Participants of a two-day seminar on Wednesday laid emphasis on economic development to meet the modern challenges but criticised the capitalist model of economy.
“In the modern world power does not flow from the barrel of the gun but through bank account,” remarked Malaysian scholar Dr Khaliq Bin Mohammed while speaking at the concluding session of the conference on “Islam and State. Practice and Perceptions in Pakistan and the Contemporary Muslim World.”
The conference was organised by the Institute of Policy and Research Islamabad at the Faisal mosque campus auditorium.
The Malaysian scholar advised Muslims not to bogged down in the Shariah debate but to move on seeking guidance from the aims and spirit of the Shariah.
Turkish scholar Dr Gokhan Bacik explained the introduction of the religious factor in Turkish politics on the military intervention of 1997 which tried to stem the Islamic movement. He thought that political Islam was a distortion.
In Turkey, the stress was on cultural aspect of religion. He said that socio-political transformations come through when the common people understand the issues in their simple way. He said that it was the Muslim bourgeoisie that was leading the change in Turkey. But the Turkish people tended to understand Islam more in a global context than in a nationalist way.
Egyptian journalist Ashraf M Salik explained the assimilation of Jews in the Egyptian society who feel well-treated as a minority.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 27th, 2011.
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