Promoting pluralism? Diminish the donor dependency!

Sudanese intellectual critical of role outsiders in human rights advocacy

Tags: Eastern Africa , South Asia , Southeast Asia

Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na’im, human rights activist and researcher on Islam and secularism, has been fighting for decades to promote the acceptance of human rights in Muslim countries. Foreign donors can only play a limited role, he thinks.

A shift is needed in human rights advocacy from international to local efforts. Western countries themselves protect human rights selectively. Cultural relativists contesting the universality of human rights are getting increasing support. Dependency of local civil society organisations on foreign donors undermines the accountability and transparency towards the local community. An-Na’im therefore suggests this donor dependency should diminish. Civil society must look for ways to improve their interaction with the state and the population. Only in this way the cultural legitimacy and practical efficacy of international human rights standards can be promoted.

Secular state, but also religion in politics
In his latest work Islam and the secular state (2008) An-Na’im calls for a secular state, but also seeks a role for religion in politics. Citizens should be able to propose the implementation of religious principles in official policy and legislation. However, such proposals must be supported by civic reason. This means all citizens can publicly debate these proposals and make counterproposals without being open to charges of apostasy. The space for free public debate can only be protected within the framework of human rights and a secular state in which differences can be respected, negotiated and reconciled. As he put it: ‘my project of the secular state is my struggle for the right to struggle’.

Detained without trial
His ambitions and rich ideas are rooted in his personal experiences as Muslim in Sudan. In the 1980s he joined the movement of Mahmud Muhammad Taha who advocated a humanistic interpretation of the Qur’an. Taha publicly opposed the Islamic fundamentalist aspirations of the Sudanese government for which he was executed on charges of apostasy. Between 1983 and 1985 An-Na’im was detained without trial and charges. After Taha’s death, An-Na’im has continued to work as human rights activist and scholar who seeks to promote Islamic reform, human rights and cross-cultural consensus on the universality of human rights.

Key note speaker knowledge programme conference
Professor An- Na’im will be a keynote speaker at the 25-26 May conference entitled “Promoting Pluralism through Civic Reason?” at the University for Humanistic Studies (UvH) in Utrecht. His concept of civic reason and secularism will be discussed in relation to the knowledge programme results thus far in India, Indonesia and Uganda. An- Na’im will enter into a public debate with Dutch Islam expert Maurits Berger on 25th May at Cultural Centre Ottone in Utrecht. [For more information contact the Promoting Pluralism Knowledge Programme].