Anouar Majid publishes column on the debate over Egypt’s new constitution

Anouar Majid, Ph.D., UNE associate provost for global initiatives and director of the Center for Global Humanities, contributed a Jan. 9, 2013 column on the debate over Egypt’s new constitution to the online publication Tabsir: Insight on Islam and the Middle East. 

He writes: "the thing that concerns me the most is what the Western media is talking about, i.e., the clash between those who want a nation governed by divine law and those who don’t want religion to be the absolute reference in legislation. In November 2012, I had the opportunity to make the case for the separation of state and religion to people who participated or are actually participating in the drafting of constitutions in Morocco and Tunisia, a person who ran in the last presidential race in Egypt, members of the Tunisian parliament, a leader of a major Egyptian political party, and many others who are playing some role in the future of North Africa and the Middle East. I also explained why, at this crucial juncture in the region, Arabs and Muslims can’t do better than learn from the American constitutional process and especially the reasons for separating state and religion." Read the entire column.

Majid is the author of five critically acclaimed books on Islam and the West, including Islam and America: Building a Future without Prejudice, and a novel, Si Yussef, which has been the focus of much scholarly and critical interest.

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