Re: Democracy

Question:-

In view of the riots in France and the political controversy in the UK about secret financial donations to the political parties by rich people in their own interests, would you say that from an Islamic point of view Democracy is morally bankrupt?

Answer:-

I would say that the word "Democracy" is a slogan that does not have much reality, though it is certainly better than tyrannical political systems.

Democracy, the government of the people by the people for the welfare of the people requires that all correct information should be available to people and that correct motives and abilities should be applied. In any case no system can run unless it acknowledges the supremacy of an objective Law and objective principles such as Truth, Compassion and Justice. But all Political systems, particularly the Western ones, are run in Political and Industrial secrecy in often secret organisations controlled by a few powerful people. And yet, though the conceal from the public information that should be public, governments as well as commercial firms spy on he citizens, gather and record all kinds of private information, also in secret, and sometimes erroneous that can and is used to control their lives.

Islam requires respect for individual autonomy, that there is no compulsion (Quran 2:256), and that all affairs in a community should be settled through "mutual consultation" (Quran 42:38, 58:12) of all who are involved. This is not the case in any Western nation. And yet that is what should be correctly called Democracy.

In Western nations the people have no say in constructing policies, but occasionally elect people to government, persons chosen by political parties that also make the policies and control the information and propaganda. It is the news media, manipulated by spin doctors that control public opinion. It is only the opinions of those that head the political parties that get the overwhelming publicity. Others that oppose them seldom get a hearing. The government then has dictatorial rights to impose what it wills. Yes, the opposition is given the right to protest but not to act as those in government do, and the protests can be ignored because of counter opinions. Though freedom of thought and its expression is claimed, the reality is that all the media of news and communication and the publishing companies are owned by a few who have the power and run them for profit, which usually involves the propagation of scandals, gossip, sensationalism, fantasy and excitement, and they all run censorships of their own.

Western Political systems are run by a small group that have all the power, wealth and prestige. The leaders of the community are not the most knowledgeable, virtuous or able of their people. On the contrary are usually persons of psychopathic tendencies, who have made an art of hypocrisy and deception, bad examples and the source of corruption for the population and the cause of the global political chaos, malfunctions and suffering that affect all other aspects of life.

Western Politics is a struggle for power between groups of people concerned with power, wealth and prestige, who in general are experts at nothing, but nevertheless interfere with all departments and aspects of life. It is not concerned with truth, virtue or justice, and these tend to be victims of the system, unless accidentally advantageous to the power group.

Obviously, the Political Parties would not require large amounts of money to fight elections, and rich people would not contribute to them, if the propaganda had no effect. It is clearly meant to control people and counteract the democratic process which requires correct information. The political news like commercial advertisement is always gives a biased exaggerated one sided information often invented, while the consumers being unorganised individuals do not have the means to make their opinions heard.

The same sort of thing happens when States try to impose their will on other states - e.g. Nuclear powers want to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons to defend itself against nuclear powers such as the US that is known to run a world wide Terrorist policy. They claim to want to settle matters through diplomacy and negotiation, but in fact they have a demand which the others are required to conform to on threat of economic sanctions or military invasion.

It is time the Political system was changed. Unfortunately however, people are politically apathetic and powerless.

In a Political system compatible with Islam all people would have the right to form Assemblies to control their affairs through discussion and consultation of experts. To do this they would need all relevant information and all secrecy and conspiracies that affect the public would be regarded as criminal offences. There would be no need for riots and money for propaganda.

Critic:-

Many studies show that participatory "mutual consultation", as a practical form of government, only works in small communities with less than 10,000 inhabitants.

Comment:-

This may be true, though I thought it was a much smaller than that number.

If you read my previous articles on this subject you will find that my recommendation (based on Islamic studies) is that all Assemblies should be small local ones covering a village or section of cities such that all members know each other. They are responsible for the affairs that concern them. They also appoint officers for what ever task is found necessary, and these are responsible to the Assembly. They also consult various experts in all fields. As Muslims are those who submit to Allah, they submit to the Truth, Compassion and Justice which are attributes of Allah. This requires sting aside personal prejudices and fantasies and accepting and implementing what is objectively true and right. This requires the pursuit of knowledge, the development of expertise and education by experts. This is what will ultimately benefit the people.

It is these Local Assemblies that send representatives (chosen according to agreed criteria) to higher Assemblies. The members of this also know each other. This Assembly has responsibility for affairs that concern all the members. No one is allowed to canvas for, or strive for a position of power and authority, but that those who are most knowledgeable, righteous and able should be followed, sought and selected as leaders.

These in turn send representatives to still higher ones and so on. The system is open-ended. These Assemblies do not necessarily only cover geographical areas. They could be interest groups such as scientific societies or industrial and commercial companies.

It is part of the obligation of all Assemblies to consult with the higher and lower assemblies and to pass information upwards and downwards. The various officers and representatives can be replaced at any time or left in place depending on performance. There is, therefore, no Election fever and theatricals.

Electioneering in the West tends to be a question of the attempts to dominate by ambitious self-seekers and their henchmen. There is much speech making, deceit, bribery, threats, dirty trick, disinformation, false promises, lies, mutual abuse and accusations and hypocrisy. And after the elections when one looks into the conduct of the Parliament and Assemblies one finds the same disgusting or uninspiring spectacles to say the least. There is bickering, squabbling, attacks and criticism for their own sake, mud-slinging, boasting, and desire for point scoring, but little or no intelligent sober discussion of anything. In any decent political system all unethical "politicking" that attempts to deceive and manipulate the public would be prosecuted severely as serious crime.

I would say that electioneering is incompatible with the Islamic system. If any leader or representative can be removed at any time or not, then no general elections will take place. But each member of any higher assembly could be replaced at different times. But at the highest level, the Head of the Community should be elected by the community as a whole. The Candidates could be chosen by the Central Assembly and should be known by the community. This would be the responsibility of an independent News and Information Gathering and Distributing Service consisting of persons with appropriate qualification, all of whom are partners in ownership and responsible to the Assembly. Laws are not to be made by the Assembly on the basis of whim, ambition or expediency, but the Assembly could make suggestions or make problems known to the appropriate organisation of experts.

The community, like individuals, have three faculties:- (1) For reception of information, knowledge, awareness; (2) for processing, motivation and coordination; (3) for action. As Islam is Surrender to Allah, it is primarily interested in what is True, Good, Useful and Beautiful, which are the attributes of Allah. This implies that the actual determining of the principles and policies are left to experts who have the knowledge, abilities and virtues. Economics including Industry and Commerce, Social affairs including Politics and Civics, Ethics including Law, Education including Scientific Research and Technology, Aesthetics including Art and Design, are all left to such experts who have advisory duty and are responsible to the Assembly. Advisory Organisations of such experts can be set up by the Assemblies. They also set up Executive Organisations that implement the policies. These also require experts. The Assemblies are the Deciding Organisations, bridges between the Advisory and Executive Organisation. The function of the Leaders, who form a fourth unifying level, is to co-ordinate, supervise, to oversee that all things are working correctly, and to Initiate, Confirm and Direct. This requires the gathering, processing and distribution of information, power and means.

The Assembly also appoints Guardians, persons given the responsibility to be vigilant about abuses, malfunctions, and injustices in the community, with the power to investigate freely all institutions that deal with the public. Citizens can bring their complaints to them.

The aim of many of those who acquire political power is to increase government control over the population in as many ways as possible. To do this they take advantage of circumstances that create fear and panic or they deliberately invent such conditions or create the panic.

If people are to be truly free and self-regulating then the source of power of the State and of those who control it, namely the police and the military, must also be returned into the control of community. There must be no distinction or conflict between State and Community. This requires that the citizens should devote some of their time and resources to these National Services. They could do this in rotation, perhaps one twelfth of all able-bodied persons at a time could enter this service for a month each year. Some permanent officers would also be required to this scheme.

Question:-

Islam requires obedience to Allah, and that generally means obedience to a clergy that acts on behalf of God. That creates a Theocracy. How can this be called Democracy?

Answer:-

(1) Firstly, it has to be understood that no Democracy or any other system can work without (i) a philosophy that justifies it, (ii) a consensus of what the term means, and (iii) without a Law that upholds it. These must be objective principles that require the recognition that they are not arbitrary man made prejudices. If they are then anyone’s opinion is as good as any one else’s and only the self-interest of those who have the power can be enforced on the community.

This is, of course, a very primitive state of affairs, the law of the Jungle, a pre-human stage characterised by conflict and the struggle for power. The events, organisation and conditions that come about are then a matter of impulse and accident and not of intelligence and deliberate conscious control, things that characterise human beings.

A second stage that arose among primitive human beings is tribalism. The tribe was an extended family and shared all things and it was led by its elders, people who were respected and obeyed because they had acquired greater wisdom owing to experience, facilitated the welfare of the tribe, settled disputes and kept order in the community. This system broke down leading to a third stage, owing to intensifying inter-tribal warfare as populations increased, and greater self-consciousness, individualism and self-centredness. Some tribes dominated and enslaved others. A distinction arose between the rulers and the ruled, masters and servants, controllers and controlled. As armed conflict led to much destruction and bloodshed which contradicted the inbuilt self-preservative urge in man, intelligence dictated that disputes should be settled by means of negotiations, treaties and common accepted rules. These are obeyed because it is to the mutual interest to all to obey them. But they also need enforcement lest it should become to someone’s advantage to flout them. This constitutes the fourth stage.

There is, however, a fifth higher stage which recognises the existence of objective factors that transcend human beings. These are the natural truths, the forces, laws and processes by which all things in the world, including human beings are formed, regulated and sustained. There are two higher stages, a sixth and seventh which could be regarded as higher degrees of this fifth stage. The sixth recognises the greater Universe beyond this world and the seventh recognises the Transcendental Fundamental Reality, we call Allah. Islam is interested in establishing these stages. Human beings have certain inbuilt faculties, needs and capabilities and they seek their own welfare which depends on these. Democracy could then be defined as the social system designed to facilitate the welfare of all human beings.

(2) Secondly, and connected with the above, is how we see and define man. According to the Islamic concept of man he has been created with the materials of the earth wherein has been placed a spark of the divine (Quran 15:29, 32:9, 38:73). Indeed, man ought to behave according to his own nature, but does not and that is what causes his problems. The purpose of life for man on earth is to learn and develop, to grow spiritually.

“Then set your purpose for religion as a man upright by nature - the nature made by Allah in which He has made men; there is no altering (the laws of) Allah's creation; that is the right religion, but most people do not know - turning to Him only, and be careful of your duty to Him and keep up prayer and be not of those who ascribe partners to Him (polytheists), of those who split their religion and became schismatic, every sect rejoicing in its own tenets.” 30:30-32

“Surely, We have created man in the best of moulds. Then We reduced him to the lowest of the low; save those who believe and act right; for theirs is a reward unfailing.” 95:4-6

“Verily, We offered the trust to the heavens and the earth and the mountains, but they refused to undertake it, being afraid of it; but man undertook it. Lo! He has proved a tyrant and a fool.” 33:72

“And the soul and Who fashioned it, and enlightened it with what is wrong and right for it! He indeed is successful who causes it to grow (or purifies it)! And he indeed is a failure who corrupts it!” 91:7-10

A Muslim is defined as one who surrenders to Allah. This in effect means that he surrenders to (i) objective Reality, as Allah is the Fundamental Reality, the source of all other things, but also (ii) to the Spirit within himself, his real self, and it also means that he surrenders to (iii) Truth, Compassion and Justice, among other things which are the attributes of Allah. This means that primary loyalty is given to Allah and that these attributes constitute the highest Ideals and goals. It also means that Muslims must cultivate these attributes and that those who have them to the greatest degree are respected and honoured the most.

(3) Islam does not have a Priesthood and organised church. In Islam Theocracy cannot mean the rule of Priests. Each Muslim is responsible for his own salvation by his own efforts (Quran 5:105, 6:70, 10:109, 17:15, 19). Each must seek and abide by truth, virtue and justice. But human beings vary in abilities and experience, and we are all born with little knowledge, awareness and abilities and must learn and grow. We learn not only from the events in the environment but also from each other and from the accumulation of knowledge, techniques, organisation, and expertise over the centuries. Educational systems have been constructed for the deliberate concentration and acceleration of the learning and development process and these require and create experts in various fields. But no one can be an expert in all fields and we must rely on experts in other fields to guide us. Religion itself, which is a comprehensive way of life requires experts and we need them to guide us. Islam recognises three levels of Authority:-

“O you who believe! Obey Allah, and obey the Messenger and those in authority amongst you; and if you dispute (quarrel or argue) about anything, refer it to Allah and the Messenger, if you (in truth) believe in Allah and the Last Day; that is better and fairer in the end.” 4:59

The first and fundamental authority is Allah, the Fundamental Origin and Creator of all things. The second is the Prophet who interpreted and applied the Word of God. The third authority must consist of the Ulema, the Learned, those who have become experts but not in the mere academic or intellectual sense, but those who have undergone the discipline and acquired (i) the knowledge, understanding and awareness as well as (ii) the virtues and (iii) the inner and outer abilities, self-control and skills.

Unfortunately, Muslims have not kept up learning and with increase in knowledge and education and most of their leaders, with some exceptions, have been relatively ignorant and rather naïve and stupid and not particularly virtuous or able, as, indeed, predicted by the Prophet. This condition was aggravated by the fact that Muslims, owing partly to the degenerate state of the leaders, were dominated by foreign powers which created secular educational institutions to train them to serve the ruler’s interests. They were Westernised with little knowledge of Islam and little in common with the native Muslim population. The leaders, the Mullahs, were left behind to their own devices, which the more enlightened and educated Muslims are progressively abandoning. This leaves them leaderless but vulnerable to many self-appointed spokesmen with inadequate, but self-opinionated and prejudiced knowledge of Islam, creating conflict and confusion.

This must necessarily change in future and is gradually changing. They must be better educated and have adequate acquaintance with the accumulated knowledge in all fields. This should mean that they go through a basic education in schools and colleges that is wide and comprehensive before undertaking specialisation as other experts do. Indeed, all citizens will need to have a broad based basic education in all fields which are incorporated in a self-consistent unified manner into the religious Islamic framework. This is one where the aim is a balanced human development rather than mere information or skill, where Knowledge, Virtue and Ability are co-ordinated and where the economic, political, cultural, physical, social, psychological and spiritual aspect of life are attended to in a consistent manner. Specialisation will then arise gradually out of this and each person should then be able to see their own position within the whole, be more adaptable and inwardly and outwardly integrated without conditioning, regimentation and imposed conformity.

The relationship between these Ulema and the People is not a mutually exclusive one. There is a kind of hierarchy such that the Ulema at one level see it as their duty to teach and guide others at a second lower level and by doing so learn themselves. Those at the lower level see as their duty to learn from those at the higher level and teach and guide those at the third level and learn from doing so. There is also mutual consultation and interaction at each level. The individual is both student and teacher and the terms teacher and student have meaning only relative to each other. – i.e. there can be no teacher if there is no one learning from him and vice versa, there is no teacher from whom no one learns. There is no differentiation between teacher, leader and authority. People choose those whom they take as leaders and whom they lead. There is an upward flow of development.

Critic:-

I thought this "ISLAM AND DEMOCRACY CAN CO-EXIST" article by Duncan Graham might interest discerning subscribers.

Extract:

Isn't Islam and democracy a contradiction? Doesn't Islam say only God can be supreme, not the people?

Have you ever heard God speaking to you? He speaks through the people. He's left a message to us that must be interpreted by us, the people. Men and women have their own understanding of that message.

Comment:-

It has been pointed out before that

(1) "Democracy" is inherent in the Quranic idea that "all affairs should be conducted through mutual consent". 42:38

(2) Islam tolerates and even accommodates communities that follow other religions or systems of thought. It can, therefore, coexist with other systems.

(3) Islam requires that Muslims who live in other Communities are obliged to abide by the laws of that community or if they cannot live by their own faith they should migrate to places where they can.

There can be no controversy about this. The point of difference is whether there is tolerance towards Muslims within these other Communities and whether or not non-Muslims nations are ready to co-exist with Muslim Nations or not and wish to interfere with the affairs of Muslims or not. Conversely do Muslims want to resist or retaliate against such interference?

It has also been pointed out that there is a difference between the Islamic and Western ideas of Democracy (if that word is to be used) in that:-

(1) God speaks through some people. The Islamic view is that those people hear Allah in whom the Spirit of Allah is active (32:9) - those who have an uncorrupted conscience (as opposed to a culturally conditioned mind), those who are conscious of Truth rather than being led by prejudice and fantasy; those who have overcome the consequences of the Fall by a suitable discipline (91:7-10, 95:4-6) and have truly Surrendered to Allah.

(2) Even in Democracies the Law has to be supreme and the welfare of people can only be achieved if that Law is based on an awareness of what is really true, good and useful. It should also recognise the human spirit and therefore the autonomy of human beings. Though the Law is considered to be supreme in both cases and the law is certainly made and carried out by human beings, the Western Law is the result of political struggles between various self-interests and is imposed on the whole community, whereas the Islamic Law is more objective in the sense that it is, or ought to be, the result of research. The Law is to be made by persons who do hear the voice of God in that they perceive and understand what is true and really good and beneficial. It applies to people who undertake to abide by it and is not imposed on those who do not.

(3) The systems of Western Democracy, though they vary, can be regarded as pseudo-Democracies or Sham Democracies in so far as they are run by small groups of power holders who control the wealth, power as well as the information, thereby manipulating mass opinion and behaviour to suit their own interests. These are often controllers of foreign Corporations.

(4) The people do not choose or vet the candidates for election and do not make the policies, but those who control the Political Parties do. And when a Party gains power usually by a minority vote, the rest of the population is effectively powerless. Nor have they adequate information to make intelligent judgements. But the Law made by the minority is imposed on all.

(5) Though the Western systems have produced much wealth and power in some countries, they have produced directly or indirectly poverty, ignorance, disease, oppression and misery in others and a great amount of psychological, social and environmental problems in their own communities.

(6) Exactly the same thing will happen to Muslim countries when they adopt Western style Democracies. They will remain puppets and be little better off than before materially but worse of socially and spiritually. It will lead to further erosion and corruption of Islam instead of its regeneration.

(7) Muslims ought not to become mindless imitators, slavishly conditioned, but they need to consciously create their own systems based on knowledge and objective values that deal with modern conditions and opportunities. That would be the enlightened way of proceeding. But yes, in so far as Muslims have departed from Islam and cannot establish and maintain an Islamic system, it is probably best for them to have a Western style pseudo-Democracy.

Critic:-

At least the Democracies have created Freedom including Freedom of Speech, Human Rights and advanced Civilisation. Islam appears to oppose this. It amazes me how so many Muslims really have no concept of what 'freedom of speech' is all about.

Among other things, it means if I want to be 'Pro-Zionist' or ‘Anti-Islamist’ - I am free to be so. It also means that if I want to set up a school that is Pro-Zionist - I can do that too, it is my right! If I run a school that is Pro-Zionist and I have a teacher that does not, in my opinion, support the Pro-Zionist stance of the school, I can fire that teacher. Now, that teacher is free to have Anti-Zionist beliefs, but if he wants to teach those beliefs, he can go teach them in another school.

Comment:-

So, if there is no such school and it is prevented from being set up by the prevailing political or ideological atmosphere or propagandists or by the censorship of publishing companies, media controllers, or by secret government agents, then that is all right?

Is it also OK that things that are known to be harmful such as incitement to murder, persecute or harass members of particular sects can be freely published and shouted from public platforms? Is propagation of lies and perversions that harm people and particularly children also allowed? And if all this is allowed how does one explain the existence of Laws protecting secrets “in the Public Interest” and various Government and Industrial secrets. Why does the Military censor reports about its activities. And why was a historian imprisoned when he claimed that the Holocaust was a fiction? Why did U.S. President Bush want to bomb the publishing company Al Jazeera out of existence.

It seems to me that the notion of "free Speech" is very selective and is a plot by which political parties and commercial firms can propagate lies and distortion in their own interests and, by creating mutual contradictions, they can do whatever they like with full immunity.

Obviously, ethics demands that good should be done and evil should be suppressed but here the "free speech" is made the criterion, not the good.

Some people seem to think that the matter of free speech has nothing to do with Islam. But they are wrong.

"Do you not see how Allah strikes out a parable? A goodly Saying is like a goodly tree whose root is set firm, and whose branches reach into the heavens; it gives its fruit at every season by the permission of its Lord - Allah strikes out parables for men that per chance (or possibly) they may reflect (or be mindful)." 14:24-25

"And the similitude of a bad saying is as a bad tree, which is felled from above the earth, possessing no stability." 14:26

The impressions people receive are like food for the mind and soul and can be nutritional or poisonous or catalytic to various degrees.

Speech has four aspects:- (a) It is an expression of what is within a person, good or bad. (b) It affects or reinforces something in the person who says it. (c) It affects the listeners directly and indirectly by association. (d) It arises from a stimulus and refers to a context of ideas and conditions of life in which it has meaning, from which it arises and which it modifies.

Speech is connected with:- (a) perception (it draws attention to something), (b) thoughts (c) motives and (d) actions. It, therefore, affects the environment, the society as well as the psychology of the person. The human mind or brain has a certain limited capacity and man has a certain amount of energy and a limited duration in time and it can be filled with what is beneficial or harmful or with trivia instead. It is necessary to consider spiritual, mental and physical Economics (SMP Economics).

"That, your thought which ye did think about your Lord, hath ruined you; and ye find yourselves (this day) among the lost." 41:23

"O ye who believe! If ye keep your duty to Allah, He will give you discrimination (between right and wrong) and will rid you of your evil thoughts and deeds, and will forgive you. Allah is of Infinite Bounty." 8:29

The idea of freedom appears to be wholly misunderstood in the West. A person is free if he is able to do what he wishes to do without external (political, economic, social or cultural) or internal (psychological) obstructions, restraints or compulsions. But there are always natural laws and one kind of advantage has to be paid for by something else and the freedom of one might be obtained at the expense of those of others. It is a question of having correct motives, knowledge and abilities.

In fact there are many more laws and rules in the developed and organised Western countries than elsewhere. There is much regimentation in the streets, factories, offices, roads, airports, clubs and public parks by all kinds of government as well as private agencies. There are notices as to what is allowed or not and all kinds of threats of prosecution and fines. Newspapers, Magazines, Televisions, Radios and Street signs keep telling people what they should do and think and spinning illusions and fantasies. There is unprecedented pressure to cause mental conditioning. Recently, there have been an increasing number of laws that erode human rights. In fact, freedom has meant the right to depravity, crudity, self-indulgence, lying, swindling,, exploitation, insulting and abusing. Far from promoting civilised behaviour there is increasing barbarity. The opinions of everyone are regarded as equally valid no matter how unjustified and absurd and all standards are being abandoned. Indeed, there is a tendency even towards organic degeneration, reverse evolution as birth control reduces the more intelligent while the less intelligent multiply. It can hardly be otherwise when those elected to run the nation are people of relatively low intelligence, knowledge, ability, motives and virtue.

----------<O>----------

Contents