Islamic Reform Movements after the Arab Spring

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Jay Willoughby

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Abstract

On June 24-July 3, 2013, the International Institute of Islamic Thought held


its annual Summer Institute for Scholars. Given the number of presentations,


only a few of them will be mentioned here.


In his welcoming remarks, Abdul Aziz Sachedina (George Mason University)


spoke eloquently about how change has to come from within, how


politics still dominates values, and how the Qur’an and Sunnah are being read


not for inspiration, but for putting down opposition and dissenters. The Arab


Spring represents a challenge to undertake such an internal reform. Unfortunately,


he said, cyberspace contains no serious conversation in this regard,


just hostility and animosity, which only damages Muslims. He called for leaders


to “moralize” the entire issue in order to achieve co-existence, mainly between


Shi‘is and Sunnis, and wondered if the reformers could deal with this


and other issues.


John Voll (Georgetown University), who delivered the keynote address,


“Pop-politics and Elections: Islam and Democracy after the Arab Spring,”


raised the question as to whether the Arab Spring makes any difference, given


that reform movements have been going on in the Muslim world since 1880.


Are we, he asked, “looking at something moving forward/different, or just rehashing


the same old arguments?” He opined that a new vocabulary is needed


and that people have to move beyond “interfaith,” “tolerance,” and interreligious


dialogue and speak to each other about “shared interests.” He then discussed


earlier Muslim reform movements and how their goals have changed


over the years.


Yahya Michot (Hartford University) presented a special lecture entitled


“Taymiyyan Thoughts for a Temperate Arab Summer.” He pointed out how


different groups (e.g., those groups responsible for assassinating Sadat, the


Algerian civil war, and 9/11) took Ibn Taymiyyah’s anti-Mongol fatwas out


of context to justify their actions. Thus they ignored the underlying issues:


The supposedly “Muslim” Mongols were still massacring Muslims; ...

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