Islam und säkularer Humanismus

This year's Leopold Lucas prize was awarded to Sadik Al-Azm, a scholar who has a thorough knowledge not only of Arab tradition but also of the traditions of Western thought. He received the prize in honor of his support for Western philosophy's power of orientation in the Arab world, his advocacy of Arab culture and its capacity for modernization in the West, his dauntless criticism of every type of fundamentalism which rejects reality and his contribution to the peace process in the Middle East. In his speech, published here in English and German, Sadik Al-Azm talks about the development of human rights in Islam and explains how universally valid principles such as human rights, freedom of conscience and religious tolerance can grow out of a certain tradition.