This study formulates and aims to examine how the concept of democracy in Islam?; how is the synonym of the word democracy in the Qur'an and the debate of its interpretation? The research in this article is a qualitative descriptive literature study using the Hans-Georg Gadamer analysis approach, where text or discourse is influenced by bildung, census communis, universal considerations, and the subjective tastes of readers or interpreters. The results of this study are (1) democracy in Islam is related to the principle of deliberation for consensus which contains the values of justice, equal rights, trust, freedom, responsibility, tolerance and moderation. Then (2) the word shura becomes synonymous with the word democracy in the Qur'an because it is considered to have values that are in harmony, and not contradictory. The word shura in one perspective is considered not synonymous with democracy, but only means deliberation. This view is influenced by the desire to implement an Islamic caliphate system or an Islamic state, so that for them they consider democracy to be a kufr system. In another perspective, the word shura is synonymous with democracy, because it considers democratic values to be contained in the principle of deliberation. This interpretation is influenced by socio-historical interpreters who are moderate, tolerant, and wise in determining a meaning.
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