Poetic (in)justice?

Posted on November 10th, 2007 by martijn.
Categories: International Terrorism, ISIM/RU Research, Public Islam, Religious and Political Radicalization, Youth culture (as a practice).

Poetic Justice is a literary device which virtue or the good is ultimately rewarded and/or vice punished and is related to Aristotle’s Poetics. According to Aristotle poetry is superior to history in that it shows what should or must happen, rather than merely what does occur. Poetic justice is also used to describe how a work should inspire proper moral behavior in its audience by illustrating the triumph of good over evil.

In 2006 I received an email with a .pdf file that contained an article called Raising Mujahideen Children from a Moroccan-Dutch Muslim woman. Around the same time the article was posted on a Dutch webforum Marokko.nl by someone else which triggered a small discussion. The piece was originally written by Umm Musab al-Gharib; a nickname that I came across several times. Umm Musab al-Gharib aka LyricalTerrorist aka Bint al Shaheed aka Stranger awaiting Martyrdom posted several messages on different websites, mostly poems. Many of those were send to me by the woman I mentioned earlier.

Busy with other things I did not gave it much thought until I read an article at the BBC website about Samina Malik: (more…)

5 comments.

Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam: Tariq Ramadan argues for an intensive debate on citizenship and identity

Posted on November 10th, 2007 by martijn.
Categories: Misc. News, Public Islam.

Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam: Tariq Ramadan argues for an intensive debate on citizenship and identity

Ramadan is visiting Professor in Identity and Citizenship at Erasmus University Rotterdam. Yesterday, Tariq Ramadan has held his inaugural lecture at the Erasmus University Rotterdam: Citizenship and Identity: old terminology and new challenges’.. In this lecture he argues for an intensive debate on citizenship and identity.

The European societies are facing new and very complex challenges. The presence of millions of new citizens mainly with a Muslim background is perceived as a potential threat: what about our roots, our legacy, our identity and our future? What do they want? To adapt themselves, to integrate or to silently colonised the European countries? Far from being driven by some negative perceptions, mistrust and fears, it is necessary to come back to a deep, rational and reasonable debate, argues Ramadan. This is where the academic can – and must – help to shape the debate with in-depth, more rationality but also with no compromise as to the essential principles or overwhelming optimism.

According to Ramadan we need a clear and realistic approach: to be able to achieve that, it is important to return to the old concepts – such as citizenship and national identity – and to try to study their past and current meanings (or uses) in order to try to draw the outlines of renewed understandings while setting a clear framework related to the conditions of citizenship. This is the first step helping us to talk about the commonalities and, from there, to tackle the issues of identities, diversity and multiculturalism. Between the worst case scenarios and the idealistic projections, what approach can we propose from an academic viewpoint tacking into account what has already been said while trying to open new channels and to propose creative ways to deal with these issues.

Prof.dr. Tariq Ramadan is Visiting Professor in Identity and Citizenship at Erasmus University Rotterdam, with effect from 1 January 2007. Prof. dr Ramadan will hold the post at least for a period of two years. The chair is shared by the Faculty of Social Sciences and the Faculty of History and Arts of Erasmus University Rotterdam, and was created for four years on the initiative of Rotterdam city council.

Prof. dr Tariq Ramadan (45) is a philosopher and theologist. He is particularly well known for his work in philosophy and Islamic studies, where he has made a special study of the recent growth of Islamic communities in Europe. Prof. dr Ramadan is a strong advocate of full participation by Muslims in European society and is known for his critical stance towards Muslims and non-Muslims alike. His message that Muslims can and must be good, fully-participating European citizens has made him one of the leading voices of contemporary Islam and an example to many young people wrestling with questions of identity and citizenship.

The new Visiting Professor is a Swiss citizen with an Egyptian background. He took a doctorate from the University of Genève in 1998. Between 1997 and 2004, he was attached to the Department of Philosophy at the University of Fribourg, Switzerland. Dr Ramadan holds numerous academic posts, including that of Visiting Fellow at St Anthony’s College, Oxford, which he has held since 2005.

You can read the summary of his lecture (in English and published in the NRC Handelsblad) here:

(more…)

0 comments.

Social Science Research Council: The Immanent Frame

Posted on November 10th, 2007 by .
Categories: Blogosphere.

The Social Science Research Council has announced the launch of The Immanent Frame, a new SSRC blog on secularism, religion, and the public sphere.

The blog is opening with a series of posts on Charles Taylor’s A Secular Age, including recent contributions from Robert Bellah, Wendy Brown, Jose Casanova, Elizabeth Shakman Hurd, and Colin Jager. Robert Bellah has called A Secular Age “one of the most important books to be written in my lifetime,” and there will be more to come on Taylor’s major work in the weeks ahead, with posts by Rajeev Bhargava, Akeel Bilgrami, Hent de Vries, Amy Hollywood, Tomoko Masuzawa, Joan Scott, and others. Meanwhile, Charles Taylor himself has just made his own contribution to the already ongoing conversations.

Later this fall The Immanent Frame will host a series of posts responding to Mark Lilla’s The Stillborn God: Religion, Politics, and the Modern West. And there will be posts on a variety of other topics too—from pluralism and the “post-secular” to international relations theory, religious freedom, and the future of shari’a.

This new SSRC blog will draw on, and is closely linked to, the Council’s expanding work on religion and the public sphere.

1 comment.