Islam and Decomcracy

Islam and democracy,
Why there is no Democratic government in the Muslim countries?
Let us first clear some of the misunderstandings about Islam before addressing the topic.
Islam finds its root from two sources, “Taslim” i.e. submission or surrender and “Salam” meaning peace. As a complete and integrated ideology, Islam covers both the relationship of man and his creator and the relationship of human beings with themselves or human relationship with the universe.
The relationship of mankind with his creator is total or absolute submission. This is the essential meaning of Islam and it is not confined to the faith that was revealed through Mohammad. He was the last of the chain of many prophets, who were also called Muslims, none was distinguished from the other and they all delivered the exact same message. (1)
Those prophets who came after Abraham (Ebrahim) including Muhammad were addressed to follow the creed of their forefather. (2)
The Qura’n uses the same term “Muslim” for many prophets, those whose names are mentioned like Adam, Noah, Salih, Lute, Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Moses, Jesus, Mohammad and all those that are not mentioned in the book. (3)
The Qura’n addresses the believers, the Jews, Christians, Zoroastrians and all others who believe in God and do good deed, that they will be rewarded and should have no fear and no grievance. (4) Islam is the religion for entire universe. All creatures, visible and invisible (Jinn) are willingly and unwillingly are submitted to His will. (5) Man was exempted, when he was gifted with free will and wisdom. He/she had the choice to accept or reject, even the religion itself. This is how the foundation of our freedom, individual and social responsibility, critical thinking, human rights and democracy was established. He further left the monitor within us (Self consciousness) to guard our behavior and gave us Knowledge so we can use it wisely to find our way. Then to every nation, at different periods he sent His messengers as the reminders and models, like lighthouses to illuminate our way. (6)

But God did not want us as passive obedient. As is mentioned in the Qura’n, in symbolic story of Adam and Eve, which is the same in other scriptures, the first reaction of the couple was to rebel, but later to find their mistake after receiving the knowledge and choosing to repent. (7)
So it is not a surprise to see that Qura’n says “Religion the eyes of God is Islam”. (8)
The universe is created as Muslim. Human embryo is shaped by Him and delivered at term by as a Muslim, which is the faith of every infant, and child who then have to choose their faith at maturity. (9) Religion is not in the genes, not inherited, not intimated and not familial. In selecting one’s faith. The Qura’n teaches us not to follow the belief of our parents if you do not see them on right path and they do not use their wisdom. (10)
Religion is sensed, learned and experienced. Not two people, even the identical twins, will have the same concept of God, purpose of life and the world vision. In fact, in every individual, at different stages of life these concepts will change. Belief is a dynamic phenomenon that is constantly variable. How often we see that an observation, experience or incident has changed some ones belief and the entire life.
We are created not to believe the same. After all peoples belief is in their mind and there heart. Wherein we have no access to see or measure the religion or the degree of their religiosity. We can only see people’s action, not even knowing their intention. Our judgment as to their deed is also limited to our perception, interpretation and many other factors. (11)
The Qura’n tells the believers, not to tease or humiliate those who do not believe and not to be arrogant if you think you are among the believers. (12). Qura’n advises the prophet no to feel sad if the people reject the message and speed on their wrong path. (13) God says if He wanted, would have sent a sign to bend the neck of unbelievers and make them all believe the same. (14)
None of the prophets used the force, prison or punishment for those who rejected the faith. Noah could not save his son. Lute could not change his wife, Abraham only felt sorry for his father. Moses came to save his people form the oppression and slavery of Egyptian Pharos but the same people rejected him, living him in the desert and asking him to go and see his God. Jesus came to spread love and mercy but his companions ran away, the day the saw him being taken to the cross.
His own family tortured Mohammad and his closest companion. The Jews and Christians were among the first people to join him in Medina, when the Muslim were few and new immigrants. None of the prophets was holy and neither were any of their companions. They were all ordinary people. They were mostly illiterate and poor people. They called people to worship their creator and they were not to be worshiped.

As for the second part of meaning of Islam, “Salam” it defines the relationship among human beings, not only the Muslims. This is the first interaction and greeting of two people Muslim or non-Muslim. It means peace and justice that entails tolerance and mercy. The Muslims are not to fight with each other. Permission is given to them to engage the non-Muslims only if they are threatened by latter. (15)
The source and goal of religion, i.e. all faiths, is love and mercy. It is to establish peace and security within each person and with the society and nature. The to fight in the name of or for the sake of religion, it is a total falsehood. The reasons behind the bloodshed of the past or present Crusaders, is all fake and not the faith.
Democracy is a political term meaning, a government by the people or the rule of majority. The meaning is some time expanded to cover having free media, freedom of speech, equal opportunity etc.
Islam does not specify or recommend any especial form of government. Most of the prophets had no leadership role but some have been in position of kings especially among the children of Jacob. Moses had a general leadership with his brother Aaron, but did not have a government.
Jesus prophecy was quite short and acted mostly as a spiritual leader. Mohammad had a very special form of state when he was in Medina. In a multi Tribal community, he was involved in most functions of his small community. He assigned people for different tasks at different times. He had eyes on individual member of his community. He consulted his people on major issues especially when they were to engage in the battles. When he died, left no established organization, did not assign any one for leadership. Obviously his prophecy was not replaceable, but his companions selected, the oldest and long-term companion of him, as his successor. He lasted for a short period and three successor Caliphs were all assassinated and for a short period after the fourth caliph the format changed to kingdom and then again to caliphate. With all the expansion and heroism, that was the political agenda of different caliphates, with little exception they were mostly corrupted. Even though Islamic territory had expanded to a vast area .The entire Middle East, most part of Africa, part of the east and even west Europe, Russia, Asia and Far East were the Islamic territory. Today the biggest Muslim country is Indonesia. The remnant of empire was defeated in Turkey and countries were divided into small pieces. This fractionation was not limited to the geographical territory but they highlighted minor differences among Islamic sects, to further damage their unity. Muslims on the other hand, being depressed and humiliated, lost their contact with the Qura’n, the source of their strength and unity and ended up in today’s chaos. We have all kinds of governments in the Muslim lands. Some still in tribal format, mostly are a hidden dictatorship, under false names of Democratic, with possible exception of Malaysia that is close to democracy. And yet a newly invented system of government, by Khomeini, called “Velayate Faqeeh” was established in Iran, wherein bunch of Mullahs, with Faros mentality, claim to be the representatives of God, having an ideology that is totally alien to Islam of Qura’n. They have done the worst to Islam and Muslims in the last thirty years. Unfortunately those who are not able to tolerate democratic movement in this part of the world, mostly support them.

Iranian people had three revolutions in less than hundred years. First was the “Parliamentarian Movement” or “ Mashrooteh Revolution” that was defeated by the British and their allies, when they brought Reza Pahlavi to power, through a codetta. Next was the “Nationalization of Oil” by Late Dr. Mossadeq that was over thrown by US backed codetta in 1953. The last king, Mohammad Reza, was brought back to power. And lastly the Democratic Revolution in 1979 that forced the Shah out of the country and put an end to near 2500 years of kingdom and dictatorship in Iran.
Unfortunately the revolution was high jacked by the Mullahs. Most of the intellectuals found themselves being deceived by Khomeini’s false promises. Once again her allies and US could not see the Democratic movement in the area. So in a two-stage codetta, first forced the transitional government of Bazargan (16) to resign, by the dirty trick of hostage taking and then by secret negotiations with the Mullahs to expel Banisadr, the first democratically elected president after the revolution, now in exile in France. (17) Those negotiators are now in power. Their ruling has forced more than a million of the most educated professionals and business managers to leave the country and hundreds of thousand of Iranian lost their lives or became disabled from eight years nonsense fighting of two Muslim neighbors.

Islam wishes liberty and justice for all and not for a specific nation or parts of the planet. While we may be required to apply for citizenship, when migrating from one country to the other, but we all hold the citizenship of the same planet, no matter which part of it we were born. Therefore we should exercise our rights for voting not only for the local government but also in major decision-makings for the world affairs. This idea was the principle of having Assembly of the United Nations. However by considering the right of Veto for few big nations and inefficacy of its resolutions, when it comes to the big powers or those small ones with special interest, it is becoming a useless foundation.

The idea of separation of church and the state that is considered in Christianity does not apply to Islam, where as there is no state in Christianity, there is no church in Islam. A Muslim can be part of the government in a majority Muslim country or non-Muslim country. Non-Muslims have the same right. There is not such thing as “ Islamic Government”. The Qura’n and scriptures are the books of guidance for those who believe in them. People may benefit by considering some of their religious principles in writing their local constitutions, but they should not replace each other. Here are some facts about the position of leadership in Islam,

- The concept of “Shura” or consultation is being exercised in the early Islamic Society, even among the tribal communities. Every one has only one vote and no more power or privilege. Furthermore, while the vote of majority is counted, for certain major issues a unanimous agreement is encouraged.
- In Islam the ruler is elected for certain period and is the employee of the nation.
- The positions are held by those most qualified. And is conditional. People have the right to give mandate and the right to withdraw it at any time.
- The ruler is not hostage to the special interest groups, the elite or nobility.
- Community volunteer work is highly encouraged for every Muslim. Some have considered this as a duty or religious obligation.
Now that we have explained Islam and agreed that there is not much of a democratic regime in so called Islamic countries, and we also gave some of the reasons for it, we should ask those who phrase the question of lack of democracy in Islam, to further humiliate the Muslims, do they see a true democracy in other parts of the planet? How much the practice of current western democracy meets the criteria of true democracy. May we ask where are the Christian or Jewish countries? Is there a true democracy in those nations? In our most civilized, most educated, wealthy and diverse nation on earth, the United States, wherein people seems to be having more freedom than many part of the world, do we really have a democratic regime. What percentage of those eligible, will vote for different elections, including the presidency? If our repeated statistic shows this being much less than one third of qualified voters, have we asked why? Are we concerned that the elected candidate is not representing the majority. Was this not the basic principle of Democracy? Have we asked why the candidates have to spend millions of Dollars for their campaigns to get the peoples vote? Who pays for all these expenses and what for? Is it not the duty of each citizen to deeply search and study about their candidates, in their everyday life, rather than the media, pressure groups and lobbyists, who during the short period before the elections, advertise for those candidate of their interest? Where is the democracy, wherein millions of citizens and their delegates vote but the candidate for the highest rank of responsibility and world leadership, is selected by the court order! Is the selected candidate the most qualified for the position, in the country that is blessed to have hundred of thousands of the most brilliant minds and experts in many fields? Have we thought of having special classes or schools for training proper officers for the leadership position? Finally may we ask how much this democracy has brought stability, peace and security for our citizens? Why are we living in such high level of debt and anxiety, depression and fear of terror? And how long this is going last?
I am concern as a citizen. Please do not get angry and do not tell me “Love it or leave it”. Be patient, think of a third alternative “ stay and change it”. I came here more than forty years ago, escaping from the dictatorship where I was born. I came with my Doctorate in Medicine as a physician, researcher, educator and a healer. My children are all born here. This is my home and my country as much as may be yours. “My home is where my grand children are going to play and not where my grand mother was born.” I love my neighbors, my patients and my new home. I want to see them in peace and happiness. I respect them as human and expect to be treated like one.
“Salaam” Peace be upon you. May 2008 Ali Behzadnia, M.D.
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(1) Qura’n 26: 67, 68, 103, 104, 121,123, 139, 140
(2) Qura’n 22:78
(3) Qura’n 2: 133-139
(4) Qura’n 2:62
(5) Qura’n 62: 1 64: 1 87:1
(6) Qura’n 6: 104-106, 88: 22
(7) Qura’n 2: 28-35
(8) Qura’n 3:19,83,85
(9) Qura’n 3: 6
(10) Qura’n 29:8, 31:14-15
(11) Qura’n 53:30, 10:108
(12) Qura’n 4:171, 5:77
(13) Qura’n 3:176, 5:41
(14) Qura’n 26:4
(15) Qura’n 22:39
(16) Bazargan was a Professor of Engineering, Muslim Scholar, founder of Iranian Liberation
Movement and head of the first Transitional Government of Iran, after the Iranian Revolution.
He asked people to vote for Democratic Republic of Iran, but Khomeini said “Islamic Republic with no addition”!
(17) Is my turn to speak, Iran, the revolution and Secret Deals with the U.S. by Banisadr former President of Iran. McMillan Publishing Co. USA, 1991.