Islam and Democracy

ITAC

If one reads the press or listens to commentators on international affairs, it is often said – and even more often implied but not said – that Islam is not compatible with democracy. In the nineties, Samuel Huntington set off an intellectual firestorm when he published The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order, in which he presents his forecasts for the world – writ large. In the political realm, he notes that while Turkey and Pakistan might have some small claim to “democratic legitimacy” all other “… Muslim countries were overwhelmingly non-democratic: monarchies, one-party systems, military regimes, personal dictatorships or some combination of these, usually resting on a limited family, clan, or tribal base”. The premise on which his argument is founded is that they are not only ‘not like us’, they are actually opposed to our essential democratic values. He believes, as do others, that while the idea of Western democratization is being resisted in other parts of the world, the confrontation is most notable in those regions where Islam is the dominant faith.
The argument has also been made from the other side as well. An Iranian religious scholar, reflecting on an early twentieth-century constitutional crisis in his country, declared that Islam and democracy are not compatible because people are not equal and a legislative body is unnecessary because of the inclusive nature of Islamic religious law. A similar position was taken more recently by Ali Belhadj, an Algerian high school teacher, preacher and (in this context) leader of the FIS, when he declared “democracy was not an Islamic concept”. Perhaps the most dramatic statement to this effect was that of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, leader of the Sunni insurgents in Iraq who, when faced with the prospect of an election, denounced democracy as “an evil principle”.
Mutta joidenkin muslimitutkijoiden mukaan, demokratia on edelleen tärkeä ihanne islamissa, sillä varauksella, että se on aina uskonnollisen lain alainen. Shari'an tärkeimmän paikan korostaminen on osa melkein jokaista islamilaista hallintoa koskevaa kommenttia, maltillinen tai äärimmäinen. Vain jos hallitsija, joka saa valtansa Jumalalta, rajoittaa toimintansa "shari'an hallinnon valvontaan", onko häntä toteltava. Jos hän tekee muuta kuin tämän, hän ei ole uskovainen ja sitoutuneiden muslimien tulee kapinoida häntä vastaan. Tässä on oikeutus suurelle osalle väkivaltaa, joka on vaivannut muslimimaailmaa sellaisissa taisteluissa kuin Algeriassa 90-luvulla.

Filed Under: AlgeriaArtikkelitEgyptiKiinnostavatHamasJordanJordanian MBMuslimiveljeskuntaPalestiinaYhdysvallat & Eurooppa

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