| Revision as of 21:37, 17 May 2012 editAwilley (talk | contribs)Administrators14,150 edits →Criticism: a little more work in footnotes, specifying Georgetown University (as opposed to some random town :-)← Previous edit | Revision as of 21:51, 17 May 2012 edit undoAwilley (talk | contribs)Administrators14,150 edits Renaming sections, shuffling material. "Goals" --> "Speakers"; "Criticism" --> "Reception" (including positive "landmark" quote and CAIR's criticism)Next edit → | ||
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| '''Secular Islam Summit''' was an international forum for ] of ]ic societies, held in March 2007 in ], organized by secular Muslims<!--Kuwait News notes that Zand was one of the organizers--> together with the ], a secular humanist educational organization, and in partnership with the International ], a forum on ].<ref name=kuna>Kuwait News Agency, Feb 2007. </ref><ref name=WP>, Susan Jacoby, ''Diverse Muslims, Violent Islamist Fundamentalism''</ref> | '''Secular Islam Summit''' was an international forum for ] of ]ic societies, held in March 2007 in ], organized by secular Muslims<!--Kuwait News notes that Zand was one of the organizers--> together with the ], a secular humanist educational organization, and in partnership with the International ], a forum on ].<ref name=kuna>Kuwait News Agency, Feb 2007. </ref><ref name=WP>, Susan Jacoby, ''Diverse Muslims, Violent Islamist Fundamentalism''</ref> | ||
| ==Speakers== | |||
| ⚫ | |||
| ⚫ | Speakers included Muslims who ranged from ex-believers to devout reformers,<ref name="usnews"/> and attendees included government officials from Arab countries, Europe, Canada, and the US.<ref name=kuna/> The speakers shared the conviction that Islam should be compatible with secular democracy.<ref name=usnews/> They agreed that Islam could not remain both a political and religious teaching, and needed to choose one or the other.<ref>{{citation |url=http://www.telospress.com/main/index.php?main_page=news_article&article_id=187 |title=The Conference on Secular Islam |author=Andrew Bieszad |publisher=Telospress.com}} ("...all speakers agreed that Islam cannot remain both a political and religious teaching. For its own survival, it needs to choose.")</ref> | ||
| == |
==Reception== | ||
| ⚫ | The summit was broadcast live on ]'s ]<ref>Washington Post March 17 2007</ref> and described by the '']'' as "a landmark".<ref>{{cite web|last=Stephens |first=Bret |url=http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB117314819125027850-lMyQjAxMDE3NzAzNjEwNDY4Wj.html |title=Islam's Other Radicals - WSJ.com |publisher=Online.wsj.com |date=2007-03-06 |accessdate=2012-01-27}}</ref> | ||
| ⚫ | |||
| ==Criticism== | |||
| Members of the ] (CAIR), a Muslim ] advocacy organization, criticized the summit for being organized by a non-religious organization{{cn|date=May 2012}} and for including ex-Muslims among its speakers, who they said were hostile to Islam.<ref>{{citation |url=http://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/articles/070408/16muslims_2.htm |publisher=US News and Word report |title=Fighting for the soul of Islam}} (CAIR criticized many of the secularists' remarks, including the claim by the Syrian-American psychiatrist Wafa Sultan that there is no difference between "radical Islam and regular Islam". Parvez Ahmed, the board chairman of CAIR, said that the Summit attracted the attention of "extreme right-wing and neocon voices who touted as role models of 'reform' those who are deep in their hostility to Islam.")</ref> ], a professor of Christian and Muslim history at Georgetown University, shared CAIR's apprehension, questioning the summit's claim to nonpartisanship.<ref>{{Cite news |work=Tampa Bay Times |url=http://www.sptimes.com/2007/03/06/Southpinellas/Intelligence_conferen.shtml |date=March 6, 2007 |first=Meg |last=Laughlin |title=Intelligence conference draws criticism}} (Haddad said, "Legitimate scholars are horrified by the lineup. The speakers are extreme in their views. Basically, it's everyone known for damning Islam.")</ref> | Members of the ] (CAIR), a Muslim ] advocacy organization, criticized the summit for being organized by a non-religious organization{{cn|date=May 2012}} and for including ex-Muslims among its speakers, who they said were hostile to Islam.<ref>{{citation |url=http://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/articles/070408/16muslims_2.htm |publisher=US News and Word report |title=Fighting for the soul of Islam}} (CAIR criticized many of the secularists' remarks, including the claim by the Syrian-American psychiatrist Wafa Sultan that there is no difference between "radical Islam and regular Islam". Parvez Ahmed, the board chairman of CAIR, said that the Summit attracted the attention of "extreme right-wing and neocon voices who touted as role models of 'reform' those who are deep in their hostility to Islam.")</ref> ], a professor of Christian and Muslim history at Georgetown University, shared CAIR's apprehension, questioning the summit's claim to nonpartisanship.<ref>{{Cite news |work=Tampa Bay Times |url=http://www.sptimes.com/2007/03/06/Southpinellas/Intelligence_conferen.shtml |date=March 6, 2007 |first=Meg |last=Laughlin |title=Intelligence conference draws criticism}} (Haddad said, "Legitimate scholars are horrified by the lineup. The speakers are extreme in their views. Basically, it's everyone known for damning Islam.")</ref> | ||
Revision as of 21:51, 17 May 2012
Secular Islam Summit was an international forum for secularists of Islamic societies, held in March 2007 in St. Petersburg, Florida, organized by secular Muslims together with the Center for Inquiry, a secular humanist educational organization, and in partnership with the International Intelligence Summit, a forum on terrorism.
Speakers
Speakers included Muslims who ranged from ex-believers to devout reformers, and attendees included government officials from Arab countries, Europe, Canada, and the US. The speakers shared the conviction that Islam should be compatible with secular democracy. They agreed that Islam could not remain both a political and religious teaching, and needed to choose one or the other.
Reception
The summit was broadcast live on CNN's Glenn Beck program and described by the Wall Street Journal as "a landmark".
Members of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a Muslim civil liberties advocacy organization, criticized the summit for being organized by a non-religious organization and for including ex-Muslims among its speakers, who they said were hostile to Islam. Yvonne Haddad, a professor of Christian and Muslim history at Georgetown University, shared CAIR's apprehension, questioning the summit's claim to nonpartisanship.
St. Petersburg Declaration
Although delegates to the summit "differed sharply on particulars", on March 5 they released a public manifesto calling for reform within Islam. The text, known as the St. Petersburg Declaration, affirmed the separation of mosque and state, gender equality in personal and family law, and unrestricted critical study of Islamic traditions. It states, for instance,
We are secular Muslims, and secular persons of Muslim societies. We are believers, doubters, and unbelievers, brought together by a great struggle, not between the West and Islam, but between the free and the unfree...
We insist upon the separation of religion from the state and the observance of universal human rights...
We call upon the governments of the world to reject Sharia law, fatwa courts, clerical rule, and state-sanctioned religion in all their forms; oppose all penalties for blasphemy and apostasy, in accordance with Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; eliminate practices, such as female circumcision, honor killing, forced veiling, and forced marriage, that further the oppression of women...
We say to Muslim believers: there is a noble future for Islam as a personal faith, not a political doctrine; to Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Hindus, Baha'is, and all members of non-Muslim faith communities: we stand with you as free and equal citizens; and to nonbelievers, we defend your unqualified liberty to question and dissent."
Those who signed the declaration were:
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References
- ^ Kuwait News Agency, Feb 2007. First "Secular Islam Summit" to convene early next month in Florida
- Washington Post, Susan Jacoby, Diverse Muslims, Violent Islamist Fundamentalism
- ^ US News and Word report: Fighting for the soul of Islam
- Andrew Bieszad, The Conference on Secular Islam, Telospress.com ("...all speakers agreed that Islam cannot remain both a political and religious teaching. For its own survival, it needs to choose.")
- Washington Post March 17 2007
- Stephens, Bret (2007-03-06). "Islam's Other Radicals - WSJ.com". Online.wsj.com. Retrieved 2012-01-27.
- Fighting for the soul of Islam, US News and Word report (CAIR criticized many of the secularists' remarks, including the claim by the Syrian-American psychiatrist Wafa Sultan that there is no difference between "radical Islam and regular Islam". Parvez Ahmed, the board chairman of CAIR, said that the Summit attracted the attention of "extreme right-wing and neocon voices who touted as role models of 'reform' those who are deep in their hostility to Islam.")
- Laughlin, Meg (March 6, 2007). "Intelligence conference draws criticism". Tampa Bay Times. (Haddad said, "Legitimate scholars are horrified by the lineup. The speakers are extreme in their views. Basically, it's everyone known for damning Islam.")
- ^ "The St. Petersburg Declaration". Centerforinquiry.net. 2007-04-05. Retrieved 2012-01-27.
- Susan Jacoby, "Diverse Muslims, Violent Islamist Fundamentalism", On Faith, Washington Post