DRAFT SYLLABUS

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Democracy and Contemporary Islamic Political Thought
Karim Sadek
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Boğaziçi University, Summer 2014
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Course Description
This course aims at forging an intellectual rapprochement between recent debates in democratic
theory and practice, on the one hand, and contemporary Islamic political thought, on the other
hand. Democratic theory has taken a radical turn. Dissatisfied (among other things) with the
ability of elections to realize the democratic ideals of freedom and equality, radical democracy
requires the establishment and preservation of democratic will-forming in the public sphere.
More recently, the Arab uprisings expressed the aspirations of an Arab public sphere for the
ideals of freedom and equality. The political problem the Arab world is currently facing in part
lies in the fact that for some the full and proper realization of said ideals require infusing social
and political affairs with Islamic values, principles, and fundamentals. For others, however, such
an infusion is a recipe for an Islamic-based authoritarian regime. While there is a lot to debate
about the Arab uprisings and their aftermath, this course focuses on the political role Islam
should or could play in post-uprising Arab world. In tackling this question, this course
investigates the possibility of a radically democratic Islamic form of politics. Some of the
questions we will address include: What is the radical democratic turn? What is the role of public
reasoning in democracy? Is there a place for religion in a democratic public sphere? What
conceptual tools contemporary Islamic political thinkers employ by way of developing political
ideals? And what are the lines of comparison and contrast between such tools and radical
democratic features? Some of the authors we will engage include: John Rawls, Jürgen Habermas,
Axel Honneth, Chantal Mouffe, Rached al-Ghannouchi, Hassan al-Turabi, Ruhallah Khomeini,
and Fethullah Gülen.
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This is primarily a course in political philosophy. Given its topic, however, it cannot be confined
within the boundaries of any one particular department. The course would be of interest to
students in Middle Eastern Studies, Political Science, and Philosophy.
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Learning Outcomes
• Articulate the significance of the radical turn in democratic theory.
• Articulate the importance of, and the challenges to, different radical democratic trends.
• Critically reflect on the significance of public reason in justifying and realizing democracy.
• Critically reflect on the challenges of incorporating religious reason in public reason.
• Articulate key elements and moves in modern and contemporary Islamic political thought.
• Critically reflect on the contributions of different contemporary Islamic political thinkers.
• Critically reflect on the possibility of developing a radically democratic Islamic form of
politics
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Course Requirements
The main requirement for this course is a seminar paper (20 pages - 60%) to be submitted at the
end of the term. By way of working towards that requirement, you will be asked to write a short
paper (5 pages - 20%). The remaining 20% goes to participation.
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Attendance, Participation, and Grading Criteria
You will neither gain nor loose credits for being physically present in class. As registered
students, however, you are expected to attend all classes. You are also expected to be active
participants. Class discussions are an opportunity for all of us to better understand the readings
as well as sharpen and revise our judgments and positions. This should be challenging and fun,
and is predicated on everyone's careful preparation before class. Finally, grading in this class
reflects the importance I give to critical thinking, your ability to clearly articulate ideas and
defend them in class discussions and writing assignments.
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Academic Integrity
Any work you do for this course is expected to be yours. Using others’ ideas, sentences, etc.
without citing and acknowledging them is considered stealing and counts as plagiarism. If you
plagiarize you will get a zero on the assignment and might be referred to the disciplinary
committee. For more information on plagiarism at Boğaziçi University please follow this link
(scroll down): http://www.phil.boun.edu.tr/index.php?request=infoacademics#top
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Themes and Readings (Tentative)
Rawls versus Habermas
• Rawls, "The Idea of an Overlapping Consensus"
• Rawls, "The Idea of Public Reason”
• Rawls, “The Idea of Public Reason Revisited”
• Habermas, "Reconciliation Through the Public Use of Reason"
• Habermas, " 'Reasonable' versus 'True,' or Morality of Worldviews”
• Rawls, "Reply to Habermas"
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Mouffe, Honneth, and Forst
• Chantal Mouffe, "Deliberative Democracy or Agonistic Pluralism?"
• Chantal Mouffe, "The Democratic Paradox” (selections)
• Anderson and Honneth, "Autonomy, Vulnerability, Recognition, and Justice"
• Honneth, "Democracy as Reflexive Cooperation: John Dewey and the Theory of
Democracy Today”
• Rainer Forst, "First Things First. Redistribution, Recognition and Justification"
• Rainer Forst, "The Rule of Reasons. Three Models of Deliberative Democracy”
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Public Reason and Religion
• Habermas, "Prepolitical Foundations of the Constitutional State?"
• Habermas, "Religion in the Public Sphere: Cognitive Presuppositions for the 'Public Use of
Reason' by Religious and Secular Citizens"
 • Maeve Cooke, "A Secular State for a Postsecular Society? Postmetaphysical Political
Theory and the Place of Religion”
• James Bohman and Henry Richardson, "Liberalism, Deliberative Democracy, and ‘Reasons
that All Can Accept’"
• Gerald Gaus and Kevin Vallier. "The Roles of Religious Conviction in a Publicly Justified
Polity"
• Richard Rorty. "Religion in the Public Square. A Reconsideration"
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Muslims, Liberal Democracy, and the Challenge of Democracy
• Andrew March. "Islamic Foundations for a Social Contract in non-Muslim Liberal
Democracies"
• Mohammad Fadel. "Public Reason as a Strategy for Principled Reconciliation: The Case of
Islamic Law and International Human Rights Law"
• Kahled Abou el-Fadl, "Islam and the Challenge of Democracy” + Selected responses and
reply.
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Background I: Afghani and Abduh
• Afghani. "Religion versus Science"
• Afghani. "An Islamic Response to Imperialism"
• Afhgani. "Islamic Solidarity"
• Afghani. "Lecture on Teaching and Learning and Answer to Renan"
• Abduh. "Laws Should Change in Accordance with the Conditions of Nations and The
Theology of Unity"
• Abduh. "Islam, Reason, and Civilization"
• Abduh. "The Sociological Laws of the Quran"
• Abduh. "The Necessity of Religious Reform"
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Background II: Mawdudi and Qutb
• Mawdudi. "Fallacy of Rationalism"
• Mawdudi. "Nationalism and Islam"
• Mawdudi. "Political Theory of Islam"
• Mawdudi. "Self-Destructiveness of Western Civilization"
• Qutb. "Islam as the Foundation of Knowledge"
• Qutb. "Social Justice and Islam"
• Qutb. "Jihad in the Cause of God"
• Qutb. "War Peace and Islamic Jihad"
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Khomeini
• Khomeini. "The Pillars of an Islamic State"
• Khomeini. "The Necessity of Islamic Government"
• Khomeini. "Granting Capitulary Rights to the U.S.”
• Khomeini. "Islamic Government"
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Hassan al-Turabi
• Turabi, “The Islamic State”
• Turabi, “Principles of Governance, Freedom and Responsibility in Islam”
• Turabi, “Islam as a Pan-National Movement and Nation-States: An Islamic Doctrine of
Human Association”
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Rached al-Ghannouchi
• Ghannouchi. "Secularism in the Arab Maghreb"
• Ghannouchi. "Islamic Movements: Self-Criticism and Reconsideration"
• Ghannouchi. "Participation in Non-Islamic Government"
• Ghannouchi. "Freedom Comes First"
• Ghannouchi. Lecture on Secularism.
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Fethullah Gülen
• TBA
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Taking stock and thinking ahead
• Open discussion: Radical Islamic Democracy?