GHANNOUCHI'S BOOK ON MUSLIM DEMOCRACY HOLDS GREAT SIGNIFICANCE FOR THE UMMAH

KUALA LUMPUR, May 8 (Bernama) -- The book titled On Muslim Democracy: Essays & Dialogue, which presents critical insights into the challenge of Muslim democracy, holds a profound significance for the Muslim ummah, said International Institute of Advanced Islamic Studies (IAIS) Malaysia chairman Maszlee Malik.

The book, authored by Rached Ghannouchi, one of the world’s leading Islamic thinkers, along with Professor of Political Science at the University of Massachusetts, Andrew F. March, was launched by former Malaysian foreign minister Tan Sri Syed Hamid Albar at the IAIS here on Wednesday.

Maszlee said the discourse surrounding Islam and democracy has often been the subject of polemics, fraught with misunderstandings and misconceptions.

“This book promises to shed new light on this complex relationship,” he remarked during the On Muslim Democracy: Essays & Dialogue’s book launch.

The book gathers a number of Ghannouchi's most important essays, making them available in English for the first time. It also includes a lengthy philosophical-theological dialogue between Ghannouchi and March.

In the dialogues, March and Ghannouchi discuss the influences on and evolution of Ghannouchi's thought and the meaning of concepts like democracy, pluralism, justice, and law across Islamic and Western philosophical traditions.

Ghannouchi is a prominent Tunisian politician and the co-founder and current leader of the Ennahda Movement, a major Islamist political party in Tunisia.

-- BERNAMA