ISLAM AND DEMOCRACY

Women in Saudi Arabia re not allowed to drive, for example, and have been banned for many years from attending football matches. Such restrictions are unheard of in the free world. In many Muslim countries such as the United Arab Emirates, the system of leadership is monarchial and is devoid of elections. Nonetheless, there is significant evidence in that the Islamic religion supports democracy. This article pursues the thesis statement: Islam supports democracy as proven by Islamic concepts including the equality of all men, the oneness of God and the fact that all Muslims have a political responsibility to act as stewards in support of the principles of the Quran, and as proven by the elective processes existent in many countries in the Muslim world.

President Mohammad Khatami, according to the authors, holds views that are consistent with those of many who support Islamic democracy-that stripping a democracy of spirituality, or religious influence is gravely retrogressive. These advocates believe that Islam and democracy can coexist perfectly. Other examples given include the fact that three non-Islamist women were elected to lead Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Indonesia –this is used as proof that conservatism Islam is gradually dying away and is being replaced by a democracy-oriented form of Islam that supports the fact that democracy is basically a political system that respects the rights of the common citizen. Islamic scripture is borrowed from the Quran to help formulate the argument for Islamic democracy-for instance, the concept of tawhid that supports the notion that “There is no divinity but The God”.

Tawhid according to Ali Shariati, one of the brains behind Iran’s Islamic revolution, claims that tawhid is a worldview that perceives the whole universe a unity and thus opposes the separation of religion and government. The concept’s primary point is that all Muslim’s are stewards of God who must be mobilized, organized and enlightened politically to carry out the responsibility of human stewardship as advised by the Quran. On the other hand, Fukuyama is of the idea that the failed integration of Muslim immigrants into European societies is the recipe for disaster that has been responsible for a “radicalizing” loss of identity among Muslims in these countries. The existence of culturally diverse migrants, according to Fukuyama, has created many problems for the developed world.

The author argues that the Muslim population that has migrated into Europe and America has created a generation of Muslims that are unsure of their identity, and are not readily accepted by these nations. Muslims make up about 8% of France’s total population and more than 6% of Netherlands’ population. The perceived oppression and continued loss of identity among the population of Muslim immigrants in Western countries are therefore reasonable for the radicalization movement that is gaining momentum. Islamic radicalization, according to the author is the result of a generation of Muslim immigrants who are not sure of what is haram or not. The situation is exacerbated by the fact that the identity and behavior of the Muslim in these societies are not supported by the external environment, thus creating the loss of identity coupled with rejection that is frustrating and ultimately, radicalizing.

Fukuyama, therefore, argues that democracy and modernization are only likely to increase radicalization and the intensity of terrorist attacks such as the bombings in Madrid and the attacks in France. The encounter between Islam and modernization, therefore, creates a lack of freedom that is the primary obstacle to democratization. Also, Fukuyama takes the assumption that Europe is entirely non-religious which is not true, these countries have strong religious movements including Christianity despite the separation of church and state. Therefore, it can be concluded that Islam is indeed supportive of democracy as portrayed by the concepts in the Quran that support equality including tawhid which requires democracy for its achievement. Also, modernity is an enemy of Islam by creating the loss of identity that has made many modern Muslims susceptible to radicalization and thus posed a significant threat to Islam.