Islam Vs Democracy
Islam
Islam is a religion whose followers believe in one God. The members of this monotheistic religion are called Muslims and they believe that their purpose in life is to worship God. Muslims follow the rules set out by Allah (God) in the Qur’an (Holy Book), and those which were taught to them by the Prophet Muhammad, the messenger of Allah’s word through the Sunnah and Hadith; that is the actions and sayings of the Prophet.
Unlike previous and other religions, Islam has a set of laws that comprehensively control the affairs of both the individual and society. It has a set of laws for the ruling and economic systems, which were followed for centuries in the Islamic empire. This empire has its origins in Makkah early in the 7th century and had extended through the Arabian Peninsula into the east and west by the 8th century.
Democracy
Democracy is a ruling system followed by most countries in the world today. Under it the people are given the sovereignty to make the laws for their country. Democracy is famously defined as ‘rule by the people, for the people, from the people’. In this system the people exercise their power both directly through referendums and indirectly by choosing political representatives through a process of free elections.
Democracy developed through a desire to reject the absolute rule of kings and to transfer power to the people, based on the ideas of Greek and Roman philosophy and politics. A democratic government is defined by a series of elements such as the people’s right to choose and replace their ruling government through free elections, their right to participate in politics, their right to protection of their freedoms and equality before the law. If any of these elements are missing from the ruling system of a country then it can be found to be undemocratic.
Islam vs Democracy
Today there is a growing support worldwide for the Islamic political system, and this increase in support has fueled a growing argument regarding the compatibility of Islam and democracy. Those who argue that Islam is compatible with democracy base it on the idea that they both allow the people to choose their rulers through an election process.
However, those who disagree have pointed out that the very basis of the two systems is widely different. Both systems disagree on the idea of sovereignty, that is who has the right to make the laws for the people. Under Islam this is a right given to God, while Democracy gives this right to man, and it is argued that it is this fundamental difference that makes the two ruling systems incompatible.
Islam vs Democracy is an ongoing discussion carried at all levels of society.