The Children of Adam: An Islamic Perspective on Pluralism 1929218028, 9781929218028

Citation preview

| UNDERSTANDING:)

RNATIONAE AFFAIRS ~ 1001 of Foreign Service

Centerfo

Copyright 1996 by the Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding: History and International Affairs, Georgetown University. All rights reserved. This publication may not be reproduced in whole or in part, in any form (except by reviewers for the public press), without written permission from the publisher.

Occasional Papers Series

THE CHIDLREN OF ADAM An Islamic Perspective on Pluralism

Mohamed Fathi Osman Visiting Research Professor Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding

Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding: History and International Affairs Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service Georgetown University Washington, D.C. 20057

The Center for Muslim-Christian

Understanding The Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding: History and International Affairs was established in 1993 by Georgetown and the Fondation pour |’Entente entre Chretiens et Musulmans, Geneva, to pro-

mote dialogue between the two great religions. The Center focuses on the historical, theological, political and cultural encounter of Islam and Christianity, the Muslim world and the West. Located in the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, the Center combines teaching, research and public affairs.

The establishment of the Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at Georgetown flows from the role of religion in the contemporary international system. Both Georgetown’s Catholic-Jesuit heritage and its location in Washington have shaped the University’s abiding interest in the study of religion and international affairs. Islam is one of the great

spiritual and social forces in the world today; its influence and significance will extend and develop in the twenty-first century. Thus, the study of Islam at Georgetown encompasses its religious content, its

cultural significance and role in international affairs as well as the Christian experience in the Muslim world. The focus of the Center’s activities, both national and international in scope, is achieved through teaching, symposia, international conferences and extensive media coverage. Center faculty and visiting faculty offer courses on Islam and the history of Muslim-Christian relations for undergraduate and graduate students at the University. A broad array of

public affairs activities and publications seek to interpret the interaction of the Muslim world and the West for diverse communities: government, academia, the media, religious communities, and the corporate world.

Mohamed

Fathi Osman

Fathi Osman was Visiting Research Professor at the Center for Muslim-Chrisitan Understanding, Georgetown University, Washington, D.C. for the Spring of 1997. His teaching positions include: University of Southern California, Los Angeles, Temple University, Pennsylvania, Princeton University, New Jersey, Imam Muhammad ibn Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Al-Azhar in Egypt, and Oran University in Algeria.

Dr. Osman earned his undergraduate degree in Islamic Byzantine Relations at the University of Cairo, Egypt, and his doctoral degree in Islamic Economic and Financial Institutions, Princeton University, New Jersey.

Among his publications, Dr. Osman has written: The Islamic Thought and Human Change, An Introduction to the Islamic History, Human Rights between the Western Thought and the Islamic Law, On the Political Experience of the Contemporary Islamic Movements,

The Muslim World, Issues and Challenges,

Jihad: A Legitimate Struggle for Human Rights, Muslim Women in the Family and Society, Shari’a in a Contemporary Society: Islamic Law and Change, and Concepts of the Quran: A Topical

Reading of the Divine Revelation.

siete aiaaoie

— ai ariga aten eopnieaeas

zh |M4