There are two main definitions of what constitutes an Islamic democracy:
- A democratic state where the majority of the population is Muslim.
- A democratic state which endeavours to institute Sharia (traditional Islamic law).
For example, Turkey falls into the first category, being mainly Muslim, but with a separation of religion and state as attempted by Kemal Atatürk and his followers. A list of other such democracies is given below.
The compatibility of Islam and democracy
Most Islamic democracies fall under the first definition, leading many analysts to dismiss the compatibility of Islam with democracy. The arguments for this position include: Islam and secularism are opposite forces; theocracy is incompatible with democracy; and Muslim culture lacks the liberal social attitudes of democratic societies.
Counter arguments to these points assert that this attitude presuppose democracy as a static system which only embraces a particular type of social and cultural system, namely that of the post-Christian West.
Muslim democrats argue that the Qu'ran insists on shura, that is "mutual consultation", in deciding communal affairs (Aal `Imran 3:159, Ash-Shura 42:38), which 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 an religious authority is not the same as rule by a representative of Allah.
Nonetheless, another argument against Islamic democracy in practice is that some democratic governments in Islamic states are not homegrown, but imposed by the west, such as Afghanistan, and the nascent post-Baathist regime in Iraq.
Sunni and Shia traditions
The Sunni tradition, as opposed to the Shia, has tended away from Ayatollah type religious leaders, and the establishment of a religious class that is believed to have special access to divine will. Sunnis argue the Qu'ran warns against the establishment of a religious class. Furthermore, Sunnis believe that after the Prophet Muhammad there is no one who has direct access to God’s will, and therefore no one person or group has the legitimacy or authority to claim a pope- or priesthood-like status in the Muslim community.
Other issues
Islamic democratic regimes have the same human rights issues as any other democracies, but some matters which may cause friction include appeasing anti-democratic Islamic radicals, non-Muslim religious minorities, the role of Islam in state education (especially with regard to Sunni and Shia traditions), women's rights, and similar matters. Nontheless, Islamic feminism does exist.
In addition, while some Islamic democracies ban alcohol outright, as it is against the religion, other governments allow the individual to choose whether to trangress Islam themselves. In these instances, while the act will be considered wrong by strict Muslims, the penalty is seen to be a spiritual not a worldly one.
Many of the states of the former Soviet Union, including Russia have significant Muslim populations. They are mainly concentrated in the south of the region, to the east of the Black Sea. The democratic status of many of these states, such as the Ukraine and those in Central Asia, is very controversial, and the Soviet Union itself was also officially an atheist state. The resurgence of Islam, the break up of the Soviet Union and the attempts to introduce democracy all occurred within the same few years, and represented a huge upheaval, and not always a peaceful one.
Russia's wars in majority Muslim Chechnya and Afghanistan have also strained relations in both Russia, and the other former Soviet states where there are significant Russian minorities. In some of the states, democracy has been seen as a western import, and has fallen to the same post-Soviet backlash as Communism has.
Examples of Islamic democracies
In the following list, countries designated "Islamic democracies" are those which have an Islamic majority, but are generally considered to be democratic. However, the political climate in some of them has varied greatly in recent years.
Until the recent Coups d'état, Pakistan and the Gambia were also considered democracies, and there are significant Islamic minorities in many other democratic countries as diverse as Benin, France, Germany, India, the United States.
At present it is thought that only 38% of the world's countries are electoral democracies, with many non-Islamic democracies, especially those in Latin America, also going through times of upheaval.
External Links
- Islamic Democracies (article) http://www.beliefnet.com/story/125/story_12584_1.html
- Preview of the Seoul Conference on The Community of Democracies: Challenges and Threats to Democracy http://www.ccd21.org/conferences/wwconf_transript2.htm
- The Muslim's world future is freedom http://www.enterstageright.com/archive/articles/0503/0503afterjihad.htm Book review, with some controversial content.
- National Union for Democracy in Iran http://en.nufdi.org/
