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| Source: barenakedislam.org |
By Syed Kamall
As we continue to absorb the tragedy that unfolded
in Paris last Friday and seek answers to how young men of North African origin
raised in France and Belgium could equate their faith with such violent acts,
there have been the inevitable statements about the incompatibility between
Islam and western values of liberal democracy.
Last week,
politicians representing centre-right parties from the UK, Europe, the Middle
East and North Africa gathered at the Conservatives and Reformists
International Summit in Tunisia to reflect on the challenges faced in today’s
world.
We wanted
to show how the centre-right movement can provide a balanced response that
respects the practices that are important to Muslim communities with a
pluralist, secular state.
We
gathered in the country where the tremors of revolution that has gripped the
region were first felt, some five years ago. As the tremors have echoed across
the region, the tensions and stresses that still beset other countries have
calmed in Tunisia. The revolution has given way to reform, and reform has led
to a transition to stable democracy.
In a
region that needs success stories, Tunisia stands as a model which many of her
neighbours may aspire to. Part of the reason for her success has been the
recognition by the people of Tunisia that the absolutism of secularism or
religious fundamentalism is not the only path. As revolution takes hold, an
exchange of one form of coercion for another is not the answer to a false
dichotomy between volatility and autocracy.
The answer
to a secular dictatorship is not a religious dictatorship. It is an open
society, in which freedom of worship is accepted along with freedom of speech,
assembly and contract.
Tunisia
only has to look at Europe to see the parallels in their own political reform
and Europe’s shift in the relationship between church and state. Towards the
end of the 19th century, newly unified polities in Italy and Germany wrestled
with the impact of secularisation, most notably in Germany with the
Kulturkampf. 19th and 20th century Britain similarly grappled with the role of
Christianity in a period of modernisation, punctuated by two World Wars. Our
laws no longer restrict marriage, abortion or blasphemy as in the past, while
regulation of Lord’s Day has been unwound as time has gone by.
Today,
church attendance has fallen dramatically but self-affiliation with
Christianity has not diminished. Personal identification with Christianity and
other religions remains an important part of modern British life.
Institutionally however, religious convictions are increasingly expressions of
personal and societal values, rather than state-mandated orthodoxy. Whilst the state
provides the conditions for religious practice, it is the person who puts their
religion into practice. It is man who has a relationship with God, not the
State.
This
sometimes uneasy consensus recognises that the authority of God over man does
not justify the authority of man over man. Virtue cannot be coerced. We must
all make our own choices. And take responsibility for those choices. This is
the corner- stone of centre- right politics.
Islam
places great emphasis on personal responsibility. Perhaps that’s why, in its
golden years, the Islamic world was also the centre of global commerce. Long
before modern capitalism emerged in the northern Italian city states, and then
in Holland and in England, secure property rights contributed towards Muslims creating
prosperous societies.
From this
central notion builds a wider truth: that the state does not have a collective
identity. It can’t be devout or charitable or honest. It can only provide a
context in which individual citizens can pursue those virtues.
The
transition to democracy in the region must be grounded in those terms. Openness
and pluralism ensure that there is a space for personal freedoms to take hold
and society to flourish. To ensure that the state enables enterprise without
crowding it out. That it secures property rights without encroaching on the
private sector. That the law remains a mechanism for individuals seeking
justice, not an instrument of state control. That religious laws or privileges
are not required to recognise faith. Our job is to roll the rocks away so that
the grass can grow.
Dr Syed Kamall is a Member of the European
Parliament for London and leader of the European Conservatives and Reformists
group, the third largest of the eight political groups in the European
Parliament. 
