Louay Safi
Louay M. Safi is professor of political science and Islamic philosophy at Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU), the author of 20 books in both Arabic and English, including The Challenge of Modernity and Tensions and Transitions in the Muslim World. He writes and lectures on issues of globalization, democracy, human rights, and Islam and the West.
Subjects: Middle East Studies
Biography
Louay M. Safi is professor of political science and Islamic thought at Hamad bin Khalifa University (HBKU) in Qatar, and senior fellow with the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding (ISPU), Washington DC. Dr. Safi has taught at several universities, including Wayne State University (WSU), Michigan, (1988-92), the International Islamic University of Malaysia (1994-99), George Washington University (2001-2002), Indiana University and Purdue University at Indianapolis (IUPUI) (2009-2010), and Georgetown University (2010-2011).Dr. Safi is the author of twenty books, including Islam and the Trajectory of Globalization (Routledge, 2021), The Foundation of Knowledge (IIIT, 2014), The Qur’anic Narrative (Praeger 2008), and Tensions and Transitions in the Muslim World, (University Press of America, 2003). He has served as Dean of Research and member of the University Senate at the International Islamic University of Malaysia (IIUM) (1997-99), Executive Director (1995-97) and Director of Research (1999-2003) of the International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT), Editor of the American Journal of Islam and Society (1999-2003), and President of the Association of Muslim Social Scientists (1999-2003).
He speaks on issues of globalization and global governance, human rights and democracy, and appeared on numerous radio and TV programs, including CNN, BBC, Monte Carlo, Fox News, Sky News, Voice of America, PBS, Middle East TV (MBC), Al-Jazeera News, Al Arabiya News, Russia Today, Alhurra, Malaysian TV, Turkish TV, Syrian TV, Canada TV (CTV), Future TV, and others.
Websites
Books
Articles
Civil-Military Elites in Muslim Societies and Internal Colonialism
Published: Aug 28, 2021 by The Quest for Democracy
Authors: Louay Safi
Subjects:
Political Science
The military in Muslim societies has consistently aligned itself with the modernist forces that seem to be better connected to global markets, and which hence enjoy a higher capacity to recreate modern institutions and to affect socio- economic transformation toward a more viable economy. The partnership between the military and modernist forces brought about a peculiar form of governance that resembles practices first introduced by colonial masters.
The Maqāṣid approach and rethinking political rights in modern society
Published: Dec 08, 2010 by Intellectual Discourse
Authors: Louay Safi
The paper examines political rights in Islam by focusing on freedom of religion and the extent to which the state is empowered to enforce faith and religious law on society. It compares the notion of law in both Western and Islamic traditions, and then analyzes the difference between the ethical and legal within Shariah and illustrates how Islamic law and law finding evolved in historical Muslim societies.
Blaming Islam: Examining the Religion Building Enterprise
Published: Jun 20, 2006 by Institute of Social Policy and Understanding
Authors: Louay Safi
Subjects:
Sociology & Social Policy, Middle East Studies
Blaming Islam is a response paper to the Rand’s report’s titled Civil Democratic Islam. The report, written by Cheryl Benard blames the rise of intolerance, anti-democratic tendencies, and terrorism on all Muslim groups that closely adhere to Islamic values and practices. It concludes that the only way to counter terrorism and anti-Americanism is by engaging in “religion building” and thus transforming the religion of Islam.
Overcoming the Religious Secular Divide
Published: Jun 10, 2004 by Muslim Contribution to World Civilization
Authors: Louay Safi
Subjects:
Middle East Studies, History
This article explores the historical role of Islam in reconciling the secular and the religious and examines the elements that brought remarkable harmony between science and religion, and the secular and religious, worked in harmony to advance human life. The article addresses in particular the following question: Can Islam play a similar role in restoring the moral core to modern life and arresting the increasingly immoral and irrational tendencies of the post-modern world?
News
Professor at HBKU’s, Dr. Louay Safi Publishes New Open Access Book on Islam, Globalization, and World History
By: Louay Safi
31 Oct 2021
HBKU’s CIS underlines its support for international Open Access Week to make research more widely available
Highlighting its support for the goals of the open access movement, the College of Islamic Studies (CIS) at Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU)’s Dr. Louay M. Safi, Professor of Political Science and Islamic Thought, has published “Islam and the Trajectory of Globalization: Rational Idealism and the Structure of World History” as an open access book through leading academic publisher, Routledge.
The publication coincides with international Open Access Week, from October 25-31. The 2021 theme ‘It Matters How We Open Knowledge: Building Structural Equity’ aligns with the recently released UNESCO Recommendation on Open Science, an important guide for governments around the world as they move to the implementation of open research practices.
Dr. Safi’s new book explores issues relating to the tensions and conflicts around globalization. He highlights the recurring tension between idealism and realism throughout history and in modern times. Various forms of realism have engendered highly dysfunctional societies producing waves of immigrants in constant motion from the South to the North. This realism has also fostered a social hierarchy that transferred external tensions into identity politics within the countries of the North. The book concludes by shedding light on the significance of the Muslim presence in Western cultures as humanity draws toward what could be recognized as the global age: the interconnectedness of the world having never been at this level before.
Commenting on the publication, Dr. Safi said: “‘Islam and the Trajectory of Globalization: Rational Idealism and the Structure of World History’ is a careful analysis and understanding of various historical stages that have led to the present moment of global convergence, and the role of Muslim diaspora within the broader global community. As a scholar in the field, it is not only wonderful to know that this book will reach a wider audience who can contribute to this dialogue, but it also showcases our determination at CIS to be part of a broader knowledge dissemination movement such as Open Access.”