Arabwashingtonian.org

The Arab Washingtonian prepared series of articles which will highlight many moderate Muslim figures.

Jamal al- Bana: (1920) is the youngest brother of Hassan al-Bana, founder of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood (1928). He works as a lecturer at the Worker University - Alexandria Egypt from 1963-1993.

Bana founded an Islamic social - liberal party (The Labor) in the 50s.He is also the founder of al-Fiker (the thought) Magazine. In 1953 he formed the Association of the Egypt Prisoners [to be later controlled by the Department of the Prisons Affairs - Ministry of Interior. ]

Bana is a frequent guest at major Arab TV stations. His articles appear in many Arab newspapers.

al-Bana's moderate Islamic views brought him anger and frequent death threats. On April 2006, he was among a list of 25 Islamic writers to receive death threat because of their views.

His latest book, The Responsibility of the Failure of the State, was banned by the Azhar's Islamic Research Center (Azhar University - oldest Islamic school in the region, is often accused of keep close ties with the government in Cairo)

Views:
- Reform and democracy are the answer to the region crisis
- He condemns violence and the killing of civilians.
- The US is responsible for the current world's instability.
- The US lacks a long-term strategy to secure its international status as a super power.
- Arab leaders blocked Washington's attempt to democratize the region. They convince the Administration that Islamic movement will take over if they held elections.
- Women can lead men in prayer
- Wearing Veil or Hijab is not necessary for Muslim women

Sayed el Qemni: born in 1947 in Al Wasiti town of Bani Swaif provenance- Egypt. el-Qemni holds a doctorate in the philosophy of religions from Ain Shams University. Before he quit writing (2005), he was a frequent guest on many TVs and he wrote in major Arabic newspapers.

For years, Qemni applied scientific methods on his studies about religion and Islam and became a recognized scholar in the Egypt and the Arab world. His writing achieved wide recognition. Many of his books were banned by the Egyptian government and in other Arab countries.

Two days after receiving a death threat (he received it via mail on July 15, 2005) by al Jihad Group - Egypt, el-Qemni issued a statement saying that he had decided to quit writing as a response to the threats.

Attached to the e-mail / death threat was a statement justifying the murder of Ehab El-Sherif, Egypt's envoy to Iraq, and the terse phrase "You are next". In his statement, Qemni -- the best selling author in Egypt and several Arab countries-said: "I denounce everything I have written hitherto, which at the time I never thought of as infidelity".

Views:
- He believes in the separation between religion and state
- Religious parties and groups use Islam to obtain power.
- Reforming Islam is the only path towards development in the region.
- Killing innocents is against Islam teaching
- Islamic groups are partners with totalitarian Arab regimes. They promote each other agendas.
- He criticizes the US for supporting Israel

Publications:
Thank you Bin Laden [the title is sarcastic. He accused Bin Laden of taking Muslims backward]
The Hashemite Party and the Establishment of the First Muslim State
The Wars of the Prophet's State
Abraham and the Unknown History
God of the Times

Hicham Djait: Born in Tunisia in 1935. He holds doctorate degree in Islamic studies from Paris University in 1981. He taught Islamic studies in France, Egypt, Iraq, Tunisia, the UAE, and Belgium.
Djait is a frequent guest on major Arab TVs and his articles appear in many Arab media outlets.

Just as Arkoun, Chebel, el-Qemni, and others, Djait calls for reforming Islam and using the best of the Western technology and ideas.

Djait sees a wide gap exists between the aspirations of modernity and reality. He perceives an equally wide gap exists between the calls for religious humanity and social reality. Within this context he sees a difference between the aspirations of the individual and his actual existence.

Other views:
- Democracy is the first step to solve Arab region's problems.
- Fundamental groups in the Muslim world flourishes only when people lack hope and development.
- He criticizes economic development that violates territories. "If globalization does not view humanity equally, he feels it is not modernization", he says.
- He criticizes the US role in the Israeli - Palestinian conflict.

Publications:
- Europe and Islam
- Muslim World Crisis
- Islamic Character
- The Great Muslim