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Is Shura a Muslim Form of Democracy? Roots and Systemization of a Polemic

2010; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 46; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/00263200902917085

1743-7881

Uriya Shavit,

Education and Islamic Studies

Abstract The article examines the contemporary debate in Muslim–Arab scholarship as to the compatibility of Islam and Western democracy. This debate centres on interpretations of shura, or consultation. The article claims that Islam, as a body of texts, traditions and practices, does not favour or reject any specific system of government. Rather, four main theories on Islam and democracy compete for hegemony: a theory integrating some aspects of Western democracy with shura and rejecting others; a theory dichotomizing shura and democracy; a theory contending that shura is democracy; and a theory legitimizing exiting political orders by defining them as manifestations of shura. The article examines the historical roots of each of these theories and analyzes the social-political roles they play. Notes 1. Al-Quran, translated by A. Ali (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1993). 2. To note only few examples: J.L. Esposito and J. Piscatori, 'Democratization and Islam', Middle East Journal, Vol.45, No.3 (Summer 1991), pp.427–40; R. al-Solh, 'Islamist Attitudes Towards Democracy: A Review of the Ideas of al-Ghazali, al-Turabi and Amara', British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies, Vol.20, No.1 (1993), pp.57–63; G. Kramer, 'Islamist Notions of Democracy', Middle East Report (July–Aug. 1993), pp.2–8; J.L. Esposito and J.O. Voll, Islam and Democracy (New York: Oxford University Press, 1996). 3. For example, H.I. 'Ali, al-Tayyarat al-Islamiyya wa Qadiyyat al-Dimuqratiyya (Beirut: Markaz Dirasat al-Wahda al-'Arabiyya, Oct. 1996). 4. For example, D. Bukay, 'Can There Be an Islamic Democracy?', Middle East Quarterly, Vol.XIV, No.2 (Spring 2007), pp.71–9. 5. The term Islamists is not applied in this article as a normative definition, but rather as the commonly used heading for individuals and movements who call for the reinstitution of Islam as the sole and comprehensive framework of life and for the resurrection of a united religious-political Muslim nation, but refrain from using violence. 6. On al-Afghani's advocacy of representative government based on shura: Al-A'mal al-Kamila li-Jamal al-Din al-Afghani (Cairo, n.d), pp.473–9. 7. 'Abduh articulated these ideas in three articles he published on 12, 24 and 25 Dec. 1881: 'Fi al-Shura wal-Istibdad' (On Shura and Tyranny), 'Al-Shura' and 'Al-Shura wal-Qanun' (Shura and the Law): M. 'Imara, al-A'mal al-Kamila lil-Imam Muhammad 'Abduh (Beirut: al-Mu'assasa al-'Arabiyya lil-Dirasat wal-Nashr, 1972), pp.350–66. 8. 'A. al-R. al-Kawakibi, 'Taba'i' al-Istibdad wa Masari' al-Isti'bad', in M. 'Imara (ed.), al-A'mal al-Kamila li-'Abd al-Rahman al-Kawakibi (Cairo: n.p., 1970), pp.342–55. 9. M.R. Rida, 'Manfi' al-Urubiyyin wa Madarihum – al-Istibdad', al-Manar, Vol.10 (1907), pp.279–84. 10. E. Tauber, 'The Regime of the Muslim State According to Rashid Rida', HeMizrah HeHadash, Vol.XLI (2000), p.45 (in Hebrew); M.R. Rida, Al-Khilafa (Cairo: al-Zahraa' lil-Ii'lam; al-'Arabi, 1994; first published 1922), pp.38–41. 11. H. al-Banna, 'Nizam al-Hukm', in Majmu'at Rasa'il al-Imam Hasan al-Banna (Beirut: Dar al-Andalus, 1965), pp.358–83; about the need to disband political parties see also p.192. 12. S. Qutb, Nahwa Mujtama' Islami (Beirut and Cairo: Dar al-Shuruq, 2nd edition, 1975), pp.62–3, 68, 136–8; S. Qutb, Ma'rakat al-Islam wal-Ra'smaliyya (Beirut, Cairo and Jeddah: Dar al-Shuruq, 4th edition, 1975), p.86. 13. Qutb, Nahwa Mujtama' Islami, p.141 14. Qutb, Ma'rakat al-Islam wal-Ra'smaliyya, pp.73–4, 84. 15. Ibid., p.72 16. Sayyid Qutb, Ma'alim fi al-Tariq (Dar Dimashq, n.d.), p.3. 17. For this assessment see also H. I'Ali, p. 163. 18. I. Weisman, 'Sa'id Hawwa and Islamic Revivalism in Ba'thist Syria', Studia Islamica, No.85 (1997), p.133. 19. S. Hawwa, Junud Allah (Cairo: Maktabat Wahhaba, 2nd edition, 1995), pp.122–3. 20. The foundations of the concept that exposes an 'organized Western cultural attack' on the Muslim world in other than militaristic means were first laid by Muhammad Rashid Rida and were later developed by Hasan al-Banna. In the 1960s they were popularized by the Egyptian journalist Muhammad Jalal Kishk in a series of books, and since the 1970s they have been a common thread in much of the Arab Islamist writings on the West. For example: Y. al-Qaradawi, Al-Hulul al-Mustawrada wa Kaifa Jannat 'ala Ummatina (Beirut: Mu'assasat al-Risala, first printing 1971, second printing 1974); M.A.A. Marsi, al-Thaqafah … Wal Ghazw al-Thaqafi fi Duwal al-Khalij al-'Arabiyya (Riyadh: Maktabat al-'Ubaykan, 1995); M. 'Imara, al-Ghazw al-Fikri – Wahm am Haqiqa? (Cairo: Dar al-Shuruq, 1997). 21. M. 'Imara, al-Islam wa Huquq al-Insan Darurat La Huquq (Damascus and Cairo: Markaz al-Raya, Dar al-Islam, 2004–5), p.61. The book was first published in 1985. 22. Y. al-Qaradawi, Min Fiqh al-Dawla fi al-Islam (Cairo and Beirut: Dar al-Shuruq, 2001), p.36. 23. M. al-Ghazali, Azmat al-Shura fi al-Mujtama'at al-'Arabiyya wal-Islamiyya (Place of publication and name of publisher not mentioned, Oct. 1990), p.69. 24. 'A.S. Marzuq, al-Ab'ad al-Gha'iba fi Azamat al-Khalij (Misr al-Jadida: al-Markaz al-'Arabi al-Dawli, Jan. 1990), p.13. 25. H. al-Turabi, Qadiyyat al-Huriyya wal-Wahda, Al-Shura wal Dimuqratiyya, al-Din wal-Fann (Jeddah: al-Dar al-Saudiyya lil-Nashr wal-Tawzi', 1987), p.52 26. Ibid., pp.53, 54, 56, 66, 69. 27. Al-Qaradawi, Min Fiqh al-Dawla, p.36. 28. 'Imara, al-Islam, pp.60–61. 29. Ibid., p.45. Also H. al-Turabi, Nazrat fi al-Fiqh al-Siyasi (Um al-Fahim: Markaz al-Dirasat al-Mu'asira, 1997), pp.43–4; al-Qaradawi, Fiqh al-Dawla, pp.144–6 30. Al-Ghazali, Azmat al-Shura, pp.35–6. 31. Ibid., p.69 32. Al-Qaradawi, Min Fiqh al-Dawla, pp.137–8; also Y. al-Qaradawi, Al-Khasa'is al-'Ama lil-Islam (Cairo: Maktabat Wahhaba, Aug. 1977), p.39. 33. Marzuq, al-Ab'ad al-Gha'iba, pp.13–14; al-Ghazali laments that the man on the streets of Cairo, Baghdad or Damascus enjoys less freedoms than his brothers in London, Paris or Washington as undignifying for religion, al-Ghazali, Azmat al-Shura, p.72. 34. Ibid., p.41. 35. Ibid., p.47. 36. Marzuq, al-Ab'ad al-Gha'iba, pp.14–16. 37. Ibid., p.36; al-Turabi, Nazrat, pp.121–2. 38. Al-Qaradawi, Al-Khasa'is, p.87. 39. Al-Turabi, Nazrat, pp.43–4. 40. Ibid., pp.45, 122; 'Imara, al-Islam, p.61. 41. Ibid., p.61. 42. Al-Qaradawi, Min Fiqh al-Dawla, p.14. 43. Al-Ghazali, Azmat al-Shura, p.42. 44. Ibid., p.46. 45. Al-Turabi, Nazarat, pp.43–5; Y. al-Qaradawi, Malamih al-Mujtama' al-Islami alladhi nanshuduhu (Beirut: al-Risala, 1996), pp.258–61. 46. Al-Qaradawi, Al-Khasa'is, p.33. 47. R. al-Ghanushi, 'Hukm Musharakat al-Islamiyyin fi Nizam Ghayr Islami', in 'A. al-Tamimi (ed.), Musharakat al-Islamiyyin fi al-Sulta (London: Liberty for the Muslim World, 1994), pp.16–17. 48. Turabi, Nazarat, pp.117–18. 49. H. al-Turabi, Tajdid al-Fikr al-Islami (Jedda: Al-Dar al-Saudiyya lil-Nashr wal-Tawzi', 3rd edition, 1993), p.87. 50. Al-Qaradawi, Min Fiqh al-Dawla, pp.151–60. 51. 'Imara, al-Islam, pp.45–6. 52. Al-Qaradawi, Malamih, pp.135–46. 53. 'The Program of the Islamic Revolution', in U.F. Abd-Allah, The Islamic Struggle in Syria (Berkeley: Mizan Press, 1983), pp.213–20. 54. Ibid., p.146. 55. 'Barnamij Hizb al-Ikhwan al-Muslimin', p. 7, available at http://www.islamonline.net/arabic/Daawa/2007/08/ikhwan.pdf 56. Ibid., pp.13–24. 57. M. 'Imara, al-Istiqlal al-Hadari (6th October City: Nahdat Misr lil-tiba'a wal-Nashr wal-Tawzi', 2007), pp.197–9. 58. M. Qutb, al-'Almaniyyun wal-Islam (Cairo: Dar al-Shuruq, 1994), p.65. S. Qutb, al-'Adala, Ijtima'iyya fi al-Islam (Cairo: Dar al-Shuruq, 2006, first published in 1949), p.78. 60. M. Qutb, Waqi'una Mu'asar (Cairo: Dar al-Shuruq, 2006, first publication 1997), pp.489–92. 61. M. Qutb, al-Tatawwur wal-Thabat fi Hayat al-Bashr (Beirut and Cairo: Dar al-Shuruq, 1985), p.248. 62. M.A. al-Hamid, 'al-Farq al-Jawhari bayna Nizam al-Shura wa Mustalah al-Dimuqratiyya', al-Sharq al-Awsat, 15 March 1985, p.14 63. Ibid., p.14 64. M.M. Mandura, 'al-Dimuqratiyya Mabda' Yukhalifu al-Islam', al-Sharq al-Awsat, 19 March 1985, p.14. 65. F. al-Jaziri, 'Al-Dimuqratiyya laysa hiya al-Shura', al-Sharq al-Awsat, 4 March 1985, p.14. 66. H.B.A. Al Sakaf, Al-Salafiyya al-Wahhabiyya (Beirut: Dar al-Mizan, 2005), pp.13, 19–20. 67. S. Qutb, Ma'alim fi al-Tariq, pp.75–112. 68. Ibid., pp.9–10, 21–3, 30–31. 69. A.M. al-Makdisi, 'Al-Dimuqratiyya Din', available at http://www.tawhed.ws/r?i=8&c=1791 70. Y.A. Halala, 'Al-'Unf Farida wal-Dimuqratiyya Shirk' (Interview with Muhammad al-Maqdisi), al-Wasat, 29 July–4 August 1996 (No. 235), pp.11–14. 71. A.M. al-Maqdisi, Al-Dimuqratiyya Din, available at http//:www.tawhed.ws/r?i=8&c=1795 72. A. Basir, Hukm al-Islam fi al-Dimuqratiyya wal-Ta'adudiyya al-Hizbiyya, available at http://www.tawhed.ws/r?i=1478&c=5306 73. Ibid., http://www.tawhed.ws/r?i=1478&c=5307 74. Ibid. 75. A.M. al-Zarqawi, Al-Dimuqratiyya wa-ltastabina sabil al-Mujrimin, available at http://www. tawhed.ws/r?1-3800&PHPSESSID-6fb4f97bbadb194a967ff2f181f8 76. Ibid. 77. A landmark in the resurrection of liberal democracy as an intellectually valid system of government for a minority of Arab scholars has been the conference on the Crisis of Democracy in the Arab Homeland, organized by the Centre for Arab Unity Studies in Cyprus in November 1983. For the conference proceedings see Azmat al-Dimuqratiyya fi al-Watan al-'Arabi (Beirut: Markaz Dirasat al-Wahda al-'Arabiyya, 1987). In the early 1990s the liberal discourse developed further, most resoundingly in forums and publications of the same Centre. 78. 'A.'A. al-Raziq, al-Islam wa Usul al-Hukm (Matba'at Misr: 1925), pp.57, 72; see also an interview with al-Raziq printed in the daily al-Siyasa, as quoted by Muhammad al-'Imara in his apologia against al-Raziq, al-Islam wa Usul al-Hukm li'Ali 'Abd al-Razik (Beirut: al-mu'asasa al-'Arabiyya lil-Dirasat wal-Nashr, 1972), p.92. 79. M.A. al-Jabri, 'al-Mas'la al-Dimuqratiyya wa al-Awda' al-Rahina fi al-Watan al-'Arabi', al-Mustaqbal al-'Arabi, Vol.157 (March 1992), pp.6–7, 11–12. 80. Ibid., pp.8, 11–12. 81. Ibid., p.14. 82. I.S. 'Abdallah, 'Mustaqbal al-Dimuqratiyya fi al-Watan al-'Arabi', al-Mustaqbal al-'Arabi, Vol. 137 (July 1990), pp.9, 13–14. 83. Ibid., pp.9–11. 84. S. al-Nabulsi, 'limadha Nusirru 'ala al-Dimuqratiyya la al-Shura wa ma al-Farq bayna al-Shura wal-Dimuqratiyya?' Published in Elaph, 19 Jan. 2004, available at http://www.elaph.com/ElaphWeb/Archive/1074499236651712300.htm?sectionarchive=Culture 85. S. al-Nabulsi, 'Al-'Arab Bayna Tahadiyyat al-'Asr wa 'Awa'iq al-Taghyir', published in Elaph, 13 May 2005, available at http://www.elaph.com/ElaphWriter/2005/4/54941.htm?sectionarchive= ElaphWriter 86. A. Ayalon, Language and Change in the Arab Middle East: The Evolution of Modern Political Discourse (New York: Oxford University Press, 1987), pp.110–26. 87. J.M. Landau, Parliaments and Politics and Egypt (Tel Aviv: Israel Publishing House, 1953), pp.7–22. 88. 'al-Da'wa lil-Shura', Umm al-Qura, 26 Dec. 1924, p.2. 89. 'Majlis al-Shura al-Ahli', Umm al-Qura, 10 Feb. 1925, p.1. 90. 'Intikhab al-Majlis al-Ahli', Umm al-Qura, 1 Aug. 1925, 'Intikhab al-Majlis al-Ahli', Umm al-Qura, 8 Aug. 1925, pp.3–4. 91. 'Wa Shawirhum fi al-Amr', Umm al-Qura, 8 Aug. 1925, p.1. 92. A. Sa'ati, Al-Shura fi al-Mamlaka al-'Arabiyya al-Saudiyya (Cairo: n.p., 1992), pp.55–64; F. 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For example, the address of the Council's Speaker, Dr. Salih bin Humayd, in the conference 'Shura, Democracy and Good Governance', held in Riyadh on 19–20 December 2005, by the 'Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy' in collaboration with 'King Faisel Center for Islamic Studies and Reasearch'. 102. F.M.S. Al Saud, Decision Making and the Role of Ash-Shura in Saudi Arabia (New York: Vantage Press, 2003), pp.103–44. 103. M. al-Ghamidi, 'Ziyadat A'da' al-Shura al-Saudi ila 180 wal-Mustasharat ila 11', 'Ukaz, 4 Aug. 2008, p.1. 104. The constitution declared that the Emir's 'person should be immune and inviolable' (article 33, a), authorizing him to appoint and dismiss the prime minister after the 'traditional consultations' (article 33, b), giving him the right to dissolve parliament (article 65), and stipulating that 'he alone shall ratify and promulgates the laws' (article 35, a). 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