Muslim scholars claim Islam upholds democracy
Muslim scholars claim Islam upholds democracy
JAKARTA (JP): Unlike the general perception that Islam is
anti-West, Muslim scholars asserted on Tuesday that the religion
was the pioneer of democracy and introduced the concept of a
civil society.
Nurcholish Madjid and Egyptian expert on Islam Muhammad Sa'id
Al-Ashmawy were of the opinion that democracy has been the basic
ideas of Islam since its inception.
The two were speaking in a seminar on Islam and democracy,
held at the Goethe Institute.
Nurcholish said that as a modern teaching in favor of
democracy, Islam has always suggested that a leader be chosen
through an election, instead of allowing genetics and bloodline
to be the deciding factor.
"Gaining a leader outside of an election, according to Hadist,
is against Islam," Nurcholish said.
He noted that on the other hand, there were no reasons for
Muslims to oppose democratization.
The holy Koran, according to him, provides the foundation of
democracy and allows every country to maintain its unique nature.
"Islam always sees everybody as equal and teaches that
everyone should mutually respect the life, honor and property of
others," he remarked.
Indonesia, a predominantly Muslim country, however has failed
to implement the idea of democracy, according to Nurcholish. The
first election in 1955, dubbed by many as free and fair, failed
to accommodate voters from outside Java, who were considered the
minority.
"In the 1955 election there was only one political party from
outside Java that gained a significant number of votes, namely
Masyumi," he said.
The result of that era can be seen in the recent poor
conditions in Indonesia, he went on to say. "Democracy should
always respect the interest of the minority, and the majority
should not take it all," Nurcholish said.
He warned that Indonesia should not blindly follow other
countries' form of democracy. "Although the United States is the
oldest democracy in the world, we should not follow their example
where the minority does not count," he remarked.
On the issue of human rights, Nurcholish regretted that
certain Islamic groups see human rights issues and the presence
of the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) as bodies
modeled after western ideas.
"They consider Komnas HAM a threat to Islam, whereas the
religion teaches universally recognized basic human rights and
demands that its followers mutually respect others and their
property," he said.
He criticized some political parties which tend to use the
power of the masses to reach their goals.
"We should develop a democracy that does not think merely of
the masses," he said.
Al-Ashmawy said Muslims apparently lack appreciation of
democracy and changes due to misinterpretation of the context of
verses in the Islamic holy book.
Citing an example, he said many Muslim people misinterpret
verses on jihad in the Koran as a being about war against non-
Muslims.
"But in modern life, do we really have to apply that?" he
argued.
Al-Asmawy warned that such blind obedience to the verses in
the holy book could mislead people and degrade Islam from the
level of a faith to God into an ideology that serves certain
political goals for the advantage of world rulers.
The chief justice of the State Security Court of Cairo also
said that Islam understood the importance of consultation, but
many misinterpreted it as something to be practiced only by the
prophet. (dja)