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Compatible or Conflictive?
Columnist Brig (Retd) AFTAB AHMAD KHAN
Introduction
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The survey which involved
more than 38,000 face-to-face interviews in 80-plus languages with
Muslims across europe, asia, the
Middle east and africa shows that
Muslims tend to be most comfortable with using sharia in the domestic sphere, to settle family or property disputes. In most countries surveyed, there is considerably less
support for severe punishments,
such as cutting off the hands of
thieves or executing people who
convert from Islam to another faith.
and even in the domestic sphere,
Muslims differ widely on such questions as whether polygamy, divorce
and family planning are morally
acceptable and whether daughters
should be able to receive the same
inheritance as sons.
In most countries surveyed,
majorities of Muslim women as well
as men agree that a wife is always
obliged to obey her husband.
Indeed, more than nine-in-ten
Muslims in Iraq (92%), Morocco
(92%), Tunisia (93%), Indonesia
(93%), afghanistan (94%) and
Malaysia (96%) express this view.
at the same time, majorities in many
countries surveyed say a woman
should be able to decide for herself
whether to wear a veil.
overall, the survey finds that
most Muslims see no inherent tension between being religiously
devout and living in a modern society. nor do they see any conflict
between religion and science. Many
favour democracy over authoritarian
rule, believe that humans and other
living things have evolved over time
and say they personally enjoy
Western movies, music and television even though most think
Western popular culture undermines public morality.
according to the Pew research
centers 2012 report The Worlds
Muslims: unity and Diversity focuses on Muslims social and political
Democracy
according
to
Wikipedia;
Democracy is a form of government
in which all eligible citizens have an
equal say in the decisions that affect
their lives. Democracy allows eligible citizens to participate equally
either directly or through elected
representativesin the proposal,
development, and creation of laws.
It encompasses social, economic
and cultural conditions that enable
the free and equal practice of political self-determination.
The term originates from the
Greek (dmokrata)
rule of the people, which was
coined from (dmos)
people and (kratos)
power or rule in the 5th century
Bce to denote the political systems
then existing in Greek city-states,
notably athens; the term is an
antonym
to
(aristocratie) rule of
an elite. While theoretically these
definitions are in opposition, in practice the distinction has been blurred
historically. The political system of
classical athens, for example,
granted democratic citizenship to an
elite class of free men and excluded
slaves and women from political
participation. In virtually all democratic governments throughout
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ancient and modern history, democratic citizenship consisted of an
elite class until full enfranchisement
was won for all adult citizens in most
modern democracies through the
suffrage movements of the 19th and
20th centuries. The english word
dates to the 16th century, from the
older Middle french and Middle
latin equivalents.
a democratic government contrasts to forms of government where
power is either held by one, as in a
monarchy, or where power is held
by a small number of individuals, as
in an oligarchy. nevertheless, these
oppositions, inherited from Greek
philosophy, are now ambiguous
because contemporary governments have mixed democratic, oligarchic, and monarchic elements.
Karl Popper defines democracy in
contrast to dictatorship or tyranny,
thus focusing on opportunities for
the people to control their leaders
and to oust them without the need
for a revolution.
Several variants of democracy
exist, but there are two basic forms,
both of which concern how the
whole body of all eligible citizens
executes its will. one form of
democracy is direct democracy, in
which all eligible citizens have direct
and active participation in the decision making of the government. In
most modern democracies, the
whole body of all eligible citizens
remain the sovereign power but
political power is exercised indirectly through elected representatives;
this is called representative democracy. The concept of representative
democracy arose largely from ideas
and institutions that developed during the european Middle ages, the
age of enlightenment, and the
american and french revolutions.
Most of modern societies and
cultures have adopted various
forms of democracies according to
their needs. even in europe there is
Roman Law
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the old written code but in the new
life of the Spirit.(romans;7:6). The
new Testament lays down the general principles of good government,
but contains no code of laws for the
punishment of offenders: for this,
Thou shalt not commit adultery,
Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not
steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if
there be any other commandment, it
is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy
neighbour
as
thyself.(romans;13:9).
Punishment proceeds on the principle that there is an eternal distinction between right and wrong, and
that this distinction must be maintained for its own sake. It is not primarily intended for the reformation
of criminals, nor for the purpose of
deterring others from sin. These
results may be gained, but crime in
itself demands punishment.
It is considered to be of divine
origin. Thus, for example, unfairness in labour relations was considered a religious sin and caring for
the sick a religious obligation.
Though familiar with the concept of
natural law (ethical principles inherent in the nature of things and
apprehensible through human reason), the rabbis objected to making
nature the basis of law. even rabbinic ordinances were regarded as
having validity only because the
authority of the rabbis is sanctioned
by the Torah. This however
remained the personal law for Jews
for centuries, being a minority in
various countries. With the rebirth
of a Jewish national state (1948)
and the connected revival of
Jewish culture, the Talmud has
achieved renewed importance.
orthodox Jewry has always
Canon Law
The relationship between religious and secular authority in society is generally termed as church
and State. In most ancient civilizations the separation of religious and
political orders was not clearly
defined. With the advent of
christianity, the idea of two separate
orders emerged, based on Jesus
command to render unto caesar
what are caesars, and to God the
things that are Gods (Mark 12:17)
and abrogation of law of Moses by
Paul for the christians. The close
association of religion and politics,
however, continued even after the
triumph of christianity as emperors
such as constantine exercised
authority over both church and
state. In the early Middle ages secular rulers claimed to rule by the
grace of God, and later in the Middle
ages popes and emperors competed for universal dominion. During
the Investiture controversy the
church clearly defined separate and
distinct religious and secular orders,
even though it laid the foundation
for the so-called papal monarchy.
The reformation greatly undermined papal authority, and the pendulum swung toward the state, with
many monarchs claiming to rule
church and state by divine right. The
concept of secular government, as
evinced in the u.S. and post revolutionary france, was influenced by
enlightenment thinkers. In Western
europe today all states protect freedom of worship and maintain a distinction between civil and religious
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authority. The legal systems of
some modern Islamic countries are
based on Sharah. In the u.S. the
separation of church and state has
been tested in the arena of public
education by controversies over
issues such as school prayer, public
funding of parochial schools, and
the teaching of creationism. In
Islamic system the total separation
of religion from state is not possible,
however it does not imply theocracy,
as there is no concept of Pope in
Islam. The ruler who should be well
versed with religious knowledge,
take advice from scholars and
jurists on various matters.
compulsion
in
religion..
(Quran;2:256). They think that
implementation in all other matters,
should be left to the individuals
through persuasion to enjoin good
and forbid evil. use of force like
Taliban, forcing the men to keep
beard, women to cover face, not to
attend schools and colleges etc is
not considered
appropriate.
Similarly to the performing Hajj and
many other matters are left to the
individual Muslims for which they is
answerable to allah. The Bible also
emphasises similar aspects: for he
that will love life, and see good
days, let him refrain his tongue from
evil, and his lips that they speak no
guile: let him eschew evil, and do
good; let him seek peace, and
ensue it. for the eyes of the lord
are over the righteous, and his ears
are open unto their prayers: but the
face of the lord is against them that
do evil. and who is he that will harm
you, if ye be followers of that which
is good? (1 Peter; 3:10-13).
Differences of
Sharia from Western
Systems of Law
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science, to do (halal), something
that is lawful and permitted in Islam,
or refrain from doing (haram) not
permissible. accordingly, certain
acts are classified as praiseworthy
(mandub), which means that their
performance brings divine favour
and their omission divine disfavour.
There is another category not halal
or haram but some thing doubtful,
classified as undesirable (makruh),
it is divided into Makruh Tahrimi
that which is nearly unlawful without it being actually so, and Makruh
Tanzihi that which approaches the
lawful or undesirable yet is closer to
the lawful. for example it is undesirable (makruh) for a person to buy
back what he has given in charity
(sadaqah, or zakat), or to wish for
ones death, or pray to allah for it,
due to poverty, distress, illness, or
the like. However in neither case is
there any legal sanction of punishment or reward, nullity or validity.
Thus the Sharia is not merely a
system of law, but a comprehensive
code of behaviour that embraces
both private and public activities.
The second major distinction
between the Sharia and Western
legal systems is the result of the
Islamic concept of law as the
expression of the divine will. Sharia
law though appears to be rigid in
certain aspects but there is room for
flexibility in fiqha through Ijtehad to
meet the challenges of growing and
changing needs of society. In
Islamic jurisprudence it is not the
society that moulds and fashions
the law, but the law that precedes
and controls society, however the
legitimate changes and requirements of the modern society are
kept in view with in bounds of Divine
Will. The Western law, is not based
on the Bible, they have discarded
the law of Moses, which Jesus
declared as his mission, when he
said: Think not that I have come to
abolish the law and the prophets; I
Ijtihad
Islamic
Political System
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law, that the people may uphold
JuSTIce [Quran; 58:25)
Kings
Caliph
Modern Caliphate
Revivalists
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working for revival of system of
caliphate but they consider democratic method of election as unIslamic. They reject democracy as a
western system and un-Islamic
despite such aspects as elections
existing in the Islamic political system. It is argued that democracy as
a system is: The rule of people, for
the people, by the people. The basis
of the democratic system is that
people possess the right of sovereignty, choice and implementation.
... it is a Kufr system because it is
laid down by man and it is not from
the Sharia laws.
However, it is believed that the
caliph, i.e., the head of the
caliphate state, should be elected
and should be accountable to
those who have appointed him.
The position should not be inherited through blood lines, or imposed
on Muslims, but elected by them,
Muslims should then pledge their
loyalty to the caliph.
The caliph: is the head of state
in the Khilafah. He is not a king or
dictator but an elected leader whose
authority to rule must be given willingly by the Muslims through a special ruling contact called baya.
Without this baya he cannot be the
head of state. This is completely
opposite to a king or dictator who
imposes his authority through
coercion and force. It is argued
that the tyrant kings and dictators
in the Muslim world are examples
of this, imprisoning and torturing
their populations and stealing their
wealth and resources.
The caliphate supporters consider a system of elections for
Muslims to choose the caliph. a
Majlis al-umma for the caliph, is an
institution for consultation and
accountability of political rulers. The
Shura differs from Western representative democracy in that while
part of the ruling structure of the
Islamic caliphate, its not one of its
Economy
Foreign Policy
Caliphate &
Ayah Ishtikhlaf
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important truths: first, that human
beings as such are vicegerents of
God on earth, so that God has
entrusted them with many things
and endowed them with the power
to use them. Second, it is God
Himself Who has created differences of rank among His
vicegerents. The trust placed in
some is more than that of others.
Some men have been granted control of more resources than others.
Some are more gifted in respect of
their abilities. likewise, some
human beings have been placed
under the trust of others. Third, all
this is indeed designed to test man.
The entire life. of man is in fact, a
vast examination wherein man is
being tested about the trust he has
received from God: how sensitive
he is to that trust, to what extent he
lives up to it, and to what extent he
proves to be competent with it.
What position man will be able to
attain in the next life depends on
the result of this test.
The supporters of caliphate
also derive support form verse 55,
of Surah nur (24), commonly
known as ayah Ishtikhlaf [The
Verse for Khilafat]:
allah has promised, to those
among you who believe and work
righteous deeds, that He will, of a
surety, grant them in the land,
inheritance (of power), (yasta-khlifanna -hum fe-al-ard) as He granted it to those before them; that He
will establish in authority their
religion - the one which He has
chosen for them; and that He will
change (Their state), after the fear
In which They (lived), to one of
security and peace: They will worship Me (alone) and not associate
aught with Me. If any do reject
faith after this, They are rebellious
and wicked. (Quran;24:55).
Instead of taking this one verse
in isolation, it may be appropriate
that it may be read and interpreted
Background of
This Revelation
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Khorasan and ahwaz (now in Iran)
all fell to Islamic State during the
time of third caliph. What the
Prophet (peace be upon him) has
said according to a Sahih Hadith
that he was shown the entire east
and west of the earth by bringing
them together, and that the rule of
his ummah will extend up to all
those places which have been
shown to him; this promise was fulfilled by allah even during the time
of caliphate uthman. once adi Bin
Hatim came to the Prophet in a
delegation, the Prophet told him
that this Din al-Islam will extend all
over and such peace will be established that a woman shall travel
alone without guards and return
back to Hera after circumambulating Kaaba, she will have no fear.
adi Bin Hatim added that now
women travel without any fear.
(extract from Ibn Kathir).
according to another Hadith the
Prophet (peace be upon him) has
said that caliphate will last for thirty
years after him, then there will be
callous rule. Here, the word
caliphate means the rightly Guided
caliphate (al-Khalifah rashidun),
which was run on the footsteps of
the Prophet (peace be upon him). It
lasted up to the time of 4th Khalifah
ali. at this point Ibn Kathir has also
reported a Hadith from Sahih
Muslim, that Jabir Ibn Samurah has
said that he had heard the Prophet
(peace be upon him) saying that his
ummah will continue ruling until the
twelve caliphs last. after narrating
this Ibn Kathir has commented that
this hadith is pointing that there will
be twelve upright caliphs in the
Muslim ummah, which is bound to
happen. However, it is not necessary that all twelve come one after
the other and there is no gap in
between, rather it is more likely that
they turn up with an interval of time.
out of this lot, four rightly Guided
caliphs (Khulafa) had appeared
Islamic Democracy
Explanation by
Syed Abul Ala Modudi
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nor he is arrogant and self-conceited that he should regard himself as
all-wise and all-knowing.
Third, that it is a grave responsibility to give decisions in matters
that involve the rights and interests of others. no one who fears
God and knows what severe
accountability for it he will be subjected to by his lord, can dare
take the heavy burden of it solely
on himself. Such boldness is
shown only by those who are fearless of God and heedless of the
Hereafter. The one who fears God
and has the feeling of the accountability of the Hereafter, will certainly try that in a matter of common
interest he should consult all the
concerned people or their authorized representatives so as to
reach, as far as possible, an
objective and right and equitable
decision, and if there occurs a
mistake one man alone should not
be held responsible for it.
a deep consideration of these
three things can enable one to
fully understand that consultation
is a necessary demand of the
morality that Islam has taught to
man, and departure from it is a
grave immorality which Islam does
not permit. The Islamic way of life
requires that the principle of consultation should be used in every
collective affair, big or small. If it is
a domestic affair, the husband and
the wife should act by mutual consultation, and when the children
have grown up, they should also
be consulted. If it is a matter concerning the whole family, the opinion of every adult member should
be solicited. If it concerns a tribe
or a fraternity or the population of
a city, and it is not possible to consult all the people, the decision
should be taken by a local council
or committee, which should comprise the trustworthy representatives of the concerned people
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advice of others, consultation
becomes meaningless. allah does
not say: They are consulted in their
affairs, but says: They conduct
their affairs by mutual consultations. This instruction is not implemented by mere consultation, but
for its sake it is necessary that the
affairs be conducted according to
what is settled by consensus or by
majority opinion in consultation.
along with this explanation of the
Islamic principle of consultation, this
basic thing also should be kept in
view that this consultation is not
independent and autocratic in conducting the affairs of the Muslims,
but necessarily subject to the
bounds that allah Himself has set by
His legislation, and is subject to the
fundamental principle: It is for allah
to give a decision in whatever you
may differ, and if there arises any
dispute among you about anything,
refer it to allah and the Messenger.
according to this general principle,
the Muslims can hold consultations
in Shariah matters with a view to
determining the correct meaning of a
text or verse and to find out the ways
of implementing it so as to fulfill its
requirements rightly but they cannot
hold consultations in order to give an
independent judgment in a matter
which has already been decided and
settled by allah and His Messenger.
[Source: Tafheem ul Quran:
http://www.islamicstudies.info/tafhe
em.php?sura=42&verse=30&to=53]
Government by the people is not
therefore necessarily incompatible
with the rule of Islam, whilst it has
also been argued that rule by a religious authority is not the same as
rule by a representative of God.
This viewpoint, however, is disputed by more traditional Muslims.
Moussalli argues that despotic
Islamic governments have abused
the Quranic concepts for their own
ends: for instance, shura, a doctrine that demands the participation
Philosophophical
Views
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democracies can be recognized in
Islamic countries. The basis of this
distinction has to do with how comprehensively Islam is incorporated
into the affairs of the state.
1. a democratic nation state
which recognizes Islam as its state
religion and key source of legislation, such as Pakistan, Malaysia or
Maldives. Many religious values are
incorporated into public life, but
Islam is not the only source of law.
2. a democratic state which
endeavours to institute Sharia and
offers more comprehensive inclusion of Islam into the affairs of the
state. States like Iran are firm proponents of this form.
not all of these states are recognized internationally as democratic under concepts of western
liberal democracy. There are also
states in the Muslim world which
are secular democracies rather
than religious democracies.
The concepts of liberalism and
democratic participation were
already present in the medieval
Islamic world. The rashidun
caliphate was an early example of a
democratic state but the development of democracy in the Islamic
world eventually came to a halt following to the SunniShia split.
In the early Islamic caliphate, the
head of state, the caliph, had a position based on the notion of a successor to Prophet Muhammads (pbuh)
political authority, who were ideally
elected by the people or their representatives, as was the case for the
election of abu Bakar, uthman and
ali (r.a) as caliph. after the rashidun
caliphs, later caliphates during the
Islamic Golden age had a much lesser degree of democratic participation, but since no one was superior
to anyone else except on the basis of
piety and virtue in Islam, and following the example of Prophet
Muhammad (pbuh), later Islamic
rulers often held public consultations
with the people in their affairs.
Pakistan
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6. Pakistan shall be a federation.
7. fundamental rights shall be
guaranteed.
8. The judiciary shall be independent.
The objectives resolution, which
combines features of both Western
and Islamic democracy, is one of the
most important documents in the
constitutional history of Pakistan. at
the time it was passed, liaquat ali
Khan called it the most important
occasion in the life of this country,
next in importance only to the
achievement of independence. It is
included in the annex of the current
constitution of Pakistan by virtue of
article 2a of the constitution.
Conclusion
References
1. caliphate: redundant or
relevant? eBook available at:
http://aftabkhan.blog.com
2.
http://pakistanposts.blogspot.com/2013/04/shar
iah-or-democracy-conflict-or.html
3.
http://pakistanposts.blogspot.com/2013/05/cali
phate-khilafat-quran.html
4. http://wikipedia.com
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