Pieces

A key was the symbol of Hassan Rowhani’s presidential campaign, but what, if any, doors to real power will it unlock? by MOHSEN KADIVAR for ISLAMiCommentary on JUNE 20, 2013: “This is the victory of wisdom, a victory of moderation and a victory of commitment over extremism,” Iranian president-elect Hassan Rowhani declared on TV shortly after election results were announced. Rowhani means clergy in Persian, and he was the only cleric among the eight candidates approved by the Guardian Council to run in the presidential election held June 14, 2013.  He wasted no…

Durham, NC - In the years since the 1979 Iranian revolution, Mohsen Kadivar has intellectually evolved from being a supporter of Ayatollah Khomeini's Islamic republic to a believer that Iran should be a secular democratic state. Now he thinks many Iranians are following the same path as he, and in an April 9 talk at Duke, Kadivar expressed optimism that the country is on the road to becoming a secular state. Speaking on "Evolution of the Relationship of Islam and the State in Post–Revolutionary Iran," Kadivar said "the diversity of…

Durham, NC - On Tuesday the United States, France, Britain, China, Russia and Germany agreed to resume negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program. This news came one day after President Obama met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss the threat posed by Iran's nuclear program. Quotes: Regarding A Possible Attack on Iran by Israel: "Any military attacks on Iran, especially by Israel, would be an extremely big mistake and an enormous obstacle to the spread of democracy and human rights in Iran because it would be the…

The execution of apostates should be annulled but insulting religion should be recognized as hate speech.   First of all, there should be a differentiation between Islam which is based on the principles of the Qur’an and the authentic tradition of the prophet and the sharia-oriented Islam. In the first, the freedom of speech and religion has been recognized. In the second, such freedom is faced with numerous limitations. I. The restrictions of freedom of speech in sharia In sharia-oriented Islam, an apostate will be executed. The insult and mockery…