Nicolas Sarkozy’s speech before the Senate, in which he announced the ban of the burka in France, has stirred some emotion and discussion in Britain, where such law is far from being thought of. In her article Cassandra Jardine compares the two countries, pointing to the right to individual and religious expression in Britain. Ahmed…
Islam’s relationship to liberal-democratic politics has emerged as one of the most pressing and contentious issues in international affairs. Nader Hashemi challenges the widely held belief among social scientists that religious politics and liberal-democratic development are structurally incompatible. While there are certainly tensions between religion and democracy, the two are not irreconcilable. Liberal democracy requires…
In an effort to integrate foreign-born imams in France, a group of 40 imams have completed a year-long training course on French politics, law and secularism. According to Djelloul Seddiki, director of Al Ghazali theology institute at the Grand Mosque of Paris and an organizer of the course, the students study the humanities, as well…
After his controversial idea of introducing parts of Islamic Sharia to the British legal code, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Rowan Williams, is now pleased with support from “a number of fairly senior people”. One year ago Williams had called for Sharia courts to deal with wills and divorce, while only criminal cases should remain…
A panel of Christian and Muslims gathered to affirm that all people can be both citizens and believers, and that being a citizen – or being a person of faith – are not mutually exclusive identities. This is a point made in a final statement released from the conference “Being Citizens of Europe and a…
