Int'l conference in IIUI on March 6

International Islamic University, Islamabad (IIUI) will organize an international conference on Pakistan, South Asia and Muslim Societies from 6 to 7 March.The Iqbal International Institute for Research and Dialogue (IRD) of the IIUI is organizing a conference in collaboration with the American Council for the Study of Islamic Societies (ACSIS) and the South Asian Muslim Studies Association (SAMSA) in Faisal Mosque Campus of IIUI on March 6-7.The scholars at the conference would speak about issues related to Islam, culture, politics, economy and society in the context of Pakistan, South Asia and other Muslim societies.It is obvious the Pakistan cannot be seen in isolation from its South Asian geo-strategic location and associated historical, linguistic, cultural and geographical influences. Islam is one of the major religions in the region alongside Hinduism, Buddhism and other faith systems.This inter-disciplinary conference will provide a valuable platform to analyze the diversity of Muslim life in Pakistan, South Asia, Central Asia and South East Asia. It seeks to explore critical challenges related to history, politics, society, economics, arts, culture and other dynamics that play a critical role in Muslim communities of South Asia and neighbouring regions.The conference will bring together scholars from major universities of USA and Pakistan, who specialize in diverse disciplines, to share ideas and engage in discussions related to the region and its significance in todays world.In addition, the conference will address the significance of the South Asian region and its neighbours with Muslim societies in recent years.The conference will address how Islam has been stereotyped in the wake of 9/11 and how its rich and complex nuances have been reduced, erased and forgotten systematically in the neo-orientalist discourse emerging from a variety of disciplines. It will also look at how some in the Muslim world have also eliminated nuances and a rich tradition of diversity in Islam.It will critically reassess and re-evaluate the traditional binary division of the world between Islam and the rest of the world.Furthermore, it will address the factors that produce religious extremism and violence and will also attempt to identify the key cleavages and fault lines along sectarian, ethnic, regional and national lines, particularly in the context of South Asia and its neighboring Muslim societies.The conference will analyze the social, political and economic transformation of Muslim societies in an increasingly globalized world. It will address the impact on Muslim societies of technological advancements, urbanization, literacy and media. It will endeavour to discover how a mutual cooperation can be achieved, between an technologically advanced Western world and Muslim societies in South Asia and its neighbours, for mutual benefits and for the evolution of a peaceful world.Renowned American and Pakistani academicians/scholars would present papers on the general theme/sub-theme of the conference that will be attended by intellectuals, policy makers, and representatives of civil society, faculty members, and research students of the International Islamic University, Islamabad and F.C. College University, Lahore.