Islam, Justice, and Democracy by Sabri Ciftci

Abstract

This book by Sabri Ciftci is a timely arrival that fills an important gap in comparative democratization literature. Grounded in the concept of justice, this volume advances the debate on Islam and democracy by shedding light on individual-level microfoundations of attitudes that support democratic ideals to begin with. Two goals motivate this study: (1) tracing the evolution of political and social justice, and (2) explaining their implications for Muslims’ support for democracy. While the key historical junctures of social and political justice are accounted for, the volume chiefly examines the “contemporary manifestations of political and social justice trajectories and their formative effects on Muslim attitudes” (p. 11), particularly in relation to Islamist ideology, mass protest movements, and public opinion in the Muslim world. The author explores the debate about Islam and democracy between two competing theories: an essentialist view that holds Islam as inherently incompatible with modern liberal democracy and a counteressentialist view that see no contradiction between Islam and democratic values and institutions (Chapter 2). After summarizing the leading voices in both theoretical camps and effectively highlighting the unaccounted gaps of this debate, Ciftci cogently exposes the limitations of essentialist views that are largely based on narrow historical determinism, simplistic reductionism, and broad-brush absolutism.