Sacralizing the State and De-Sacralizing Islam: Islamists and the Democratic Deficit in Pakistan

CAST together with the Danish Network for Pakistan Studies, would hereby like to invite you to an informal roundtable discussion with Farhat Haq, Professor of Political Science, Monmouth College on Thursday 8 December, 5:00-6:30pm.

Sacralizing the State and De-Sacralizing Islam: Islamists and the Democratic Deficit in Pakistan

By turning Islam into an ideology and by insisting that Pakistan is an ideological state the JI sacralized the state. An Islamic state thus becomes the only way Muslims may live pious lives. The Islamists have been remarkably successful in colonizing Western and Muslim imagination about the proper role of Islam in modern nation-state. Their assertion that no separation exists between state and religion in an Islamic society is embraced by secularists Muslims forces and Western policy makers who tend to believe that that a modern democratic system can only be created by making Muslims less religious. This is a remarkable feat pulled off by the Islamists in the face of much of the Islamic history where the Islamic authority was represented by the Ulama who were not the rulers. Thus the Islamists project of creating a totalitarian Islamic state that shapes all aspects of a Muslims life goes against both the weight of Islamic history and the practices of the majority in contemporary Muslim societies.

The seminar will be in English

Venue:
University of Copenhagen
History of Religion
Artillerivej 86, 2300 CPH.
Meeting room on first floor

Participation is free of charge.