11th International Islam and Liberty Conference
The Role of Civil Values and Institutions in Muslim Societies
Registration form
18 - 19 October 2024
Conference Venue:
Ibrahim Cevahir Social Faclities Center
KASAM, The Black Sea Strategic Research Center
Katar Cad. İbrahim Cevahir Sok. No. 6
Sariyer, Istanbul
Islam and Liberty Network is a foundation established in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia, operating as a nonprofit, nongovernmental, civil society organization dealing with intellectual activities. ILN organizes international academic Islam and Liberty Conference annually in different countries.
Association for Liberal Thinking (ALT, Liberal Düşünce Topluluğu Derneği), and the Black Sea Strategic Research Center (KASAM, Karadeniz Stratejik Araştırmalar Merkezi) of the Black Sea Foundation based in Istanbul are cohosting the 11th International Islam and Liberty Conference of ILN titled “The Role of Civil Values and Institutions in Muslim Societies” to be held on 18 – 19 October 2024 at the Conference Hall of KASAM in Istanbul.
Introduction
The Islam and Liberty Network (L) Foundation is a network of researchers, academics and public intellectuals committed to demonstrate the consistency of universal values of freedoms with Islam through scholarly research and public dialogue. Founded in 2011, and governed by an international council, ILNF is registered as a Labuan foundation in Malaysia. The mission of the Foundation is “to advance the understanding of religious, political and economic freedom for peace and prosperity in Muslim majority countries and beyond.”
Our work has particularly remained focused on Muslim majority countries, but it has also intellectually engaged other societies particularly where Islam and Muslim communities have been criticised for a perceived threat to a liberal conduct and a free society, as well as have been challenged for their civil and individual rights.
The Islam and Liberty International Conference is our flagship event which offers opportunities to scholars and researchers around the world to present original work on these themes. The 11th International Conference by the Islam and Liberty Network (L) Foundation seeks to find intellectual and academic arguments for building civil and political institutions for a free society in the Muslim world and beyond.
Building Hypotheses
Statism is an idea where state, a central authority, defines the standards, institutions and rules which govern the collective manifestations of a society in economic, political and social domains. In contrast, a civil society can be loosely described as collective expression of voluntary associations amongst individuals, in the form of markets, mosques, political associations, labour unions and neighbourhood associations. Centralized economic planning is an example of statism whereas free markets represent voluntary association. Dictatorship represents statism whereas democracy is linked with civil society. A hierarchical religious organization with enforcement powers is an example of statist institution whereas religious freedom enjoyed by citizens is an example of civil freedom.
While illiberalism and populism are mostly threats to western democracies, Muslim countries suffer from oligarchic and statist establishments and cannot perpetuate electorate pluralist liberal democracies which would be enhanced with freedom of expression and free enterprise. It is posited that one of the fundamental challenges to liberal democracies in many Muslim majority countries are established civil and military bureaucratic organizations (i.e. establishment), which are great resistance to competitive democratic and civil institutions.
At its inception in the 7th Century, Islam embraced free trade and open markets and limited government. The Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) established a marketplace after establishing masjid, which had no tariffs. Later generations of Muslims expanded global trade and developed new instruments which promoted commerce. Many of these instruments remain in vogue in different forms today. Early Islamic history also saw emergence and adoption of voluntary charitable institutions such as Waqf, which played a central role in socio-economic development in the Islamic civilization until occupation of these lands by colonial regimes.
Registration to the Program is free.
Program
October 18, Friday
09.00 - 09.30 Registration
09.30 - 10.00 Opening Speeches:
Dr. Ali Salman, CEO, ILN
Özlem Çağlar Yılmaz, ILN, ALT
Yusuf Cevahir, Chairman, KASAM
Prof. Dr. Yusuf Tekin, Minister of National Education
10.00 - 11.00 I. Opening Panel
Prof. Dr. Atilla Yayla, Istanbul Medipol University, Advisory Board Member of ILN: Contemporary Challenges to Liberalism in Theory and in Practice in the Muslim World and Beyond
Prof. Syed Kamal, Member of UK House of Lords, Chair of Advisory Board of ILN:
The Tradition of Tolerance, Pluralism and Commerce; Challenges Concerning Muslims
11.00 - 11.15 Coffee Break
11.15 - 12.45 II. Session:
Islam and Liberal Democracy
Chair: Prof. Dr. Bican Şahin, Hacettepe University
Speakers: Have Muslims Been Actually Ordained to Opt for Liberal Democracy?
Prof. Dr. Murat Çizakça, Academia Europaea and European Science Foundation, Turkey
Civil Islam, Civil Society, and Democracy: How Can Islam Contribute to the Creation and Consolidation of Democracy?
Dr. Abbas Mehregan, University of Tehran, Iran
12.45 - 13.30 Friday Prayer
13.30 - 14.30 Lunch Break
14.30 - 16.00 III. Session:
Islam and Free Market Economy
Chair: Prof. Dr. Mustafa Acar, Necmettin Erbakan University
Speakers: State of Economy in Turkey
Prof. Dr. Metin Toprak, Haliç University, Member of the Auditing Committee of Central Bank of Turkey
Islam and Free Market Economy, Dr. Ali Salman, Economist, CEO of ILN,
Founder -Executive Director, Policy Research Institute of Market Economy, PRIME, Pakistan
The Market, Commercial Relations and the Debates on Interest in Islam,
Prof. Dr. Ahmet Uzun, Sivas Cumhuriyet University
16.00 - 16.15 Coffee Break
16.15 - 17.30 IV. Session:
Free Thought, Civil Society and Islamic Traditions
Chair: Prof. Dr. Alim Yilmaz, İstanbul Medeniyet University
Speakers: 'The Forgotten Principles of Free Thought in Uṣūl al-Fiqh: Where Madina Meets Athena,
Dr. Mohamed Badredine Tachouche, Anglo-American University, Prague
Islamic fundamentalist discourses in restricting the movement of civil society,
Narimane Chaoulia, Abdelhamid Ibn Badis Mostaganem University, Algeria
Empowering Sufi Orders as Civil Society: Strong Civil Capital and Weak Legal Framework of Waqf - Case Study of Alawiya Sufi Order Algeria,
Dr. Mustapha Radji, University of Mostaganem, Algeria
17.30 End of the First Day
October 19, Saturday
10.00 - 10.15 Keynote Speech:
Prof. Dr. Mustafa Şentop,
Constitutional Lawyer, 29th Speaker of the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye
10.15 - 11.45 V. Session:
Limited Government, Rule of Law, Constitutionalism and Islam
Speakers:
Constitutionalism: The Elusive Missing Link for Muslim Societies in their Quest for Democracy, Assoc. Prof. Saeed Khan, Wayne State University, USA
Between Theocracy and Democracy: Political Authority in Contemporary Shia Jurisprudence,
Asst. Prof. Mohsen Abbaszadeh Marzbali, University of Mazandaran, Iran
The Question of compatibility between Divine Sovereignty (Al-Hakmiyyah Lilah or Hakmiyyat Ilahi) and Popular Sovereignty in Constitutions of Muslim majority countries, Asst. Prof. Saeed Ahmed Rid, Quaid-i-Azam University, Pakistan
11.45 - 12.15 Coffee Break
12.15 - 13.30 VI. Session:
Democratic Practices in Muslim Majority Countries
Chair: Prof. Dr. Zekeriya Kurşun, Fatih Sultan Mehmet University
Speakers:
The Dynamics and Challenges of Muslim Democracy,
Dr. Hafijur Rahman, Tokat Gaziosmanpasa University, Turkey
What is the future of endogenous and exogenous forms of democratization in the Middle East? Prof. Kamal Ben Younes, University of Tunis, Tunisia
13.30 - 14.30 Lunch Break
14.30 - 15.30 VII. Session:
Being Muslim, the Individiual, and the Society
Chair: Manizha Ramizy, Afghan Economic and Legal Studies Organization
Speakers:
Debates on Being Muslim and Discrimination in the Contemporary World
Prof. Dr. Bekir Berat Özipek, İstanbul Medipol University
Islamisation in Malaysia: Moderate or Majority Islam?
Dr. Zatul Himmah Adnan, Ahmad Fauzi Abdul Hamid, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Universiti Sains Malaysia
15.30 - 16.00 Coffee Break
16.00 - 17.15 VIII. Session:
Measuring Liberty and Development in Muslim Majority Countries
Chair: Dr. Büşra Sönmez, Faculty of Communications Ankara Hacı Bayram Veli University
Speakers:
Islam & Liberty Index 2024,
Dr. Edo Omercevic, International University of Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Islam and Economic Development: What Does The Islamic Development Index Say? Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ozgur Kanbir, Giresun University
Evaluating Institutional Effects of Governance and Freedoms in Muslim-Majority Countries on Human Development through Machine Learning Techniques,
Dr. Jani Kinnunen, Åbo Akademi, Finland
17.15 - 17.30 Closing of The Program