Islam and democracy

Submitted by Naushad Omar (South Africa), Jun 22, 2011 at 13:53

The people are desperate for freedom. They wont tolerate another dictatorship, whether, secular or islamic. Any islamic system will have to be democratic. Shariah is democratic in that there are 4 schools of thought i.e. hanafi, shafi, maliki and hanbali. The doors of ijtihaad were closed in the 8th century to prevent too many schools of thought. Now sit with the challenge of integrating re-opening these doors and modernizing shariah. I will promise you in the west, you will be pleasantly surprised. The arabs are in no mood for an iranian style theocracy. What they want is the individual accountability which is enshrined in the islamic system. There is a verse which says: "Elect a party of people to promote good and forbid evil, they are the ones to attain felicity". Party democracy predicted in the Koran but implemented by the west.

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