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by Christine Schirrmacher (Author)
What relationship do Islam and democracy have to each other? Why are there presently so few democracies among Islamic-dominated states? Does the reason for this perhaps lie in the fact that Islam and democracy are irreconcilable opposites? These questions are relevant not only for the Near East and North Africa, but also for Europe, where large numbers of Muslims have lived in democratic societies for more than sixty years. Most of them appreciate the freedoms and democratic structures that they experience there. At the same time a number of fundamentalistic Islamic groups are actively proclaiming that democracy is evil and autocratic regimes all over the Middle East are opposed to democracy. Though many intellectuals and young people are demonstrating for freedom rights, reform of Islam and democracy. Is a reform of Islam and Muslim majority societies in sight?
Author Biography
Prof. Dr. Christine Schirrmacher (MA in Islamic Studies 1988, Dr. phil. Islamic Studies 1991) studied Arabic, Persian, Turkish, Middle Eastern History and Islamic Studies in Gießen and Bonn, Germany. She is currently Professor of Islamic Studies at the "Evangelisch-Theologische Faculteit" (Protestant University) in Leuven/Belgium as well as at the state University of Bonn/Germany, where she teaches at the department of Islamic Studies and Middle Eastern Languages. Additionally she had guest professorships, e.g. at the State University of Erfurt (chair of Islamic Studies) and at the department of Anthropo-Geography at the State University of Tübingen/Germany. Dr Schirrmacher has given guest lectures on several continents, e.g. recently at the University of Hongkong, Sofia/Bulgaria and Brest/Belarus and has visited
most countries of the Middle East.
Schirrmacher is head of the International Institute of Islamic Studies (IIIS) of the World Evangelical Alliance as well as of its German speaking counterpart run by the Evangelical Alliance of Germany, Switzerland and Austria. She is "Commissioner for Islamic Affairs", i. e., the official speaker and advisor on Islam for the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA).
Schirrmacher also lectures on Islam and security issues to the German parliament and different government institutions, e.g. to the Academy of Foreign Affairs Germany, is author of about 25 books on Islam some of which are translated into French, Spanish, Turkish, Romanian, Korean, Swahili, Czech and Albanian. She is engaged in current dialogue initiatives, like the conference "Loving God and Neighbour in Word and Deed: Implications for Muslims and Christians" of the Yale Centre for Faith and Culture, Yale University, New Haven/Connecticut, in July 2008.
