Activism Change

Islam and democracy

Question:

Anti-Islam accusation that: In Islam, denial of human rights is OK because:    a.. Is Islam is against pure democracy?    b.. Is Islam tolerates slavery? As we know, Islam is a complete way of life.

All ideologies are a complete way of life. All people except you know this. How naive are you! Ideologies want to control men: it is their own nature. This is why they rule every aspect of the men’s day and of their life. Ideologies compete each other and all them want to conquer the world. They are systems of ideas which tends to the absolute. They push men to organize proselitism, conversions, to have many children so to replace other people, to do wars to conquer other people to the ideology. They organize also measures which are intended to prevent their weakening, like: prohibition of apostasy, to read books of other religions or ideologies. Your ideology is sending zombies all around in the world exploding themselves and killing as much unbelievers as possible. This is not a struggle for the freedom, but for the victory of an absurd house of cards. You seems like a little automa parroting the same commonplaces of your ideology. All the days, you repeat us the same boring things, you fill this group with islamic slogans, verses of a meaningless book, requests of conversions, etc. You are the propaganda minister of your Empire of Nothing. You are so brainwashed that we not even arrive to communicate with you. Logos

Response:

Hamid ‘Altway’ Aziz said: Most Democratic nations accept a Constitution which is regarded as inviolable and within which Laws can be made. These Laws are made by Politicians and Legal experts and not by the people.

The people elect their lawmakers, which means in a democracy the people are sovereign. In a theocracy, such as the one you dream of (the caliphate) the people are not sovereign; those who interpret the Quran are sovereign. In a democracy any law can be made if the people choose it to be made; if the constitution denies it now, it can be ammended tomorrow. In extremis, the constitution can be overthrown and rewritten (as in France, now on its fifth republic). It is usually a mark of well constructed democratic systems that change is possible without need for a new constitution – the US is a stable democracy because its constitution is ammendable; Britain is stable because its parliament is re-electable. Thus the democratic constitution, or democratic institutions in general, are *rational*, they belong to the *people* who live by the laws they make. In a theocracy there is no popular control over the ‘book of law’ (in this case, the Quran). It cannot be ammnded; all laws are derived from it, all previous laws derived from it must be taken into account before any new laws are made, and the people themselves have no control over how these laws are made. This is important because to most people, the Quran is not a fit source of law. It is regarded as a fake, and those who regard it as factual are themselves regarded as irrational. No law derived from the Quran can be considered democratic, but neither can it be regarded as fair, since it would be imposed on those who do not accept it as what it claims to be. This alone makes every attempt to create shariah law anywhere illegitimate (and should be regarded so internationally, IMO). As long as a minority of Muslims pursue this medieval dream of an Islamic state they will hinder or prevent the development of Arabic, Turkish, Pakistani, Bengali, Malay and Somali society. The victims of Islamism are in the most part, Muslims themselves. Eventually, it is because of the Islamists that Iraqis endure the humiliation of invasion, and ‘westerners’ remaking their society for them. If it wasn’t for people like you, the majority of Muslims would have a bettre chance of success in the real world.

Response:

 Anti-Islam accusation that: In Islam, denial of human rights is OK because:     a.. Is Islam is against pure democracy?     b.. Is Islam tolerates slavery? As we know, Islam is a complete way of life. Given this, it is not surprising that the Creator is concerned with the method which we choose to govern ourselves. The preeminent rule which the Islamic state must observe is stated in the Qur’an (translation follows):   [4:59] O you who believe! Obey Allah, and obey the Messenger, and those charged with authority among you. If you differ in anything among yourselves, refer it to Allah and His Messenger, if you do believe in Allah and the Last Day; That is best, and most suitable for final determination. From this verse, it is clear that the state’s obligation of obedience to the Creator is as important as the obedience of the individual. Hence, the Islamic state must derive its law from the Qur’an and Sunnah. This principle excludes certain choices from the Islamic state’s options for political and economic systems, such as a pure democracy, unrestricted capitalism, communism, socialism, etc. For example, a pure democracy places the people above the Qur’an and Sunnah, and this is disobedience to the Creator. However, the best alternative to a pure democracy is a democracy that implements and enforces the Shari’ah (Islamic Law). The Creator also states in the Qur’an (translated):   [42:36-38] So whatever thing you are given, that is only a provision of this world’s life, and what is with Allah is better and more lasting for those who believe and rely on their Lord, and those who shun the great sins and indecencies, and whenever they are angry they forgive, and those who respond to their Lord and keep up prayer, and their rule is to take counsel among themselves, and who spend out of what We have given them. Allah orders us in this verse to conduct our matters by taking counsel among ourselves, or by consulting each other. This is the methodology of the Islamic state, to consult one another, but to always keep the Qur’an and Sunnah paramount. Any law which contradicts the Qur’an or Sunnah is unlawful. This broad principle of consultation is certainly wide enough to encompass a form of government where all are heard – in fact, encouraged to be heard. The early Islamic states were of this form. The petty governments of many `Muslim countries’ today do not apply this principle and in fact commit many crimes against the people. As for slavery, Islam is unique among the `religions’ in its close attention to the peaceful removal of this practice. Before the advent of Islam, slavery was widespread all over the world. The Messenger of Islam taught us that freeing slaves was a great deed in the sight of Allah. From the Sunnah, specifically in the study of the Sunnah called Sahih Bukhari, we find:   [3:46:693] Narrated Abu Huraira: The Prophet said, "Whoever frees a Muslim slave, Allah will save all the parts of his body from the (Hell) Fire as he has freed the body-parts of the slave." Said bin Marjana said that he narrated that Hadith to `Ali bin Al-Husain and he freed his slave for whom `Abdullah bin Ja’far had offered him ten thousand Dirhams or one-thousand Dinars. Also from the Sunnah, specifically in the study of the Sunnah called Malik’s Muwatta, we find:   [38:9:15] Narrated Aisha Ummul Mu’minin: The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was asked what was the most excellent kind of slave to free. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, answered, "The most expensive and the most valuable to his master." The Creator has also made it easy for slaves to gain their freedom. From the Sunnah, specifically in the study of the Sunnah called Sahih Bukhari, we find:   [3:46:704] Narrated Abu Huraira: The Prophet said, "Whoever frees his portion of a common slave should free the slave completely by paying the rest of his price from his money if he has enough money; otherwise the price of the slave is to be estimated and the slave is to be helped to work without hardship till he pays the rest of his price." The condition of slavery is very different in Islam than the harsh conditions imposed by non-Muslims or disobedient Muslims. From the Sunnah, specifically in the study of the Sunnah called Sunan Abu-Dawud, we find:   [41:4957] Narrated AbuHurayrah: The Prophet (saw) said: None of you must say: "My slave" (abdi) and "My slave-woman" (amati), and a slave must not say: "My lord" (rabbi or rabbati). The master (of a slave) should say: "My young man" (fataya) and "My young woman" (fatati), and a slave should say "My master" (sayyidi) and "My mistress" (sayyidati), for you are all (Allah’s) slave and the Lord is Allah, Most High. Also from the Sunnah, specifically in the study of the Sunnah called Sahih Bukhari, we find:   [3:46:721] Narrated Al-Ma’rur bin Suwaid: I saw Abu Dhar Al-Ghifari wearing a cloak, and his slave, too, was wearing a cloak. We asked him about that (i.e. how both were wearing similar cloaks). He replied, "Once I abused a man and he complained of me to the Prophet. The Prophet asked me, `Did you abuse him by slighting his mother?’ He added, `Your slaves are your brethren upon whom Allah has given you authority. So, if one has one’s brethren under one’s control, one should feed them with the like of what one eats and clothe them with the like of what one wears. You should not overburden them with what they cannot bear, and if you do so, help them (in their hard job)." As a result of the teachings of Islam, slavery was almost completely eradicated from many areas of the Muslim world, peacefully and without bloodshed.

Response:

Filed under: Human Rights

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