The Muslim world and democracy
Islam is a religion of peace and co-existence, wherein there is ample scope for freedom of expression. Muslims can express their opinions even if they differ.
Taking a decision in Islam comes through consensus in all important matters, Islam's superiority over other religions lies in the fact that it gives utmost importance to the opinion of the people.
This fact is clearly illustrated in the Quran and the Hadiths. The Quranic verse"Whose affairs are a matter of consultation" (42:38) proves that Islam is based on democracy.
Islam introduced the collective decision within Muslim society, (ijma') or consensus. Consensus has been the most important validation of various decisions within Islam for centuries.
Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) had said:"My people will not agree on a mistake". Binding ijma' authority is based on this saying (hadith). This saying proves that the Muslim world shall adopt the consensus concept.
The consensus mechanism also open to the possibility of public deliberation and debate, so that various developing point of views individually as well as collectively get the opportunity to be heard by people who eventually will achieve consensus. When the majority decision is achieved, all the member of society - Muslim and non Muslim- must attempt to implement it. The initiator, adherent or whoever agrees with the minority view must accept the majority's decision and try to implement it as a consensus.
Prophet Mohammed himself set a tradition by not appointing his successor during his lifetime and left it to the people to decide their leader. The first four Caliphs - Abu Bakr, Umar, Usman and Ali, (may god bless them all) known as the "Enlightened Caliphs" were the choice of the people.
The King Umar-bin Abdul Aziz also qualifies to be enlisted among the enlightened Caliphs because he refused publicly to accept the Kingship on the basis of his nomination by his father. He accepted the kingship only when the people elected him.
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Islam is not against 'change' but it is certainly against 'coercion'. The established Governments should not be replaced by resorting to erroneous methods but by going to the people and making them realize the shortcomings of the prevalent system.
In Islam, people shall vote against the political system if they aren't satisfied with it.
Regarding democracy in the Muslim world currently, Amir Butler
In the immediate aftermath of Sept. 11, 2001, Carly Fiorina, chief executive of Hewlett-Packard, addressing an information-technology conference in Minnesota, spoke of a civilization whose language became the language of much of the world, whose multicultural armies encouraged peace and prosperity, whose commerce extended from the Americas to China and who, driven by invention, gave humanity algebra and algorithms.
That civilization, she told her audience, was Islamic civilization up until the 17th century. It's a civilization that was a long way from the corrupt, despotic regimes that rule over the Muslim societies of today - a civilization of societies steeped in intellectual stagnation and underdevelopment.
After leading the world for a thousand years in the arts and sciences, the Muslim world finds itself languishing at the bottom of world literacy rates. Whereas the Prophet Mohammed let the people choose his successor, those who rule over Muslims today are either presidents-for-life or monarchs.
The system of consultative government employed by the Prophet and his successors has been replaced by the systems of quasi-fascist authoritarianism that characterizes most every country in the Muslim world today.
