This paper is a presentation of Professor Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na’im when he was invited to deliver a keynote speech at the conference “Promoting Pluralism through Civic Reason: Rethinking Secularism” in Utrecht, The Netherlands on the 25th and 26th of May 2009. The conference was initiated by the Kosmopolis Institute of the University for Humanistics and organized in cooperation with Hivos. In his presentation, An-Na’im discussed the highlights of the first chapter of his noteworthy book, “Islam and the Secular State” (2008). In his presentation, An-Na’im presented his key ideas on the secular and offered valuable insights for the Promoting Pluralism Knowledge Programme. The regional coordinators from the Indonesia program, Dr. Zainal Abidin Bagir, and the coordinator from the India program, Prof Sitharamam Kakarala, both responded to An-Na’im at the conference. All three contributions are included in this paper.
