This paper proposes a short apprehension of the reflections of one of the most important progressive islamic scholars, the egyptian theologian ali abderraziq. Islam, democracy, and constitutional liberalism researchgate. His broadmindedness and liberalism towards islam was explicitly manifested in the official islamic policy pursued during the first half of his regime from 1958 to 1965 when he governed the country in an authoritarian manner. In between the extremes, in a number of countries where muslims are a majority, many muslims believe that islam is a support for democracy even though their particular political system is not explicitly defined as islamic.
It focuses on his work about islam and the fundamentals of power, published in 1925. Islam, democracy, and constitutional liberalism zakaria 2004. That a candidate however selected cannot take legitimate authority without a majority of the people confirming him in office. Most analyses of indonesian islam end at this normatively celebrated juncture. To acknowledge the compatibility between democracy and islam, the proponents of this approach use democracy as a governance manner, and make reference to the compatibility of islamic fundamentals such as shoura consultation, ijmae, ijteihad, etc. In modern times, liberalism has been associated with a.
Muslims are not betraying islam in embracing liberal democracy. Islam in liberalisms stated goal is to understand how islam became so central to liberalism as ideology and identity, indeed how liberalism as the antithesis of islam became one of the key components of the very discourse through which europe as a modern identity was conjured up. Where islam and democracy part ways harvard university. Dec 12, 2011 muslims are not betraying islam in embracing liberal democracy mustafa akyol. Jul 15, 2003 islam and democracy the lack of democracy in many muslim nations around the world gained greater public attention in the west following the 911 terrorist attacks. Less than a quartercentury ago, democracy appeared to be confined, with a few exceptions, to north america and western europe. Constitutional order a mild legal pluralism linda c. Islam in a constitutional democracy public forum one opening address, 3 keynote speeches, 12 paper presenters and a closing address featuring this twoday forum aims to address the continuing and unresolved disputes on the position and application of islamic laws within our constitutional democracy and propose the.
The crisis of secular liberalism and the constitutional state in. Democracy brought together four prominent muslim americans who represent a range of progressive political viewpoints to ask them about the progressive roots of islam, how the religion might revive those more liberal traditions, the extent to which muslims and nonmuslims should criticize islam, and more. Drawing on archival documents, ethnographic observation, comparative political theory, and an original survey, islam and democracy in indonesia demonstrates that indonesias muslim leaders favor a democracy in which individual rights and groupdifferentiated rights converge within a system of legal pluralism, a vision at odds with american. A main proposition of this study is that instead of repeating the cliche that islam is compatible with democracy, the focus should be on how is democracy compatible with islam and thus how. Islam, democracy, and constitutional liberalism zakaria. Illiberal democracy at home and abroad, is being translated into fifteen languages.
Islam and democracy the lack of democracy in many muslim nations around the world gained greater public attention in the west following the 911 terrorist attacks. Sep 21, 2009 benhenda, mostapha, liberal democracy and political islam. Jeremy menchiks data rich and insightful book, islam and democracy in indonesia. While many analysts believe that religious diversity in developing countries is an impediment to liberal.
Liberalism and progressivism within islam wikipedia. The islamic tradition contains a number of key concepts that are presented by muslims as the key to islamic democracy. The new turkey under akp rule has missed a historic opportunity to prove that liberal democracy could work in a muslim country. Jun 03, 2015 what history says about the prospects for islamic democracy a view of the sultan ahmed mosque, better known as the blue mosque, in the historic sultanahmet district of istanbul, turkey, sunday. What this vantage point ignores, however, is that the inclusion of islamic actors changes the political system while it fosters their moderation. Islam and democracy eliane ursula ettmueller abstract. Islams path to the west, hirsi ali now maintains, can be.
According to encyclopedia britannica, democracy literally means. Also, the law of one person, one vote is essential to democracy but heretical to islam. Liberalism and progressivism within islam involve professed muslims who have created a considerable body of liberal thought about islamic understanding and practice. Ddeemmooccrraaccyy iinn iissllaamm by hassan taha the aware center is a nonprofit ngo that offers facilities and services related to kuwaiti, gulf, arab and islamic culture. The principal questions addressed were why the majority of muslim countries are not democratic and whether there is an inherent contradiction or incompatibility between islam and democratic principles. Islam and democracy muslim world residents see no conflict between religious principles and democratic values by dalia mogahed, executive director, the gallup center for muslim studies islam in politics has been asserted in many countries in the muslim world through democratic elections. The idea and concept of islamic democracy has been accepted by many iranian clerics, scholars and intellectuals. Contemporary islamic political thought has become deeply influenced by attempts at reconciling islam and democracy. Liberalism constitutional liberal democr acy standard 12.
Drawing on archival documents, ethnographic observation, comparative political theory, and an original survey, islam and democracy in indonesia demonstrates that indonesias muslim leaders favor a democracy in which individual rights and groupdifferentiated rights converge within a system of legal pluralism, a vision at odds with americanstyle secular government but common in africa, asia and eastern europe. Islam and democracy canadian center of science and. The islamic political order is based on the concept of tawhid and seeks it flowering in the form of popular vicegerency khilafa operating through a mechanism of shura, supported by the principles of equality of humankind, rule of law, protection of human rights including those of minorities, accountability of rulers, transparency of political processes and an overriding concern for justice. Jun 08, 2016 the meaningless politics of liberal democracies. Liberalism, republicanism and the public philosophy of american democracy i introduction political philosophers can be placed on a spectrum according to how they view the relationship between philosophy and social institutions. Islam, democracy, and constitutional liberalism article in political science quarterly 1191. Drawing from research conducted in nigeria, senegal, and uganda, christianity, islam, and liberal democracy offers a deeper understanding of how christian and islamic faith communities affect the political attitudes of those who belong to them and, in turn, prospects for liberal democracy. Fareed zakaria has published articles on democracy and islam in scholarly journals. In this form, the debaters definitions of islam and democracy determine the conclusions arrived at.
Shadi hamid, author of islamic exceptionalism, argues many muslims support a religiousdominated government, but that doesnt equal. The role of tribal dynamics in the libyan future besides the jihadist tide interesting most of the african countries, besides the typical difficulties of a nation that after 40 years of dictatorial regime and a ruinous civil war has to face a rebuilding of the state, another impossible combination of factors seems to paralyze the new libya. The intersection of civil and religious family law in the u. Scholars and policymakers alike, though, face a central problem in understanding political islam and democracy. The west must accept the fact that a sizable chunk of humanity does not regard materialism, individualism, liberalism, progress, and democracy at least in their western guises as universal or desirable.
Most would agree that it is important for muslims not simply to copy what nonmuslims have done in creating democratic systems, emphasizing that there are different forms that legitimate democracy can take. What history says about the prospects for islamic democracy a view of the sultan ahmed mosque, better known as the blue mosque, in the historic sultanahmet district of istanbul, turkey, sunday. At one extreme, a naive a priorism considers social institutions only to the extent that they are. He seeks to understand how anxieties about tyranny, intolerance, misogyny, and homophobia, seen in the politics of the middle east, are projected onto islam itself. Islam, democracy, and constitutional liberalism political science. What history says about the prospects for islamic democracy. In islam, god is sovereign, and his will is expressed in the sharia, the divinely revealed law of islam. Some western analysts contend that islam is the reason. Must fundamentalism win out in the middle east, or will democracy ever be possible. See larry cata backer, theocratic constitutionalism. Egypts autocratic regime is being weakened by economic crises, growing political opposition, and the pressures of globalization.
Islam in liberalism is a timely and important book to read, particularly as it urges us to continue to reflect in new ways not only on the prevalent imperial order, intellectual and militaristic, of spreading and securing democracy and freedom but also on how islam persistently is referenced and used in western countries and in liberal. Their work is sometimes characterized as progressive islam arabic. Islam in a constitutional democracy public forum one opening address, 3 keynote speeches, 12 paper presenters and a closing address featuring this twoday forum aims to address the continuing and unresolved disputes on the position and application of islamic. When the proislamic justice and development party adalet ve kalkinma partisiakp first came to power in 2002, turkey was. The most notable of those who have accepted the theory of islamic democracy is probably irans leader, ayatollah ali khamenei, who mentions islamic democracy as mardomsalarie dini in his speeches. Massad advances this argument by attending to discourses. The most notable of those who have accepted the theory of islamic democracy is probably irans leader, ayatollah ali khamenei, who mentions islamic. In this view, the fatal flaw of democracy is that it rests upon the sovereignty of the people.
The west must accept the fact that a sizable chunk of humanity does not regard materialism, individualism, liberalism, progress, and democracy at least in their western guises. Muslim thinkers who deal with political debates cannot ignore the significance of the democratic system, as it is the prevailing theme of modern western political thought. This paper examines the nexus of constitutionalism and democracy. Zakaria is now editor of newsweek international and a columnist for newsweek. Getting democracy backwards has led to the rise of illiberal democracies, a distinctly modern creation that fareed zakaria documents in his. Abdulkarim soroush argues that to appreciate the significance of the concept of islamic democracy, we need to decouple liberalism and democracy. The meaningless politics of liberal democracies the atlantic. Christianity, islam, and liberal democracy robert a. Many have put forward the example of turkey as the most successful implementation of what islam can entail in a secular democratic polity. Islam, democracy, and social movements the prevailing media and intellectual circles in the west perceive islam at the root of the authoritarian polity in the muslim middle east. Islam, democracy, and constitutional liberalism fareed zakaria reflects on the factors present in the middle east that have provided for the rise of islamic. The proselytizing zeal of liberal democracy and capitalism has rendered them illiberal and intolerant. The tension that is often seen to exist between the ideals of liberalism and of democracy is examined in this paper in light of the distinction between two liberal outlooks at constitutional regimes, namely, on the one side, a liberal constitutionalism that focuses on the need to provide institutional safeguards of individual liberty as private autonomy and, on the other hand, a constitutional. Usually the disagreements are expressed in a standard form.
Professor suleiman obser ved that this was a difficult question to answer. Tolerance without liberalism, is a valuable contribution to the political science scholarship on indonesias particular brand of democracy and religious pluralism. Liberalism, republicanism and the public philosophy of. As an americanmuslim jurist complained in a recent fatwa, democracy gives free reign to the authority of the ummah, and puts no ceiling on it. As a result, some individuals have come to the conclusion that islam and democracy are. My advice, start with mohammed, once you know mohammed you know islam. Mcclain this chapter considers how civil and religious family law intersect in the u. Constitutional liberalism is a form of government that upholds the principles of classical liberalism and the rule of law. Download citation on mar 1, 2004, fareed zakaria and others published islam, democracy, and constitutional liberalism find, read and cite all the research. Others fear that the laws that islamist governments would enact would be so illiberal as to violate the basic norms that underlie democratic representation, participation, and citizenship zakaria 2004. In the following section, i address the general argument that islamic political thought and democracy are incompatible. Voll georgetown university abstract the relationship between islam and democracy is a hotly debated topic. Ibn abd alwahhabs thought can be understood as pivoting19 around one central. Ben affleck has become an unlikely spokesman for a view on islam held by many on the american left.
In this nowclassic book, islamic sociologist fatima mernissi explores the ways in which progressive muslimsdefenders of democracy, feminists, and others trying to resist fundamentalismmust use the same sacred texts as muslims who use them for violent. But there are practical political rather than philosophical reasons for the lack of democracy in muslim societies. Benhenda, mostapha, liberal democracy and political islam. Liberal constitutionalism, constitutional liberalism and. The size and the impact of the islamic element in these combinational. These nations had advanced industrial economies, sizable middle classes, and high literacy ratesfactors that many political scientists regarded as prerequisites for successful democracy. Joseph massads islam in liberalism explores what islam has become in todays world, with full attention to the multiplication of its meanings and interpretations.
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