Episode 023 - Azeemah Saleem; Revisiting Religious Freedom in ‘Secular’ and ‘Islamic’ Constitution

Azeemah Saleem, Doctoral Candidate in Center for West Asian Studies, School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. She is working on “Syrian Refugees in Germany: An Understanding through the Prism of Global Justice” as her PhD Thesis. Her area of interest includes understanding Global Justice in the context of Refugees, Rawls theory of Justice, Kantian Cosmopolitanism, Humanitarian crisis, global refugee issues, women development studies, social and societal fragmentation in North Africa, conflict analysis in West Asia along with identity politics and critically analysing human rights issue.

Her paper aimed to understand religious freedom in the constitution of Lebanon and Saudi Arabia. It will scrutinise how the constitution derived from secular and Islamic values reflected the functioning of society. Is Secular constitution is moving towards an inclusive society and Islamic constitution is moving away from being a tolerant society. It also aimed to understand whether the ‘Secular’ constitution makes a nation more inclusive as compared to the ‘Islamic’ constitution. The consequences of the respective constitution in society. Lastly, it will redefine the idea of secularism compatible with the freedom of religion in both the nation of Saudi Arabia and Lebanon.