Are the tenets of Islam as expressed in the Quran and Sharia Law and as interpreted by the majority in majority Muslim nations inherently undemocratic? I mean if the tenets expressed for example in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights http://lnkd.in/dYJV5MF signed by most nations on earth and the similar US Declaration of Independence and the US Bill of Rights do represent moral tenets, a kind of political, social, and cultural morality then a religion, as a set of moral tenets could disagree but in any nation one must publicly, legally, politically take precedent.
To be clear, I am implying that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the US Declaration of Independence, the US Bill of Rights, and documents similar in meaning to them represent the defining characteristics of a democracy, in the absence of which or without public belief in a nation is NOT democratic.
3 comments:
The Tenants Of Islam are not in and of themselves Undemocratic. The Tenants consist of the Following: 1. Declaration of the Faith. 2. A call to Prayer. 3. Alms for the Poor/Charity. 4. Fasting during Ramadan. 5. Pilgrimage to Mecca.
Islam is not anti Democracy. Muslims can live and worship in a secular democratic society. I think Fundamentalism in general whether Islamic or Christian is a threat to democracy. ..
If those 5 tenets were all there was to Islam then the Arab world would not have many of the problems it has and maybe at least on majority Muslim nation would be truly democratic. Truly democratic based on the documents cited in the post. Then Muslim nations would not treat women as they do based on Sharia Law and the Quran. Then non-Muslims in those nations would not be treated as second or third class citizens as they are based on writings in the Quran. Then maybe Jihad would not be legitimized against non-believers as it is based on the Quran. Then maybe people would have the freedom of speech in Muslim nations even when it does not agree with the Quran or Sharia Law without threat of imprisonment or worse violence.
I hear everything you are saying and I agree. I was answering whether the Tenants are Undemocratic as they stand. Islamic fundamentalism for sharia and an Islamic conflicts with a secular, democratic society such as the internationally supported Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Anthony J. Dennis notes that "Western and Islamic visions of the state, the individual and society are not only divergent, they are often totally at odds..."
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