About Us
About the Islamopedia Initiative
Please note that Islamopedia has been visible since June 6 2009 and is work in progress. We will continuously add rulings. opinions and news.
Islamopedia is a collection of rulings and religious opinions addressing the most debated topics of Islamic tradition today: gender, sexuality, non-Muslims, violence, secularism. In the near future, we will present scholarly analysis of and commentary on these rulings and opinions.
The goal of the Islamopedia project is to map the intellectual and religious landscape of
global Islam. Toward this end, Islamopedia explores the topics that trigger the most discussion and diversity of opinions such as
democracy, human rights, pluralism, changing gender roles, and the global
influence of Western nations and Western culture.
It is our hope that accurate information and broad-based knowledge about
the relevance, diversity, and complexity of Islamic thinking will:
- rectify misunderstandings about Islamic perspectives on key issues confronting contemporary Muslims within both Muslim and western societies;
- promote respect amongst Westerners toward the Islamic tradition;
- foster communication and collaboration between Muslim intellectuals and scholars across cultures and languages;
- educate Muslims themselves about diversity of thought across Muslim groups;
- facilitate debates that have been seldom heard because of the politicization of questions, relating to such concerns as women, apostasy, and secularism.
A generous grant from the Carnegie Corporation funded the initial research and development of this site.
About Us
The Islam in the West Program (IITW) at Harvard University was founded in 2002 with a mission to contribute to the global debate on contemporary Islam through in-depth examination of the religious, social and political contexts of American and European Muslims, and an appraisal of the relationships of these communities with the Muslim world at large. The program's website is
http://cmes.hmdc.harvard.edu/research/iw .
Program objectives include creating innovative interdisciplinary approaches that accurately address the rich complexity of Islam and Muslims in the West and providing resources for policy makers, media representatives, scholars, students and the general public in the interest of promoting greater understanding of Islam. All of the Program’s projects, publications and seminars seek to promote a more comprehensive understanding of the extraordinary diversity in Islam. Jocelyne Cesari , Director of the Islam in the West program, conceived, initiated and coordinates the Islamopedia project.
Dr. Cesari concurrently holds a professorship in political science at the Sorbonne and a research associateship at the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at Harvard University. Her most recent books include: When Islam and Democracy Meet (2004) and The Encyclopedia of Islam in the United States (2007). Dr. Cesari also directs The European Face of the Islam in the West Program. For more information, see: www.euro-islam.info.
