Liberal Democracy and Political Islam: the Search for Common Ground.

Mostapha Benhenda

This paper seeks to establish a dialogue between democratic and Islamic political theories.1 The interplay between them is puzzling: for example, in order to explain the relationship existing between democracy and their conception of the ideal Islamic political
regime, the Pakistani scholar Abu ‘Ala Maududi coined the neologism “theodemocracy” whereas the French scholar Louis Massignon suggested the oxymoron “secular theocracy”. These expressions suggest that some aspects of democracy are evaluated positively and others are judged negatively. Por exemplo, Muslim scholars and activists often endorse the principle of accountability of rulers, which is a defining feature of democracy. On the contrary, they often reject the principle of separation between religion and the state, que é muitas vezes considerado como parte da democracia (pelo menos, da democracia como é hoje conhecido nos Estados Unidos). Dada esta avaliação mista dos princípios democráticos, parece interessante determinar a concepção de democracia subjacente aos modelos políticos islâmicos. Em outras palavras, devemos tentar descobrir o que é democrático na “teodemocracia”. Para esse fim, entre a impressionante diversidade e pluralidade de tradições islâmicas de pensamento político normativo, focamos essencialmente na ampla corrente de pensamento que remonta a Abu ‘Ala Maududi e ao intelectual egípcio Sayyed Qutb.8 Essa tendência particular de pensamento é interessante porque no mundo muçulmano, está na base de algumas das oposições mais desafiadoras à difusão dos valores originários do Ocidente. Based on religious values, this trend elaborated a political model alternative to liberal democracy. Broadly speaking, the conception of democracy included in this Islamic political model is procedural. With some differences, this conception is inspired by democratic theories advocated by some constitutionalists and political scientists.10 It is thin and minimalist, up to a certain point. Por exemplo, it does not rely on any notion of popular sovereignty and it does not require any separation between religion and politics. The first aim of this paper is to elaborate this minimalist conception. We make a detailed restatement of it in order to isolate this conception from its moral (liberal) foundations, which are controversial from the particular Islamic viewpoint considered here. De fato, the democratic process is usually derived from a principle of personal autonomy, which is not endorsed by these Islamic theories.11 Here, we show that such principle is not necessary to justify a democratic process.

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