On Tuesday 4th October 2016, in central london, a panel debate was held on the topic ‘The Great Debate: Does Islam Need Reforming?’ at the Conway hall.
The speakers were:
- Professor Oliver Scharbrodt, Director of the Unviersity of Chester Centre of Islamic Studies
- Safaruk Chowdhury, Theologian and Academic
- Professor Robert Gleave, Director of Islamic Reformulation Project, University of Exeter
- Abdullah al-Andalusi Co-Founder of Muslim Debate Initiative
The event saw an interesting and scholarly debate saw a discussion on the political context and motivation behind the Western call to reform Islam, and the debate touched upon the topics of Islamic beliefs, values, laws, Democracy, Liberalism, Human Rights and modernity in general. The main questions that were discussed were whether Islam needs reformation, what is the scope and implication of the call to a reformation of Islam, and can Islam address modern challenges without reformation?
To read Abdullah al Andalusi’s review, click here.
The full debate can be seen below:
The Muslim Debate Initiative 