Modern Islamic view must rethink links between religion and state, says Zia Sardar, as Tariq Ramadan calls for Muslims to start seeing 'women as women' at the Fabian Britishness conference.

Speakers: Madeleine Bunting, Sarah Joseph, Sadiq Khan, Tariq Ramadan, Ziauddin Sardar

The relationship between Islam and politics in Muslim societies needs to be rethought, leading Muslim writer Zia Sardar said at the 'Islam of the West' session of the Fabian Britishness conference.

Too many Islamic movements focussed on the creation of an Islamic state where religion and politics are one and the same, said Sardar, challenging the Islamic totalitarianism in Saudi Arabia and Iran: 'the view that this is the only way of engagement has led us into the abyss … we need to find more productive ways of bringing religion and politics together'.

Accused by a member of the audience from fringe group Hizb ut Tahrir of promoting a reform agenda 'externally dictated' by neo-conservative think-tanks, Sardar, a fierce crtiic of US foreign policy, said that the pressure for reform was growing within Muslim societies. 'The neo-conservatives have stolen my thunder', said Sardar declaring himself to be the only true reformist on the platform that he was sharing with Sarah Joseph, Tariq Ramadan and Sadiq Khan after other speakers challenged his prescriptions for a contemporary Muslim politics. The session highlighted the diversity of opinion within many debates being contested within Muslim communities.

Sadiq Khan, elected as Labour MP for Tooting in May 2005, argued that it was important for Muslims living in the Western world to reform their interpretation of the scriptures in the modern context of living as a minority. He pointed out that there should be no inherent difficulty between identifying oneself as both British and Muslim at the same time – the former label refers to a national territory and the latter a religious philosophy.

Tariq Ramadan outlined three goals for contemporary Muslims: to be more self confident, especially when seeking new answers in new modern contexts from the original text; to be more self-critical, rather than idealising the past being more able to criticise perceptions of Sharia; and finally to be more creative in new approaches.

But Ramadan argued that there were problems with Sardar's methodology and definitions in view of the many different trends, critiques and movements within Islam. He highlighted the importance of a dialectical relationship between the text of the Koran and the context within which it is understood. Too often there is confusion between scriptural sources and cultures, he said. This called for a more global approach to the text of the Koran and then understanding of different cultural interpretations.

Sarah Joseph, editor of Emel Magazine, argued that there are two key views of Islam that can be identified: a dogmatic one that looks back to a golden age around the time of the 17th century and a more progressive one that aligns the achievement of justice with the achievement of Islam. She called for more debate about which way to go.

Sardar argued that an understanding of Islam in 2006 must enable Muslims to engage with the modern world and to ask the correct questions. This would entail questioning the institutions and laws that many Muslims currently take for granted: currently there is too much fear that such introspection would affect the fundamental nature of Islam.

Khan accepted the need for Muslims to be more confident about self-criticism but at the same time he challenged non-Muslims to also question their own approach to these issues, arguing that everyone needed to take responsibility for arriving at progressive and creative solutions.

Joseph said she refused to be drawn on the particular issue of Muslim women, arguing that she did not want to be become a 'token voice' but the male panellists and comments from the audience addressed this. Sardar argued that 'Muslims can no longer continue to defend the indefensible … women should be an integral part of society and be allowed to participate fully'. Ramadan claimed that 98% of Islamic literature about women focussed on their function as a daughter, wife, or mother, so he identified this as an important starting point: Muslims need to start seeing 'women as women'. He pointed to the role of women as a key field where self-criticism is needed, but warned that this doesn't automatically mean adopting a western approach is the solution.

In response to a questioner upset after a difficult encounter with a veiled Muslim woman who she felt was unable to communicate and interact socially, Ramadan pleaded to people to realise that this is an issue Muslims are struggling with amongst each other, the different schools of thought over how a woman should cover up makes the issue an extremely difficult one, fraught with tensions and perceptions. Khan cautioned against using the hijab and other methods of covering up as a symbol to attack, as this will drive people to wear them in defence of attacks on their beliefs.

Khan and Joseph addressed the issue of faith schools, agreeing that currently schools in the UK are subject to segregation on ethnic and economic lines, rather than on the basis of religion, so this is a crucial problem to overcome. Khan noted that whilst there are Catholic, Jewish and Church of England schools funded by the state it is not really justifiable to deny other faiths the same rights in educating children, as long as there remain open admissions policies.

'Islam of the West: Will the reformers win? 'with Sarah Joseph (Editor, Emel Magazine); Sadiq Khan MP; Tariq Ramadan, Ziauddin Sardar (Writer & broadcaster); Chair: Madeleine Bunting (Guardian). This panel debate took part at the Fabian New Year Conference 'Who do we want to be? The Future of Britishness' on January 14, 2006, at Imperial College London.

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