Is There an Islamic Social Contract? Rethinking Freedom and Governance

"Between Texts and Freedom: Where Islamic Thought Meets the Modern Idea of Liberty" is a podcast series that seeks to re-engage contemporary audiences with Islamic philosophy and to reposition its rich intellectual tradition in addressing today’s concerns. It aims to explore the concept of freedom in Islamic thought in comparison with modern political understandings of liberty.

This month’s episode, ‘Is There an Islamic Social Contract? Rethinking Freedom and Governance’ features the host Souad Adnane, a researcher with a PhD in Public Policy from George Washington University and a longstanding interest in Islamic thought. She is a founding member of the classical liberal think tank Arab Center for Research, Morocco, and a former board member of the Islam and Liberty Network. Souad is also an economic development specialist with over 15 years of experience across the MENA region, Sub-Saharan Africa, and South Asia, providing advisory support to governments and international organizations. 

The guest, Dr. Deina Abdelkader, is an associate professor in the Political Science Department and a research affiliate at the Center for Middle East Studies, Harvard University. Dr. Abdelkader is the director of the Peace and Conflict Studies program. She is a comparativist and international relations specialist. Her scholarly interests and research focus on the Middle East and North Africa, comparative democratization in the Muslim World, Islamic activism, and the role of Muslim women in religious interpretation.

She is the author of the book The Forgotten Khayr al-Din al-Tunsi's Islamic Social Contract Governance, Public Welfare and Justice. This book confronts the longstanding marginalization of Muslim thought within political theory, highlighting the epistemological assumptions that have elevated Western intellectual traditions while overlooking the rich political heritage of the Islamic world. Focusing on the nineteenth-century reformer Khayr al-Din al-Tunsi, it presents the first in-depth study and translation of his political writings, interpreting them through the framework of Islamic jurisprudence, particularly the Maqāṣid al-Sharīʿa (Objectives of Islamic Law).