Islam and Democracy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Islam and Democracy - Essay Example Historical interaction between East and West is not obscured from the eye of the world and thereby, all the Western countries especially United States has always been trying to export its democratic principles to the Eastern world, in an order to make Islam compatible with democracy for the overall betterment of the world. Actually, Islam is the dominant religion of the eastern world and for this reason, myriad efforts to inculcate the democratic governing pattern in the minds of the Muslim rulers have always been supported by US. (Al-Hibri 505) claims that the concept of democracy is not what could be called a production of a modernized world, rather it was prevalent in the period of medieval Islam as well. Democracy was a prominent feature of the city Medina where Prophet Muhammad resided and it continued to be strengthening, until its progress and life came to an abrupt halt when Sunnis and Shi’as separated on the basis of various conflicts regarding the Islamic Caliphate. This means that the doctrine of democracy is not altogether a new concept for the followers of Islam and it has always been an essential feature of the Islamic principles, even before its importance and significance was stressed by the Western rulers. Governance under Islamic Caliphate was en emblem of democracy in which taking care of the choice of the common public meant to be the most important priority for the governors. Islamic Caliphate was truly inspired by the democratic principles and wanted every layman of the society to take active part in the betterment of the nation so that a rich repertoire of innovative constructive ideas could be enhanced and encouraged. After Islam Caliphate however, monarchy based governing system pursued which was largely and visibly devoid of the... This paper stresses that governance under Islamic Caliphate was en emblem of democracy in which taking care of the choice of the common public meant to be the most important priority for the governors. Islamic Caliphate was truly inspired by the democratic principles and wanted every layman of the society to take active part in the betterment of the nation so that a rich repertoire of innovative constructive ideas could be enhanced and encouraged. After Islam Caliphate however, monarchy based governing system pursued which was largely and visibly devoid of the golden democratic laws and systems, due to which Muslims at large remained unsatisfied with their rulers after Caliphate ended and engaged in petty fights fueled by rebellion with each other. Non-democratic or authoritarian based governing system stimulates emergence of ferocious aggressiveness and defiant rebellion in the society due to which unity and harmony fade away completely. This report makes a conclusion that the old Muslim communities were more vigorously representative of the democratic style than the modern Islamic nations. The old Muslim society was highly representative of democracy because back then, the government focused more on issue of law, order, and security, while public was left to deal with the rest of the issues. There used to be a lot of public freedom which shows that Islam has always been compatible with democracy, though a few authoritarian governments have and are still marring the democratic rule from time to time.