Tartu, January 4 – Supporters of what some call „liberal Islam” are using the Internet to spread their ideas, even though the meaning and use of this term by various groups in the Russian Federation and elsewhere remains a matter of intense dispute.

A Russian-language religious information portal, Credo.ru, last week tried to introduce some clarity on this issue by offering what it called „a ‚working’ definition of „liberal Islam” and then discussing the most important websites where this idea is discussed. (http://www.portal-credo.ru/site/print.php?act=netnav&id=81)
„’Liberal Islam’, Credo.ru’s Valeriy Yemel’yanov writes, „is a reading of the dogmatics and social-political doctrines of this religion which stives to adapt it to the realities of the contemporary world and above all to the achievements of Western civilization such as freedom of the personality, economic feedom, democracy and human rights.”

As such, it would be more appropriate to describe this as „a liberal approach to Islam.” But Yemel’yanov says that what people typically call „liberal Islam” is characterized by „openness, tolerance and acceptance of changes taking place in the contemporary world.” Moreover, it is neither aggressive nor insistent that Islam as the only true faith.

Most of the supporters of „liberal-Islamic ideas,” the Credo.ru writer says, live in the United States, the coutnries of Western Europe, and in the non-Arab countries of south Asia. But there are a growing number elsewhere, including in the Russian Federation, Azerbaijan and the countries of Central Asia.

Yemel’yanov notes that EuroIslam, which actively supported by some religious and political activists in Tatarstan and Switzerland, is related to „liberal Islam” but that it is not the same thing.

One the one hand, the Credo.ru analysts suggests, EuroIslam is more often a geographic category with obvious political connotations than a distinctive religious point of view. And on the other, at least some of the supporters of EuroIslam do not take liberal positions on many issues
One advocate of EuroIslam who does support „liberal Islam,” Yemel’yanov writes, is Tatarstan’s Rafael Khakimov, the director of the Kazan Institute of History and a senior advisor to Tatarstan President Mintimir Shaimiev.
Long an advocate of promoting among Tatars a moderate to liberal form of Islam, Khakimov has written widely on the subject, most notably in his book „Where is Our Mecca? A Manifesto of EuroIslam.” (This and many of his other works on this topic are available at http://www.kazanfed.ru/authors/khakimov/ ).
Khakimov’s ideas, Yemel’yanov suggests, are based on the proposition that Islam’s central text, the Koran, should not be accepted in its entirety but rather that today’s Muslims must carefully distinguish between that part of its content which is universally and eternally true and that part which was directed to a specific people in a particular place and time -- namely, seventh century Arabia.

Not surprisingly, Khakimov’s ideas have attracted both some supporters and many opponents. The former see them as the basis for squaring Islam with modernity, while the latter accuse him of seeking to replace genuine Islam with what one writer has called an overly-permissive, even „drunken” Islam.
Not surprisingly, most Muslim leaders inside the Russian Federation have treated Khakimov’s „liberal” Islamic project with great caution. But at least a few of them now are willing to consider his views seriously.

One of these, Ali-Vyacheslav Polosin, the advisor to the chairman of the Council of Muftis of Russia who created the Russian-language Islam-Info site (http://www.islam-info.ru/ ), told Credo-.ru his site is open to the ideas of liberal Islam because Islam-Info focuses on „the social-political aspect of Islam in the context of human rights.”

Another is a site maintained by the Azerbaijani Islamic scholar Aydyn Ali-zade (http://www.aboutislam.ws). And still a third site -- although one not mentioned by Yemel’yanov -- where liberal Islamic ideas are frequently found is the one maintained by the Muslim Spiritual Directorate of Ukraine, www.islamyat.ua

In his article, Yemel’yanov pints to other sites to which those interested in „liberal Islam” can turn: in Europe (http://www.qantara.de/webcom/show_softlink.php/_c-365/i.html, in the United States (http://www.muslimwakeup.com/index.php), in Indonesia (http://islamlib.com/en/page.php), and in Bangladesh (http://www.liberalislam.net).

There are other more specialized sites as well about „liberal Islam”, and the Credo.ru writer urges using the hypertext links at the site of Charles Kurtzman, the American author of a 1998 volume on the subject (http://www.unc.edu/~kurzman/LiberalIslamLinks.htm)
By publishing this review of „liberal Islam” sites, Yemel’yanov clearly wants to do more than just provide an academic guide to this field. Instead, he clearly hopes that ever more Muslims in Russia and abroad will consider the ideas of the „liberal Islam” project even if in the end they do not accept them in their entirety.

LIBERAL ISLAM WEB SITES
Collected by Charles Kurzman
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
As noted in the introduction to the Liberal Islam anthology, I use the term "liberal" to refer to basic themes in the history of liberalism, such as democracy, freedom of thought, social equality, and human progress. The term "liberal" has a variety of meanings, to be sure, and its reputation in much of the Islamic world has been tainted by its hypocritical introduction under colonialism. Thus these links, and the Liberal Islam anthology itself, include some authors and activists who may not consider themselves "liberal," though they deal seriously with liberal themes.
Web sites or pages devoted to authors in the Liberal Islam anthology:
Chapter 6. S.M. Zafar, Pakistan: http://www.washington-report.org/backissues/0896/9608078.htm
Chapter 7. Mehdi Bazargan, Iran: http://www.nehzateazadi.org/mehdi.html
Chapter 9. Rachid Ghannouchi, Tunisia: Muslim Students Association listing
Chapter 10. Sadek Sulaiman, Oman: http://www.alhewar.com/SadekDemAndShura.htm
Chapter 12. Benazir Bhutto, Pakistan: http://www.ppp.org.pk/speeches.html
Chapter 13. Fatima Mernissi, Morocco: Muslim Students Association listing
Chapter 15. Muhammad Shahrour, Syria: http://www.moslem.org/shahroor.htm
Chapter 17. Chandra Muzaffar, Malaysia: http://www.just-international.org
Chapter 18. Mohamed Talbi, Tunisia: Muslim Students Association listing
Chapter 20. Rusmir Mahmutcehajic, Bosnia: http://www.ifbosna.org.ba
Chapter 21. `Ali Shari`ati, Iran: http://www.shariati.com
Chapter 22. Yusuf Qaradawi, Egypt-Qatar: http://www.qaradawi.net
Chapter 23. Mohamed Arkoun, Algeria-France: Muslim Students Association listing
Chapter 24. `Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na`im, Sudan-USA: http://www1.law.emory.edu/LAW/CATALOG/faculty/annaim.html
Chapter 26. Abdulkarim Soroush, Iran: http://www.seraj.org, http://www.drsoroush.com (Muslim Students Association listing)
Chapter 27. Muhammad Iqbal, India: http://www.eden.rutgers.edu/~ufchi/iqbal.html, http://www.allamaiqbal.com,
http://members.tripod.com/~islamica/iqbal.htm
Chapter 29. Nurcholish Madjid, Indonesia: http://www.paramadina.org
Other Muslim authors devoted to discussion or promotion of liberal themes:
Khaled Abou El Fadl, Kuwait-Egypt-USA: http://www.scholarofthehouse.org, http://149.142.26.30/faculty/bios/abouelfadl/index.html
Nasr Abu Zaid, Egypt: http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Lobby/9012/Zaid/index.html
Anwar Ibrahim and Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, Malaysia: http://www.anwaribrahim.org (site may not be operational)
Karim Douglas Crow, USA: http://www.igc.org/nonviolence/islambib.htm
Asghar Ali Engineer, India: http://www.ecumene.org/IIS, http://www.dawoodi-bohras.com
Mohammad Omar Farooq, Bangladesh-USA: http://www.globalwebpost.com/farooqm
Fethullah Gülen, Turkey: http://www.fethullahgulen.org, http://www.nil.com.tr/~fgulen
Zeeshan Hasan's Liberal Islamic Web Site, Bangladesh: http://www.liberalislam.net
Tarek Heggy, Egypt, http://www.heggy.org
Mohsen Kadivar, Iran: http://www.kadivar.com
Muqtedar Khan, India-USA: http://www.ijtihad.org and http://www.glocaleye.org
Amhed Subhy Mansour, Egypt, http://www.ahmed.G3Z.com
S. Parvez Manzoor, Sweden: http://www.algonet.se/~pmanzoor
Abdurrahman Wahid, Indonesia: http://www.muslims.net/KMNU/pustaka/buku1/forward.txt
Edip Yüksel, Turkey-USA: http://www.yuksel.org
Islamic organizations devoted to discussion or promotion of liberal themes:
Al-Qalam, South Africa: http://mandla.co.za/al-qalam
An-Nahdha, Tunisia: http://www.ezzeitouna.org/annahdha/ANNAHDHA.HTM
Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy, USA: http://www.islam-democracy.org
Claremont Main Road Mosque, South Africa: http://islam.org.za/muslims/Claremont/index.htm
Etudes Musulmanes, France: http://www.etudes-musulmanes.com
Free-Minds, Saudi Arabia: http://www.free-minds.org
Ikatan Cendekiawan Muslim Se-Indonesia (ICMI), Indonesia: http://www.icmi.or.id
International Center for Islam and Pluralism (ICIP), Indonesia: http://www.icipglobal.org
International Institute for Islamic Thought, USA and Malaysia: http://www.jaring.my/iiit
Islam21, England: http://www.islam21.net
Islamic Intellectual Forum, USA: http://www.islamforum.org
Jaringan Islam Liberal, Indonesia: http://www.islamlib.com
Karamah: Muslim Women Lawyers for Human Rights, USA: http://www.karamah.org
Liberation Movement of Iran: http://www.nehzateazadi.org
Liberty for Muslim World, England: http://www.lmw.org
Minaret of Freedom, USA: http://www.minaret.org
Ministry of W. Deen Muhammad, USA: http://www.wdmonline.com
Muslim Public Affairs Council, USA: http://www.mpac.org
Muslim WakeUp!, USA: http://www.muslimwakeup.com/info
Muslim World Journal of Human Rights, USA-UK-Canada: http://www.bepress.com/mwjhr/
Nahdlatul Ulama, Indonesia: http://www.muslims.net/KMNU
Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance, Canada: http://www.religioustolerance.org/islam.htm
Progressive Dawoodi Bohras, India: http://www.dawoodi-bohras.com
Progressive Muslims, U.S.: http://classes.colgate.edu/osafi/progressive_muslims.htm
Qalandar: Islam and Interfaith Relations in South Asia: http://www.islaminterfaith.org
Sisterhood Is Global Institute, Canada: http://www.sigi.org
Tasneem Project, England: http://www.bayyinat.org.uk
The American Muslim, U.S.: http://www.theamericanmuslim.org
Umma Party, Sudan: http://www.umma.org
Women Living Under Muslim Laws, England-Pakistan-Nigeria, http://wluml.org

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