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C.3 |
An AKU Institute Devoted to Study of Islamic
Civilisations |
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| 3.11 |
We do not intend to give the Institute of Islamic
Civilisations a solely educational mission, either in the unspecialised
form we have been discussing, or in the training of specialists
through graduate studies. We see needs for it to provide research,
scholarship, and analysis on many matters that now gravely concern
the Muslim world and the world at large. Such matters as
the building of civil societies in Islamic contexts, the special
problems of governance in Muslim societies, or the relations
of Islamic values to economic, scientific, and technical performances
are of fundamental importance but we do not find they receive
as thoughtful and persistent attention from within the Muslim
world as they ought to. They are matters difficult to illuminate
helpfully. But working in the context of AKU, with other branches
lendin, strength in such fields as economic development, and
with a freedom other Muslim institutions do not have, this AKU
Institute may be able to make unique contributions. |
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The utility of this Institute ought not be confined to the
Muslim world and its own problems. We have suggested that
there is a potential in the Islamic heritage that may help
modern societies cope with the confusions, disillusionments,
and moral vagaries that afflict them. The strident critique
of modernity from the fundamentalists should not be the only
voice from the Muslim world. There is the germ of a difficult
but important mission of this Institute in the phrase "the
Islamisation of modernity". We may hope that it will generate
ideas and understanding important not only for Muslims but
for the world at large.
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| 3.12 |
The Design and Location of the AKU Institute Within these
broad conceptions of purpose and mission, what form should
this Institute take ? We repeat that we do not think the Commission
should try to offer a detailed blueprint, but leave that task
to later planners. We offer, however, some general conceptions
that have emerged in our deliberations.
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We believe that the conditions of
intellectual freedom in which this Institute must work indicate
that it should be located in a Western country. Regrets that
this should be so have been expressed in the Commission's discussions
without, however, leading to a different conclusion. Locations
in Europe and North America have beell considered, with a clear
preference for Europe, and for London in particular. |
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The Institute can begin effectively
as a modest sized unit of the University; and, since we envisage
its mission as primarily research and scholarship, it need not
grow very large in the coming years. We have thought it might
begin with three senior scholars and two juniors, and might
grow in a few years to about ten staff, roughly equally distributed
between seniors and juniors. Provision for visiting researchers
and professors would be important to complement the special
strengths of the longer-term staff and to encourage linkages
to other institutions. There would he Institute fellows from
the beginning, either at preor post-doctoral levels, and we
foresee that sonie graduate students associated with AKU might
profitably follow the degree programme we have described at
Cambridge University. We should think that the Institute would
develop graduan, programmes of its own only rather slowly, and
probably in conjunction with other centres of' study on Islamic
civilisations. We would hope that in the longer term AKU would
be in a position to offer graduate degrees of its own in this
field, but the demands on the Institute for research and writing,
and the limited employment opportunities of graduates in its
field suggest that this ambition should not be hurriedly pursued. |
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We would think it important that
the Institute establish appropriate linkages with IIS and Cambridge
but also with other universities and research centres in the
Western and Mushni worlds. Connections to the Aga Khan Prograin
f'otIslamic Architecture at Harvard and MIT would be natural
and important to establish. Among the early activities of the
Institute we should suppose that the holding of symposia on
conceptions and pedagogy on Islamic civilisations would be fruitable
and appropriate. These would naturally bring collaboration with
the activities and contacts of the Aga Khan Trust for Culture.
Through such symposia and other means, opportunities inay arise
or be sought out for jointly sponsored projects with other universities.
These may be promising ways to build relationships in the Muslirn
world, and to strengthen the Institute's impact by joining with
others' resources. |
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Manifestly, we are proposing high
and difficult tasks for AKU in these recomryiendations for fulfilling
its mission as a Muslim university. The demands on the Institute's
formative leadership will be exacting, intellectually, organisationally,
and diplomatically. What we are proposing is no routine walk
down a well-trodden academic path. Much lies ahead that will
require vision, energy, and judgement. Perhaps the most critical
determinant of the Institute's success will be the quality of
the initial leadership AKU can attract for it. The recognised
world importance of what AKU is here undertaking and its exceptional
qualifications for the task make us optimistic that talent of
the requisite high order can be acquired. We are confident that
there will be encouragement, financial and otherwise, to AKU
from various quarters in launching this undertaking. We defer
until the next Section of our report most of what we have to
say on the governance and financing of this component of the
future AKU. But we assume that the leader of the Institute -director"
or "dean" or whatever he or she may be labelled - will want
and need ways of relating to other parts of the University (some
of them very far away !) as well as a council or advisory group
specifically concerned with the Institute. We also assume there
will be many questions of external relationships, not least
to HS, which will evolve over the years and are now difficult
to anticipate, but need to be kept in mind in our own governance
proposals and in the minds of those who will come after us in
more detailed planning for the Institute |
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| 3.13 |
A final word about hazards and opportunities.
A part of AKU that is concerned with Islam can never be invulnerable
to criticisms or suspicions that it is posing as an interpretative
authority, and this vulnerability may affect adversely other
parts of the University. Such risks have been prominent in our
minds and they are by no means removed by prudent location and
44 non-normative" principles. But rewards come with risks. AKU's
distinction and prestige will be heightened particularly if
its endeavours to find paths toward the "Islamisation of modernity"
show promise of bearing fruit in the present setting, when such
a contribution is the need of the hour. |
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