"Changing Times – Islam in the 21st Century"

Date: Thursday 15th October

Time: 7pm

Location: Kirwan Theatre, NUI Galway

Speakers: Tariq Ramadan, Rajnaara Akhtar, Dr. Kathleen Cavanaugh, Representatives from the Islamic Cultural Centre of Ireland and MPACIE

Moderator: Denis Halliday, former Assistant Secretary General of the United Nations

Faith and culture are often sensitive subjects which can cause tension and even violence. This is particularly the case where cultures are diametrically opposed on certain issues, as with Islam and the secular culture of the Western World. Nowhere is this tension clearer than in Europe, the modern home of multiculturalism. In recent years, we have seen attacks on embassies over cartoons of the prophet Mohammed and riots in France over the ban on wearing the hijab to name but a few flashpoints. The approach to this diversity has been different in different countries, ranging from a single rule of law for all citizens of a state to a virtual Muslim sub-culture within states. Yet progress in embracing this diversity continues to be made with senior British religious figures even considering supporting calls for courts of Sharia law. Contrary to the West’s continued struggle with the integration of Muslims in our states, the rules in Islamic countries are as strict as ever. No leniency is offered to foreigners, who face dire consequences should they breach these rules.

It appears there is a double standard and we must ask, who has the right approach? Are we in the West too accommodating or are those in the East too strict? How do we find the balance? More worrisome still, is the fact that many in the West still view Islam as barbaric and feel that it has no part in Western society or for that matter any society. Is this a legitimate standpoint to hold? If so, is it any more or less legitimate than the Eastern view of the West as a hotbed of sin on the road to self destruction? It seems that if these two cultures cannot find a way to co-exist then the conflict will escalate, until one culture proves itself to be “more right”.

The Literary & Debating Society brings together a panel of experts on the subject of Islam in the modern world to discuss how these tensions can be resolved. Speaking will be Mr. Tariq Ramadan, a Swiss Muslim scholar who has been referred to as the Muslim Martin Luther and is regarded as one of the world’s top intellectuals; Rajnaara Akhtar, a stalwart campaigner against the ban on the hijab and Dr. Kathleen Cavanaugh, chairperson of the Amnesty International Ireland Executive Committee. Representatives from the Islamic Cultural Centre of Ireland and MPACIE, an Irish Muslim lobby group, will also be speaking. The moderator for the event is Denis Halliday, former Assistant Secretary General of the United Nations and the UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Iraq from September 1st 1997 until 1998.