Islam and Freedom: the Turkish experience

Islam and Freedom: the Turkish experience

Ibn Khaldun Seminar 1: 'Islam and Freedom: the Turkish Experience'



Date: Saturday 10 November 2007 (10am - 2.00pm)

Venue: The Abbey Theatre, Arts building, Trinity College, Dublin

Speaker: Mustafa Akyol



What is Ibn Khaldun Seminar?

The Ibn Khaldun Seminar is a high quality not-for-profit event organised by Malaysia Think Tank London (sometimes in partnership with other organisations) aimed at students and young professionals. The seminar will explore how to apply the principles of personal responsibility, small state, rule of law and market solutions within contemporary Muslim life. The seminar is named after Abdul Rahman Ibn Khaldun, a towering scholar whose ideas on freedom and liberty is not yet well-appreciated.



This is the first event in the Ibn Khaldun Seminar series.



About this seminar

The AK Party won a landslide victory in the July 2007 elections. That was after the Turkish army, the self-proclaimed arch-defender of secularism, issued a veiled threat against what they see as ‘creeping Islamisation’. Although the AK Party has been in power since 2002 and has carried out a very successful program of political and economic liberalism, issues of Islam, freedom and liberty continue to be widely debated. In this seminar, Mustafa Akyol will explore the concepts of political and economic freedom, and their relationship to Muslim society, by using Turkey as a case-study.



This seminar will explore the concepts of political and economic freedom, and their relationship to a Muslim society, by using Turkey as a case-study.



Our main speaker is Mustafa Akyol, a prominent Turkish Muslim writer and columnist based in Istanbul. He frequently speaks to international audiences on issues relating to Islam and modernity. His writings are published internationally including in The Washington Post, International Herald Tribune, and Islam Online. His writings are also available at www.thewhitepath.com.