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Is Islam Exceptional? A Symposium on Shadi Hamid’s Islamic Exceptionalism: How the Struggle over Islam is Reshaping the World

participants: 
Speaker: Dr Shadi Hamid
Respondents: Prof Mona Siddiqui, Professor of Islamic Studies and and Dr Thomas Pierret 
chair: Dr Joshua Ralston
 
Summary: 
In Islamic Exceptionalism,  Shadi Hamid offers a provocative argument on how Islam is, in fact, "exceptional" in how it relates to politics, with profound implications for how we understand the future of the Middle East. Divides among citizens are not just about power but are products of fundamental theological and ideological disagreements over the very nature and purpose of the modern nation state—and the vexing problem of religion’s role in public life. Hamid argues for a new understanding of how Islam and Islamism shape politics by examining different models of reckoning with the problem of religion and state, including the terrifying―and alarmingly successful―example of ISIS. This special public book symposium, co-sponsored by the School of Divinity and the Department of Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies of the University of Edinburgh, will include a lecture by Dr Hamid, responses from Prof Siddiqui and Dr Pierret, and a public conversation that promises to touch on vital contemporary debates on politics, international relations, Syria and the migration crisis, theology, and diplomacy.  
 
The event is free and open to the public.   Please register with Eventbrite, using the following link:    http://bit.ly/IsIslam