Jacob Williams

Oxford PhD candidate and Head of Domestic Policy at Pickthall House

[Jacob Williams @JacobP_Williams]

Paul Kelly's 'Against Post-Liberalism' is one of the most important critiques of postliberalism.

But I worry he has refuted postliberalism only "for the left".

Read my review in 'Perspectives on Politics' (@PoPpublicsphere)

https://t.co/VpkzWol16c

[Jacob Williams @JacobP_Williams]

Liberal neutrality has failed -- but coercing virtue is worse.

My essay in @RenovatioOnline argues for a politics grounded in human nature: a pro-faith, pro-family fusion of liberty and virtue.

https://t.co/g6Uy3bj7WF

[Jacob Williams @JacobP_Williams]

Do Muslims have a future in Britain?

Yes -- but only if we move beyond the old modus vivendi and start thinking seriously about religious and political freedom.

I joined In Good Faith for @PickthallHouse to discuss Islam, Britain, and social cohesion.

https://t.co/2651zKU9y9

[Renovatio @RenovatioOnline]

Can piety be enforced from above?

Sultan Murad IV tried. He closed coffeehouses, banned coffee and tobacco, executed violators in the streets—believing fear would produce faithfulness.

The coffeehouses reopened the day he died.

An Ottoman scholar warned: "God preserve us from fanaticism."

On why coercion fails: https://t.co/kMhV93RNou

[Jacob Williams @JacobP_Williams]

It’s illegal and it’s wrong — full stop.

Most British Muslims believe in fairness and equal treatment under the law.

But we shouldn’t turn a handful of cases into a story about an entire community.

One law, applied equally to everyone.

@PatrickChristys @GBNEWS

[GB News @GBNEWS]

'It's illegal and obviously wrong and I think the majority of Muslims agree.'

Pickthall House's Jacob Williams reacts to an investigation exposing adverts posted by landlords for 'Muslim only' tenants.

[Kasurian @KasurianMag]

The future of Western Islam is not going to be easy or comfortable. We cannot continue acting as if the ideal theory is to be transposed from medieval fiqh manuals, while in reality, it is the pragmatic acceptance of whatever social trends emanate from Western secularism.

Read more in our latest essay, Towards a Western Muslim Political Philosophy — link in bio.

[Evollaqi @Evollaqi]

Another very important piece from Kasurian.

Identifies key failings which underlie almost all western Muslim political discourse.

[Mustafa Akyol @AkyolinEnglish]

Must-read essay for Western Muslims, who are rightly worried about Islamophobia, but not always with the right response:

"The solution is to create a robust Islamic political philosophy suited to Western life in the 21st century... [to] theorize religious and political freedom."

[Kasurian @KasurianMag]

The Modus Vivendi is over.

In Towards a Western Muslim Political Philosophy, Jacob Williams (@JacobP_Williams) articulates the unspoken contradictions at the heart of Muslims' political and civic engagement in the West: a pragmatic agreement to respect the same political ground rules and obey the law, without believing that these rules represent the principles we would ideally choose to live under.

It may have worked when Muslims were a small minority who could pass under the radar. Those days are over. Increasingly, many Muslim organisations and politicians appear to understand that the foundation cannot hold. They are unconvinced by the modus vivendi, but they lack an alternative theological framework or any coherent vision for Muslim political life.

The solution is to create a robust Islamic political philosophy suited to Western life in the 21st century. This requires engagement with the Islamic tradition that rejects blind imitation of earlier scholars’ conclusions, draws on the tools of analytic philosophy to achieve desperately needed conceptual clarity and argumentative rigour, and tests arguments against counterarguments with a precision that the current discourse entirely lacks.

Read more on Kasurian. Link to the article in reply below:

[Jacob Williams @JacobP_Williams]

Western Muslim politics has run on an unspoken deal:

play along publicly, defer the real questions.

That deal is collapsing.

Read “Towards a Western Muslim Political Philosophy” in @KasurianMag

https://t.co/6HttAf99rU

[MCC Center for Constitutional Politics @MCC_CfCP]

Thank you to @JacobW982 for an excellent seminar yesterday! 📚

We explored the complex intellectual genealogy of post-liberalism, tracing its evolution and debating its boundaries.

[Philip Pilkington @philippilk]

A liberal and two post-liberals walk into a bar…

Proud to announce the first Postliberal Debate at @InstituteDanube. @JacobW982 and I engage in a written debate with @AndrewKoppelman on the nature of liberalism. Very illuminating debate on what liberalism is. Link in comment.

[Jacob Williams @JacobP_Williams]

Is liberalism inherently authoritarian? I debated this with @philippilk and @AndrewKoppelman at the @InstituteDanube.

Full research paper containing the debate is here:

https://t.co/s3IPaB5CLG

[Jacob Williams @JacobP_Williams]

"New" natural law is the best middle path between progressivism and extreme forms of postliberalism.

I reviewed the recent book by @melissamoschell for @LawLiberty

https://t.co/DhOPkv89zJ