hi

1068 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: The importance of Islam

The third argument that Irfan Ahmad highlights is that instead of discussing how Islam is not compatible with democracy, we need to discuss how the West “de-democratized” Muslim states instead. It is possible that the dominant democracy has been harsh to Muslims. So why has democracy been so weak in the Muslim world? This is a huge question due to the promotion of democracy about the Middle East. For example, the Middle East would need a benevolent promoter like the United States of America for it to be compatible with democracy. That is why it is better to discuss the de-democratization instead. Where Bernard believed that the Muslim culture was the reason for the absence of democracy, Lewis disagrees. His point is more acceptable in terms of democratization. It is the power of the West that causes the Middle East to be undemocratic. An example of this would be how people rebelled against the Prime Minister of Iran in 1953. Mosaddeq was the Prime Minister of Iran who was democratically elected from 1951 to 1953. Iran surrendered and let go of democracy just to serve the national interest of the Unites States and the United Kingdom. Another classic example of this would be during the year of 1974 to 2005 in Bahrain, where democracy was being prevented and ruined.
Unlike the typical tradition of the West, the opposite of dictatorship in Islam is justice, not liberty. Ahmad looks at this form an anthropological point of view in which he talks about India’s “Jamaat-e-Islami”. At fist, they opposed democracy however they ended up accepting it and democracy was strengthened. Abul Ala Maududi was the founder of Jamaat-e-Islami. He predicted that the future of Pakistan would consist of infidel Muslims. According to him, the democratic ...

... middle of paper ...

...e democracy. It may produce less ruthless dictators but it will certainly not produce democracy. In general, change that is unforced is much better than change that is sudden and obligatory. Even democratic countries in the West such as the Unites States of America were once absent of democracy. For example they had issues of slavery and disqualification of women. So there was neither freedom nor justice. Nonetheless, after a great deal of time and progress, democratic progress occurred.
To conclude, democracy will not be able to evolve in the Islamic world if many aspects remain unchanged. However before analyzing Islamic culture, life-style and past history, an agreeable definition of “democracy” must be agreed upon. The central issue is that no undisputable definition exists because of the significant paradoxes, irresolvable doubts and contradictions it contains.

Show More
Related

  • Education in Colonial History

    805 Words  | 2 Pages

    Before that can be established, I think a definition of democracy should be stated so that it may be called upon later in this essay. According to the American Heritage Dictionary, democracy is stated as "the principle of social equality and respect for the individual within a community" .

    Read More

  • Schumpeter Capitalism Socialism And Democracy

    1135 Words  | 3 Pages

    This Journal entry by Plattner, just like Fukuyama’s, He defines the meaning of Democracy and explores its relationship with the democratic system. But unlike Fukuyama’s entry where he is not in favor of democracy, Plattner in his defined both democracy and governance in an unbiased point of view. Although he adds on his personal views, his unbiased statement is prevalent which makes his entry a good source of reference because he not only provides information but because of his purely formal way of studying democracy and its relationship towards governance and which serves as a guide to an unbiased

    Read More

  • Illiberal Democracy

    900 Words  | 2 Pages

    Fareed Zakaria’s The Rise of Illiberal Democracy expresses the views he has on the differences between liberal democracy and illiberal democracy, and which one causes civil war. He also explains how both types of democracy go hand in hand with other in the formation of the United State government and it constitution. Zakaria also talks about how majority of the countries in the world are democratic, but majority of which are an illiberal democracies. His ideals could also be reflected during the civil rights movement.

    Read More

  • Is the EU Democratic?

    1496 Words  | 3 Pages

    In making this argument this essay seeks to five things. Firstly, to define democracy within the contemporary context offering the key characteristics of a modern re...

    Read More

  • Thomas Hobbes and Modern Liberalism

    1498 Words  | 3 Pages

    Diamond, L. (2004, January 21). What is Democracy. What is Democracy. Stanford, California, United States of America: Stanford University. Retrieved from http://www.stanford.edu/~ldiamond/iraq/WhaIsDemocracy012004.htm

    Read More

  • Plato's Criticism of Democracy

    1688 Words  | 4 Pages

    One of the contemporary definitions of democracy today is as follows: “Government by the people, exercised either directly or through elected representatives; Rule by the majority” (“Democracy” Def.1,4). Democracy, as a form of government, was a radical idea when it manifested; many governments in the early history of the world were totalitarian or tyrannical in nature, due to overarching beliefs that the strong ruled over the weak.

    Read More

  • Does Democracy Work?

    849 Words  | 2 Pages

    In comparing the average citizen in a democratic nation, say the United States, to that of a non-democratic nation, for instance Egypt, it will be found that the citizen in the democratic nation is generally better off – free of persecution, free from fear of the authorities, and free to express his opinions on governmental matters. And while national conflicts occur everywhere, incidents like violent revolts have shown to be more prevalent in nations where citizens are not allowed to choose who governs them. It is slightly paradoxical that democracy, so inherently flawed in theory, can lead to such successful outcomes in practice. The question, then, becomes: “If democracy has so many weaknesses, why does it work?”

    Read More

  • DEMOCRACY AND DEVELOPMENT

    2269 Words  | 5 Pages

    There have been enormous efforts to spread democracy as a political system throughout the world by the developed democratic countries and the international development organizations including the World Bank. By the late 1990s the United States alone spent over a half billion dollars to promote democratic expansion throughout the world (Diamond, 2003). These were done considering that the democratic system leads towards development. As a result in the late 20th century we saw a huge political transformation towards democracy. During the last few decades a huge number of countries adopted democracy as their political system. However, it retain a big question how far democracy is successful in bringing development of a country? At this stage, some people also criticizes the effort of democratization arguing that it is done without considering the context of a country, sometimes democracy is not ideal for all countries and it is an effort to extinct diversity of political system. In studying the literature regarding the debate, we found a paradoxical relationship between democracy and development. Some argue that democracy has failed to ensure expected outcomes in terms of development. While others confronted that democracy has a considerable impact on development. Another group of people argue that form of political system actually does not have any impact on development process. On the verge of these debates, some development institutions and academics throw light on why democracy is not working properly, and what measure should be taken to make it more successful in bringing effective development of developing countries. Consequently, this writing is an effort of revisiting the different views about impact of democra...

    Read More

  • The Paradox of Choice

    1711 Words  | 4 Pages

    Human history is pock-marked with innumerable wars and revolutions. The cause for most of the revolutions has been the choice of freedom. The opportunity to live a life without physical, mental or emotional restrictions has been and still is of supreme importance to man. This has resulted in the most widely followed discipline of political governance: Democracy.

    Read More

  • Democracy in China

    3306 Words  | 7 Pages

    Democracy is “...the word that resonates in people’s minds and springs from their lips as they struggle for freedom and a better way of life...” (Schmitter and Karl, 1991:75). However, the word democracy has many different means depending on the country and context it is used in. “Every country has is own culture and comes by its political system through its own history” (Greenberg, 2007:101, cited in Li, 2008:4). Li, (2008) states that because of China’s political structure the usual road to democracy may be difficult for it to achieve. The western idea ...

    Read More

  • Democracy in Latin America

    2755 Words  | 6 Pages

    Firstly, K. Isbester mentions that democracy has a different meaning for everyone, as some can define democracy as a good aspect for development, on the contrary other believe that it is nothing more than voting after several years. Although, Latin America see democratic g...

    Read More

  • Swift's Model Of Democracy

    1881 Words  | 4 Pages

    Democracy is robust, widely accepted and highly anticipated around the world. It is the triumphant form of government; dominantly used in Europe, North and South and America and becoming reformed and taking new roots in Africa and Asia. Although the term democracy is based on its Greek origin, demos kratos, meaning people rule, the term cannot be simply understood as such. Due to vast coverage, the adaptation of democracy has varied greatly, whether regionally, nationally, by state or through different branches of government. Perhaps this can be advantageous when the different categorizations listed above can use democracy to rule and suit themselves best, but other factors, such as globalization and neoliberalism, has caused the need for

    Read More

  • Are political Islam and Democracy Compatible?

    2175 Words  | 5 Pages

    ... both establish the oneness of God and to reflect the interests of people. Most of these are core democratic values. There is no prohibition for mankind, the thinkers, and their leaders to think about forms and other means, perhaps a new way that will lead to a better and ideal Islamic society on par with the modern age. However, to simplify the matter and realize them into human reality, we see that we have to take some things from the ways of democracy to pursue justice, consultation, respect for human rights, and stand against the tyranny of the arrogant rulers in advance this earth. Taking everything into consideration, we can say that, although the term “democracy” alludes to different interpretations, it is not so foreign to Islam; Islam doesn’t reject democracy as a political structure and as a concept of freedom (except its concept of sovereignty of one God.

    Read More

  • Why Democracy is the Best Form of Government

    1173 Words  | 3 Pages

    Throughout history different types of instrumental regimes have been in tact so civilizations remained structured and cohesive. As humanity advanced, governments obligingly followed. Although there have been hiccups from the ancient times to modern day, one type of government, democracy, has proven to be the most effective and adaptive. As quoted by Winston Churchill, democracy is the best form of government that has existed. This is true because the heart of democracy is reliant, dependent, and thrives on the populaces desires; which gives them the ability for maintaining the right to choose, over time it adjusts and fixes itself to engulf the prominent troubling issues, and people have the right of electing the person they deem appropriate and can denounce them once they no longer appease them. In this paper, the benefits of democracy are outlined, compared to autocratic communism, and finally the flaws of democracy are illustrated.

    Read More

  • Democracy as the Best Form of Government

    1166 Words  | 3 Pages

    Democracy has come to mean a principle under whose flag has most of the developed countries aced in their race for Imperialism. It has gone beyond all previous governing systems and has made room for progress and development. By offering free and fair elections, democracy has redefined human dignity and patriotism. It has also helped to improve decision-making among the citizens, and brought down the crime level. Democracy is for sure the most fitting among the other types of government, and needs to be implemented fully for effective functioning of a state.

    Read More

More about hi

Open Document