Islam and Democracy

Submitted by Ghulam Muhammed (India), Feb 8, 2011 at 00:44

It is surprising that while Pipes is willing to give time to Islam to absorb 'democracy', he is not willing to give any time for Sharia to interact with people and come out with more compatible solutions. Sharia is not monolithic. It is evolving; though its fundamentals are unchanging. As a matter of fact, a lot in Sharia is common to both Judaism and Christianity. Changes in Judeo-Christian laws have not been universally reformist. A big chunk of corruption now prevailing in the world can be directly attributed to such changes.

Sharia with its basics intact should be considered as a reform movement to cleanse Judeo-Christian society of its various aberrations, introduced in the name of modernity. The historical pendulum swings between rights and duties, while prohibitions are not only ignored but exploited to cater to the bestiality of human waywardness. The biggest loss engendered by modernity is the spiritual content of religious experience. That loss cannot be compensated without opening a line of communication to the human need to belong to a higher being, accepting that humans have but limited power to comprehend the universe around us.

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