The events of 9/11 have occasioned a new reflection on the present and future relationship between Islam and democracy.  For many in the Muslim community, this involves discovering a broader, more liberal way of interpreting Islamic tradition so that Muslims can engage more fully in democratic life.  What are the specific cultural, sociological, and theological challenges faced by the liberal Muslims?  What particular problems has the American Muslim community confronted, and what problems will they have to confront in the future? What is their special role in promoting democracy in the Muslim world in general?

The Ethics and Public Policy Center invited Abdulaziz Sachedina to address these and other questions concerning the present and future relationship between Islam and democracy.  Sachedina is Professor of Religion and Islamic Studies at the University of Virginia. Born in Tanzania, Professor Sachedina was educated at Aligarh Muslim University in India and Ferdowsi University in Iran, and took his doctoral degree from the University of Toronto.  He has taught at Wilfrid Laurier, Waterloo and McGill Universities in Canada, and Haverford College and the University of Jordan, Amman. He is a member of the Preventive Diplomacy program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.  Professor Sachedina has lectured widely on Islamic moral and political thought, and he is the author, among many other publications, of The Islamic Roots of Democratic Pluralism.