Seminar on Secular State, Religious Society

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You Are Cordially Invited to..

a WauBebas.org seminar

SECULAR STATE, RELIGIOUS SOCIETY:

THE ROLE OF RELIGION IN A PLURAL COUNTRY

Speakers

Mr Mustafa Akyol (Turkey)

YB Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad (Malaysia)

Moderator

Wan Saiful Wan Jan

(Director General Malaysia Think Tank)

Organized by

MALAYSIA THINK TANK

Date/Day

5th May 2009/Tuesday

Time

7.45pm - 9.45pm

Venue

Seminar Room Buyong Adli, 2nd Floor, Wisma Sejarah, Jalan Tun Razak, Kuala Lumpur

(In between Hospital PUSRAWI and the National Library)

Learning from the experiences in Turkey and Malaysia, this special discussion will explore the role of religion in a plural society and how can we ensure religion remains a force for unity. We will share the lessons from Turkey, a country with rich Islamic heritage. We will explore how religion can play a positive role in the context of an Islamist political party. And we will analyse how we could move forward to ensure religions in Malaysia do not split the country. How can we ensure Malaysians are free to express their beliefs in the context of a free and plural society?



Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad MP is Member of Parliament for Kuala Selangor. He is a central committee member of the Islamic Party of Malaysia (PAS), and heads PAS' Research Centre. He is also a member of PAS Political Bureau.  Dr Dzulkifli received his PhD from Imperial College, London, and Masters from the University of Surrey. He was previously a lecturer at the Universiti Sains Malaysia. In 2008, he published a book entitled 'Blind Sport', analysing the political developments in Malaysia.


Mr Mustafa Akyol is a Turkish Muslim writer and columnist based in Istanbul. He graduated from Istanbul Nisantasi British High School and from the International Relations Department of the Bosphorus University. He had his master thesis on the Kurdish question at the History Department of the same university. He has given seminars in several universities in the U.S. and the U.K. on issues relating to Islam and modernity. Since 2002, he has been working as a columnist and editor in the Turkish press. He is currently the opinion editor and a columnist for Turkish Daily News, Turkey's foremost English-language daily. He is currently working on a book in English on the future of Islam and the Islamic world.


Wan Saiful Wan Jan is Director General of the Malaysia Think Tank. Wan Saiful is also Editor of WauBebas.org, a joint Atlas Global Initiative - Malaysia Think Tank project for speakers of Bahasa. He previously worked for the British Conservative Party's Research Department, and, prior to that, the think tank Commonwealth Policy Studies Unit. He is now Head of Policy for the British Conservative Party's Muslim Forum. He joined the Islamic Party of Malaysia (PAS) as a life-member since 1993. His writings have appeared in various newspapers, and he writes a regular column called Wau Bebas in Utusan Malaysia.


Attendance is free.

Important: To ensure we can accommodate you, please confirm your attendance to Adam Ismail (adam@malaysiathinktank.org) or call 016 679 5277.



We look forward to seeing you.


Malaysia Think Tank
F6 Taman Tunku, Bukit Tunku
50480 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
web: www.WauBebas.org