Some extend the argument to affirm that under the conditions of the contemporary world, democracy can be considered a requirement of islam. Islamic law is absolutely incompatible with true democracy. Is islam compatible with democracy and human rights. Islamise democracy nineteenth century reformers tried to reconcile islam with modernity using flexible principles of reason and public good to reinterpret shari. He particularly leans heavily on the elective and contractual element in the islamic institution of the caliphate. Islam and democracy canadian center of science and education. Where, for example, has islam proven to be compatible with democracy. Democracy in islam focuses on government and rulers. Islam, democracy, and social movements the prevailing media and intellectual circles in the west perceive islam at the root of the authoritarian polity in the muslim middle east. There exist a number of perspectives on the relationship of islam and democracy among. The imperialist powers, firstly of europe and then those of united states also play their own role. This means leaders are not supposed to be imposed on citizens, but should be chosen according to the wish. The vote of every individual counts as much as the vote of any other.
This is because the meaning of democracy varies across culture, time and place. Shadi hamid, author of islamic exceptionalism, argues many muslims support a religiousdominated government, but that doesnt equal violence. All you have to do is look at the islamic sources or call any imam and pretend to. Under liberal democracy, sovereignty is derived from the people. Analysing the compatibility of islam and democracy politics essay.
Oct 22, 2014 democracy was introduced in greece in the 5th century bc. The hypothesis is that in the wake of the terrorist act is a. Islam and democracy much hard work needed daniel pipes. Analysing the compatibility of islam and democracy. Reformminded muslims who prefer to ignore all of this instead point to quran 42. In egypt, the muslim brotherhood came to power, after 70 years of an. Many argue that islam is not compatible with democracy, because an islamic democratic system will eventually fail to the strict following of the quran and the sunna. Read is islam and democracy compatible essay sample for.
Professor suleiman stated that the confer ence was not. Though admittedly imperfect, combining the data from the webbased survey and the. Views such as this have been expressed by various thinkers and political activists in the middle east. Sep 16, 2016 is political islam compatible with democracy. Islam is compatible with democracy only if some of its principles and followers are not sidelined in the process of democracy. This paper proposes a short apprehension of the reflections of one of the most important progressive islamic scholars, the egyptian theologian ali abderraziq. The debate over whether they are compatible is now virtually obsolete. So, is islam, as a religion, compatible with democracy as a system of. A recent indepth gallup survey in 10 predominantly muslim countries, representing more than 80% of the global muslim population, shows that when asked what they admire most about the west, muslims frequently mention political freedom, liberty, fair judicial systems, and freedom. A critical reexamination of existing theory to establish renewed potential, georgia political science association annual conference savannah.
The relationship between islam and democracy in the contemporary world is complex. Index 2019 a year of democratic setbacks and popular protest pdf. Thus came the question about the compatibility of political islam with democracy. The implicit explanation for this delay, for some, is that most arabs are muslim and islam is not compatible with democracy. Islam and democracy ali reza abootalebi 2000 islam and democracy originally the ph. According to websters dictionary, democracy is a form of government in which supreme power is vested in the people and exercised directly by them.
In north africa and in the arab east, the principle of arab unity held first place, on the grounds that. Review of the literature on the islamdemocracy compatibility. However, such an assumption is false due to the fact that the quran and the sunna would only provide general principles and guidelines. Islam does not exist in a vacuum there are human agents, i. Islam and democracy eliane ursula ettmueller abstract. Essay about islam and democracy 2214 words bartleby.
Also recruited to this end is an oftrepeated hadith that has muhammad saying, my community will never agree on an. Islam as a religion is founded on the quran the text of highest authority followed by the hadeeth the text of second highest authority. By combining contextualism and essentialism, elie believes that the arabic. An abundance of information about terrifying terrorist attacks committed by muslims can be found across the media. The principal questions addressed were why the majority of muslim countries are not democratic and whether there is an inherent contradiction or incompatibility between islam and democratic principles. In this paper, we will examine islams relationship with democracy from. Possibilities, challenges, and risks of bringing democracy to islamic nations, government, and people presentation at the secretarys open forum, washington, dc june 16, 2003. The views and opinions expressed in this presentation are those of the speaker and do not necessarily reflect administration views or policy.
In this nowclassic book, islamic sociologist fatima mernissi explores the ways in which progressive muslimsdefenders of democracy, feminists, and others trying to resist fundamentalismmust use the same sacred texts as muslims who use them for violent. Jul 15, 2003 an islamic democracy in iraq will signal to the muslim world that the u. To call islam antidemocracy by citing a brief verse noncontextually is odd. Pdf on dec 15, 2012, mariana malinova and others published is islam compatible with. Agree that islam can never be democratic 344 words charlie m. Jun 08, 2016 it should not be a mystery whether islam is compatible with democracy or not. For more than a century a question discussion has been whether democracy is compatible with islam or not.
Shadi hamid, author of islamic exceptionalism, argues many muslims support a religiousdominated government, but that doesnt equal. Islam and democracy muslim world residents see no conflict between religious principles and democratic values by dalia mogahed, executive director, the gallup center for muslim studies islam in politics has been asserted in many countries in the muslim world through democratic elections. In these discussions, muslim scholars bring historically important concepts from within the islamic. However, women and slaves were not allowed to vote. Excluding the period of the rightly guided caliphs which consisted of a democratic system of governance, the rest of the time dynasties ruled muslim lands.
This argument is based on one theoretical assumption that democracy and shura islam are not compatible and one empirical assumption that muslims strongly adhere to islamic principles. Muslims, meanwhile, ar gue that islam is deliberately misinterpr eted and slander ed in the west. Common w estern perceptions of islam are that it is backward, violent, and not compatible with democracy. May 28, 2016 islam is not compatible with democracy. Many prominent islamic intellectuals and groups, however, argue that islam and democracy are compatible. Shadi hamid, author of islamic exceptionalism, argues many muslims support a religiousdominated government, but. On islam and democracy, the controversy lies with the concept of sovereignty. To call islam anti democracy by citing a brief verse noncontextually is odd. Islam is compatible to democracy in various significant ways hence making it an effective form of governing people in countries such as iran.
Fattah, moataz bellah mohamed abdel, islam and democracy. Thus, the proper question is not what islam is but under what social conditions can islam be compatible with democracy. February 12, 2016 admin article, law and social policy, middle east. Islam and democracy it is election season in america and time to look at one the of the dhimmis favorite mythsthe democratization read more. Pdf is democracy compatible with islam drfarhat rahman. Jun 15, 2016 i argue that islam and islamic fundamentalism are not the same, and that while islamic fundamentalism is not compatible with democracy, islam itself most certainly is. The first weak argument in this article is that the authors suggest, democracy is a foreign concept that has been imposed by westernizers and secular reformers upon muslim. The bnp promotes a centerright policy combining elements of conservatism. It should not be a mystery whether islam is compatible with democracy or not. It is in the interest of the world, capitalists and the poor to invest. Therefore, their system of government was based on monarchy. Yes, islam is compatible with democracy mehdi hasan debunks the myth that muslims have a problem with democracy. Muslims, that are constantly interpreting and reinterpreting their religion, i. If accepted, it denies the very possibility of the arab countries joining the.
Having clearly shown that islam is incompatible with liberal democracy, lewis then tries to show that there might, after all, be elements in the islamic tradition which are not hostile to democracy. It focuses on his work about islam and the fundamentals of power, published in 1925. The longstanding debate about islam and democracy has reached a stunning turning point. Since the arab uprisings began in late 2010, political islam and democracy have become increasingly interdependent. The issue came into focus again after the recent phenomena of war on terrorism.
Democracy, as it exists today is not compatible with islam for the very reasons stated in the article. A democracy is a system in which all people are equal before the law, regardless of race, religion or gender. According to some commentators, these protests reflect a relatively new push for democracy by the arab peoples. Ismaeilian 2006 agrees that consensus plays an instrumental role in ensuring fundamental rights and freedoms of individuals are upheld appropriately within the state. Discuss the argument that characterise the debate about islam and democracy since the rise of the islamic movements around the world especially in the middle east and the current tension between muslim and the western countries in particular after 911, the different debates and arguments has been made by scholars, in particular western intellectuals about the capability of the islam to accept. American policymakers and western governments would be wiser to promote the strengthening of democratic institutions, rather than forcing new. God, gods religion islam and gods law sharia, must rule.
Islam is highly compatible to democracy because it allows for consensus and does not provide for the imposition of these decisions against citizens. In other words, the democracy that western nations have enjoyed is now appearing in the middle east. It is a theocratic system with allah alone at its head. It has provided guidance in every sphere of life, from individual cleanliness, rules of. But in order to argue that democracy is missing from the islamic world because of islam, it must be demonstrated that muslims indeed practice islam. Abduh2 and other reformers tried to make islam compatible with modernity by reinterpreting. Islam is not compatible with democracy 294 words jacques hadida. This question generally arises among the muslim community. Many have put forward the example of turkey as the most successful implementation of what islam can entail in a secular democratic polity. According to abraham lincoln, democracy is the government of the people, by the people and for the people. What is the reality behind the democratic form of government, and what islam has to say about such manmade systems. First, islam is compatible to democracy because it allows for election in the election of leaders. Islam as a religion is founded on the quran the text of highest authority followed by. By doing so, it encompasses the wide range of arguments that scholars have made on the issue and shows clearly what makes it possible for islam and democracy to be.
All you have to do is look at the islamic sources or call any imam and pretend to be impressed that islam does not. Muslim societies had monarchs ruling them for a very long period, stretching over about a thousand years. Though admittedly imperfect, combining the data from the web based survey and the. May 18, 2007 islam is compatible with democracy only if some of its principles and followers are not sidelined in the process of democracy. Some muslim countries political cultures are compatible with. There are some major misconceptions about this issue.
A main proposition of this study is that instead of repeating the cliche that islam is compatible with democracy, the focus should be on how is democracy compatible with islam and thus how. From the social perspective, it is the communal islam, which is prescribed to be practiced at all levels and thus democracy in islam is a social concept more so than in any other theoretical. Some western analysts contend that islam is the reason. Democracy is the evil result of secularism and its illegitimate daughter, because secularism is a fake doctrine that aims at separating the. An islamic democracy in iraq will signal to the muslim world that the u. Muslim scholars have conflicting views on this topic. I argue that islam and islamic fundamentalism are not the same, and that while islamic fundamentalism is not compatible with democracy, islam itself most certainly is. Must fundamentalism win out in the middle east, or will democracy ever be possible. In the 1950s and 1960s, many secularists as well as islamists were engaged in attempts to prove that islam and socialism were compatible, and that the pursuit of arab unity was more important than the pursuit of democracy and pluralism. There is no room for a secular political system in which all people are treated as equals. Ali khan argues that islam is fully compatible with democracy. However, within islam there are ideas held by some that believe islam and democracy in some form are indeed compatible due to the existence of the concept of shura meaning consultation in the quran. The arabs, islam and globalization middle east policy. The past 10 to 15 years have been characterized by the rise of islamic radicalism and extremism.
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