CSID Weekly E-news:                  January 8, 2004
www.islam-democracy.org


CONTENTS:

1)      Letter to President Chirac on Religious Freedom
              (please SIGN, and return)
2)      Call for Papers:  Conference on Shariah and
               Ijtihad in Sudan & Nigeria
3)      Beautiful letter from a Muslim in Lagos, Nigeria
4)      CSID President to speak at U.S.-Islamic World
                Forum (Doha, Jan. 10-12, 2004)



___________________________________________________
Dear Friends:

As you may know, the French Government has begun to draft a
law that would ban
the wearing of religious symbols in public schools and any
public facilities
such as hospitals, courthouses, etc.  These include Jewish
skullcaps, Muslim
headscarves, Sikh turbans, large Christian crosses, and any
other religious
dress deemed to be “ostentatious.”  In a discussion
this morning, a French
political leader said to me that the question of
appropriateness of dress is
“like pornography in the US – we’ll know it when we
see it.”  He also
stated that “banning religious garb is a protection of
democracy, as religion
is a threat to the state of France and to democracy at
large.”

The draft law is expected to be voted on in early February.
 Attached please
find a letter to President Chirac on this issue.  If you
are interested in
adding your name to this letter, please do so by Monday,
January 12.  You may
e-mail me back at this address, fax us at 202-835-8764, or
call us at
202-835-8760.

Please feel free to forward this letter to anyone else whom
you believe would be
interested in adding their name to the letter.

TO ADD YOUR NAME, please send an e-mail with your name and
affiliation to:
[log in to unmask]

Thanks much for your leadership on this.

All my best,
Joseph K. Grieboski
President
Institute on Religion and Public Policy
www.religionandpolicy.org

January 6, 2004

President Jacques Chirac
Palais de l’Elysee
Paris, France

Dear President Chirac:

We, the undersigned, are deeply concerned by the
suggestions of the Commission
of Reflection on the Implementation of the Principle of
Secularity in the
Republic, and by the intention expressed in your address of
December 17, 2003 to
promote the adoption of a comprehensive law that, in our
view, would limit and
jeopardize the free expression of any religious sentiment
in France.

We are encouraged to send our concerns to you, Mr.
President, out of respect for
the unique heritage and traditions of freedom and openness
that constituted the
pride of France, a country that through history has
welcomed diversity and
proclaimed tolerance and full respect of the values of
human rights. We agree
that fanaticism and obscurantism threaten the delicate
fabric of the
contemporary world.  But in order to counter it, we need
not institute more
authoritarian and restrictive dispositions of the law. On
the contrary, we
should rather embrace more broadmindedness and acceptance,
more democracy and
freedom.

The adoption of the law suggested by the Commission would
limit the display of
religious symbols in a way that is contrary to the spirit
of all international
documents proclaiming respect for human rights and freedom
of religion to which
France is a signatory. The Universal Declaration of Human
Rights, unanimously
venerated by all nations, proclaims in a very specific way
the right of everyone
to manifest his religion and belief in teaching, practice,
worship and
observance. This right has been reiterated in Article 9 of
the European
Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and
Fundamental Freedoms.

These actions also violate the right of freedom from
discrimination in education
articulated in Article 26 of the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights (UDHR),
Article 13 the International Covenant on Economic, Social
and Cultural Rights
(ESCR). These actions also contravene rights articulated in
numerous UNESCO
normative instruments on education and human rights,
including UNESCO's
Convention and Recommendation Against Discrimination In
Education, UNESCO´s
Declaration of Principles on Tolerance, and UNESCO’s
Recommendation Concerning
the Status of Higher Education Teaching Personnel.

These instruments establish the right of an individual to
freedom of expression
and opinion. The principle of nondiscrimination and rights
enunciated in these
instruments further establish that discrimination in
education based on religion
or opinion constitutes a violation of fundamental human
rights.

We submit to your high authority our concerns in the spirit
of dialogue so well
expressed in your address of December 17, 2003. The common
value that you are
trying to promote is tolerance. But there is no tolerance
in depriving a Jew of
the right to observe his religion by imposing on him not to
wear a yarmulke, or
to demand a Muslim woman not to have a scarf as a head
covering. These items do
not mean a voluntary and personal display of their beliefs;
they are an
essential part of the respective individuals’ obligations
as members of a
community of faith. They do not intent in any way to win
adherents or
proselytize, they are required by their allegiance to an
organized and well
structured, deep rooted, historical religious belief. Such
an observance cannot
be limited without infringing upon the basic human rights
and freedoms as stated
in the above mentioned documents.

A policy of secularism should not be promoted in any way as
a cover for
unintentional intolerance and atheism as a state policy. To
avoid such a twist
is as necessary as much as it is to prevent the misuse of
the concept of freedom
that preoccupies you in the address. It is indeed a fine
and fragile balance
that needs to be maintained. A noble endeavor that would
truly make your nation
the proud trustee of its rich history of acceptance and
noble ideals.

Mr. President, there is no valid justification for such a
law, especially in the
circumstances that prompted the present debate over
religious extremism and its
tragic consequences throughout the world. Social and
political tensions and
conflicts created by mass migration of people and by
feelings of inadequacy are
not controlled by coercive measures and imposition of
tougher laws. There could
be no real power in a law that so many religious believers
will resent or will
try to circumvent. Alienating people and making them feel
unwelcome is not the
solution. We ask for your kind consideration of a different
approach, and we are
confident that you will exercise your wisdom in order to
pursue the way of
freedom and harmony.

Sincerely,

___________________________________________________________

CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF ISLAM AND DEMOCRACY

Call for Paper Proposals

Shari‘ah, Justice and Ijtihad

Developing Contemporary Interpretation of Shari‘ah laws
in Sudan and Nigeria

March 2-4, 2004  Khartoum, Sudan
March 7-9, 2004, Abuja, Nigeria

The Implementation of Shari‘ah in Sudan and in some
Nigerian States is an
issue that is being debated among Muslim intellectuals
inside and outside Sudan
and Nigeria.  The broader political debate among
intellectuals, politicians and
policy makers is on how to reconcile the implementation of
Shari‘ah with the
establishment of a united democratic and stable Sudan and
Nigeria, that would
prosper and live in peace with themselves, their neighbors,
and the rest of the
world.

To this end, CSID invites conference participants to
propose and present papers
on the following topics:

1. What is Shari‘ah?
2. Ijtihad and Tajdid,; The role of Ijtihad and Tajdid in
Social Reform;
3. An evaluation of Shari‘ah rule in Sudan;  and in
Nigeria
4. Political and Governance; Economics and Finance;
5. Women and Minorities; Justice and Punishment.

Papers must address these and related questions, keeping
the cultural context of
Islam always in mind.  To this end, CSID invites those who
are interested to
propose and present papers’ abstracts not to exceed 300
words with personal
bio’s  not to exceed 200 words.  Please submit your paper
proposal with your
bio by January 31, 2004, to:

Mr. Aly R. Abuzaakuk,  Conference Coordinator, 1050
Connecticut Avenue, NW,
Suite 1000, Washington DC, 20036.  Tel. (202) 772-2022.
Fax. (704) 846-0629
E-mail to : [log in to unmask]

Authors of accepted papers will be notified by February 7,
2004, and final
papers are due by February 20, 2004.

_________________________________________________________
Dear brother,
As-Salam alaykum,

I teach Islamic studies at the Lagos State University in
Nigeria and I have been
involved in Islamic activism in the country for the past
nineteen years. I am
the Director of the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) which is
a human rights
organisation whose main objectives are the projection,
promotion and protection
of the rights of Muslims in Nigeria. But we are a
peace-loving group and have
never preached nor been involved in violence. This has
eraned us a lot of
respect in certain quarters. The organisation's motto is
'Dialogue, Not
Violence'.

We also run a Da'wah group known as 'Tele-Da'wah Embassy'
whose focus is the
propagation of the peaceful message of Islam.

Ever since the CSID started contacting me, I have enjoyed
reading your articles.
Unfortunately, my knowledge of modern methods of
communication is limited mainly
because the resources are not at our disposal. We are just
trying to get a
website and to ge t connected to the internet. For
instance, I cannot read my
E-mails until after some days because I cannot check daily
at the cafes which
are usually too busy because they are very few down here.
So please understand
if it takes me some time to join debates or react to
issues. I surely will let
you know as soon as we finish building our websites.

Please keep up the good work. I am already one of your
humble admirers. I must
confess that Professor Akbar Ahmed's article of the above
title gave me
immeasurable pleasure. Islam is a religion of love, not
hatred. Islam gives
light, not darkness. It guarantees life, not death. That is
why we must continue
on this noble path of peaceful and intellectual jihad. It
is even more important
to enlighten our Muslim brethren who may have been misled
by the negative and
counter-productive stance of extremists among us. How can
any good Muslim ask
people to kill citizens of a particular country wherever
they are found? That is
most unreasonable, very illogical and highly preposterous.
Are we Muslims
blood-suckers? You know as well as I do that this is far
from the truth. Islam
does not preach enmity.

Already, I am doing my best to preach inter-religious love,
tolerance, mutual
respect, cultivation of a culture of non-violence and
peaceful co-existence in
Nigeria. During the last Christmas for instance, our
organisation sent a
heartwarming Christmas greeting to all Christians. We also
assured foreigners in
Nigeria that we will not allow anybody to use our land as a
launching pad for
terrorism. See Nigerian newspaper, The Punch, Thursday,
December 25th 2003, page
6, news item entitled "Xmas: Islamic Group Rejoices With
Christians" (website:
www.punchng.com).  See also Nigerian newspaper, Vanguard,
Thursday, December
25th 2003, page 5, news item entitled "Muslim Group Assures
Foreigners of
Peaceful Co-existence" (website:
http://www.vanguardngr.com)

How I wished you could extend the deadline for joining the
CSID as founding
members. Those of us from the West African sub-region have
special communication
problems.

Finally let me wish Christian readers all over the world a
Merry Christmas in
arrears and a glorius new year 2004.

Sincerely Yours,

Dr. Is-haq Akintola
DIRECTOR,
MUSLIM RIGHTS CONCERN (MURIC)


_________________________________________________________
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


Contact:   Saban Center, Project on U.S. Policy Towards the
Islamic World ,
[log in to unmask], 202/797-6462
Colin Johnson , Brookings Chief Media Relations Officer,
202/797-6310

For more information, visit U.S.-Islamic World Forum
http://www.us-islamicworldforum.org/

Washington, DC (January 5, 2004) — The Saban Center for
Middle East Policy at
the Brookings Institution announced today that former
President Bill Clinton and
Sheik Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani, the Emir of Qatar, will
be the keynote
speakers at the inauguration of the U.S.-Islamic World
Forum. Hosted by the
government of Qatar in Doha from January 10-12, the Forum
is a new initiative of
the Saban Center's Brookings Project on U.S. Policy Towards
the Islamic World.
It will open with a conference of U.S. and Muslim leaders
that will stress the
need for frank diplomacy and concrete action to improve
relations between the
United States and the Islamic world.
Over 150 leaders from the United States and 38 Muslim
countries plan to attend
the conference. Top American and Muslim world figures from
the fields of
politics, business, civil society, academe, and the news
media will participate
in both plenary sessions and smaller working groups,
examining such issues as
the Iraq war, the Middle East peace process, free trade and
economic
development, education, and the role of the private sector
in easing tensions
between Muslim countries and the United States. The Forum
will follow up the
Doha meetings with a series of joint initiatives aimed at
strengthening ties
between the Islamic world and the United States, as well as
outreach, research,
and publication activities.

Among the speakers scheduled to appear in Doha are Hamad
Bin Jasim Al Thani,
foreign minister of Qatar; Marwan Muasher, foreign minister
of Jordan; Mohammed
Dahlan, former minister of security for the Palestinian
Authority; Richard
Holbrooke, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations;
Qazi Hussein Ahmed,
Ameer of the Jamaat-e-Islami Party of Pakistan; Lorne
Craner, U.S. assistant
secretary of state for democracy, labor, and human rights;
and Surin Pitsuwan,
former foreign minister of Thailand.

Peter W. Singer, the Forum project director and a National
Security Fellow at
Brookings, called the conference, "an important step in
bringing together both
policymakers and opinion-shapers from the U.S. and across
the Islamic world,
something that is all the more critical given these trying
times." Saban Center
Director Martin Indyk and Brookings senior fellows Stephen
P. Cohen and Shibley
Telhami are the Forum's co-convenors and will serve as
moderators at the
meetings.

Members of the media and public are invited to attend the
opening and closing
sessions of the conference. Further information on the
Forum and video downloads
of its public roundtables and keynote speeches will be
available at:
www.us-islamicworldforum.org.

Brookings would like to express its deep appreciation to
the Government of
Qatar, Haim Saban, the Ford Foundation, and the Education
and Employment
Foundation for helping to make the Forum possible.

The Brookings Institution is an independent, nonpartisan
organization devoted to
research, analysis, education, and publication focused on
public policy issues
in the areas of economics, foreign policy, and governance.
The Saban Center's
central objective is to advance understanding of
developments in the Middle East
through policy-relevant scholarship and debate. The goal of
Brookings activities
is to improve the performance of American institutions and
the quality of public
policy by using social science to analyze emerging issues
and to offer practical
approaches to those issues in language aimed at the general
public.





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