In this brief article written primarily to introduce the readership to the idea of a democratic Islamic polity I identify and explore some key concepts that have salience to both Islamic religious political tradition and democratic theory. The vote of every individual counts as much as the vote of any other.
The masters of social life are the people themselves.
What is islamic democracy. The idea and concept of Islamic democracy has been accepted by many Iranian clerics scholars and intellectuals. The most notable of those who have accepted the theory of Islamic democracy is probably Irans Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei who mentions Islamic democracy as. Islamic democracy refers to two kinds of democratic states that can be recognized in the Islamic countries.
The basis of this distinction has to do with how comprehensively Islam is incorporated into the affairs of the state1 A democratic state which recognizes Islam as state religion such as. Religious democracy means a system which is based on religion and Islam. The masters of social life are the people themselves.
This is the meaning of Islamic democracy. In this brief article written primarily to introduce the readership to the idea of a democratic Islamic polity I identify and explore some key concepts that have salience to both Islamic religious political tradition and democratic theory. The Three Cs of Islamic Democracy.
The key features of Islamic governance that I have found in Islamic sources Quran and the Prophetic precedence Sunnah and contemporary Muslim discussions on the Islamic. An Introduction to Democracy in Islam. August 22 2019 0.
In Democracy laws are made and individuals are elected based upon the majority opinion in the vote. The word democracy is widely used to refer to just systems of rule in which the leaders are elected and laws are made by the public through votes and elections. What is Islamic Democracy.
Is it a secular democracy in which Islamic leaning parties come to power and Islamic identity influences policy choices as in Turkey. Or is it like Iran a theo-democracy in which Islam and Islamic values are constitutionally privileged and mandated and where elections serve merely to elect the executive while. Democracy is a system that is contrary to Islam because it gives the power of legislation to the people or to those who represent them such as members of Parliament.
Based on that in democracy legislative authority is given to someone other than Allah may He be exalted. Rather it is given to the people and their deputies and what matters is not their consensus but the majority. Number 07166 says that Democracy is a man-made system meaning rule by the people of the people.
In Islam rule is for Allah and it is not permissible to give legislative rights to any human being Number 98134 adds that democracy is at war with Islam and its followers effectively sanctioning violence for the cause of Sharia. Liberal democracy once viewed as self-evidently impossible is now viewed as unexceptional and desirable. Can Islamic democracy also come to seem normal and natural.
The question raised by the ouster of Egypts President Morsi is whether Islam is compatible with democracy or any form of government that empowers the people and limits the power of leaders to hold merely representative offices with limited terms of public service. Islam is the most recent of the Abrahamic religions to emerge on the world stage. Democracy is identified as a cornerstone of western civilization and it is strongly prescribed for the rest of the world and humanity.
Indeed sometimes it is even promoted as a panacea. Discourses involving Islam Muslim world and democracy are proliferating. But what really is the relationship between Islam and democracy.
Introduction Islam and Democracy A major preoccupation of nineteenth century social theorists was to dispel the distinction between the religious and the non -religious. Now after over a century of modernization they are trying to differentiate between the religious and the more religious. Since Islam supports democracy and Muslims favor it then Huntingtons claim that Islam is resistant to democracy holds no truth.
Nevertheless there is a lack of democratic development in the Muslim world and it is caused by many factors other than religion two of which are socio-cultural preferences and strong hostile authoritarian regimes. An Islamic democracy has to navigate tensions created by Islams traditional rules such as those that give lesser weight to womens testimony in Islamic courts and those that dictate corporal. The Three Cs of Since the collapse of the muslim Brotherhoods government in Egypt in 2013 islamists by and large have assumed the mantle of democracy and now call for democratisation and oppose authoritarianism.
The calls to establish islamic States and impose islamic Islamic Governance laws are limited to fringe but armed violent and increasingly brutal militias such as iSiS islamic. Hundreds of millions of Muslims live in democracies of some shape or form yet a narrative persists particularly in the west that Islam and democracy are incompatible. Or is it like Iran a theo-democracy in which Islam and Islamic values are constitutionally privileged and mandated and where elections serve merely to elect the executive while the legislative function remains subordinate to Islamic law The divine Shariah.
A democracy is a system in which all people are equal before the law regardless of race religion or gender. The vote of every individual counts as much as the vote of any other. The collective will of the people then determines the rules of society.
The relationship between Islam and democracy its compatibility and the issue of the democratic deficit in the Muslim world is one that has been put in the spotlight especially after the catastrophe and repercussions of September 11 Hasan 2007. 10 as well as the sustained potency of Islamic revivalism and the rise in involvement of Islamic movements in electoral politics Esposito. A Reflection In the essay entitled Islam and Democracy Benazir Bhutto argues that democracy and Islam are not mutually exclusive ideas but can coexist peacefully.
She provides ample evidence to back up this theory citing both the Quran and the Constitution of Pakistan.