Democracy and ethical values from Islamic perspective

Abstract

Inefficiency or inadequateness of Western liberal democracy at home is not the problematic of the rest because they have not experienced it yet! ‘Minimal democracy’ is the problematic of the residents of authoritarian countries. Most of Muslim majority countries are under authoritarian regimes. They struggle to achieve the primary and minimal standards of democracy. The minimal democracy is the necessary condition for providing morality, ethics, justice, fairness, freedom, equality and rule of law. The record of Western liberal democracy for the rest in both periods – colonialism and postcolonialism – is not defendable, neither in support of democracy and human rights abroad nor in support of peace, morality and ethics in the globe. Comparing coexistence of Islam and democracy, Muslim conservatives, Muslim fundamentalists and Orientalists support inconsistency of Islam and democracy, and Muslim reformists advocate their consistency. Almost all of the so-called Islamic law are appropriate to the context of early Islam and do not fit the modern context. According to ethical-based Shari’a, democracy is the best available means for serving the moral purposes of Islam. Democracy offers the greatest potential for promoting justice, protecting human dignity, human freedom and emancipation. In this perspective, Shari’a, that is, ethical virtues, moral norms and standards of life are permanent, immutable, unchangeable and timeless. They are universal aspects of Islam. The Ethical-based Shari’a supports democracy strongly.