Islam and democracy

THURSDAY, AUGUST 03, 2006
I was talking to a friend yesterday, discussing the prospects of a peaceful, democratic Middle East. His opinion was expressed with this concise proverb: "We can lead a horse to water, but we cannot make it drink..." The picture that forms in my mind, also, after years of watching how things unfold, is more and more that of people who simply do not want true democracy. I know, I know, some of my Muslim friends argue vehemently that they do want democracy but "not a Western style one". OK, I am ready to listen and hear the principles of a specific Middle Eastern style democracy. I have yet to hear any convincing ones.

The three shura principles should promote equality and justice, right? But I question whether that coincides with the secular concepts. Religious laws, specially those that are based on the Qur'an, have precedence over true observance of individual freedom, "mas'uliyah jama'iyyah", that is, collective responsibility, comes first. Unfortunately collective views are more often than not guided (imposed) by religious authority. Often those views may seem correct in the religious context, yet they can be very limiting, infringing on individual freedom. "Khilafah, which means God's delegation of authority to the ummah - (means that) every individual member of the ummah is legally obligated to ensure the proper execution of the delegated authority".* Who decides what is "proper"? Each individual? Or there are religious guidelines (ijma), ultimately interpreted and upheld by the clergy? To me that does not sound very promising.

In my opinion true democracy cannot be attained based on religious principles, be that Muslim, Christian or any other belief system, simply because it necessitates interpretation of scriptural edicts that are often fuzzy, open to opposing ways of understanding them. Exactly these opposing views can get in the way when it comes to peaceful coexistence. These opposing views are the basis of the Sunni-Shia conflict in Iraq. Don't misunderstand me, I am aware that the situation there is much more complex than just the religious sectarianism. But it doesn't change the fact that the sectarian differences enabled the original historic separation, allowing the development of the present conflict.