Abstract
Abstract This chapter discusses some ‘operational’ key concepts and institutions of democracy in Islam, like Shura (Mutual Consultation), Khilafah (Caliphate), Ijma‘ (Consensus), Ijtihad (Independent Interpretive Reasoning), Bay‘ah (Oath of Allegiance), Maslaha (Public Interest), Ahl al-Hall wa al-‘Aqd (the ‘Wise Ones’), and Mithaq al-Medina (the Constitution of Medina). These ‘notions’ are regarded, en masse, the operational key concepts of ‘Islamic democracy’—or the basis of an effective foundation for comprehending Islam–democracy relationship in the contemporary world. Though the reformists/modernists reinterpret and construe all these notions as the basis of ‘Islamic democracy’, however, it is the concept and institution of Shura, which is predominantly considered and reinterpreted as the central and dominant source of Islamic democratic governance. Therefore, in this chapter, more focus is on the theory, practice, and modern interpretations of Shura—both as a concept and as an institution—from classical to contemporary era.
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