Islam compatible to democracy: Scholars

A'an Suryana, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The small number of Muslim countries practicing democracy has nothing to do with the values of Islam, international scholars say.

Instead, the crisis of democracy in predominantly Muslim countries was more due to cultural backwardness and structural deficiencies, they agreed at a conference here on Tuesday.

"In reality, there is no inherent incompatibility between Islam and democracy," said Bahgat Korany, a professor of politics at the Universite de Montreal, during an international conference titled "The Challenge of Democracy in the Muslim World."

The scholars were voicing their concerns over the fact that there were only 11 out of 47 predominantly Muslim countries which were democratic.

In his paper, Bahgat explained that there were at least seven pillars of Islam that were compatible with the universal values of democracy.

Among them were the concepts that all believers were equal and that the final decision-making prerogative was vested in the ummah (community), which was the ultimate receptacle of sovereignty.

The values of democracy were also widely recognized in the Koran, such as in the Ar-Rum: Verse 22, which stated that "the presence of the other is legitimate and should be respected."

If Islamic values were compatible with democracy, then what had gone wrong in Muslim nations given that most of them were undemocratic?

The scholars suspected that cultural deficiencies and structural impediments were major stumbling blocks for Muslim countries in embracing democratic institutions.

In Indonesia, the feudalistic and hierarchical Javanese culture was characterized as a factor inhibiting democracy, as had been shown during the period of the old Javanese kingdoms, according to Indonesianist R. William Liddle.

"If a country is ruled by aristocratic regimes, as also is currently the case in the Arab countries, antidemocratic culture will grow on fertile soil," said Liddle, who is also a professor of politics at Ohio State University in the U.S.

Besides cultural deficiencies, structural impediments were also singled out as additional barriers to democracy.

In the Arab countries, which comprise some 30 percent of the world's predominantly Muslim countries, there was a veil of ignorance among the rulers about the building of democratic institutions.

The rulers perceived that the legitimacy of their regimes did not come from the democratic representation of the citizens, but rather from their success in defending national security and improving the people's welfare, said Lisa Anderson.

"This erroneous perception leads to regimes pouring all of their resources into pursuing national security and the welfare of the people, neglecting the good will needed to establish democratic institutions," said Anderson, a professor of politics at the U.S.-based Columbia University.

However, despite these inhibiting factors, the prospects of democracy remained bright in the Muslim world.

Indonesian scholar Azyumardi Azra, who is the rector of the State Institute of Islamic Studies, identified several exemplary Muslim countries which could become locomotives for democracy in the Muslim world, including Indonesia, Iran and Turkey.

"They are the bright spots among the Muslim countries, which have shown that democracy can have a place in the Muslim world," he said in his keynote address on Monday night.

To follow the path blazed by these three nations, other countries could enhance democracy through encouraging a free press, discourses on human rights and plurality, freedom to associate and a free civil society.