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Is democracy consistent with Islam?
Global Village Space
Some people are under the impression that democracy and Islam are incompatible. But I don’t see any contradiction between democracy and Islam, as such. Although, I concede, that there is some friction between Islam and liberalism. When we say that there is a contradiction between Islam and democracy, we make a category mistake which is a serious logical fallacy.
There is some friction between Islam and liberalism but when we say that there is a contradiction between Islam and democracy, we make a category mistake
There is a fundamental difference between democracy and liberalism. Democracy falls in the category of politics and governance while liberalism falls in the category of culture. We must be precise about the definitions of the terms that we employ in political science.
Read more: How safe is Indonesia’s democracy from Islamic extremism?
Setting aside differences
A multi-party representative political system that confers legitimacy upon a government which comes to power through an election process which is a contest between more than one political parties in order to ensure that it is voluntary, is democracy
Democracy is simply a representative political system that ensures representation, accountability and the right of the electorate to vote governments in and to vote governments out. In this sense when we use the term democracy, we mean a multiparty representative political system that confers legitimacy upon a government which comes to power through an election process which is a contest between more than one political parties in order to ensure that it is voluntary. Thus, democracy is nothing more than a multiparty representative political system.
Some will use the adjective liberal to describe the essence of democracy as “liberal democracy,” while others will arbitrarily call it informed or enlightened democracy.
Some normative scientists, however, get carried away in their enthusiasm and ascribe meanings to technical terminology that are quite subjective and fallacious. Some will use the adjective liberal to describe the essence of democracy as “liberal democracy,” while others will arbitrarily call it informed or enlightened democracy. In my opinion, the only correct adjective that can be used to describe the essence of democracy is a representative democracy.
Read more: Free and fair elections: Can democracy in Pakistan be resurrected?
After settling on theoretical aspect, let us now apply these concepts to the reality of the practical world, and particularly to the phenomena of nascent democratic movements of the Arab Spring. It’s a fact that the ground realities of the Arab and the Islamic World fall well short of the ideal liberal democratic model of the developed Western World.
Utopian dreamers
However, there is a lot to be optimistic about. When the Arab Spring revolutions occurred in Tunisia, Egypt, Bahrain, and Yemen, and before the Arab Spring turned into an abysmal winter in Libya and Syria, some utopian dreamers were not too hopeful about the outcome of those movements.
The neoliberal, democratic movements of the present times are merely a step in the right direction that will usher the Arab and the Islamic World into an era of relative peace and progress.
Unlike the socialist revolutions of ‘60s and ‘70s, when the visionaries of yore used to have a magic wand of bringing about a fundamental structural change that would culminate into equitable distribution of wealth overnight, the neoliberal, democratic movements of the present times are merely a step in the right direction that will usher the Arab and the Islamic World into an era of relative peace and progress.
The Arab Spring movements have not been led by the likes of Gamal Abdel Nasser’s, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s, Jawahar Lal Nehru’s and other such charismatic messiahs that socialist thinkers are so fond of. But these revolutions have been the grassroots movements of a society in transition from an object, stagnant state towards a dynamic and representative future.
Read more: Did Arab spring revolutions achieve anything except discontent?
It’s a fact that the developing Third World economies with large populations and meager resources cannot be compared to the social democracies of Scandinavia.
Let us be clear about one thing first and foremost: any government – whether democratic or autocratic – would follow the same economic model under the contemporary global political and economic dispensation. It’s a growth-based neoliberal model as opposed to an equality-based socialist model. It’s a fact that the developing Third World economies with large populations and meager resources cannot be compared to the social democracies of Scandinavia.
A question arises that what would the Arab Spring movements have accomplished if the resultant democratic governments would have followed the same old neoliberal and growth-centered economic policies? It should be kept in mind here that democracy is not the best of systems because it is the most efficient system of governance. Top-down autocracies are much more efficient than democracies.
Read more: Waiting for Nasser in the Persian Gulf
True democracy
Immanuel Kant sagaciously posited that moral autonomy produces moral responsibility and social maturity. This social axiom can also be applied to politics and governance. Political autonomy and self-governance engender political responsibility and social maturity.
Democracy is a representative political system. It brings about a grassroots social change. Enfranchisement, representation, transparency, accountability, checks and balances, rule of law and consequent institution-building, nation-building and consistent long term policies, political stability and social prosperity are the fruits of representative democracy.
Read more: Pakistan in the last decade: Democracy, Corruption, or Development?
Arab spring movements
We must not expect from the Arab Spring movements to produce results immediately.
A top-down political system is dependent on the artificial external force that keeps it going. The moment that external force is removed, the society reverts back to its previous state and the system collapses. But a grassroots and the bottom-up political system evolves naturally and intrinsically. We must not expect from the Arab Spring movements to produce results immediately. Bear in mind that the evolution of the Western culture and politics happened over a course of many centuries.
Read full article .......
Is democracy consistent with Islam?
Global Village Space
Some people are under the impression that democracy and Islam are incompatible. But I don’t see any contradiction between democracy and Islam, as such. Although, I concede, that there is some friction between Islam and liberalism. When we say that there is a contradiction between Islam and democracy, we make a category mistake which is a serious logical fallacy.
There is some friction between Islam and liberalism but when we say that there is a contradiction between Islam and democracy, we make a category mistake
There is a fundamental difference between democracy and liberalism. Democracy falls in the category of politics and governance while liberalism falls in the category of culture. We must be precise about the definitions of the terms that we employ in political science.
Read more: How safe is Indonesia’s democracy from Islamic extremism?
Setting aside differences
A multi-party representative political system that confers legitimacy upon a government which comes to power through an election process which is a contest between more than one political parties in order to ensure that it is voluntary, is democracy
Democracy is simply a representative political system that ensures representation, accountability and the right of the electorate to vote governments in and to vote governments out. In this sense when we use the term democracy, we mean a multiparty representative political system that confers legitimacy upon a government which comes to power through an election process which is a contest between more than one political parties in order to ensure that it is voluntary. Thus, democracy is nothing more than a multiparty representative political system.
Some will use the adjective liberal to describe the essence of democracy as “liberal democracy,” while others will arbitrarily call it informed or enlightened democracy.
Some normative scientists, however, get carried away in their enthusiasm and ascribe meanings to technical terminology that are quite subjective and fallacious. Some will use the adjective liberal to describe the essence of democracy as “liberal democracy,” while others will arbitrarily call it informed or enlightened democracy. In my opinion, the only correct adjective that can be used to describe the essence of democracy is a representative democracy.
Read more: Free and fair elections: Can democracy in Pakistan be resurrected?
After settling on theoretical aspect, let us now apply these concepts to the reality of the practical world, and particularly to the phenomena of nascent democratic movements of the Arab Spring. It’s a fact that the ground realities of the Arab and the Islamic World fall well short of the ideal liberal democratic model of the developed Western World.
Utopian dreamers
However, there is a lot to be optimistic about. When the Arab Spring revolutions occurred in Tunisia, Egypt, Bahrain, and Yemen, and before the Arab Spring turned into an abysmal winter in Libya and Syria, some utopian dreamers were not too hopeful about the outcome of those movements.
The neoliberal, democratic movements of the present times are merely a step in the right direction that will usher the Arab and the Islamic World into an era of relative peace and progress.
Unlike the socialist revolutions of ‘60s and ‘70s, when the visionaries of yore used to have a magic wand of bringing about a fundamental structural change that would culminate into equitable distribution of wealth overnight, the neoliberal, democratic movements of the present times are merely a step in the right direction that will usher the Arab and the Islamic World into an era of relative peace and progress.
The Arab Spring movements have not been led by the likes of Gamal Abdel Nasser’s, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s, Jawahar Lal Nehru’s and other such charismatic messiahs that socialist thinkers are so fond of. But these revolutions have been the grassroots movements of a society in transition from an object, stagnant state towards a dynamic and representative future.
Read more: Did Arab spring revolutions achieve anything except discontent?
It’s a fact that the developing Third World economies with large populations and meager resources cannot be compared to the social democracies of Scandinavia.
Let us be clear about one thing first and foremost: any government – whether democratic or autocratic – would follow the same economic model under the contemporary global political and economic dispensation. It’s a growth-based neoliberal model as opposed to an equality-based socialist model. It’s a fact that the developing Third World economies with large populations and meager resources cannot be compared to the social democracies of Scandinavia.
A question arises that what would the Arab Spring movements have accomplished if the resultant democratic governments would have followed the same old neoliberal and growth-centered economic policies? It should be kept in mind here that democracy is not the best of systems because it is the most efficient system of governance. Top-down autocracies are much more efficient than democracies.
Read more: Waiting for Nasser in the Persian Gulf
True democracy
Immanuel Kant sagaciously posited that moral autonomy produces moral responsibility and social maturity. This social axiom can also be applied to politics and governance. Political autonomy and self-governance engender political responsibility and social maturity.
Democracy is a representative political system. It brings about a grassroots social change. Enfranchisement, representation, transparency, accountability, checks and balances, rule of law and consequent institution-building, nation-building and consistent long term policies, political stability and social prosperity are the fruits of representative democracy.
Read more: Pakistan in the last decade: Democracy, Corruption, or Development?
Arab spring movements
We must not expect from the Arab Spring movements to produce results immediately.
A top-down political system is dependent on the artificial external force that keeps it going. The moment that external force is removed, the society reverts back to its previous state and the system collapses. But a grassroots and the bottom-up political system evolves naturally and intrinsically. We must not expect from the Arab Spring movements to produce results immediately. Bear in mind that the evolution of the Western culture and politics happened over a course of many centuries.
Read full article .......
Is democracy consistent with Islam?
