January 20, 2009 -- Researchers from the Maghreb, Turkey and the United States concluded a two-day seminar in Tunis on Saturday (January 17th). The conference, organised by the Arab Institute for Human Rights (AIHR), treated three subjects: ijtihad, human rights and democracy.

At the opening of the seminar, AIHR President Taieb Baccouche raised a question about identity in the region. He said the Arab-Muslim designation, often used to describe North Africa, ignores the Amazigh, Copts, and other inhabitants of the region.

On the subject of ijtihad – or Islamic interpretation – Baccouche asked whether it was possible to establish a mechanism to make it serve human rights and democracy.

"The Arab and Muslim peoples have suffered oppression for many centuries, although Islam calls for justice and equality," said Radhouane Masmoudi, President of the Centre for Islamic Studies and Democracy in Washington, USA. "Muslims today suffer from regimes that... consider criticism a crime punishable by law."

Arab regimes, he continued, use the interpretation of religious texts to guarantee total obedience. As a result, it would be impossible to establish democracy "unless the majority of people are convinced that there is no conflict between democracy and Islam".

According to Masmoudi, ijtihad and modernisation can provide human dignity and the freedom of religion advocated in the Qur'an: "Say, 'The truth is from your Lord': Let him who will believe, and let him who will, reject". [Surat Al Kahf (Cave), verse 29].

"Secularists in the Arab region make a mistake when they ignore the religious element," he said. "Islamists also make a mistake when they reject ijtihad, social development and the defence of freedoms as a religious duty, just like prayers and giving alms."

Amrou Hamzaoui, a researcher at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, noted in his remarks what he considered a contradiction between the approaches of Islamists and secularists in the absence of compromise. "The terms used by secularists and Islamists show the extent of gap between the two sides," he said.

Syrian political researcher Abdallah Torkmani advocated examining the ways employed by the West to solve the dilemma of religion and democracy. "How can the Arab region, where religion plays an essential role, move towards democracy?" he asked. "And how can they convince the people?"

According to Torkmani, a meeting between secularists and Islamists was inevitable. "In the past, the national liberation movements fought their struggles under the slogan 'religion for God and homeland for all'. Today, it's a different story."

Jamila Mousli, a member of the Moroccan Parliament representing the Islamist Justice and Development Party, said that Islam is not in contradiction with equality as set out in contemporary human rights agreements.

"However, we reject the use of equality in an automatic way," she said. "International conventions allow each country to have reservations on the articles that don't suit the cultural peculiarities of each country and the nature of its society."

Participants agreed that an in-depth examination is necessary of the pivotal questions raised at the seminar about religion and human rights. Jamila Mousli said change that takes both into consideration is possible.

"The Moroccan Family Code, for instance, was based on religious reference with an open and new approach dealing with family issues," she concluded.