Islam Compatibility with Liberal Democracy - Case Study Example

Running header: Islam compatibility with liberal democracy Student’s name: Instructor’s name: Subject code: Date of submission: Islam and liberal democracy Democracy implies that people rule themselves. In other words, it implies governance for the people, of the people and by the people. Thus democracy requires that people have freedom of speech, have the freedom to choose their leaders and the doctrine of self rule while setting no limit on what people do in their sovereign capacity. In a liberal democracy, citizenship does not depend on adherence to a certain religion nor is there a state religion. Therefore, the government can not punish or penalize citizens who profess a faith not shared by majority of the citizens. There is total freedom for one to express his religious views and enjoy basic human rights without fear of being penalized or civic disability. In other words, there is full disconnection of state and religious conviction. There is need for religion to be compatible with the doctrines of liberal democracy if it is to be effectively practiced. Of all the faiths in the world, Islam is primarily singled out for its incompatibility with the premise and application of modern (liberal) democracy. This paper aims at analyzing whether there are strong reasons for this proposition and thereafter come up with a conclusion whether Islam is actually incompatible with liberal democracy. The following are some of the reasons why many consider Islam as being incompatible with the theory and practice of liberal democracy. Polity of God and dictatorship In most Islamic democracies such as Malaysia, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Algeria, Islam is the state religion with some religious values being incorporated in to the state affairs. Democracy is of the people, for the people and by the people. However, in such states Islam has prohibited many areas where the fundamentals of democracy can be practiced. Jude and Christopher (1997) argues that While in democracy it is the citizens who make laws for themselves, only God has the right to make laws in Islam. The Quran has reiterated this in many verses. Such verses include 5:50 which clearly states that no one is better at legislating than God. The Quran also terms those who rule with any other rule than what God has revealed as being wrongdoers. Verse 12: 40 also states that rule only belongs to God and no one is allowed to share in it. An Islamic state is therefore a polity ruled by God. Legitimate authority can only come from God and the rulers derive their power from him alone and his holy law. As a result, dynastic succession has become the norm although not given the authority of the sacred law. Rulers make their own rules which are considered as ‘divine revelations’. Thus the Islamic state is a God’s state ruling over Gods people using Gods law. As such, people do not effectively participate in the democratic process of making laws that best suit them or electing their own leaders. This can be seen in most Muslim states that are ruled by Muslim leaders. Even where leaders are democratically elected, they have to have religious backing and have to be sponsored by Islamic parties. One of the greatest challenges facing the Islamic world is democracy. Only a few of the more than forty predominantly Muslim nations have made any notable success in the establishment of democratic systems. Such countries include Lebanon, Mali, Pakistan and Albania among others. Furthermore, the Muslim countries of the Middle East and North Africa remain the largest single bloc that is against the modern global trend of political pluralism. The countries leadership is largely characterized of leaders who impose themselves into the positions of leadership. Even though the Muslim societies do participate in the electoral process, it is no doubt that the elections are always illegitimate as they are characterized by massive fraud. A good example is Egyptian president who has always won over 85 percent of the votes cast. It is obvious that Islam itself does not encourage dictatorship. However, the dictators purport to draw their authority from Allah (Al- Hibri 2005). Such leaders refuse to institute political changes to allow democracy to prevail for their own political gains. Human rights According to George (2006), the Islamic laws are considered to be inviolable and sacred. However, the laws crash with the provisions of the universal declaration of human rights of 1948, the British human rights declaration of 1688 and the American bill of rights of 1791. For example, under the law non Muslims have been declared inferior. Under the law, slavery is also acceptable. Furthermore, the quorum has authorized use of inhuman form of punishment on wrongdoers. Cases of people being amputated for stealing are common in Islamic countries. Other forms of inhuman punishment accepted by the Islamic laws include flogging of convicts in public, stoning of people to death. Furthermore, the law prohibits non Muslims from testifying against Muslims. Even though under liberal democracy one has a right to belong to any religion he or she chooses, conversion from Islam is prohibited and carries with it a death penalty. Many Islamic democracies also interfere with the people’s freedom of expression. Islam also criminalizes listening or watching at secular music. According to Jocelyn (2006), this is a clear indication that Islam is incompatible with the theory and practice of liberal democracy since one can not have a choice on what music to listen to. Status of women and Islam Closely related to human rights is the status of women in the Islamic societies. In many Islamic societies, Women are viewed as being inferior to men. The subordination of women to men is derived from religious texts including the holy Quran verse 4:34. Male superiority is therefore considered natural and normal. Muslim women are still subjected to a lot of injustices. The sharia law under which most of these women operate prohibits women leadership. According to Sachedina and Abdul-Aziz (2001), this explains the low numbers of women in leadership positions in the Arab world. For one to be a woman leader, she has to contend with being viewed as going against the sharia law. There have been some few women who have overcome the odds in the Muslim world and became respected leaders. Such women include the late Benazir Bhutto of Pakistan although her political ambition coasted her life. It is however surprising that no woman has ever become a state leader in the Islamic countries. It is only of late that most of the Arab countries granted their women the right to vote in national elections. In fact, some of the countries such as Kuwait and Saudi Arabia only allow women to run for local elective posts but not national elective posts. The discrimination of women in politics makes Islamic women to be the most under represented in parliament. According to international parliamentary union, only 6.5 percent of mps in the Arab states were women in 2005. Ronald (2008) argues that this could only be explained by the culture that prohibits women from leadership since women who seek for leadership positions are seen as going against the sharia law. The role of women in political leadership in the Muslim world is greatly determined by cultural attitude towards women participation in public life. Dr. Rola Dashit who ran for a parliamentary seat in Kuwait during the 2006 polls blamed negative cultural attitude on her failure. In fact, women were discouraged against voting for fellow women. There was also malicious gossip against female candidates and attacks on female banners. Although the points raised above are strong enough to warrant Islam being singled out as being incompatible with liberal democracy, they can not be wholly blamed on Islam as a religion but on a few individuals who interpret the Quran wrongly for their selfish gains. The following is a proof that Islam is compatible with liberal democracy. Islam and democracy . The Quran emphasizes on consultation (shura). Muslims are also encouraged to consult one another on matters of governance (Tauris 2007). Although the consultation may not be exactly similar to modern day representative democracy, the doctrines of liberal democracy and quranic advice on shura (consultation) are interconnected. As can be witnessed in many Islamic countries, new institutions of democracy are being continually developed. The Islamic states have also embraced the role of parliament in democracy. The Islamic states are also moving from monarchial and dictatorial leadership to elective democracy. Although, most of the ruling parties in the Islamic states are also religious. However, the move from dictatorship and armed struggle for power is a great stride towards liberal democracy and should be hailed by all people of good will. Islam and modernity According to David, (2008), lack of modernity in most Muslim countries is not as a result of Islamic teachings but it is to be blamed on wrongful interpretation of the Quran. Islam is compatible with modernity since its teachings are quite modernistic if we are to go by the Quran. The Quran encourages the existence of a pluralistic social culture in verse 5:48, 6:10 and 60:8. The Quran itself has recognized the existence of other faiths and also admonishes Muslims to respect all past prophets including Jesus Christ. The intolerance found in most Islamic societies today is more political than religious Islam can tolerate all other religions including non believers (Kufr) by agreeing to coexist in peace and harmony with others. Muslims can and have always embraced pluralism. Today, Muslims worldwide have made great strides in freeing themselves from the grip of intolerant and selfish theologians and authoritative power structures (dictatorship). This can be seen in a country like turkey which has almost succeeded in achieving a democratic state (James, 2007). Islam and human rights Similarly, wrongful interpretation of the Quran has made many people to suffer injustices. This makes Islam to be seen as a religion that has no room for human rights (Johnson 2006). For example, the Quran or any Islamic prophet has not denied freedom of speech or conscience at any given time. The prophet (Mohamed) did not at any time surpress individual freedom or discourage differences of opinion. In fact, he termed differences of opinions as an issue of mercy and Grace. However, the modern dictatorial and monarchial leaders do not tolerate these differences. However, their acts of disrespecting human rights should not be blamed on Islam as a religion but on politics. According to Larbi (2004), most of the injustices carried out on humans in Islamic countries are perpetrated by organized militia who purport to fight for Allah. A good example is the Somali extremists who flog people or even cut their hands when they go against their rule. Another example is the al-Qaida which carries out terrorist activities on innocent human beings in the name of fighting for Allah. However, the Al-Qaida’s stand can not and should not be taken to be the stand of the entire Islam religion. Conclusion The reason raised for isolating Islam as the only religion in the world that is incompatible with modern democracy is strong enough to warrant this assertion. However, as has been seen, most of them are as a result of wrongful interpretation of the Quran by selfish individuals for selfish gains. The incompatibility of Islam with liberal democracy is therefore more political than religious (Khan2006). Islam is therefore compatible with liberal democracy if only the political elites and ethnologists will stop interpreting the Quran wrongly for their selfish and political gains. References Jude, W & Christopher, G 1997, Justice without frontiers, Brill publishers, Sydney. Al- Hibri, A 2005, ‘Islamic and American constitutional law: Borrowing possibilities or a history of borrowing’, University of Pennsylvania journal of constitutional law, vol. 1, no. 3, pp.492-527. George, M 2006, ‘Scholastism and humanism in classical Islam and the Christian west’, Journal of the American oriental society, vol. 109, no. 2, pp. 175-182. Sachedina, A & Abdul-Aziz, A 2001, The Islamic roots of democracy and pluralism, Oxford university press, Oxford. Ronald, B 2008, Justice and Democracy, University of Hawaii, Hawaii. Tauris, I 2007, Islam liberalism and human rights: implications for international relations, Katerina Dalacoura, New York. David, S 2008, The losing battle with Islam, Michigan University press, Michigan. James, P 2007, democratization, Willey-Blackwell, New York. Johnson, J 2006, Islamic economics and the final Jihad, Xulon press, London. Larbi, S 2004, The search for Arab democracy: Discourses and counter-discourses, C Hurst and co. publishers, Michigan. Khan, M 2006, Islamic democratic discourse, Lexington books, Sydney. Jocelyn, C 2006, When Islam and democracy meet, Macmillan, London.  Read More