-speech. The Conference is meant to address an audience of international actors, including Ambassadors, Politicians and NGO’s officials living and working in Rome.
Organizers of the Conference are the IFIIE Foundation (www.ifiie.org) and Istituto Tevere-Centro pro Dialogo (www.istevere.org) whose goals are to educate leaders to a better understanding of other religious traditions and cultures through a study and discovery of both spiritual differences as well as shared values.