You are warmly invited to a special online conversation between Prof. Abdullahi Ahmed An-Naim (Emory University) and Prof. Noorhaidi Hasan (Indonesian InternationaI Islamic University) as they reflect on alternative approaches to decolonising the universal human rights paradigm. Chaired by Dr Siti Sarah Muwahidah (Alwaleed Centre, University of Edinburgh).

This event is supported by the British Council's Going Global Partnership Programme and Co-Hosted by the Alwaleed Centre at the University of Edinburgh and the International Islamic University of Indonesia, Jakarta.

Prof. Abdullahi Ahmed An-Naim will discuss his recent book, Decolonizing Human Rights (2021), which criticises the liberal relativism of the universal human rights paradigm and the pretensions of legal enforcement of the current human rights regime. Proposing people-centred human rights protection, he argues that “the only possible way to protect any human rights norm is for that norm to be defined and practised by each society on its own terms.” Human rights are necessarily relative to the cultural and philosophical context in each specific setting, and thus must be identified and defended by the people concerned. This process will require cultural transformation and political mobilization, which includes inter alia a long-term provision of resources, education for officials and civilians, and so on.

Prof. Noorhaidi Hasan will discuss the lessons learned from his experience in coordinating a long-term human rights education programme for the Indonesian public and officials within the Office of Religious Affairs (KUA) since 2013. Using the Islamic jurisprudential (fiqh) approach, his team believe that the values and principles of religious diversity and human rights can be made more accessible, and thus better understood, by the public. Fiqh, if understood properly, may provide a normative framework for the behaviour and actions of Muslims, which essentially leads to the realization of maqāṣid al-sharī’a (the higher objectives and intents of Islamic Law). The basic essence of the maqāṣid is the protection and respect of human rights. KUA officials and functionaries were chosen as training subjects because they are important nodes between the Indonesian state and society. The officials directly influence the dynamics of the Indonesian Muslims' daily lives. In this programme, the KUA officials are trained to learn the human rights discourse and contextualize it to help them in dealing with everyday issues such as religious conversion, underage marriage, interfaith marriage, polygamy, guardianship, and child custody.

About the Speakers

Professor Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na'im (originally from Sudan) is Charles Howard Candler Professor of Law at Emory Law, associated professor in the Emory College of Arts and Sciences, and senior fellow of the Center for the Study of Law and Religion of Emory University. An internationally recognized scholar of Islam and human rights and human rights in cross-cultural perspectives, An-Na'im teaches courses in international law, comparative law, human rights, and Islamic law. His research interests include constitutionalism in Islamic and African countries, secularism, and Islam and politics. He recently published Decolonizing Human Rights (2021), Cambridge University Press.

An-Na'im directed the following research projects which focus on advocacy strategies for reform through internal cultural transformation: Women and Land in Africa, Islamic Family Law, Fellowship Program in Islam and Human Rights, The Future of Sharia: Islam and the Secular State.

Professor Noorhaidi Hasan is professor of Islam and politics at State Islamic University (UIN) Sunan Kalijaga of Yogyakarta. He is currently serving as Dean of the Faculty of Islamic Studies, International Islamic University of Indonesia (UIII). His research interests include Salafism, identity politics, religious diversity, popular culture, and youth. He is currently visiting the University of Edinburgh, under the Visiting Scholar scheme funded by the British Council's Going Global Partnership Programme between UIII and the University of Edinburgh.

Dr Siti Sarah Muwahidah is an Alwaleed Early Career Teaching and Research Fellow on Contemporary Muslim Societies in Southeast Asia. She holds a Ph.D. in Religion (2020) from the Graduate Division of Religion, Emory University, Atlanta, USA. Her PhD dissertation examined Sunni-Shiʿi relations and the development of sectarianization in Indonesia. Her academic interests include interfaith dialogue, religious conflict and peacebuilding, political theology, and identity politics. She has conducted research in the Philippines, Indonesia, and Malaysia. She is the project leader for the two-year project funded by the British Council's Going Global Partnership Programme and aimed at building transnational teaching and research connections between the Alwaleed Centre, the University in Edinburgh, and the Universitas Islam Internasional Indonesia (UIII) in Jakarta.