Why does one hear so much about tolerance today, when as little as a few decades ago it was considered an obsolete virtue, anachronistic and outstripped by the progress of our civilization? When a virtue is lacking we remember it most! Must we conclude from the emphasis placed on tolerance these last few years that we have entered an era of generalized mutual incomprehension? The conquests of the intellect; local, national and international juridical practices; education open to global issues; the (...) intermixing of humanity that has never before “moved” so much under the combined effect of emigration; tourism and the developments in transportation and vast information exchanges served by efficient techniques that make communication one of the greatest benefits of our culture; all this could have led mankind into a surplus of exchanges on all levels, and better mutual appreciation leading to more tolerance. (shrink)

Islamic culture may be labelled a ‘superculture’ on account of its richness, whose living message goes from the peasants of the Indian subcontinent to Africa, for instance, dating back fourteen centuries in time. The author contrasts with an Islam that is frozen in its medieval form an Islam capable of inventing new solutions. The drama of today’s Muslim populations is living under the sign of a failure to adapt, because there has been no adequate analysis of the demands of their (...) time. But there is a social message in Islam, of brotherhood, justice, effort, liberation, which remains to be translated into a project for joint action for current generations. There is integration, the complementarity of individual action, collective effort and spirituality. But the integration of the sacred into social life is so ‘un-contemporary’ that in Islamic lands an extra effort is required to grasp its true implications. (shrink)

Résumé La culture islamique peut être qualifiée de « superculture » par sa richesse, dont le message vivant va des paysans d’Insulinde à l’Afrique, par exemple, et qui remonte à quatorze siècles dans le temps. L’auteur oppose à un islam figé dans son élaboration médiévale un islam capable d’inventer des solutions renouvelées. Le drame des peuples musulmans d’aujourd’hui est de vivre sous le signe de l’inadéquation, faute d’une analyse suffisante des exigences de leur temps. Mais il y a un message (...) social de l’islam, de fraternité, de justice, d’effort, de libération, à traduire en projet d’action collective pour les générations actuelles. Il y a intégration, complémentarité de l’action individuelle, de l’œuvre collective et de la spiritualité. Mais l’intégration du sacré à la vie sociale est tellement « inactuelle » que en terre d’islam, il faut un surcroît d’effort pour en appréhender les véritables pièges. (shrink)