European Muslim Network

Text and context is an old story. But it is still what we do when we do `humanities`: trying to read texts in contexts whether these texts are written documents or buildings or religious artifacts. There is still an overwhelming interest in hermeneutical theory. The impact of religion on public life still continues. Religion strongly […]

Does citizenship infringe upon the practice of belief? The subject of citizenship (citoyenneté in French) is much talked of today, from those on the established political right, centre and left, to migrant and settling communities looking for a place in the political landscape. The purpose of this short essay, written from a Muslim perspective, is to encourage a critical engagement with the concept.

This paper has the humble aim of providing a short survey of the current state of theory and practice of state-church relations in Europe and the United States.

We have argued that while the distance between the formal institutions of Religion and Politics is healthy for society, the Humanist solution (in which theological discourse retreats from the public sphere) is unsatisfactory. The Church and Ummah must find a way of continuing to be public spaces in a pluralist world.

There is an urgent need to clarify our position regarding the idea that Islam maintains a confusion of categories when it comes to the religious, social, and political aspects of life.