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Faith And The City TV program on
“Shi'a and Sunni Muslims”

Faith And The City e.Newsletter
May 11, 2007

Dr. Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na’im, professor of law at Emory University and an internationally noted scholar and human rights activist, is featured on Faith And The City Forum on Atlanta Interfaith Broadcasters cable TV network. The broadcast schedule appears at the end of this article.

"The divides are not Islam and western society, the divide is between people who have different values. We must promote connections between people who want to contribute to human values. People who share that commitment can collaborate across cultural divides." – Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na'im

(Source: Religion & Culture: Meeting the Challenge of Pluralism, A Ford Foundation Project, http://www.religionandpluralism.org
_/AbdullahiAnNaim.htm.)

The following background on Dr. Na’im is reprinted from the Emory University Website (http://people.law.emory.edu/~abduh46/)

“Prof. Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na'im (from Sudan) is Charles Howard Candler Professor of Law at Emory Law School. An internationally recognized scholar of Islam and human rights, and human rights in cross-cultural perspectives, Professor An-Na'im teaches courses in human rights, religion and human rights, Islamic law, and criminal law. His research interests also include constitutionalism in Islamic and African countries, and Islam and politics. He directs several research projects which focus on advocacy strategies for reform through internal cultural transformation."

There are two main aspects to An-Na’im’s work, both arising from his personal experiences as a Muslim from Northern Sudan struggling to reconcile his Islamic faith and identity with his commitment to universal acceptance of and respect for human rights. First, he is striving to promote two interrelated objectives, namely, a liberal modernist understanding of Islam, and the cultural legitimacy and practical efficacy of international human rights standards. This side of his vision and commitment has resulted in a wide range of publications, particularly in relation to Islamic and African societies. Second, he is concerned with rendering scholarship in the effective service of positive social change, especially in relation to the twin objectives mentioned above. This concern is reflected in his work in human rights advocacy in general, as well as the development and implementation of several public policy-oriented projects since he joined the Faculty of Emory Law School in 1995, as outlined below.

While a law student at the University of Khartoum, Sudan, An-Na’im joined the Islamic reform movement of Ustadh Mahmoud Mohamed Taha in 1968, and continued to participate in its work there until the movement was suppressed in December 1984. As Islamic fundamentalism was taking a stronger hold of Sudanese society and politics, An-Na’im left the country in April 1985. Hoping to be able to return to Sudan, he held a series of short-term positions until the early 1990s, when it became clear that the Islamic fundamentalist regime that came to power through a military coup in 1989 was consolidating its position in the country. As a result, An-Na’im accepted the position of Executive Director of Africa Watch, now the African Division of Human Rights Watch, based in Washington DC, from June 1993 until April 1995. He joined the Faculty of Emory Law School in June 1995, was granted tenure in 1997, and became Charles Howard Candler Professor of Law in 1999.

Prof. An-Na'im's current project, under the working title, The Future of Shari'a, focuses on the struggle of Islamic societies to define themselves and positively relate to the local and global conditions under which they live. A key aspect of this process is the constitutional and legal dimensions of the post-colonial experiences of Islamic societies, especially the relationship among Islam, state and society.

The fundamental concern of the project is how to ensure the institutional separation of Shari'a and the state, despite the organic and unavoidable connection between Islam and politics. The first part of this proposition sounds like 'secularism' as commonly understood today, but the second part indicates the opposite. This is a permanent paradox, which is part of the thesis, namely, that the relationship among religion, state, and society is the product of a constant and deeply contextual negotiation, rather than the subject of a fixed formula, whether a claim of total separation or total fusion of religion and the state. The project thesis proposes that the paradox of separation of Islam and the state while maintaining an organic relationship among Islam, politics and social interaction, can only be mediated through practice over time, rather than completely resolved through theoretical analysis.”

Faith And The City Forum, an interfaith-oriented public affairs series, airs on Atlanta Interfaith Broadcasters Cable Network on the following schedule:

• Monday @ 4:00PM
• Tuesday @ 7:30 AM
• Wednesday @ 6:00 PM
• Thursday @ 5:00 PM

Atlanta Interfaith Broadcasters Cable Network Channels:

• Comcast (ch. 5)
• BellSouth Americast (ch. 4)
• Charter Communications, Smyrna (ch. 14)
• Charter Communications, Roswell (ch. 22)

For more information on the Faith And The City Forum TV series, click here.

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