‘Islamic-Democracy' is oxymoronic

Submitted by Oliver (United States), Apr 17, 2008 at 12:53

Dr. Pipes,

I respect you very much as I do believe your intentions are directed toward the betterment of all of human society and that is indeed commendable. But I do find your assessment of the viability of a juncture of Islam and Democracy to be overly optimistic.

Islam means ‘submission'.

Submission: "an act of referring to a third party for judgment or decision", "a lowering, sinking, yielding", sense of "humble obedience", to be "inclined to submit".

As you posit, Islam "Developed over a millennium ago, it presumes autocratic rulers and submissive subjects, emphasizes God's will over popular sovereignty".

Democracy: "government by the common people; a form of government in which the supreme power is vested in the common people and exercised directly by them or by their elected agents under a free electoral system".

The concept of ‘Islamic-Democracy' is oxymoronic. To be Islamic a government and the people must be Submissive to Allah. To be Democratic a government must be Submissive to the Common People. In order for Muslim people to embrace Democracy they must usurp from Islam the authority to govern themselves – this would render them no longer Muslim (submitted to Allah).

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