Demokrasi dalam Pemikiran Politik Islam

Democracy has preoccupied Arab political thinkers since the dawn of the modern Arab renaissance about two centuries ago. Since then, the concept of democracy has changed and developed under the influence of a variety of social and political developments.The discussion of democracy in Arab Islamic literature can be traced back to Rifa’a Tahtawi, bapak demokrasi Mesir menurut Lewis Awad,[3] yang tak lama setelah kembali ke Kairo dari Paris menerbitkan buku pertamanya, Takhlis Al-Ibriz Ila Talkhis Bariz, di 1834. Buku itu merangkum pengamatannya tentang tata krama dan kebiasaan orang Prancis modern,[4] dan memuji konsep demokrasi seperti yang dia lihat di Prancis dan saat dia menyaksikan pembelaan dan penegasannya melalui 1830 Revolusi melawan Raja Charles X.[5] Tahtawi mencoba menunjukkan bahwa konsep demokrasi yang ia jelaskan kepada para pembacanya sesuai dengan hukum Islam. Ia membandingkan pluralisme politik dengan bentuk-bentuk pluralisme ideologis dan yurisprudensi yang ada dalam pengalaman Islam:

Kebebasan beragama adalah kebebasan berkeyakinan, pendapat dan sekte, asalkan tidak bertentangan dengan asas-asas agama . . . The same would apply to the freedom of political practice and opinion by leading administrators, who endeavour to interpret and apply rules and provisions in accordance with the laws of their own countries. Kings and ministers are licensed in the realm of politics to pursue various routes that in the end serve one purpose: good administration and justice.[6] One important landmark in this regard was the contribution of Khairuddin At-Tunisi (1810- 99), leader of the 19th-century reform movement in Tunisia, siapa, di 1867, formulated a general plan for reform in a book entitled Aqwam Al-Masalik Fi Taqwim Al- Mamalik (The Straight Path to Reforming Governments). The main preoccupation of the book was in tackling the question of political reform in the Arab world. While appealing to politicians and scholars of his time to seek all possible means in order to improve the status of the

community and develop its civility, he warned the general Muslim public against shunning the experiences of other nations on the basis of the misconception that all the writings, inventions, experiences or attitudes of non-Muslims should be rejected or disregarded.

Khairuddin further called for an end to absolutist rule, which he blamed for the oppression of nations and the destruction of civilizations.