There exist a number of perspectives on the relationship of Islam and democracy among Islamic political theorists, the general Muslim public, and Western authors.
In 2021, a number of
Muslim majority countries
The terms Muslim world and Islamic world commonly refer to the Islamic community, which is also known as the Ummah. This consists of all those who adhere to the religious beliefs and laws of Islam or to societies in which Islam is practiced. In ...
are Islamic and secular democracies.
Many Muslim scholars have argued that traditional Islamic notions such as ''
shura
Shura ( ar, شُورَىٰ, translit=shūrā, lit=consultation) can for example take the form of a council or a referendum. The Quran encourages Muslims to decide their affairs in consultation with each other.
Shura is mentioned as a praisewort ...
'' (consultation), ''
maslaha
Maslaha or maslahah ( ar, مصلحة, lit=public interest) is a concept in shari'ah ( Islamic divine law) regarded as a basis of law.I. Doi, Abdul Rahman. (1995). "Mașlahah". In John L. Esposito. ''The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Modern Islamic Wo ...
'' (public interest), and ''
ʿadl'' (justice) justify representative government institutions which are similar to Western democracy, but reflect Islamic rather than Western liberal values. Still others have advanced liberal democratic models of Islamic politics based on pluralism and freedom of thought.
Some Muslim thinkers have advocated
secularist views of Islam.
A number of different attitudes regarding democracy are also represented among the general Muslim public, with polls indicating that majorities in the Muslim world desire a political model where democratic institutions and values can coexist with the values and principles of Islam, seeing no contradiction between the two.
Traditional political concepts
Quran
Muslim democrats, including
Ahmad Moussalli
Ahmad ( ar, أحمد, ʾAḥmad) is an Arabic male given name common in most parts of the Muslim world. Other spellings of the name include Ahmed and Ahmet.
Etymology
The word derives from the root (ḥ-m-d), from the Arabic (), from the ve ...
(professor of
political science
Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...
at the
American University of Beirut
The American University of Beirut (AUB) ( ar, الجامعة الأميركية في بيروت) is a private, non-sectarian, and independent university chartered in New York with its campus in Beirut, Lebanon. AUB is governed by a private, aut ...
), argue that concepts in the Quran point towards some form of democracy, or at least away from
despotism
Despotism ( el, Δεσποτισμός, ''despotismós'') is a form of government in which a single entity rules with absolute power. Normally, that entity is an individual, the despot; but (as in an autocracy) societies which limit respect and ...
. These concepts include ''
shura
Shura ( ar, شُورَىٰ, translit=shūrā, lit=consultation) can for example take the form of a council or a referendum. The Quran encourages Muslims to decide their affairs in consultation with each other.
Shura is mentioned as a praisewort ...
'' (consultation), ''
ijma
''Ijmāʿ'' ( ar, إجماع , " consensus") is an Arabic term referring to the consensus or agreement of the Islamic community on a point of Islamic law. Sunni Muslims regard ''ijmā as one of the secondary sources of Sharia law, after the Qur ...
'' (consensus), ''al-hurriyya'' (freedom), ''al-huqquq al-shar'iyya'' (legitimate rights). For example, ''shura'' (
Al Imran – Quran 3:159,
Ash-Shura
Ash-Shūrā ( ar, الشورى, ''al shūrā'', "Council, Consultation") is the 42nd chapter (sūrah) of the Qur'an (Q42) with 53 verses ( āyāt). Its title derives from the question of "shūrā" (''consultation'') referred to in Verse 38. The ...
– Quran 42:38) may include electing leaders to represent and govern on the community's behalf. Government by the people is not therefore necessarily incompatible with the rule of Islam, whilst it has also been argued that rule by a religious authority is not the same as rule by a representative of God. This viewpoint, however, is disputed by more traditional Muslims. Moussalli argues that despotic Islamic governments have abused the Quranic concepts for their own ends: "For instance, shura, a doctrine that demands the participation of society in running the affairs of its government, became in reality a doctrine that was manipulated by political and religious elites to secure their economic, social and political interests at the expense of other segments of society," (In ''Progressive Muslims'' 2003).
Sunni Islam
Deliberations of the
Caliphate
A caliphate or khilāfah ( ar, خِلَافَة, ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (; ar, خَلِيفَة , ), a person considered a political-religious successor to th ...
s, most notably the Rashidun Caliphate, were not democratic in the modern sense rather, decision-making power lay with a council of notable and
trusted companions of
Muhammad
Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 Common Era, CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Muhammad in Islam, Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet Divine inspiration, di ...
and representatives of different tribes (most of them selected or elected within their tribes).
In the early Islamic Caliphate, the head of state, the
Caliph
A caliphate or khilāfah ( ar, خِلَافَة, ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (; ar, خَلِيفَة , ), a person considered a political-religious successor to th ...
, had a position based on the notion of a
successor to Muhammad's political authority, who, according to
Sunnis
Sunni Islam () is the largest Islamic schools and branches, branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word ''Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia ...
, was ideally elected by the people or their representatives, as was the case for
the election of Abu Bakr,
Umar ibn Al Khattab,
Uthman, and
Ali as Caliph
Administrative policies of Ali ibn Abi Talib highlights the policies of Ali, the son-in-law and cousin of the Islamic prophet Muhammad (). Ali was the fourth Rashidun caliph, after Abu Bakr (), Umar (), and Uthman (). He was acclaimed as the cali ...
. After the
Rashidun
, image = تخطيط كلمة الخلفاء الراشدون.png
, caption = Calligraphic representation of Rashidun Caliphs
, birth_place = Mecca, Hejaz, Arabia present-day Saudi Arabia
, known_for = Companions of t ...
Caliphs, later Caliphates during the Islamic Golden Age had a much lesser degree of collective participation, but since "no one was superior to anyone else except on the basis of piety and virtue" in Islam, and following the example of Muhammad, later Islamic rulers often held
public consultation
Public consultation (Commonwealth countries and European Union), public comment (US), or simply consultation, is a regulatory process by which the public's input on matters affecting them is sought. Its main goals are in improving the efficiency, ...
s with the people in their affairs.
The legislative power of the Caliph (or later, the
Sultan
Sultan (; ar, سلطان ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it ...
) was always restricted by the scholarly class, the ''
ulama
In Islam, the ''ulama'' (; ar, علماء ', singular ', "scholar", literally "the learned ones", also spelled ''ulema''; feminine: ''alimah'' ingularand ''aalimath'' lural are the guardians, transmitters, and interpreters of religious ...
'', a group regarded as the guardians of
Islamic law. Since the law came from the legal scholars, this prevented the Caliph from dictating legal results. Sharia rulings were established as authoritative based on the ''
ijma
''Ijmāʿ'' ( ar, إجماع , " consensus") is an Arabic term referring to the consensus or agreement of the Islamic community on a point of Islamic law. Sunni Muslims regard ''ijmā as one of the secondary sources of Sharia law, after the Qur ...
'' (consensus) of legal scholars, who theoretically acted as representatives of the
Ummah
' (; ar, أمة ) is an Arabic word meaning "community". It is distinguished from ' ( ), which means a nation with common ancestry or geography. Thus, it can be said to be a supra-national community with a common history.
It is a synonym for ' ...
(Muslim community).
After law colleges (''
madrasa
Madrasa (, also , ; Arabic: مدرسة , pl. , ) is the Arabic word for any type of educational institution, secular or religious (of any religion), whether for elementary instruction or higher learning. The word is variously transliterated '' ...
s'') became widespread beginning with the 11th and 12th century CE, a student often had to obtain an ''
ijaza-t al-tadris wa-l-ifta'' ("license to teach and issue legal opinions") in order to issue legal rulings. In many ways, classical Islamic law functioned like a
constitutional law
Constitutional law is a body of law which defines the role, powers, and structure of different entities within a State (polity), state, namely, the executive (government), executive, the parliament or legislature, and the judiciary; as well as th ...
.
Bangladeshi Islamic scholar
Khandaker Abdullah Jahangir said in a scolarly interview about Islam and democracy that,
Salafi view
Salafi
The Salafi movement or Salafism () is a reform branch movement within Sunni Islam that originated during the nineteenth century. The name refers to advocacy of a return to the traditions of the "pious predecessors" (), the first three generat ...
scholars opine that democracy is
haram in Islam, but they legitimize the opportunity to use democracy to come to power and to vote to establish Islamic rule and encourage voting to choose the better between evils, among these scholars are Shaykh
Abd al-Aziz bin Baz
Sheikh Abd al Aziz ibn Abdullah ibn Baz ( ar, عبد العزيز بن عبد الله بن باز, ʿAbd al ʿAzīz bin ʿAbdullāh bin Bāz, 21 November 1912 – 13 May 1999) was a Saudi Arabian Islamic scholar who served as the Grand Mufti of S ...
, Shaykh
Muhammad ibn Uthaymeen
Muhammad ibn Salih al-Uthaymin (; 9 March 192910 January 2001) was a Saudi Islamic scholar.
Biography
Ibn al-Uthaymin was born on March 9, 1929, in the City of Unayzah, Qaseem Region of Saudi Arabia. He is said to have memorized the Quran at ...
,
Abdullah al-Ghudayyan
Abdullah ibn Abdur-Rahman al-Ghudayyan (1926 – 1 June 2010) was a Saudi Arabian Islamic scholar, a leading proponent of the Salafi form of Islam and a member of the Saudi Council of Senior Scholars. His ancestry was of the tribe of Banu Anbar ...
, Abdullah Quyud, Abdur Razzaq Afifi, Senior Scholars of
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...
:
Grand Mufti Shaykh
Sheikh (pronounced or ; ar, شيخ ' , mostly pronounced , plural ' )—also transliteration of Arabic, transliterated sheekh, sheyikh, shaykh, shayk, shekh, shaik and Shaikh, shak—is an honorific title in the Arabic language. It commonl ...
Abdul Aziz Ash-Shaikh, Shaykh Abdul Muhsin Al-Abbad, Shaykh Wasiullah Abbas and
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...
's most senior fatwa panel of scholars, "
Permanent Committee for Scholarly Research and Ifta
The Permanent Committee for Scholarly Research and Ifta (also the General Presidency of Scholarly Research and Ifta, ar, اللجنة الدائمة للبحوث العلمية والإفتاء, al-Lajna ad-Dāʾima lil-Buḥūṯ al-ʿIlmiyya wa ...
", all echoed similar calls to encourage Muslims to vote.
Khandaker Abdullah Jahangir in his book ("Hadiser Namey Jaliyati") (Forgery in the Name of Hadith) says about the interpretation of Hadith of democratic Islamist parties about Islamic politics ,
Shia Islam
According to the
Shia
Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest Islamic schools and branches, branch of Islam. It holds that the Prophets and messengers in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad in Islam, Muhammad designated Ali, ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his S ...
understanding, Muhammad named as his successor (as leader, with Muhammad being the
final prophet), his son-in-law, and cousin
Ali
ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib ( ar, عَلِيّ بْن أَبِي طَالِب; 600 – 661 CE) was the last of four Rightly Guided Caliphs to rule Islam (r. 656 – 661) immediately after the death of Muhammad, and he was the first Shia Imam. ...
. Therefore, the first three of the four elected "Rightly Guided" Caliphs recognized by Sunnis (Ali being the fourth), are considered usurpers, notwithstanding their having been "elected" through some sort of conciliar deliberation (which the Shia do not accept as a representative of the Muslim society of that time). The largest Shia grouping—the
Twelver
Twelver Shīʿīsm ( ar, ٱثْنَا عَشَرِيَّة; '), also known as Imāmīyyah ( ar, إِمَامِيَّة), is the largest branch of Shīʿa Islam, comprising about 85 percent of all Shīʿa Muslims. The term ''Twelver'' refers t ...
s branch—recognizes a series of
Twelve Imams
The Twelve Imams ( ar, ٱلْأَئِمَّة ٱلْٱثْنَا عَشَر, '; fa, دوازده امام, ') are the spiritual and political successors to the Islamic prophet Muhammad in the Twelver branch of Islam, including that of the Alawi ...
, the last of which (
Muhammad al-Mahdi
Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan al-Mahdī ( ar, محمد بن الحسن المهدي) is believed by the Twelver Shia to be the last of the Twelve Imams and the eschatological Mahdi, who will emerge in the end of time to establish peace and justic ...
, the Hidden Imam) is still alive and the Shia are waiting for his "reappearance".
Theoretical perspectives on democracy
Al-Farabi
The
early Islamic philosopher
Early Islamic philosophy or classical Islamic philosophy is a period of intense philosophical development beginning in the 2nd century AH of the Islamic calendar (early 9th century CE) and lasting until the 6th century AH (late 12th century CE) ...
,
Al-Farabi
Abu Nasr Muhammad Al-Farabi ( fa, ابونصر محمد فارابی), ( ar, أبو نصر محمد الفارابي), known in the Western world, West as Alpharabius; (c. 872 – between 14 December, 950 and 12 January, 951)PDF version was a reno ...
(c. 872–950), in one of his most notable works ''Al-Madina al-Fadila'', theorized an ideal Islamic state which he compared to
Plato
Plato ( ; grc-gre, Πλάτων ; 428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 BC) was a Greek philosopher born in Athens during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. He founded the Platonist school of thought and the Academy, the first institution ...
's ''
The Republic''. Al-Farabi departed from the
Platonic view in that he regarded the ideal state to be ruled by the
prophet
In religion, a prophet or prophetess is an individual who is regarded as being in contact with a divine being and is said to speak on behalf of that being, serving as an intermediary with humanity by delivering messages or teachings from the s ...
, instead of the
philosopher king
The philosopher king is a hypothetical ruler in whom political skill is combined with philosophical knowledge. The concept of a city-state ruled by philosophers is first explored in Plato's ''Republic'', written around 375 BC. Plato argued that ...
envisaged by Plato. Al-Farabi argued that the ideal state was the
city-state
A city-state is an independent sovereign city which serves as the center of political, economic, and cultural life over its contiguous territory. They have existed in many parts of the world since the dawn of history, including cities such as ...
of
Medina
Medina,, ', "the radiant city"; or , ', (), "the city" officially Al Madinah Al Munawwarah (, , Turkish: Medine-i Münevvere) and also commonly simplified as Madīnah or Madinah (, ), is the Holiest sites in Islam, second-holiest city in Islam, ...
when it was governed by Muhammad, as its
head of state
A head of state (or chief of state) is the public persona who officially embodies a state Foakes, pp. 110–11 " he head of statebeing an embodiment of the State itself or representatitve of its international persona." in its unity and l ...
, as he was in direct communion with God whose law was revealed to him. In the absence of the prophet, Al-Farabi considered democracy as the closest to the ideal state, regarding the republican order of the
Rashidun Caliphate
The Rashidun Caliphate ( ar, اَلْخِلَافَةُ ٱلرَّاشِدَةُ, al-Khilāfah ar-Rāšidah) was the first caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was ruled by the first four successive caliphs of Muhammad after his ...
as an example within early
Muslim history
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abraha ...
. However, he also maintained that it was from democracy that imperfect states emerged, noting how the republican order of the early Islamic Caliphate of the Rashidun caliphs was later replaced by a form of government resembling a monarchy under the
Umayyad
The Umayyad Caliphate (661–750 CE; , ; ar, ٱلْخِلَافَة ٱلْأُمَوِيَّة, al-Khilāfah al-ʾUmawīyah) was the second of the four major caliphates established after the death of Muhammad. The caliphate was ruled by the ...
and
Abbasid
The Abbasid Caliphate ( or ; ar, الْخِلَافَةُ الْعَبَّاسِيَّة, ') was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abdul-Muttalib ...
dynasties.
Varieties of modern Islamic theories
Muslih and Browers identify three major perspectives on democracy among prominent Muslims thinkers who have sought to develop modern, distinctly Islamic theories of socio-political organization conforming to Islamic values and law:
* The rejectionist Islamic view, elaborated by
Sayyid Qutb and
Abul A'la Maududi, condemns imitation of foreign ideas, drawing a distinction between Western democracy and the Islamic doctrine of ''shura'' (consultation between ruler and ruled). This perspective, which stresses comprehensive implementation of sharia, was widespread in the 1970s and 1980s among various movements seeking to establish an Islamic state, but its popularity has diminished in recent years.
* The moderate Islamic view stresses the concepts of ''
maslaha
Maslaha or maslahah ( ar, مصلحة, lit=public interest) is a concept in shari'ah ( Islamic divine law) regarded as a basis of law.I. Doi, Abdul Rahman. (1995). "Mașlahah". In John L. Esposito. ''The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Modern Islamic Wo ...
'' (public interest), ''
ʿadl'' (justice), and ''shura''. Islamic leaders are considered to uphold justice if they promote public interest, as defined through ''shura''. In this view, ''shura'' provides the basis for representative government institutions that are similar to Western democracy, but reflect Islamic rather than Western liberal values.
Hasan al-Turabi,
Rashid al-Ghannushi
Rached Ghannouchi ( ar, راشد الغنوشي, Rāshid al-Ghannūshī; born 22 June 1941), also spelled Rachid al-Ghannouchi or Rached el-Ghannouchi, is a Tunisian politician, the co-founder of the Ennahdha Party and serving as its intellec ...
, and
Yusuf al-Qaradawi have advocated different forms of this view.
* The liberal Islamic view is influenced by
Muhammad Abduh
; "The Theology of Unity")
, alma_mater = Al-Azhar University
, office1 = Grand Mufti of Egypt
, term1 = 1899 – 1905
, Sufi_order = Shadhiliyya
, disciple_of =
, awards =
, infl ...
's emphasis on the role of reason in understanding religion. It stresses democratic principles based on pluralism and freedom of thought. Authors like
Fahmi Huwaidi
Fahmi Huwaidi ( ar, فهمي هويدي; born 29 August 1937 in El Saff, Giza Governorate) is an Egyptian columnist. A "moderate Islamist", he writes for ''Al Jazeera
Al Jazeera ( ar, الجزيرة, translit-std=DIN, translit=al-jazīrah, ...
and
Tariq al-Bishri
Tarek El-Bishry ( ar, طارق عبد الفتاح سليم البشري, ; 1 November 1933 – 26 February 2021) was an Egyptian judge. On 15 February 2011, El-Bishry was appointed by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces to head the committee ...
have constructed Islamic justifications for full citizenship of non-Muslims in an Islamic state by drawing on early Islamic texts. Others, like
Mohammed Arkoun
Mohammed Arkoun ( ar, محمد أركون; 1 February 1928 – 14 September 2010) was an Algerian scholar and thinker. He was considered to have been one of the most influential secular scholars in Islamic studies contributing to contemporary inte ...
and
Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd
Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd ( ar, نصر حامد أبو زيد, ; also Abu Zaid or Abu Zeid; July 10, 1943 – July 5, 2010) was an Egyptian Quranic thinker, author, academic and one of the leading liberal theologians in Islam. He is famous for his proj ...
, have justified pluralism and freedom through non-literalist approaches to textual interpretation.
Abdolkarim Soroush
Abdolkarim Soroush ( ; born Hossein Haj Faraj Dabbagh (born 1945; fa, حسين حاج فرج دباغ), is an Iranian Islamic thinker, reformer, Rumi scholar, public intellectual, and a former professor of phil ...
has argued for a "religious democracy" based on religious thought that is democratic, tolerant, and just. Islamic liberals argue for the necessity of constant reexamination of religious understanding, which can only be done in a democratic context.
Secularist views
In the modern history of the Muslim world, the notion of secularism has acquired strong negative connotations due to its association with foreign colonial domination and the removal of religious values from the public sphere. Traditional Islamic theory distinguishes between matters of religion (''
din
DIN or Din or din may refer to:
People and language
* Din (name), people with the name
* Dīn, an Arabic word with three general senses: judgment, custom, and religion from which the name originates
* Dinka language (ISO 639 code: din), spoken by ...
'') and state (''dawla''), but insists that political authority and public life must be guided by religious values.
Some Islamic reformists like
Ali Abdel Raziq
Ali Abdel Raziq ( ar, ﻋﻠﻲ ﻋﺒﺪ ﺍﻟﺮﺍﺯﻕ) (1888–1966) was an Egyptian scholar of Islam, judge and government minister.Marshall Cavendish Reference. Illustrated Dictionary of the Muslim World Muslim World. Marshall Cavendish, ...
and
Mahmoud Mohammed Taha
Mahmoud Mohammed Taha, (1909 – 18 January 1985; ar, محمود محمد طه) also known as Ustad, Ustaz Mahmoud Mohammed Taha, was a Sudanese religion, religious thinker, leader, and trained engineer. He developed what he called the "Second M ...
have advocated a secular state in the sense of political order that does not impose any single interpretation of
sharia
Sharia (; ar, شريعة, sharīʿa ) is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition. It is derived from the religious precepts of Islam and is based on the sacred scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran and the H ...
on the nation, though they did not advocate secularism in the sense of a morally neutral exercise of state power. The Islamic scholar
Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na'im
Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na'im ( ar, عبد الله أحمد النعيم; born in 1946) is a Sudanese-born Islamic scholar who lives in the United States and teaches at Emory University. He is the Charles Howard Candler Professor of Law at Emory Univ ...
has argued for a secular state built on constitutionalism, human rights and full citizenship, seeking to demonstrate that his vision is more consistent with Islamic history than visions of an Islamic state.
Proponents of
Islamism
Islamism (also often called political Islam or Islamic fundamentalism) is a political ideology which posits that modern states and regions should be reconstituted in constitutional, economic and judicial terms, in accordance with what is ...
(
political Islam
Political Islam is any interpretation of Islam as a source of political identity and action. It can refer to a wide range of individuals and/or groups who advocate the formation of state and society according to their understanding of Islamic pri ...
) reject secularist views that would limit Islam to a matter of personal belief and insist on implementation of Islamic principles in the legal and political spheres.
[ Moreover, the concept of 'Separation of Powers' was propounded by ]Ruhollah Khomeini
Ruhollah Khomeini, Ayatollah Khomeini, Imam Khomeini ( , ; ; 17 May 1900 – 3 June 1989) was an Iranian political and religious leader who served as the first supreme leader of Iran from 1979 until his death in 1989. He was the founder of ...
.
Muhammad Iqbal
The modern Islamic philosopher
Islamic philosophy is philosophy that emerges from the Islamic tradition. Two terms traditionally used in the Islamic world are sometimes translated as philosophy—falsafa (literally: "philosophy"), which refers to philosophy as well as logi ...
, Muhammad Iqbal, viewed the early Islamic Caliphate as being compatible with democracy. He "welcomed the formation of popularly elected legislative assemblies" in the Muslim world as a "return to the original purity of Islam." He argued that Islam had the "gems of an economic and democratic organization of society", but that this growth was stunted by the monarchist rule of Umayyad Caliphate, which established the Caliphate as a great Islamic empire but led to political Islamic ideals being " repaganized" and the early Muslims losing sight of the "most important potentialities of their faith."
Muhammad Asad
Another Muslim scholar and thinker, Muhammad Asad, viewed democracy as perfectly compatible with Islam. In his book '' The Principles of State and Government in Islam'', he notes:
Viewed from this historical perspective, 'democracy' as conceived in the modern West is infinitely nearer to the Islamic than to the ancient Greek concept of liberty; for Islam maintains that all human beings are socially equal and must, therefore, be given the same opportunities for development and self-expression. On the other hand, Islam makes it incumbent upon Muslims to subordinate their decisions to the guidance of the Divine Law revealed in the Qur'ãn and exemplified by the Prophet: an obligation which imposes definite limits on the community's right to legislate and denies to the 'will of the people' that attribute of sovereignty which forms so integral a part of the Western concept of democracy.
Abul A'la Maududi
Islamist writer and politician Abul A'la Maududi, conceived of an "Islamic state" that would eventually "rule the earth". The antithesis of secular Western democracy, it would follow an all-embracing Sharia law. Maududi called the system he outlined a "theo-democracy", which he argued would be different from a theocracy
Theocracy is a form of government in which one or more deity, deities are recognized as supreme ruling authorities, giving divine guidance to human intermediaries who manage the government's daily affairs.
Etymology
The word theocracy origina ...
as the term is understood in the Christian West, because it would be run by the entire Muslim community (pious Muslims who followed sharia), rather than ruled by a clerical class in the name of God.
Maududi's vision has been criticized (by Youssef M. Choueiri) as an
ideological state in which legislators do not legislate, citizens only vote to reaffirm the permanent applicability of God's laws, women rarely venture outside their homes lest social discipline be disrupted, and non-Muslims are tolerated as foreign elements required to express their loyalty by means of paying a financial levy.
L. Ali Khan
Legal scholar L. Ali Khan argues that Islam is fully compatible with democracy. In his book, ''A Theory of Universal Democracy'', Khan provides a critique of liberal democracy and secularism. He presents the concept of "fusion state" in which religion and state are fused. There are no contradictions in God's
In monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Oxford Companion to Philosophy'', Oxford University Press, 1995. God is typically ...
universe, says Khan. Contradictions represent the limited knowledge that human beings have. According to the Quran
The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Classical Arabic, Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation in Islam, revelation from God in Islam, ...
and the Sunnah
In Islam, , also spelled ( ar, سنة), are the traditions and practices of the Islamic prophet Muhammad that constitute a model for Muslims to follow. The sunnah is what all the Muslims of Muhammad's time evidently saw and followed and passed ...
, Muslims are fully capable of preserving spirituality and self-rule.
Javed Ahmed Ghamdi
Religious scholar, Javed Ahmed Ghamdi interprets the Quranic verses as ''The collective affairs of Muslims are run on the basis of mutual consultations'' (42:37). He is of the view that all the matters of a Muslim state must be sought out through consultations.The parliamentary bodies would provide that platform to practice and implement those consultations.
Views of the general Muslim public
Esposito and DeLong-Bas distinguish four attitudes toward Islam and democracy prominent among Muslims today:
* Advocacy of democratic ideas, often accompanied by a belief that they are compatible with Islam, which can play a public role within a democratic system, as exemplified by many protestors who took part in the Arab Spring
The Arab Spring ( ar, الربيع العربي) was a series of Nonviolent resistance, anti-government protests, Rebellion, uprisings and Insurgency, armed rebellions that spread across much of the Arab world in the early 2010s. It began in T ...
uprisings;
* Support for democratic procedures such as elections, combined with religious or moral objections toward some aspects of Western democracy seen as incompatible with sharia, as exemplified by Islamic scholars like Yusuf al-Qaradawi;
* Rejection of democracy as a Western import and advocacy of traditional Islamic institutions, such as shura
Shura ( ar, شُورَىٰ, translit=shūrā, lit=consultation) can for example take the form of a council or a referendum. The Quran encourages Muslims to decide their affairs in consultation with each other.
Shura is mentioned as a praisewort ...
(consultation) and ijma
''Ijmāʿ'' ( ar, إجماع , " consensus") is an Arabic term referring to the consensus or agreement of the Islamic community on a point of Islamic law. Sunni Muslims regard ''ijmā as one of the secondary sources of Sharia law, after the Qur ...
(consensus), as exemplified by supporters of absolute monarchy and radical Islamist movements;
* Belief that democracy requires restricting religion to private life, held by a minority in the Muslim world.
Polls conducted by Gallup and PEW in Muslim-majority countries indicate that most Muslims see no contradiction between democratic values and religious principles, desiring neither a theocracy, nor a secular democracy, but rather a political model where democratic institutions and values can coexist with the values and principles of Islam.
Islam and democracy in practice
Obstacles
There are several ideas on the relationship between Islam in the Middle East and democracy. Waltz writes that transformations to democracy seemed on the whole to pass by the Islamic Middle East at a time when such transformations were a central theme in other parts of the world, although she does note that, of late, the increasing number of elections being held in the region indicates some form of adoption of democratic traditions.
Following the Arab Spring
The Arab Spring ( ar, الربيع العربي) was a series of Nonviolent resistance, anti-government protests, Rebellion, uprisings and Insurgency, armed rebellions that spread across much of the Arab world in the early 2010s. It began in T ...
, professor Olivier Roy of the European University Institute
The European University Institute (EUI) is an international postgraduate and post-doctoral teaching and research institute and an independent body of the European Union with juridical personality, established by the member states to contribu ...
in an article in ''Foreign Policy
A State (polity), state's foreign policy or external policy (as opposed to internal or domestic policy) is its objectives and activities in relation to its interactions with other states, unions, and other political entities, whether bilaterall ...
'' has described political Islam
Political Islam is any interpretation of Islam as a source of political identity and action. It can refer to a wide range of individuals and/or groups who advocate the formation of state and society according to their understanding of Islamic pri ...
as "increasingly interdependent" with democracy, such that "neither can now survive without the other".
Orientalist scholars offer another viewpoint on the relationship between Islam and democratisation in the Middle East. They argue that the compatibility is simply not there between secular democracy and Arab-Islamic culture in the Middle East which has a strong history of undemocratic beliefs and authoritarian power structures. Kedourie, a well known Orientalist scholar, said for example: "to hold simultaneously ideas which are not easily reconcilable argues, then, a deep confusion in the Arab public mind, at least about the meaning of democracy. The confusion is, however, understandable since the idea of democracy is quite alien to the mind-set of Islam." A view similar to this that understands Islam and democracy to be incompatible because of seemingly irreconcilable differences between Sharia and democratic ideals is also held by some Islamists.
However, within Islam there are ideas held by some that believe Islam and democracy in some form are indeed compatible due to the existence of the concept of ''shura
Shura ( ar, شُورَىٰ, translit=shūrā, lit=consultation) can for example take the form of a council or a referendum. The Quran encourages Muslims to decide their affairs in consultation with each other.
Shura is mentioned as a praisewort ...
'' (meaning consultation) in the Quran. Views such as this have been expressed by various thinkers and political activists in the Middle East. They continue to be the subject of controversy, e.g. at the second Dubai Debates Dubai Debates is an online video debating forum based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. According to its website, Dubai Debates offers "a platform for online opinion leaders, pundits, academics, journalists, politicians, activists and all interested u ...
, which debated the question "Can Arab and Islamic values be reconciled with democracy?"
Brian Whitaker's 'four major obstacles'
Writing on The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
website, Brian Whitaker
Brian Whitaker (sometimes credited as Brian Whittaker; born 13 June 1947) is a British journalist and writer.
He studied Arabic studies at the University of Westminster and Latin (BA Hons) at the University of Birmingham. A former joint invest ...
, the paper's Middle East editor, argued that there were four major obstacles to democracy in the region: 'the imperial legacy', 'oil wealth', 'the Arab–Israeli conflict
The Arab–Israeli conflict is an ongoing intercommunal phenomenon involving political tension, military conflicts, and other disputes between Arab countries and Israel, which escalated during the 20th century, but had mostly faded out by the ...
' and ' "militant" Islam'.
The imperial legacy includes the borders of the modern states themselves and the existence of significant minorities within the states. Acknowledgment of these differences is frequently suppressed usually in the cause of "national unity" and sometimes to obscure the fact that minority elite is controlling the country. Brian Whitaker argues that this leads to the formation of political parties on ethnic, religious or regional divisions, rather than over policy differences. Voting therefore becomes an assertion of one's identity rather than a real choice.
The problem with oil and the wealth it generates is that the states' rulers have the wealth to remain in power, as they can pay off or repress most potential opponents. Brian Whitaker argues that as there is no need for taxation there is less pressure for representation. Furthermore, Western governments require a stable source of oil and are therefore more prone to maintain the status quo, rather than push for reforms which may lead to periods of instability. This can be linked into political economy
Political economy is the study of how Macroeconomics, economic systems (e.g. Marketplace, markets and Economy, national economies) and Politics, political systems (e.g. law, Institution, institutions, government) are linked. Widely studied ph ...
explanations for the occurrence of authoritarian
Authoritarianism is a political system characterized by the rejection of political plurality, the use of strong central power to preserve the political ''status quo'', and reductions in the rule of law, separation of powers, and democratic votin ...
regimes and lack of democracy in the Middle East, particularly the prevalence of rentier state
In current political-science and international-relations theory, a rentier state is a state which derives all or a substantial portion of its national revenues from the rent paid by foreign individuals, concerns or governments.Mahdavy 1970, p. ...
s in the Middle East. A consequence of the lack of taxation that Whitaker talks of in such rentier economies is an inactive civil society. As civil society is seen to be an integral part of democracy it raises doubts over the feasibility of democracy developing in the Middle East in such situations.
Whitaker's third point is that the Arab
The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...
–Israeli
Israeli may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to the State of Israel
* Israelis, citizens or permanent residents of the State of Israel
* Modern Hebrew, a language
* ''Israeli'' (newspaper), published from 2006 to 2008
* Guni Israeli ...
conflict serves as a unifying factor for the countries of the Arab League
The Arab League ( ar, الجامعة العربية, ' ), formally the League of Arab States ( ar, جامعة الدول العربية, '), is a regional organization in the Arab world, which is located in Northern Africa, Western Africa, E ...
, and also serves as an excuse for repression by Middle Eastern governments. For example, in March 2004 Sheikh
Sheikh (pronounced or ; ar, شيخ ' , mostly pronounced , plural ' )—also transliterated sheekh, sheyikh, shaykh, shayk, shekh, shaik and Shaikh, shak—is an honorific title in the Arabic language. It commonly designates a chief of a ...
Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah, Lebanon
Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...
's leading Shia cleric, is reported as saying "We have emergency laws, we have control by the security agencies, we have stagnation of opposition parties, we have the appropriation of political rights – all this in the name of the Arab-Israeli conflict". The West, especially the US, is also seen as a supporter of Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
, and so it and its institutions, including democracy, are seen by many Muslims as suspect. Khaled Abou El Fadl, a lecturer in Islamic law at the University of California
The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. The system is composed of the campuses at Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Francisco, ...
comments "modernity, despite its much scientific advancement, reached Muslims packaged in the ugliness of disempowerment and alienation."
This repression by secularistic Arab rulers has led to the growth of radical Islamic movement groups, as they believe that the institution of an Islamic theocracy
Theocracy is a form of government in which one or more deity, deities are recognized as supreme ruling authorities, giving divine guidance to human intermediaries who manage the government's daily affairs.
Etymology
The word theocracy origina ...
will lead to a more just society. These groups tend to be very intolerant of alternative views however, including the ideas of democracy. Many Muslims who argue that Islam and democracy are compatible live in the West, and are therefore seen as "contaminated" by non-Islamic ideas.
Practice
* The Green Algeria Alliance
The Green Algeria Alliance (french: Alliance de l'Algérie verte; ar, تكتل الجزائر الخضراء), short Green Alliance was an Islamist coalition of political parties, created on 7 March 2012 for the Algerian legislative election, ...
is an Islamist coalition of political parties, created for the legislative election, 2012 in Algeria. It consists of the Movement of Society for Peace, Islamic Renaissance Movement
The Islamic Renaissance Movement ( ar, حركة النهضة الاسلامية, ''Ḥarakat An-Nahḑa Al-Islāmiyya''; french: Mouvement de la Renaissance Islamique, MRI) is a moderate Islamist political party of Algeria.
History
The party wa ...
(Ennahda) and the Movement for National Reform
The Movement for National Reform (; french: Mouvement pour la réforme nationale) is a moderate Islamist political party in Algeria. It received 9.5% of the vote in the 2002 elections and received 43 members of parliament.
The party was created ...
(Islah). The alliance is led by Bouguerra Soltani
Bouguerra Soltani ( ar, أبو جرة سلطاني) (also Abu Jerra Sultani and other spellings) (born in 1954 in Tébessa Province
Tébessa ( ar, ولاية تبسة) is a province (''wilayah'') of Algeria. Tébessa is also the name of the c ...
of the MSP. However, the incumbent coalition, consisting of the FLN of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika and the RND of Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia
Ahmed Ouyahia ( ar, rtl=yes, أحمد أويحيى, Aḥmad ʾŪyaḥyā; 2 July 1952) is an Algerian politician who was Prime Minister of Algeria four times (1995–98, 2004–2006, 2008–2012, 2017–2019). A career diplomat, he also served as ...
, held on to power after winning a majority of seats and the Islamist parties of the Green Algeria Alliance lost seats in legislative election of 2012.
* Shia Islamist Al Wefaq
Al-Wefaq National Islamic Society ( ar, جمعية الوفاق الوطني الإسلامية; ), sometimes shortened to simply Al-Wefaq, was a Shi'a Bahraini political party, that operates clandestinely after being ordered by the highest co ...
, Salafi
The Salafi movement or Salafism () is a reform branch movement within Sunni Islam that originated during the nineteenth century. The name refers to advocacy of a return to the traditions of the "pious predecessors" (), the first three generat ...
Islamist Al Asalah
The Al-Asalah Islamic Society ( ar, جمعية الأصالة الإسلامية) is the main Sunni Salafist political party in Bahrain. The party is the political wing of the Islamic Education Society (''Al-Tarbiya Al-Islamiya'') which funds ...
and Sunni Islamist Al-Menbar Islamic Society
The Al-Menber National Islamic Society ( ar, جمعية المنبر الوطني الإسلامي, ) is the political wing of the Sunni Islamist Al Eslah Society in Bahrain and Bahrain's branch of the Muslim Brotherhood. The president and ...
are dominant democratic forces in Bahrain
Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...
.
* During the Bangladesh Liberation War
The Bangladesh Liberation War ( bn, মুক্তিযুদ্ধ, , also known as the Bangladesh War of Independence, or simply the Liberation War in Bangladesh) was a revolution and War, armed conflict sparked by the rise of the Benga ...
, the Jamaat-e-Islami
Jamaat-e-Islami ( ur, ) () is an Islamic movement founded in 1941 in British India by the Islamic theologian and socio-political philosopher, Syed Abul Ala Maududi.van der Veer P. and Munshi S. (eds.''Media, War, and Terrorism: Responses fro ...
of Pakistan opposed the independence of Bangladesh
Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...
, but established itself there as an independent political party, the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami
Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami ( bn, বাংলাদেশ জামায়াতে ইসলামী, Bānglādēsh Jāmāyatē Islāmī, Bangladesh Islamic Assembly), previously known as Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh, or Jamaat for short, was ...
after 1975. The Bangladesh Nationalist Party is the second largest party in the Parliament of Bangladesh and the main opposition party. The BNP promotes a center-right
Centre-right politics lean to the right of the political spectrum, but are closer to the centre. From the 1780s to the 1880s, there was a shift in the Western world of social class structure and the economy, moving away from the nobility and mer ...
policy combining elements of conservatism, Islamism, nationalism and anti-communism. The party believes that Islam is an integral part of the socio-cultural life of Bangladesh, and favors Islamic principles and cultural views. Since 2000, it has been allied with the Islamic parties Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh and Islami Oikya Jote
The Islami Oikya Jote ( bn, ইসলামী ঐক্য জোট, ''Islami Oikko Joţ'', "Islamic Unity Front") is a political party in Bangladesh and is allied with the Four Party Alliance.
History
During the legislative elections of 1 ...
.
* The Party of Democratic Action is the largest political party in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...
. The Party of Democratic Action was founded in May 1990 by reformist Islamist Alija Izetbegović, representing the conservative Bosniaks
The Bosniaks ( bs, Bošnjaci, Cyrillic: Бошњаци, ; , ) are a South Slavic ethnic group native to the Southeast European historical region of Bosnia, which is today part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, who share a common Bosnian ancestry ...
and other Slavic Muslim population in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the former Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...
.
* In the 2011–12 Egyptian parliamentary election
Parliamentary elections were held in Egypt from 28 November 2011 to 11 January 2012, following the revolution that ousted President Hosni Mubarak, after which the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) dissolved Parliament. However the dis ...
, the political parties identified as "Islamist" and "democratic" (the Muslim Brotherhood
The Society of the Muslim Brothers ( ar, جماعة الإخوان المسلمين'' ''), better known as the Muslim Brotherhood ( ', is a transnational Sunni Islamist organization founded in Egypt by Islamic scholar and schoolteacher Hassan ...
's Freedom and Justice Party, Salafist Al-Nour Party and liberal Islamist Al-Wasat Party
The al-Wasat Party ( ar-at, حزب الوسط, Hizb al-Wasat), translated in English as the Center Party, is a moderate Islamist political party in Egypt.
The party withdrew from the Anti-Coup Alliance on 28 August 2014. A court case was broug ...
) won 75% of the total seats. Mohamed Morsi
Mohamed Mohamed Morsi Eissa al-AyyatThe spellings of his first and last names vary. survey of 14 news organizations plus Wikipedia in July 2012
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
, stemming from the Muslim Brotherhood
The Society of the Muslim Brothers ( ar, جماعة الإخوان المسلمين'' ''), better known as the Muslim Brotherhood ( ', is a transnational Sunni Islamist organization founded in Egypt by Islamic scholar and schoolteacher Hassan ...
.
* Nahdlatul Ulama
Nahdlatul Ulama (, , NU) is an Islam in Indonesia, Islamic organization in Indonesia. Its membership estimates range from 40 million (2013) to over 95 million (2021), making it the largest Islamic organization in the world. NU also is a charitab ...
and Muhammadiyah
Muhammadiyah ( ar, محمدية; 'followers of Muhammad'); also known as the Muhammadiyah Society ( id, Persyarikatan Muhammadiyah) is a major Islamic non-governmental organization in Indonesia.A. Jalil HamidTackle the rising cost of living longer ...
are two very influential Islamic social movement in Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
. United Development Party and the opposition Prosperous Justice Party
The Prosperous Justice Party ( id, Partai Keadilan Sejahtera, sometimes called the Justice and Prosperity Party), frequently abbreviated to PKS, is an IslamistAl-Hamdi, Ridho. (2017). ''Moving towards a Normalised Path: Political Islam in Contempo ...
are major Indonesian Islamist parties, active in country's democratic process.
* The Islamic Action Front
The Islamic Action Front ( ar, جبهة العمل الإسلامي ''Jabhat al-'Amal al-Islami'', IAF) is an Islamist political party in Jordan. It is the political wing of the Muslim Brotherhood in Jordan.
Founded in 1992 with 350 members, E ...
is Jordan
Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...
's Islamist political party and largest democratic political force in country. The IAF's survival in Jordan is primarily due to its flexibility and less radical approach to politics.
* The Islamic Group is a Sunni Islamist and Hezbollah
Hezbollah (; ar, حزب الله ', , also transliterated Hizbullah or Hizballah, among others) is a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and militant group, led by its Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah since 1992. Hezbollah's parami ...
is a Shia Islamist political party in Lebanon.
* The Justice and Construction Party
The Justice and Construction Party (JCP) or Justice and Development Party ( ar, حزب العدالة والبناء, ') is a political party in Libya associated with the Muslim Brotherhood. It was officially founded on 3 March 2012 in Tripol ...
is the Muslim Brotherhood's political arm in Libya
Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya bo ...
and the second largest political force in the country. National Forces Alliance
The National Forces Alliance ( ar, تحالف القوى الوطنية, ') is a political alliance in Libya. The alliance was created in February 2012. It includes 58 political organisations, 236 NGOs, and more than 280 independents. The allianc ...
, largest political group in country, doesn't believe the country should be run entirely by Sharia law or secular law, but does hold that Sharia should be "the main inspiration for legislation". Party leader Jibril has said the NFA is a moderate Islamic movement that recognises the importance of Islam in political life and favours Sharia as the basis of the law.
* The United Malays National Organisation
The United Malays National Organisation (Malay: ; Jawi: ; abbreviated UMNO () or less commonly PEKEMBAR), is a nationalist right-wing political party in Malaysia. As the oldest continuous national political party within Malaysia (since its in ...
is the dominant party of Malaysia since that county's independence in 1957. UMNO sees and defines itself as a moderate Islamist, Islamic democratic and social conservative party of Muslim Malays
Malays may refer to:
* Malay race, a racial category encompassing peoples of Southeast Asia and sometimes the Pacific Islands
** Overseas Malays, people of Malay race ancestry living outside Malay archipelago home areas
** Cape Malays, a communit ...
. The Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party
The Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS; ms, Parti Islam Se-Malaysia; ms, ڤرتي إسلام سمليسيا, label=Jawi alphabet, Jawi, script=arab, italic=unset) is an Islamist political party in Malaysia. As the party focused on Islamic fundamen ...
is a major opposition
Opposition may refer to:
Arts and media
* ''Opposition'' (Altars EP), 2011 EP by Christian metalcore band Altars
* The Opposition (band), a London post-punk band
* ''The Opposition with Jordan Klepper'', a late-night television series on Comed ...
party and is relatively more conservative and traditionalist than the UMNO.
* The Moroccan Justice and Development Party Justice and Development Party may refer to several political parties, the best-known ones being:
* Justice and Development Party (Morocco)
* Justice and Development Party (Turkey)
Justice and Development Party may also refer to:
* Justice and Dev ...
has been the ruling party in Morocco
Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...
since November 29, 2011. The Justice and Development Party advocates Islamism and Islamic democracy.
* The Muslim Brotherhood of Syria
The Muslim Brotherhood of Syria ( ar, الإخوان المسلمون في سوريا, translit=al-Ikhwān al-Muslimūn fī Sūrīya) is a Syrian branch of the Sunni Islamist Muslim Brotherhood organization. Its objective is the transformation ...
is a Sunni Islamist force in Syria
Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...
and very loosely affiliated to the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood. It has also been called the "dominant group" or "dominant force" in the Arab Spring uprising in Syria. The group's stated political positions are moderate and in its most recent April 2012 manifesto it "pledges to respect individual rights", to promote pluralism and democracy.
* The Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan is Tajikistan
Tajikistan (, ; tg, Тоҷикистон, Tojikiston; russian: Таджикистан, Tadzhikistan), officially the Republic of Tajikistan ( tg, Ҷумҳурии Тоҷикистон, Jumhurii Tojikiston), is a landlocked country in Centr ...
's Islamist party and main opposition and democratic force in that country.
* The Ennahda Movement, also known as Renaissance Party or simply Ennahda, is a moderate Islamist political party in Tunisia
)
, image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg
, map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa
, image_map2 =
, capital = Tunis
, largest_city = capital
, ...
. On March 1, 2011, after the government of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali
Zine El Abidine Ben Ali ( ar, زين العابدين بن علي, translit=Zayn al-'Ābidīn bin 'Alī; 3 September 1936 – 19 September 2019), commonly known as Ben Ali ( ar, بن علي) or Ezzine ( ar, الزين), was a Tunisian politician ...
collapsed in the wake of the 2011 Tunisian revolution, Tunisia's interim government granted the group permission to form a political party. Since then it has become the biggest and most well-organized party in Tunisia, so far outdistancing its more secular competitors. In the Tunisian Constituent Assembly election, 2011
An election for a constituent assembly in Tunisia was announced on 3 March 2011 and held on 23 October 2011, following the Tunisian revolution. The Assembly had 217 members. It was the first free election held in Tunisia since the country's indep ...
, the first honest election in the country's history with a turn out of 51.1% of all eligible voters, the party won 37.04% of the popular vote and 89 (41%) of the 217 assembly seats, far more than any other party.
Pakistan
Early in the history of the state of Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
(March 12, 1949), a parliamentary resolution (the Objectives Resolution) was adopted, stating the objectives on which the future constitution of the country was to be based. It contained the basic principles of both Islam and Western Democracy, in accordance with the vision of the founders of the Pakistan Movement (Muhammad Iqbal, Muhammad Ali Jinnah
Muhammad Ali Jinnah (, ; born Mahomedali Jinnahbhai; 25 December 1876 – 11 September 1948) was a barrister, politician, and the founder of Pakistan. Jinnah served as the leader of the All-India Muslim League from 1913 until the ...
, Liaquat Ali Khan). It proclaimed:
This resolution was included in the 1956 constitution as preamble and in 1985 it was inserted in the constitution itself as Article 2 and Schedule item 53 (but with the word "freely" in ''Provision shall be made for the religious minorities to freely profess and practice their religions and develop their cultures'', removed.). The resolution was inserted again in the constitution in 2010, with the word "freely" reinstated.
However, Islamisation has proceeded slowly in Pakistan, and Islamists and Islamic parties and activists have expressed frustration that sharia law has not yet been fully implemented.
Indonesia
Officially, Indonesia does not have a state religion, and is in many respects a secular democracy. The constitution of Indonesia gives its people the freedom of worship, according to their religion or belief. This is based on the state ideology of " Pancasila" whose first tenet, ''Ketuhanan yang Maha Esa,'' translates as "The One and Almighty God", implying that there is a supreme God that unites the nation. It does not specify any religion, though this is also sometimes mistranslated as an endorsement for monotheism. As a result, Indonesians do have a religion column in their identity card
An identity document (also called ID or colloquially as papers) is any documentation, document that may be used to prove a person's identity. If issued in a small, standard credit card size form, it is usually called an identity card (IC, ID c ...
; however, it is not mandatory (an empty column will indicate not having a religion) and is only used for census (which is a Dutch colonial legacy). The 5th points of practice of the ''Butir-butir pengamalan Pancasila'' states “Religion and belief in God Almighty are private matters that concerns the human relationship with God Almighty.” Sukarno
Sukarno). (; born Koesno Sosrodihardjo, ; 6 June 1901 – 21 June 1970) was an Indonesian statesman, orator, revolutionary, and nationalist who was the first president of Indonesia, serving from 1945 to 1967.
Sukarno was the leader of ...
's conception of Pancasila's ideology is not 'secular' in the Western sense, although he agreed with Mahmud Esad Bay and Mustafa Kemal Ataturks' view that Islam should be free of government control. In his speech titled "Islam Sontoloyo" or "Foolish Islam", he was critical of Islamic leaders misuse of authority to justify wrong actions. According to Yudi Latief, Indonesia's founding leaders, while thoroughly educated and motivated as secularists of the time, cannot comprehend an Indonesian society without religion. Indonesian nationalist leaders characterized the country as a “religiously neutral state”, in which Islam would be separated from the state and that Islamic affairs should be managed by Muslims without the help of the state. Preliminary meeting based on Hatta's initiative agreed that Islamic laws can be used for family laws that is signed through the People's Representative Council
The People's Representative Council of the Republic of Indonesia ( id, Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat Republik Indonesia, DPR-RI), also known as the House of Representatives, is one of two elected chambers of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), ...
, but only if it relates to Muslims. Whereas the ‘secular’ national criminal code are not allowed to be changed because it applies to all regardless of religion. Sukarno also banned the most popular Islamic party at the time of Masjumi
The Council of Indonesian Muslim Associations ( id, Partai Majelis Syuro Muslimin Indonesia), better known as the Masyumi Party, was a major Islamic political party in Indonesia during the Liberal Democracy Era in Indonesia. It was banned in ...
, as they were allegedly involved in the PRRI rebellion. On 27 January 1953, Sukarno delivered a speech in Amuntai, South Kalimantan
South Kalimantan ( id, Kalimantan Selatan) is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia. It is the smallest province in Kalimantan, the Indonesian territory of Borneo. The provincial capital was Banjarmasin until 15 February 2022 when it wa ...
, a region with a strong Islamic community. There was a banner reading "Indonesia a Nation State or an Islamic State?” Commenting on the banner, Soekarno said: Sukarno
Sukarno). (; born Koesno Sosrodihardjo, ; 6 June 1901 – 21 June 1970) was an Indonesian statesman, orator, revolutionary, and nationalist who was the first president of Indonesia, serving from 1945 to 1967.
Sukarno was the leader of ...
have also disagreed on Aceh
Aceh ( ), officially the Aceh Province ( ace, Nanggroë Acèh; id, Provinsi Aceh) is the westernmost province of Indonesia. It is located on the northernmost of Sumatra island, with Banda Aceh being its capital and largest city. Granted a s ...
adopting Islamic criminal laws as its form of sharia bylaws, stating that "Indonesia is a nation state with the ideology of Pancasila, not a theocratic country with a certain religious orientation" and "Muslim's habit of reading the Quran" are also a form of obedience towards sharia
Sharia (; ar, شريعة, sharīʿa ) is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition. It is derived from the religious precepts of Islam and is based on the sacred scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran and the H ...
. According to Sukarno, religion is a private matter between oneself and god, that could only be regulated through personal or family matters. During the Suharto era, Islamic parties are even more controlled by his government, through the state formation of the United Development Party. Not only that, Islamic veils were banned. Nurcholis Majid, one of the prominent young Islamic thinkers at the time, in his speech “The Need for Reform in Islamic Thinking and the Problem of Ummah Integration”, considered Indonesian Muslims to be stuck in ideological dogmatism, and as a result lose dynamism. As a result, he coined the famous slogan: "Islam Yes Islamic Party No". Most of his colleagues considered this to be an endorsement of secularism. However, as noted by Abdurrahman Wahid and his contemporaries, the fourth president of Indonesia explained Indonesia’s case as "mild secularism". Neither of them considered themselves to be secularist and prefer to use 'secularisation', acknowledging the reservation that secularism as an ideology can become a new closed world view which functions like a new religion.
However, there is another political movement centered in universities students small groups called "liqo", started in 1970, which is directly inspired by Hasan al-Banna's Muslim Brotherhood, the proponent of which is Hilmi Aminuddin, which advocates for a gradual change to become more ideal Muslim. This coalesced in the formation of KAMMI in 1998, which is alongside of Abdurrahman Wahid's Nahdlatul Ulama
Nahdlatul Ulama (, , NU) is an Islam in Indonesia, Islamic organization in Indonesia. Its membership estimates range from 40 million (2013) to over 95 million (2021), making it the largest Islamic organization in the world. NU also is a charitab ...
(NU) and Amien Rais
Muhammad Amien Rais (born 26 April 1944) is an Indonesian politician. He was one of the leaders of the reform movement that forced the resignation of President Suharto in 1998. Amien Rais was the leader of Muhammadiyah, one of the two biggest ...
' Muhammadiyah
Muhammadiyah ( ar, محمدية; 'followers of Muhammad'); also known as the Muhammadiyah Society ( id, Persyarikatan Muhammadiyah) is a major Islamic non-governmental organization in Indonesia.A. Jalil HamidTackle the rising cost of living longer ...
as student leaders formed the groups of student protests against Suharto's government. After the fall of Suharto, KAMMI become the political party Prosperous Justice Party
The Prosperous Justice Party ( id, Partai Keadilan Sejahtera, sometimes called the Justice and Prosperity Party), frequently abbreviated to PKS, is an IslamistAl-Hamdi, Ridho. (2017). ''Moving towards a Normalised Path: Political Islam in Contempo ...
(PKS), while NU and Muhammadiyah chose to not involved in practical politics of winning elections and instead forming independent political parties which are aligned but independent of their Islamic organization, in the form of the National Awakening Party
The National Awakening Party ( id, Partai Kebangkitan Bangsa), frequently abbreviated to PKB, is an Islam-basedAl-Hamdi, Ridho. (2017). ''Moving towards a Normalised Path: Political Islam in Contemporary Indonesia''. JURNAL STUDI PEMERINTAHAN ( ...
(PKB) and National Mandate Party
The National Mandate Party ( id, Partai Amanat Nasional), frequently abbreviated to PAN, is an Islam-basedAl-Hamdi, Ridho. (2017). ''Moving towards a Normalised Path: Political Islam in Contemporary Indonesia''. JURNAL STUDI PEMERINTAHAN (JOURNAL ...
(PAN). The democratic reformation gave impetus to the adoption of Islamic sharia law in the form of adoption of the Jakarta Charter
The Jakarta Charter ( id, Piagam Jakarta) was a document drawn up by members of the Indonesian Investigating Committee for Preparatory Work for Independence (BPUPK) on 22 June 1945 in Jakarta that later formed the basis of the preamble to the Co ...
was pushed to the national legislative body ( MPR) in 2002, however it was rejected with even PKB and PAN rejecting it.
This is because the two largest Muslim organizations of Indonesia, NU and Muhammadiyah, very much accepted the pancasila 'secularism' basis of the country. NU and its most associated party PKB (Abdurrahman's party), is member of centrist democrat international which also contain famously German's CDU as well as Hungary's Fidesz party, it is more common with Christian Democrat politics in the West. There are parties associated with the Muslim Brotherhood in the form of PKS but even they have to commit to the state ideology, which means they are pluralist. Islamic groups that stray from and tried to change Pancasila such as HTI (Indonesian branch of Hizb ut-Tahrir) is banned even though they 'participated' in a democracy.
In a practical sense, in central government levels, Indonesia has 6 recognized religions, as these are the recognized majority religions of most Indonesians and received state support.
In the Ministry of Religions there are separate religious leaders administrators for each of the 6 major religions. Sometimes the president or government members in a formal speech will greet in all 6 religious greetings. Example of which in President Joko Widodo's speech on March 26, 2021. In which he used all religious greetings including:
*"Assalamu’alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh" for Muslims
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abraha ...
*"Salam Sejahtera" and "Shaloom" for Christians
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
and Catholics
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
*"Om Swastyastu" for Hindus
Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...
*"Namo Buddhaya" for Buddhists
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gra ...
*"Salam Kebajikan" or "Wei De Dong Tian" (惟德動天) for Kong Hu Cu (Confucians)
Some Indonesian Muslims in its history had always had problems with the implementation of sharia law, seeing it as not necessary and infringing on the non-Muslim population, while others see the implementation of some sharia-based laws as a solution to a failed and corrupt democratic process, while also inspired by Aceh
Aceh ( ), officially the Aceh Province ( ace, Nanggroë Acèh; id, Provinsi Aceh) is the westernmost province of Indonesia. It is located on the northernmost of Sumatra island, with Banda Aceh being its capital and largest city. Granted a s ...
successful push for local sharia law to be adopted. Indonesian history had a rebellion in the 1960s known locally as " Darul Islam" rebellion which tried to forcefully formed an "Islamic State of Indonesia" although they were eventually defeated, its regional offshoot based in Aceh advocating for independence, however they managed to continue an insurgency for a separate Islamic Aceh country, as a result of the Boxing Day tsunami in 2004 and negotiations facilitated by the Swedish government (Hasan di Tiro had a Swedish passport and lived there in exile) as well as Finnish government, Helsinki MoU was signed. Indonesia would allow Aceh to adopt its own version of shariah law called Qanun, and Aceh would stop fighting for independence and adopt special autonomy law. Still it would be wrong to describe Indonesia as an Islamic country as it would refer to that rebellion and denote Indonesia's official religion as Islam or describe Indonesian society as "Islamic". This was a common misconception by foreign journalists to describe Indonesia as such or Indonesia as "the Muslim democracy" which is also inaccurate. A better description of Indonesia would be a "democracy with a Muslim-majority population".
Iran
=Theory
=
Since the revolution in Iran, the largest Shia country, Twelver Shia political thought has been dominated by that of Ayatollah
Ayatollah ( ; fa, آیتالله, āyatollāh) is an Title of honor, honorific title for high-ranking Twelver Shia clergy in Iran and Iraq that came into widespread usage in the 20th century.
Etymology
The title is originally derived from ...
Ruhollah Khomeini
Ruhollah Khomeini, Ayatollah Khomeini, Imam Khomeini ( , ; ; 17 May 1900 – 3 June 1989) was an Iranian political and religious leader who served as the first supreme leader of Iran from 1979 until his death in 1989. He was the founder of ...
, the founder and leader of the revolution. Khomeini argued that in the absence of the Hidden Imam and other divinely-appointed figures (in whom ultimate political authority rests), Muslims have not only the right, but also the obligation to establish an "Islamic state
An Islamic state is a State (polity), state that has a form of government based on sharia, Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical Polity, polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a t ...
". To that end they must turn to scholars of Islamic law (fiqh
''Fiqh'' (; ar, فقه ) is Islamic jurisprudence. Muhammad-> Companions-> Followers-> Fiqh.
The commands and prohibitions chosen by God were revealed through the agency of the Prophet in both the Quran and the Sunnah (words, deeds, and ...
) who are qualified to interpret the Quran and the writings of the imams.
Once in power and recognizing the need for more flexibility, Khomeini modified some earlier positions, insisted the ruling jurist need not be one of the most learned, that ''Sharia'' rule was subordinate to interests of Islam (Maslaha
Maslaha or maslahah ( ar, مصلحة, lit=public interest) is a concept in shari'ah ( Islamic divine law) regarded as a basis of law.I. Doi, Abdul Rahman. (1995). "Mașlahah". In John L. Esposito. ''The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Modern Islamic Wo ...
—"expedient interests" or "public welfare"), and the "divine government" as interpreted by the ruling jurists, who could overrule Sharia if necessary to serve those interests. The Islamic "government, which is a branch of the absolute governance of the Prophet of God, is among the primary ordinances of Islam, and has precedence over all 'secondary' ordinances."
The last point was made in December 1987, when Khomieni issued a fatwa in support of the Islamic government's attempt to pass a labor protection bill not in accordance with sharia. He ruled that in the Islamic state, governmental ordinances were primary ordinances, and that the Islamic state has absolute right ( fa, ولايت مطلقه) to enact state commandments, taking precedence over "all secondary ordinances such as prayer, fasting, and pilgrimage".
Were the powers of government to lie only within the framework of secondary divine decrees, the designation of the divine government and absolute deputed guardianship (''wilayat-i mutlaqa-yi mufawwada'') to the Prophet of Islam (peace be upon him and his progeny) would have been in practice entirely without meaning and content. ... I must point out, the government which is a branch of the absolute governance of the Prophet of God is among the primary ordinances of Islam, and has precedence over all secondary ordinances such as prayer (salat), fasting (sawm), and pilgrimage (hajj).
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 Iran's Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
Sayyid Ali Hosseini Khamenei ( fa, سید علی حسینی خامنهای, ; born 19 April 1939) is a Twelver Shia ''marja and the second and current Supreme Leader of Iran, in office since 1989. He was previously the third president o ...
, who mentions Islamic democracy as "Mardomsalarie Dini" in his speeches.
There are also other Iranian scholars who oppose or at least criticise the concept of Islamic democracy. Among the most popular of them are Ayatollah Naser Makarem Shirazi who have written: "If not referring to the people votes would result in accusations of tyranny then it is allowed to accept people vote as a secondary commandment." Also Mohammad-Taqi Mesbah-Yazdi
Ayatollah Taqi Mesbah ( fa, تقی مصباح; born Taqi Givechi, fa, تقی گیوهچی), commonly known as Mohammad-Taqi Mesbah-Yazdi ( fa, محمدتقی مصباح یزدی, 31 January 1935 – 1 January 2021) was an Iranian Shi' ...
has more or less the same viewpoint.
=Practice
=
Some Iranians, including Mohammad Khatami
Sayyid Mohammad Khatami ( fa, سید محمد خاتمی, ; born 14 October 1943) is an Iranian politician who served as the fifth president of Iran from 3 August 1997 to 3 August 2005. He also served as Iran's Minister of Culture from 1982 to ...
, categorize the Islamic Republic of Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
as a kind of religious democracy. They maintain that Ruhollah Khomeini
Ruhollah Khomeini, Ayatollah Khomeini, Imam Khomeini ( , ; ; 17 May 1900 – 3 June 1989) was an Iranian political and religious leader who served as the first supreme leader of Iran from 1979 until his death in 1989. He was the founder of ...
held the same view as well and that's why he strongly chose "Jomhoorie Eslami" (Islamic Republic) over "Hokoomate Eslami" (Islamic State).
Others maintain that not only is the Islamic Republic of Iran undemocratic (see Politics of Iran
The politics of Iran takes place in the framework of an Islamic theocracy which was formed following the overthrow of Iran's millennia-long monarchy by the 1979 Iranian Islamic Revolution.
Iran's system of government (''nezam'') has been de ...
) but that Khomeini himself opposed the principle of democracy in his book '' Hokumat-e Islami: Wilayat al-Faqih'', where he denied the need for any legislative body saying, "no one has the right to legislate ... except ... the Divine Legislator", and during the Islamic Revolution, when he told Iranians, "Do not use this term, 'democratic.' That is the Western style." Although it is in contrast with his commandment to Mehdi Bazargan
Mehdi Bazargan ( fa, مهدی بازرگان; 1 September 1907 – 20 January 1995) was an Iranian scholar, academic, long-time pro-democracy activist and head of Iran's interim government. He was appointed prime minister in February 1979 by Ay ...
. It is a subject of lively debate among pro-Islamic Iranian intelligentsia
The intelligentsia is a status class composed of the university-educated people of a society who engage in the complex mental labours by which they critique, shape, and lead in the politics, policies, and culture of their society; as such, the in ...
. Also they maintain that Iran's sharia courts, the Islamic Revolutionary Court, blasphemy laws of the Islamic Republic of Iran
Iran is a constitutional, Islamic theocracy. Its official religion is the doctrine of the Twelver Jaafari School. Iran's law against blasphemy derives from Sharia. Blasphemers are usually charged with "spreading corruption on earth", or mofsed-e ...
, and the Islamic religious police
Islamic religious police (also sometimes known as morality police or sharia police) are official Islamic vice squad police agencies, often in Islamic countries, which enforce religious observance and public morality on behalf of national or regio ...
violate the principles of democratic governance. However, it should be understood that when a democracy is accepted to be Islamic by people, the law of Islam becomes the democratically ratified law of that country. Iranians have ratified the constitution in which the principle rules are explicitly mentioned as the rules of Islam to which other rules should conform. Khomeini fervently believed that principles of democracy can't provide the targeted justice of Islam in the Sharia and Islamic thoughts.(Mohaghegh. Behnam 2014)
This contrast of view between the two Iranian head leaders of this Islamic country, as above mentioned about Khatami's and Khomeini's views have provisionally been being a case of disaffiliation of nearly half a country in most probable political coincidence, so the people cognizant of this heterogeneous political belief shall not be affiliated by newly formed views of democratic principles.(Mohaghegh, Behnam 2014)
A number of deviations from traditional sharia regulations have been noted in Iran
... the financial system has barely been Islamized; Christians, for example, are not subject to a poll tax and pay according to the common scheme. Insurance is maintained (even though chance, the very basis for insurance should theoretically be excluded from all contracts). The contracts signed with foreigners all accept the matter of interest.
Indices of democracy in Muslim countries
There are several non-governmental organizations that publish and maintain indices of freedom in the world, according to their own various definitions of the term, and rank countries as being free, partly free, or unfree using various measures of freedom, including political rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life of ...
, economic rights, freedom of the press
Freedom of the press or freedom of the media is the fundamental principle that communication and expression through various media, including printed and electronic News media, media, especially publication, published materials, should be conside ...
and civil liberties
Civil liberties are guarantees and freedoms that governments commit not to abridge, either by constitution, legislation, or judicial interpretation, without due process. Though the scope of the term differs between countries, civil liberties may ...
.
The following lists Muslim-majority countries and shows the scores given by two frequently used indices: Freedom in the World (2018) by the US-based Freedom House
Freedom House is a non-profit, majority U.S. government funded organization in Washington, D.C., that conducts research and advocacy on democracy, political freedom, and human rights. Freedom House was founded in October 1941, and Wendell Wil ...
and the 2019 Democracy Index by the Economist Intelligence Unit
The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) is the research and analysis division of the Economist Group, providing forecasting and advisory services through research and analysis, such as monthly country reports, five-year country economic forecasts, ...
. These indices are frequently used in Western media, but have attracted some criticism
Criticism is the construction of a judgement about the negative qualities of someone or something. Criticism can range from impromptu comments to a written detailed response. , ''"the act of giving your opinion or judgment about the good or bad q ...
and may not reflect recent changes.
:Key: * – Electoral democracies ‡ – Disputed territory (according to Freedom House)
Islamic democratic parties and organizations
This is a list of parties and organizations which aim for the implementation of Sharia or an Islamic State, or subscribe to Muslim identity politics, or in some other way fulfil the definitions of political Islam, activist Islam, or Islamism laid out in this article; or have been widely described as such by others.
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, , , Al Menbar[Guide to Bahrain's politics](_blank)
– 4 Sep 2008. Ambassador Ereli, US Embassy, Bahrain/Wikileaks/''The Guardian''
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, , , Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami
Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami ( bn, বাংলাদেশ জামায়াতে ইসলামী, Bānglādēsh Jāmāyatē Islāmī, Bangladesh Islamic Assembly), previously known as Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh, or Jamaat for short, was ...
Islami Andolan Bangladesh
Islami Andolan Bangladesh ( bn, ইসলামী আন্দোলন বাংলাদেশ, lit=Islamic Movement of Bangladesh) is one of the biggest Islamist political party in Bangladesh. It was founded in 1987 by Fazlul Karim as Islami ...
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, , , Islamic Action Front
The Islamic Action Front ( ar, جبهة العمل الإسلامي ''Jabhat al-'Amal al-Islami'', IAF) is an Islamist political party in Jordan. It is the political wing of the Muslim Brotherhood in Jordan.
Founded in 1992 with 350 members, E ...
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, , , Justice and Development Party Justice and Development Party may refer to several political parties, the best-known ones being:
* Justice and Development Party (Morocco)
* Justice and Development Party (Turkey)
Justice and Development Party may also refer to:
* Justice and Dev ...
, -
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, , , Peace and Development Party
The Peace and Development Party (PDP, so, Xisbiga Nabadda Iyo Horumarka) was a political party in Somalia. It was established in April 2011 by Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, the President of Somalia from 2012 to 2017. PDP members unanimously elected ...
, -
, , , Muslim Brotherhood of Syria
The Muslim Brotherhood of Syria ( ar, الإخوان المسلمون في سوريا, translit=al-Ikhwān al-Muslimūn fī Sūrīya) is a Syrian branch of the Sunni Islamist Muslim Brotherhood organization. Its objective is the transformation ...
[Syria’s Muslim Brotherhood is gaining influence over anti-Assad revolt]
By Liz Sly, ''Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'', 12 May 2012[Khaled Yacoub Owei]
"Syria's Muslim Brotherhood rise from the ashes,"
Reuters (6 May 2012).["Syria Muslim Brotherhood Issues Post-Assad State-for-All Commitment Charter,"]
ikhwanweb.com (The Muslim Brotherhood’s Official English web site) (7 April 2012).
, -
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, -
, , , {{hlist, Al-Islah Islah or Al-Islah is an Arabic word usually translated as "reform", in the sense of "to improve, to better, to correct something and removing vice or to put something into a better position."
Islah may also refer to:
People
*Islah Jad (born 1951), ...
See also
* Institute on Religion and Democracy
* Dialogue Among Civilizations Former Iranian president Mohammad Khatami introduced the idea of Dialogue Among Civilizations as a response to Samuel P. Huntington's theory of a Clash of Civilizations. The term was initially used by Austrian philosopher Hans Köchler who in 1972 ...
* '' The Clash of Civilizations''
* Freedom deficit
Freedom deficit is a term coined by a group of Arab scholars for the UNDP Arab Human Development Report in 2002. As defined in the report, a freedom deficit exists when there is "a substantial lag between Arab countries and other regions in terms ...
* Islamic ethics
Islamic ethics (أخلاق إسلامية) is the "philosophical reflection upon moral conduct" with a view to defining "good character" and attaining the "pleasure of God" (''raza-e Ilahi''). It is distinguished from "Islamic morality", which per ...
* Islamic revival
Islamic revival ( ar, تجديد'' '', lit., "regeneration, renewal"; also ', "Islamic awakening") refers to a revival of the Islamic religion. The revivers are known in Islam as ''mujaddids''.
Within the Islamic tradition, ''tajdid'' has bee ...
* Islamism
Islamism (also often called political Islam or Islamic fundamentalism) is a political ideology which posits that modern states and regions should be reconstituted in constitutional, economic and judicial terms, in accordance with what is ...
* Islam Yes, Islamic Party No
Islam Yes, Islamic Party No (Indonesian original phrase: ''Islam Yes, Partai Islam No'') was a slogan coined by Indonesian Muslim scholar Nurcholish Madjid in his speech at Taman Ismail Marzuki (TIM) in Jakarta, in 1970. The slogan soon became a c ...
References
{{Reflist, 30em
Bibliography
* Mahmoud Sadri and Ahmad Sadri (eds.) 2002 ''Reason, Freedom, and Democracy in Islam: Essential Writings of Abdolkarim Soroush'', Oxford University Press
* Omid Safi (ed.) 2003 ''Progressive Muslims: On Justice, Gender and Pluralism'', Oneworld
* Azzam S. Tamimi 2001 ''Rachid Ghannouchi: A Democrat within Islamism'', Oxford University Press
* Khan L. Ali 2003 ''A Theory of Universal Democracy'', Martinus Nijhoff Publishers
* Khatab, Sayed & G. Bouma, ''Democracy in Islam'', Routledge 2007
External links
Liberal Democracy and Political Islam: The Search for Common Ground
by Dr. Mohammad Omar Farooq
Democracy and the Muslim World
* Marina Ottoway, et al., '' ttp://www.carnegieendowment.org/publications/index.cfm?fa=view&id=1086&zoom_highlight=Democratic+Mirage+in+the+Middle+East Democratic Mirage in the Middle East' Carnegie Endowment for Ethics and International Peace, Policy Brief 20, (October 20, 2002).
The Muslim's world future is freedom
Book review, with some controversial content.
Expect the Unexpected: A Religious Democracy in Iran
* ttp://www.csidonline.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=104&Itemid=71 Recent Elections and the Future of Religious Democracy in Iran
Democracy Lacking in Muslim World
{{Islamism
{{Political ideologies
{{Relpolnav
{{DEFAULTSORT:Islamic democracy
Sharia
Religion and politics