Democracy of Islam

8/3/2019 Democracy of Islam

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THE DEMOCRACYOF ISLAM

A CONCISE EXPOSITION Tq'ITH COMPARATIVEREFERENCE TO IUr'ESTERN POLITICAL THOUGHT

BYHUSSEIN ALATAS

EDITOR'PROGRESSIVE SLAM'

i i '\ { ; . .

- THE HAGUE AND BANDUNGL956

.S7'.VAN HOEVE LTD


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tlnlimited. pouer is in itself a bad' and' dangerousthing; hurnan beings are no t competent to exercise ituith discretion; and God alone can be omnipotent,becawse bi s uisdom and bi s iwstice are alzoays equalto hi s power. But no po@)er upon edrth is so uortbyof honowr lo r itself, or of reoerential obedience totbe rights wbicb it represents, that I would' consent toadmit it s t4ncontrolled and' all-predominant authority''Vhen I see tbdt tbe right and the means ol absolutecommand are conferred on d people or upon a king,lrPon dn aristocracy or a democtacy' d mondrcby ora republic, I recognize the germ of tytanny, and Ijoarney onuards to a land of more hopelul institutions'

ALEXIS DE TOCQUEVILLE,(1805-1859).

INTRODUCTION

The two essays n the democracy f Islam,which becamethe suby'ect atter of this booklet, wer'eoriginally com-posed n Amsterdam someyearsago. They were meantto acquaint the Dutch public, especially he students,with what Islam really is.The necessityo do this, udgedfrom the objectiveand scientificpoint of view as wellas from the religious one, has long beenpressinguponthoseof us who would like to bring about a better under-standingbetweendifferent peoples.M .swnd.erstandingozoard I slamIn Europe and America there s, perhaps, ardly a betterexampleof a prejudiceentertainedowards an alien cul-I ture than towards that of Islam. Thoseof us who havesomeacquaintance ith socialpsychologywould under-stand this. Two prominent factors tend to influence hegrowth of a deep-rooted rejudiceagainst slam. OlreJs-tb"elg!a,le*.ant *irude-.of--the-Chxistiar+-f ith-+*+epresert-94. .h"y- l-+e$..all ghrris"hlsr Errppe and..America*The"sssssdi-qib-g mpast e-f. -he-Qrusade,spqn the EuropeanRggplg.From the very beginning he Churchhad alwaysbeen rying to divert the nner hostility of the baronsardprinces owardsthe Muslims. n fact the Crusadeshem-selyeswere ooked upon asa kind of timely and effecdvesolution for variousproblemsconfrontedby the Church.As professorErnest Barker of Cambridge Universitywrites, "The bellicosepassionof a military society for

I private war (guerra)had engagedhe attentionof synodsIand Popes rom the beginningof the eleventh entury.At! first they attempted o check t by the institution of thei Pax and the Treuga Dei; later they sought o direct itLL RIGHTS RESERVED


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into the channelsf 'just'and'holy' warfarc, artly by intellectuals re alreadynfectedby such a misunder-consecraringh. "r-r'lirh;k"khl, i" tft"-..tffi "f i:fdt*leading o a kind of inner and silentdistrust f

f-tir "iii"ri.r?r, to the defence f justiceand the remedyof rslam' ,o ,onoiu,'J t oi" i.fôppression thus helping,to create" "t*-tit'i""iti),'â *]t is becausehey have receive'dheir information on

partly againby a"-"rr"airrg,- rr-urp* [-a.-"tii.a ,. Islam from the qggb.iggtive nd ole:l!4q4 gtq-upof rres-Clermont in 1095 n preaching he Crusade,;;;;h;lt;- T:"

scholars''tricidal abuseof pri;;;;;should U" t*".J-into th. 1To"t the mistaken deasabout Islam current n Europesanctity of bartleug"irrrt he infidel. ffr".""r"*"f';;;t;;i and America are the following: (1) that Islam is a back;peace was thus link$i';;;;;;i'; ;l; ;";; ;;; ward and intolerant religion' (2) that Islam preachesa-synod on synod ."j";;.i;-i; ii'9 r"T..Ol# th"';;;; talism and predestination' 3) that the Muslims are toldof the truce of God and that of the Christiil-'a;;;J;i;i to subjugatehe world following the often quoted DarulThe Crusades, esides ausingmarked .ftr"gir'i"-tft. l?-'and'Darul Ffarb"b (4 ) that women n Islam aresocio-economictrucure of WesternBt-pt^."ttg";;.;;; regarded as inferior human beings' (5) that the ethicalamongst he Europeans fear against ,r"tl.'rr'"" Ctttttrt idealsof Islam are not very high'aJri".f by its faiatical hatred against ':1t :lt]"l-* The proper mAnnerof a:pproachthis fear.For several enturieshe Church hammerednto ;-the indsrhe",;;;;;l;;"r'"J"ia*l1i"",:1iTlljl""?ig:,':*:'Jr".fj1il,i:TT#l*'":i#trand heProphetMuhammad.hisprocett-"1Tll?,1lti: , i" o"t atrempt o learnmoreabout slamwe must akehostility n the mindsof the people.had.i?,l1tit]} il tr r,ro ,.riousconsiderationhe followingpoints:(1) Allhistory.(seevon Grunebaum'sed'iavel^':!-1T,1:!rf; ' ,'rr.great eligions s Max r(eber, he famousGermanA. Faris'The Arab Heri'tage.) homas91Yl".1:11o"il ,o.i""t ,.i.ntisi had pointedour, are 'historical..ndiuLnecessary o defend the Prophet against the assaultof hts ::-co-rerigionis,e..a...e,Ji,,g6C*rir"r'"J";#;X:ii *m:i,';i#t;tgtf ffff:;:ft:'l$ti::-'],7-"rrrittg zeal had heaped- ngn th9 lropltl, Tre

drs- , ,oio aiff.rent religions. For instance, f there was a con-graceful o the very peoplewho fabrica*l tn:i: ^^^,: i ili., b**..n christianity and sciencewe musr not fallif,ir ho*.ner, an unfoftunate thing that "-11t9:^tt11t I i"r" tfr" simple and inexcusable.blunder f sta,ting hatiidoctrination of qtgiufice and misun$ft"fl :-- [ .fr."ri"lly r."ligion and scienceare anragonistic o one.wards Islam haso.hffid'-i" Europe.Edf6'sr:s-r-a" ',At- | "".rft"r. Noless an eminenrthinkerthanBertrandRussellberry finds it necessary-o warn his readers hat ,there I i.ii i"ro this blunder.Gexists a group of scholars n Europe who consrclti1l I fZl The conceptswe employ n our study of Islam mustdifficult io believe hat Islam can by its very nature { :-: t-^ .,-r^--*^^r i- +L^ ac trrnca ,oo.r -rttlcult to Delreve naf, sramca'' Dv '"rrr"ri{r.r?il lnot be understood n the sameway as those used increatesomethinggood and appreciable'they find in the Muslim i6--r'itv' t;il;' tii .fi l::::ot'For instance' he conceot elieion in Europede-^---r^:.^ * ^- ^- i-$r,,o-ô frnm nrrtci4e.r 7hat is still 1 ,totrr'th" individual relationb.t\'*eqfu-and Goi. Butr:l:tl_ffffi1.'Tl'i;:T"Ifi,,"::il:;r-,i:'#Jt'#l in sramerigionr'din'hasmuchYidesriilshanr ---J6l /


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that of religion n Europe. t is muchmore a way of life,an all embracingone, which significances much betterapproachedby the cornbinationof the German wordraehanscbawangith the word religion.(3) It is strictly necessaryo separatewhat is essentiallyIslamicand what is specifically he elements f particularcultures whose societies re predominantly Muslims. Agood example s the separationof women and the useof veilsby them.Many writers haveconfusedhis Arabic- Persiancustomwith the teachingof Islam. As to theseparationof women,no culture excelled hat of ancientGieece. England was unequalled n her subjectio-n fwomen.As late as 1856 somehusbands ad the right todisposeof his wife by selling her in the market. Thepoet Emersonmadesome emarksabout his. \(hat'more,ihe price of the fair sexwas quite often discussedn theTimes.T(4) '$flemust not isolatean event from its socio-histori-i"i unit as a whole. Every event s related o the organicwhole of the socieLy nd situationof which it is a part'This implies hat we must readjustour criterion of judge-ment. We must not judgea societywhosehistoricalexis-tence s far back in time than ours with the standardof our own societyand our own time. To cite a lucidexample, et us take the marriageof the Prophet' TheProphet as we al l know had more than one wife. H' G'I7ells h4rps upon the favourite'tune of the Church thatthe Prophetwas a man who couldnot conquerhis passionfor the opposite ex. (ells's wild and carelesstatement fthe Prophet'scharacter an hardly be approvedby thosewho have studiedhim from both groups, friends andcritics alike.8 Apat from this, \flells seems o ignorethe requirementof a truly scientific methodologYtn3.'mely the methodadvocatedby the well-known Germanphilosopherand historian Vilhelm Dilthey, which states8

that we must judge a historical eyent in the context ofthe ,time, he place and the culture. Only when we dothis shall we realize hat the marriage of the Prophethasbeen a blessing o humanity. In thosedays marriagewas the most effectiveway to secure he allianceof thevarious warring factionsof Arabian society.As a resultof a marriage, he Prophet converreda whole tribe intoIslam. This meant then that there was no more killingof femaledaughtersamong he tribe, that there was nomore intense ivalry and blood feud, that the wives of adeceasedather were no more inherited by the sons asProperty, that there was no more inhuman treatmentofanimals,etc, etc.I have found it necessaryo mention these our pointsto be awareof, in order that the reader nay nor confusethe Islamic conceptionof democracywith that of the!7est. There are however many intricate problemscon-nectedwith a thoroughly deepand searching omparison'"between he democracyof Islam and that of the \U?est.Among these are the entry of the industrial revolu-tion into the historical sceneand the rise of secularism.Both of these actorshave nor exerteda conditioning n- ,fluence on Islamic political thinking as rhey have on"'the formation of $Testern olitical thoughr. n rhis booh-let I have omitted the difficuk task of searchingor thecausal elationswhich gavebirth ro the various concep-tions of democracy.My task is mainly to present hoiethat are akeady ormed and thereafter o .ompare themwith one another.And even his is done n a iomewhatcursoryway. This may be borne n mind when the readerperuseshis booklet.


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THE DEMOCRACYOF ISLAM NTITH REFERENCETO GREEK AND ROMAN POLITICAL THOUGHT

Requisites t' dentocracYE;;t; .on."ption of democracy hat enters the human^irrd, is not something thai exists by itself, b't+l"^rt-'of ^ wider and deleper onceptionof life' Behindil;;y-;";..ftio^ of demo-cracvs a definitewav of life'.orrt"ittitg iefinite valuesand idealscofrespondingtoa;;;;;.;ption of humanhature'Since herehavebeent"--""y different ways of life that-expressedhernselvesin a democraticmanner,and sincedemocracys insepar-able from these conceptionsof life, it would be notsurprising for us to trilir" that 'there s more than onekind of i.-o.r".y. These'variouskinds of democraciesaiff"t in many'things including the fundamentalplin-.'ipl., of " gold ro.i"ry. But they all-agree n the fol-to*i"g poirris,(llthat ih" ittt.t.-ttt of the communityare.aborr."th. tt"rt, 3) that the few who shall govern t"he'io*-""ity rnott'hrn" the consentof the majority andtlrat their ascento Power s thlough election, 3) that theii"oilti.r which diifer from the majority are entjtled"toihe rights of existence,4) that the dissensionsnd disqu;re-s eiwsen groups *iitti" the communirrrshall b-e ertJe'diy p""l.frl"-.r"t suchas discg,sqionnd d$a-teswb-ichIttaft ti"atly end with decisions y meaneof vo-q1ng'Even these ew points which they have in commonareacwally not the same.The degreeof freedomof aminorityir , ,rario,r, democracies,or lnstance, is not always thesame.So is the area n which the stateacts or the inte-restsof the community.eBeforewe dealwith the Islamicconception f democracy,let us brieflv examine the two precedingdemocracies,thoseof Gr.Eceand Roraebefore he rise of Christianity'

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It is necessaryo do this, even nexhaustively,n order tounderstand he full implication of Islamic democracy.The secret f understandingies n comparison.Democracyn ancientGreece," ound th, ..rrtnry 5oOB. C. {.thens w-as h,ec,entreof,G:eek emocraticife, ushered y Solon, he Greek atherof E.ttop.".t democracywho desiredan equitabledistri-bution of wealth and reforrnsof the societyas a whole'Pericles,eaderof the Athenians aught that the highestdevotion n a man's ife was towardsthe city-state.Thiscity-statewas much smaller han the modern state.Thelife of the inhabitantswas centredaround the city. Its,economicsystemwas basedon slave abour. The slavesconstitutedabout o.ne hird of the whole population.Rivalry and intense trifesoccurredbetween he rich andthe poor.The intellectwal evolwtionIn the 5th centuryB. C. Greece xperiencedn importantchange n the form of a higher cultural development.This changewas due among others to the growth-ofqealth and inqre,asiqgrbanity of Lile.The significance f this changewas to be found in .thernergenceof a trend of thought critical towards tradi-tion and sceptical owards religion which differed accor-ding to the variouscity-states.Secwlarism nd relatir:ism.The religionsof the Greekswere not basedon revealedscriptures.Neither was there a body of theologiansat-tempting to supply correct interpretationsof the truthas ii was the casewith revealed eligions.Consequentlythe Greeks hen had to fall back upon their traditions fthere were to be forcesthat would unite and integrate

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them in their respective ocieties.t was this reliance.ontraditions and religions that the intellectual. evoludon ofthe fifth centur).soughtm.dernolish.The group of men who raised he banner of this intellec-rual reyolutionwere designated s Sophists n the historyof Greek thought. The main fea tures of t!"e Sophistsconsisted mainly in their beliefs that man! was therneasure f all things, hat success'ih ublic life was the5nost mportant goal in man's social acgivity, that trutH'and valueswere relative.A. H. Amstrong, summarizing he position of the So-phists,whosephilosophyhe called humanistagnosticism,writes the following: 'A successful ivilized human lifeis the central concern;and thereareno absolute tandardo.f unchanging eality, religion or morality with whichthe individual mind must conform. There was a discus-sion, already widespread n fifth century Greecebeforethe Sophistsappeared,as to whether religion and mo-rality were natural, part of the inborn essentialorderof things or simply an affair of Custom and Tradition.The relativis t humanism of the Sophists ed them ofcourse to accept the second alternative. Religion andmorali y were for them simply a matter of man-madec.ustom.9'\7e see hus that the attitude of the Sophists,n modernterminology,could be described i-relativistic humanismincorporatinga secularand utilitarian outlook on demo-cracy.Socratesand anioersalisrn\Zhile the Sophistswere instructing young men on theart of acquiringpublic success nd the pursuit of secularideals,a sagearose n Athens,who revolted against herelativism of the Sophistsand simultaneously ttemptedto provide a new and deeper oundadonof morality andt2

truth. This noble man was Socrates 47A-399 B. C.)Sgcrates hared he attitude of the Sophists n makingman the centre of his interest but differed with them?oncerninghe value of morality and truth. He did notaccept he relativism of the Sophists.He insisted hatknowledge and virtue, which he merged into asinglewhole,werenot the accidental reationof man andcircumsta'nces.he- truth as Socrates ut it posessedheqllality of permanence nd universality. Thus Socrateslaid down, believedby some o be the first time in Euro-pean history, 2 universal and objective concePtionofknowledgeand ethicswhich he believed o be part of theideal nature of man.'The merit of Socratesay-not onlyin the fact that he was the first one p Europeanphiloso-phy to introduce he idea of the soul as a psychicalprin-ciple governing he life of man, but alqo n his attempttg establish universalbasisof knowledgeand morality.'Wehave mentioned he case f Socrates nd the Sophistsfor the simple eason hat the conflict between elativismand universalismwhich was respectively epresented ythe Sophistsand the adherents f Socrates,was also anissuewhich was raised by the Quran and by the Stoics,of whom we shall say somethingmore, later." Further-more this quest or the universal n hu,man hought andaction was in itself and expression f a strong desire ounderstand uman nature n a more profound manner.Conceptionot ' bwmanna.tureOur conception f human nature play a determining olein formulating our belief on a political system.We canclearly discern his in the Greekand Roman conceptionsof democracy. t is of course mpossible or us to dealwith all their aspectsn this short space overingseveral

I centuriesof history. It is also necessaryor us to be, cautious n forming our judgement egardin* tn" ""tuj;

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of the Greekand Roman democracies.he factorswhichhave beenselected s subiects f comparisons ere mustnot be taken as thoroughly conclusive nd exhaustive fall other factors in Greek and Roman societies. hesefew factors have been singledout becausehey are themost mportant onesas ouchstonesf a goodsocialorder.Tbe Greebvi.eatot' manIn their conceptionof human nature, the Greeksconsi-dered themselves s superior to other nations by theirvery nature. 1'Theydid not think of humanity as awholes," writes A. Zimmern, a polidcal scientist, theythought of it as divided sharply into two sections'Greeks and barbarians, and of the Greek world as asmall oasisof intelligence and culture ringed rotrndbya wide and indefinite expanse f barbarism."11Aristotle(384-322 B.C.) considered he Asiatics as slaves bynature. They further made classificationswithin theirown society. Some people, as Plato (427-347 B.C.)and Aristotle believed, were born to be slaves andsomeothers to rule. Those who were born to be slaveswere doomed to a life-long servitude.They were de-prived of the privelegeswhich their masters njoyedandthe purpose of their existencewas only to serye as alabouring class. n the society planned by Plato andAristotle, all manual labour was to be assigned nly toslavesand foreigners.Correspondingo this, the*v-alup*gfJahour--ruas*regardad-asss-.low har..Ari*orle advoeatedthe.exclusionof artisansf rom citizen-shipbec,a-use--aer-sosr. hope .t-ime ag. e_o,qsu"ned..by-_lab_out_usul-d'gj beahle to cultivate the necessary--.irtues..""Those whoobtained the privelegesof citizenship were only thosewho shared n the governingof the city-state.The classplayed a highly important part in the socialsystem f the city-state. Tealthand birth were consideredby Aristotle to be the necessaryequirementso attainL4

political prestige. Because he highest ideal was con-sideredo be a goodcitizenof the state, o believenot inconformity with it was considered shigh treason.Thus,for instance,Plato prescribeddeathpunishment o thosewho commitedheresyagainsthe state eligion. (ith rightPlato is considered o be the father of religiousperse-cution.(The position of women in the Athenian democracywas'not lessshocking.The wife was consideredo be inferiorto the husbanddue to the order of nature. Her virtueconsisted n obedienceand silence.As Aristotle wrotethey were her glory. Shehad no authority over her chil-dren. "Againr" accor.dingo Aristotle, "the male is bynature superior, and the female inferior; and the onerules,and the other is ruled: this principle of necessity,extends o all mankind." 12It is here not necessaryo go -into further details about the degraded position ofwoman in Greece hen.Ve shall now summarize he Greek view of man andsociety. n the Greek conception,a per.son..hadno-intria.sre -val-uc,^*Hisnly worth was identical to his functionas a citizen of the state.The statewas the highestgoodto which he had to devote all his thoughts and desires.' The idea of an individual, as contrastd to a citizen,had. not ernerged hen. The belief that an individual is a

i distinct part of humanity with his private and gur{gr,"ipersonal^life, and the assumptio.,ha t he, as WF,i worthy of respect from other persons,was contrarfTltii the then prevailing conceptionof a human personality.The belief in the individual "was an assumptionwhichI played a small part in the ethicsof the city-itate, where1 the individual appearedas a citizen and where his signi-ficancedepended pon his statusor his function." 13

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Democracy n dncientRorne iin the secialposition._Theemperor,above whom there\fle shall now proceed urther to know somethingabout lcould be no rnortal higher han he, received hen the titlethe Roman concepti;; oi J.*o.rrcy. The Rom"is were ,of God. of the most enlightenedone, Augustuscaesarnot so much know"-* "rGi""r thinkers ike the Greeks d27-14 A.D.), Edward Gibbon, the well-known histo-but as soldiers"rra "a*irririr"rorr. They introducedgood rian of the Roman Empire, writes,"The conquelqr o{

;;;;""il", "rrd irrriirrrr.d a well'disciplined aimy. Rome and her provincesassumedhe popular and legal

Their ideaso" ar-o.tlly ""a the good ife, were mainly form of a censor,a consul,and a tribune. His will wasderived from the Greeks.Their eirpire began after the the law of mankind, but in the.declarationnf his'"laur"s-hedeath of Alexander in 323B. C. and was fo"unded n the bnryowed the voice -of^*the enateand p-eoBJe;-nd-rpmright of the Caesar"a?" might of the army-..Of this, their masteracceptedand renewedhis temporary com-the historianprof"rr*l.hn go;le writes the'following: mission o administer he republic."15.Theabsolutism f.,In its military aspect, ndeed, he power of Rome was Sovernment nd rulers was here not only establishednan ugly thing, founded on abrutal milita.ism and a.harsh practice but also n principle'd The modification of this;i;.i;i";, tti, ,id. of the imperial-power must be ser principle by cicero (106-43 B.c.) at the period of en-against he theoretical dealism of the Hellenized Stoic lightenment still sounded of absolutism. "There islawyers.Morever, ,h" no-rr* accepted lavery.ascom- nothing", said,ciceror "so completely n accordance ith,1"r"1, ", th" Ct".i.r; ,rr.r, th. Christian Justinian took the

principle of justice and the demandsof nature asit asa matter of .oorr", and their ,r."r-.ri, of criminals goYernment."The experience f mankind has taught usand captives.was utstandingn its savageryeve-n y the that justice s not inherent n any governmentbut is an4"st"rrd"id of antiquity - *it.r, the mais trucifixion of 4cquisation f it.ih" sp"rr".ir6lr".r, or the fate of the Jewishprisoners 'Regarding he statusof women the Roman socialsystemafter the sackof the templeby Titus, sei to figirt to the was_also uite_ evere:Although the practice was not asdeath n the arena.,,a iharshas the theory, and certain humanizing orces en-Th" porition of the poor as we have seen n the Greek l-d,:d ameliorate heir conditions n the later period ofsocial-order, wasnot'a favourableone. so.was it in rhe ,the Roman Empire, yet the legal framework in whichtffi x;*;*ffi*x'tr"lii"F;.['F,*#**:-"J:il"#3i.l{xTiffi; #; , -? .orrr.rrn"tirr","-nd neither the cities nor fciety in the following words: "The position of womenthe imperial bureaucracyundersto"d ;h; ,udi*"tt., "! ii " Rome is not altogethereasy to understand,becauseeconomic science.,,a rhat th" Ro*"i--.orr."ptiott of lhere,as with many other Roman nstitutions, heory anddemocracyontained;;; ;i;d;iol. t'f*s.in it $n':.'i:: id,1119'il 1"-?l::5:Ji'-'::::::'i:#;fiirffi ffi ;jJ;;;i;i; ani efficiency.iprinciplet allowed omen o ndependentxistence.nF;; hi; 1",o,'" u"'i'''*"';;';;;.h 'aigiol ;-q\f-::-1:-*ti.ffT:s:*:t"'"11":"t;:*5-l**""*:?*L6 LI


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oYerhiswifeal l ther ightswhichheheldovertheirchi l-ar"n i.r virtue of.hispitria potestas' he meaningof this'as we have seen'was that he could evengo so far as tofl t hit wife to death; and this theory in fact survived'iho,rgh perhaps n a somewhatmitigated form, at leastro l"L ai the irst centuryof the Empire"'16i. , -.orrrr"r, to the position of women,the male head ofthe family ", *" ,." above,enjoyed- bsolutepower oflife and death,not only on his slaves ut alsoon his wifeand children.i"rp.., for tradition checked he catastrophicabuseof ,u.h an absolutePower wielded by one man aboveseveralpersons.R*ongri the abuses f power which-was ater made lle-ti t i" ".tt" time of Consiantinewas the actionof a fatherirho decided o exposehis newborn nfant to die at thespot where it was left ot to meet any other fate at thehandsof somechance inder.Th" ,1"o", fared no better in Rome than in Greece'TheRoman nstitutionof slaverywas saidto be at its savageheight during the first and second entury of the Empire'ThJ wife who killed her husband'sslaves or a merewhim was not believed o be an invention'The restram-ing force against the cruel treatment of slaves waskiidness actuatedby economicmotives,or their scarcity'\7hen the nhabitanisof Rome urnedwealthy and slavesbecarfle uperflous'brutality in the treatment of slavesoccurredwith the acquisence f the law'StoicismBefore we begin to consider he democracyof Islam'there is anotlier important factor which we ought totake into account. siam, asdescribedn the Quran is 'aldin al qayyum', that is,' religion in the right state(30 : 3O).-The atureof its truth, that is, the permanence18

lit'i.&-r * J*

in all changes, annot be changed.As the Quran says,'There s no altering n God's creation'.God asmentionedin the Quran is the Truth which is presenteverywhereand in all times. His manifestationn one form or an-other takesplace ndependent f humanvotition. Humanbeings,as the Quran says,are always n the sute of dis'covering the truth. (God teachesman what he did notknow (96 : 5)l This truth in the realmof humanexistenceis 'the nature createdby God in which he had made allmen'. This, as the Quran continues, s the right religion(al din al qayyum), and as it is with the fate of truth,'mostpeopledo not know'. Since ruth is presenteyery-where,and being he ideal nature of man, t is thereforein conformity with the view of Islam to expect hat evenin the shadyperiod of Greek and Roman historiessomerays of the One and Only Truth would shed ts light onthe minds of thosewho were concernedwith the welfareof mankind as a whole.As a reaction against he surrounding njustice and theimpact of circumstances, rose a schoolof thought inAthens during the latter half of the 3rd century. Thisschoolof thoughtwhich exefteda strong nfluenceater onEuropean ntellectuals,was calledStoic$m. t was ound-e by.ZprLg"340-265 B.C.), believed o be of Orientalorigin. The schoolwas characterized y the fact that itsmemberswere frequently descended.Jrom-the,Ilellenisticmixed racgq f ghg.Q1ig_"nt..17his probablyexplainswhyStoicismemphasizedhe universality of humanity andthe equality of all races.The influenceof Stoicismcap-tured only the educated ew and not the generalmasses.The century before he birth of Christianity, a period of'enlightenmenttendered by Stoicism had ushered tselflonly to be checked y the riseof Christianity and the con-iversion f Constantine. wo centuries efore hat Alexan-attempted o pu,t he principlesof Stoicismnto prac-

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tice in his empire,but that had failed. It is probabty f9i rhe universality of suchprincipleswbhs"ur."monoBolizing;il ;;;pn it ^i Alexander whom the Muslims c.all ftpm, To say that this or that systemmonopolizestheIrk"rrd". bhrrlq".train, is until to-day regarded with iiuth is to limit the boundlessmercy of God. \[e maymuch reverence. agreewith the Quran when it says that every age isio-. r"nrr.ts of Stoicismwhich until to-day are nfluen- gi"ven ts o*tt g,tidattce. 18:38) The love of God intial in Europe,arevery much n agreement ith the fun- islam is not co.rlinedonly to Muslimsbut to all doersofdamentalprinciplesof Islam. .tsnotable.exponent9!fi good.(2 : 195).sfppus ZSO-ZOSB.C.) demonstratedhe.universd |tll-rni. rpiiit that sciencend faith werecomplementary.Like Islamic dernocracyIslam-,Stoicismaid the emphasishat life wasa.calling o The 6th century, the period in which the prophet Mu-duty assigned y God whosepower was overruhng' 'tke hammadwas born witnessed he last phaseof declineofIslam, Stoicismbelieved hat life was neither pessrmrsm the Roman Empire. Arabia and the surrounding egionnor hedonisticease nd comfort but perfomance fduty' showed also similar symptomsof decline and disorder."The fundamental eachingof the Stoics,"writes G' H' The Roman Empire hrd b..n engagedn secterian chismSabine, was a religiousconviction of the oneness nd *i,hin itself eversincehe .onrr"r'riJ' of Constantinentoperfectionof nature or a true moral order' A life accor- Christianity. It was the emperor Constantine himselfiing to nature meant for them resignation o the wtll who officially made ntoleranie the policy of the Chris-of -God, co-operation with al l the forces of good' a ti^n Church. In325 A.D. the council of Nicea was con-sense f dependencePona Poweraboveman that makes vened with the interesr of Constantine. This councilfor righteousness,nd the composure f mrnd that comes declared hat Christ partook the sameessence s Godfrom faith in the goodness nd reasonablenessi the himself.This declarationwas inducedby the schismbe-world." 13 tsreen the teachingsof Arius and official Christianity.Fr,omsuchan attitude towards existence, rig.inatedhe Arius, who lived i.t Ale*arrdria, taught that Christ wasStoics'political philosophy. t preachqdYorld -widehu- ' not of the samdessence s God. Violent and frequentman brotherhood unitedhy iustice,-e-quality t"man u; , p.rr"..rtions accompaniedhe schismbetweenArius andrespectiveof race,wealth and rank, and the deni-alof offi.i"l Christianity. This quarrel about the nature ofpiririotism. It replacedpatriotism by internationalism.. , Christ was still in'sway in ihe 7th century when Islamiiii ,tnfotiurr"t"iy al l ihese ofty principles of Stoicism *", born. So was the quarrel between ire Nestoriansremained ike islands on a vast ocean' as compared o and the Monophysites.the other forcesof the time then. , ft was in this period of disorder that Islam was firstIt was only later through Islam in the first half. of the I oroooundedby ihe Prophet Muhammad n 611 A. D. Itzth century A. D. that iheseuniversalprinciplesbecame$was n a period of persecution nd religious ntolerance,a force sustaining o this very day a luring and creativeltyrantry and oppression, aint-worshipand superstition,civilization of mlre than 400.000.000members. f moral disintegriiion and indifference, hat Islam emergedA true universal eligionmust ncorporate nto its systemf to better the condition of mankind and to provide a20 ,t l 2l


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lasting way of life. \[rith much truth Edward Gibbon onepeople". (10 : 19) The differences etweenpeople- reremarks tha the rise of Islam is 'one of the most not looked upon to explainhow onepeople99uldgnsla-v,pmemorable evolutions which have impresseda lasting "rrorh"r, but^that the different peoplescould derive b-q-characteron rhe narionsof the globe."This memorabli nefits from one another'sexistence. s the Quran say{,revolution Gibbon aptly describes-asollows:'The creed God has made us into different tribes and nations.thapof Muhammad s free iro* ,.rrpi.ion or ambiguity; and the one may understand he other (49:13)' The diff{the Quran is a glorious estimoiny o the ,rnitJ' oi cod. rences "twe"n people s thus conceived y tle Quran $The irophe, oi M".." rejected the worship of idols a sourceof *oilruf .tnderstanding. he well-known mo-arrd -"rrl of starsand planets,on rhe ration;l principle dern historian Arnold J. Toynbee amongst

others, hasthat whatever rised *oi, ,"r, that *h"tever is birn must emphasizedhe sameview. Ta"under$and-herowniisto-die, that whatever i,.orr.rptible musr decayand perished. q,-Err"p*.orco-r.din&*to-Toyniee,r-nu$!-lr.n-a-w-.agd-und.e,l-ln ihe author of the urriv.ise his rational enthusilsmcon- riuna tn. hisg-o--ry,-o.fA.sia,nd to uude,rsiand erself,-Asiafessed nd adored an infinite and eternalbeing,without rr"r-i.t""* ""J-""d.tt-tand the hisqo-r1.--d-[,g1ope'husform or place,without issueor similitud., pr.r*"rrt o our tn. aiii.r""ies bet-.et -people, as formulated by thernor, ,..i., thoughts,existingby the ,r...rriry of his own Quran, shouldnot be looked .rpottat a.sourceof quarrelnarure,and deriiing from hi'mselfal l moral and intellec- but of mutual understanding.The -existence f severaltual perfection. ThJsesublimerruths thus announcedn systemsof life, is, according- o -the Quran, not thatthe languageof the prophet, are firmly held by his dis- peopl" should hate one another but that they shouldciples, rrj d.firr"d *ith -.t"physicai precisionby the io-p.r. to do good.. For everyone

of you," says theirr't.rpr"t"rs of the Koran. ,1,'philoroplic theist might Q,rr'"n, "did welppoint a law and away' and if Allahsubscribe he popular creed oi the i4ohammedans;- tid pleased, . *o"ld have madeyou all a singlepeople,creedtoo sublimeperhaps or our present aculties."15 b.rt ihat he might try you in what FIe gaveyou, thereforeFrom this description of-Gibbon we are told that Islam strive with ott" ""oih"r to hasten to virtous deeds."is rational and sublime.This sublimness nd rationality (5 : a8).permeareshe conceptionof democracyn Islam. islam,'howeverdoesnot end n recognizinghat there are

,o -"ny different beliefson earth' It goes urther thanBasic conceptionsof Islamic d.emouacy o6thar. It also eacheshat a people- aving a different beliefThe-bAfe.s*f Is!4pic d..-fng.ra.y"re rhl pri".iFh"t tto right to-impose.t on others' B,y t$.-blan ggt3-

hicl,tha-tis'-theunityofff i; i i .bli$e-q-t.hi-freedp',m.sf.bjl lefwhichis--the$rneL-stoneof,rrifrr ""i i"iiii"", ,yri.-r, the cultivation oia certain evsry-ffue"d-elaoeracFhe Quran says,There is no com-

type of ,har^rier,rni th. ordering of oo, ioli"f ,,,d il pulsion in religion; truly the right way makes tself dis-di,riau fife followin! ."rtain spiritual pri;;i;;.---- --- iirrct from "rr*." (2 z 256)" This injunction.was tealizedIslam, however, pro.iid., ,""ro-r, fot .""ryilirrl'i, ,"yr. by the Ptophet himself. I7hen Arabia fell under theFrom the onity'of God, sprang he beliefoi th! unity'of sceptreof Iilam, the Prophet- mmediately granted thethe human r".L. A, th. Qur"rr"says, Al l mankind is but lnon-Muslims peace and-,securityof existence'He gave22 23


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ff i ,the following charter to the Christiansof Negran:'tothe Christiani of Negran and the neighbouringerritories,the securityof God and the pledgeof His Prophet areextended or their lives, heir religion,and their Property- to the presentas well as o the absentand othersbe-sides here shall be no inteferencewith the practice oftheir faith or their observances;or any change n theirrights or privileges;nor bishopshallbe removed rom hisbiihopric; nor any monk form his monastery,nor anypriesi from his priesthood,and they shall continue toenjoy everything great and small as herefore;no imageor'.ros shall be destroyed; hey shall not oppress r beoppressed; hey shall not practice the rights of. blood,r.igr"n." as n the days of lgnorance;no tithesshall beleviid from them nor shall they be required to furnishprovision or the troops."18This exampleof the Propheti"s l"t.t followed by Abu Bakr, Omar and Ali' TheChristians n Palestineatid Egypt were granted similarcharters. So were the Zoroastrians in Persia. \$[e mayagree with Toynbee when he praises his high-mindedtoieranceof Islam. e Referring to the presentconditionof racial intolerance,Toynbeeconsiders he influenceofIslam as being urgently needed. It is-conceivable," ewrites, "that ihe spirit of Islam might be the timely re-inforcementwhich would decide his issue n favour oftoleranceand peace." 0 ;The Islamic ethicsof wd,i," ractisedby the Prophet and ,enjoinedby the Quran, perhaps eflect most he.degree f 'humanity in the democracy of Islam' To the trooPswhich the Prophet sent against he Byzantines,he gavethe following instructions: In avenging he injuries n-flicted upott.tt molestnot the harmlessnmatesof domes-tic seclusion; pare he weakness f the femalesex; njurenot the infanti at the breasts, r thosewho are in bed.Abstain rom dernolishinghe dwellingsof the unresisting24

inhabitants;destroy not the meansof their subsistence,nor their fruit trees;and touch not the palms."18Com-pare this injunction of the Prophet with the events nEurope and Asia in the recent wars. The present agehas not reached the humane injunction given by theProphec f Islam.Another expression f the democratic pirit of Islam wasgiven by Abu Bakr, the companionof the Prophet,whosucceededim at his death in 632 A. D. Immediatelyafter his election,Abu Bakr addressedhe community nthe following words: "Behold me, behold me, chargedwith the care of goyernment. am not the best amongyou; I need all your advice and al l your help. If I dowell, support me; if I make mistakes counselme. Totell the truth to a personcommissionedo rule is faithfulallegiance; o conceal t is treason. In my sight, thepowerful and the weak are alike; and to both I wish torender ustice.As I obeyGod and His Prophet,obeyme;if I neglect he laws of God and his Prophet I have nom'ore ight to your obedience."The doctrine of passiveobedienee'finds o room in Is-lam.21 So is the absolutismof rulers and governments.Even the leaderof the state,n Islam, s subjecto the samelaws as his people.Compare his with the absolutism fthe Roman emperor although his commission o rule asan absolute ictator was temporary n times of crisis.Progressivenatrrre of Islamic lawIt would however,be incomplete o know that law andjustice are put above the will and dictates of humanbeingswithout knowing what those aws are.The aws ofIslam are all embracingand progressive. rofessorD. daSantillana, who lectured on the political and religiousinstitutions of Islam in the university of Rome, writesthe ollowing about slamic aws: "Having as ts scope o-

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cial utility, Muslim law is essentiallyprogressive, nmuch the sameway as our own." 22i"t r.rtnow find out the progressive ature of Islamiclaws in its relation to the position of women, o slavery'"rrd

to the condition of ihe poor. \7e have mentionedsomething bout hesesubjectsn connectionwith Greeceand Rome. S?omen n Islam are not considered o beinferior by nature.Her obligation and rights towards so-ciety are h" ,"-. as that of men. \foman -w-a-s*neithsrcre"red.from-a..ribof man nor existing merely to glorifyh;-. Itt"- considershe equality betweenmen and wo-men so mportant that the Q.tt"t devotesa whole chap-ter to *oi,rr.rr. The welfare of women never left thethoughtsof the Prophet, such hat at his farewell speechhe rJrinded the men to treat the women ustly' \fritingabout the Prophet, the Orientalist ProfessorGibb says,"That his reformsenhancedhe statusof woman n gene-ral by contrastwith the anarchy of pre-Islamic Arabiai, orrirr.rr"lly admitted."23 The Prophet also laid theprinciple of direct representation f women in stateaf-i;tr" o,, a certain i^y ^ group of women requestedtirt rft"y be allowed to see he Prophet directly and laytheir grievances o him, without the-mediation of the-.n. tn" Prophet granted this

immediately' The rightsof women ott ih" fruit of their own labour are alsogua-ranteed.The Quran says: Men shall have the benefit ofwhat they eain attd women shall have the benefit ofwhat they earn." (4 :32).As to the position of the slaves,slam principally rejectsslavery. Eien the cri,ticsof Islam accept that Islamicl"* &pr"rres its highest concern for humanity- in- itsdealing with the insiitution of slavery. Under the Ro-*"rr ih" slaves ad not alwaysbeenhumanly protected'In the beginning hey couldbe put to deathat the master'swill. By i'h.

-olteniightenedhinkersof the Greekworld,

like the Stoics, he slaveswere regardednot more thanlabourers ired for life. The Prophet and his companionsdid all their best to abolishslavery so much so that theemancipationof slavesand their humane reatmentbe-camea condidon of righteousnessn Isla'm."And wha'twill make you comprehendwhat the uphill road is? Itis the setting ree of the slavesor the giving of food inthe day of hunger o an orphan,or to the poor who liesin the dust." (90 z 12-16)The Dutch OrientalistProfessorSnouck Flurgonje, admits the justice of Islamic lawsabout slavery.He writes: "The law of Islam regulatedthe position of slaveswith much equity; there s a gre^tbody of testimony rom thosewho have spent a part oftheir lives amongMohammedannationswhich does us-tice to the benevolent reatmentwhich bondsmen eceivefrom their masters." According to Mohammedanprin-ciples," continuesSnouck Hurgonje, "slavery is an in-stitution destined o disappear." aAnother proof of thehumaneconceptionof the slave n Islam is the fact thatthe slave is nst egnside-r.e-ds -4prapgrtlr sf thp master.The reason or this is that the Islamic conception f pro-perty implies that the owner has absolute ight on hisproperty. Sinceno masterof any slavehas absolute ighton him, he is thereforenot considered Shis property.The poor in Islam, occupy also very great attention.Maintenance f the poor and needybecomes ne of thefive pillars of Islams.2%l0lo r 100/o f the community'swealth, dependingon its nature, s taken as the yearlyminimum for relieving the poor. According to the Pro-phet an ideal societywould be one n which a manwouldwalk around offering charity with no one to receive t.Conditioning i.nt'laence f societyIn the eyesof Islam if an individual tries to wipe outpoverty it is not only for his own sakebut still moreIIflt l /

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for the community. f'e al l know the various crimesandbackwardnesshai generate rom poverty' According toIslam it is better to wipe out the causes f criminalitythan the punish the criminals. I[e can agreewith theProphetwhetthe said hat poYertymay well be the causeof itrfid"lity. The same hing applies o abundance' othextremes", Arirtotl" rightly observedmay influence hedevelopment f our charactermore to the negative hanto the positive side. slam, long before socialism, ecog-nized tle f.act that man becomes ood not only becauseof his internal qualities,but more still because f theexternal condition shapedby his society. The Muslimhistorian and sociologist bn Khaldun stressed ignifi-cantly the influenc" of ont conditionson our thoughtsand tehaviour.2sAlthough poverty is not desirable nIslamyet thepoor man s not regarded ssomeonenferior'He becomes oot ttot by his birth, but by his circumstan-ces. t is thereforeour duty to change he circumstances,such that eyeryonewould be given enoughopportunityto develop n the bestpossiblemannerhis inner qualitiesand .apacities o benelit his fellow beingsand himself'Itrith this end in view we have to exertourselvesor theameliorationof our societyas effectivelyaspossible'Ourattitudes owards this shall not be passive ut active andenergetic.

THE DEMOCRACYOF ISLAM \rITH REFERENCE OLIBERAL AND SOCIALISTPOLITICAL THOUGHT

Islam and the RenaissanceIn the fifteenth century' a very important event in thehistory of Europemade tself strongly felt. It was thebreakdown of the Mediavel ordpr and the rise of thenadonal states.Apart from the crisisof the Roman Ca-tholic Church and the internal quarrel between he popeand the emperor, he main factor that causedhis changeryas the transformation of economicconditions. Trade,which was then a local activity' began o extend itselfto the whole country. For the first time since he RomanEmpire, there emerged n Europeansociety, a classofmenwith moneyand enterprising pirit. For the develop-ment of their trade, hesemenpreferreda strongnationalgovernment hat could put down anarchy and create a-vourableconditions or their activities.This changedidnot occur without creatingsimilar effects n their viewsrespectinghe universeand human ife.Corresponding o the changes n social and economicconditions, ccurredalsoa changen the religiousand spi-ritual outlook of the people hen. A new cultural streamflowed from Byzantium by way of Florenceand Rome.S.cienceegan o liberate tself from theology.The mys-teries and charm of nature were eagerlyexplored.Theunitary outlook of life crumbled o piecesby the pene-tration of Greek philosophy. The minds of men beganto travel in divergentpaths.Their soulswere heatedandfound their outlet in religiouscontroversy.This rernark-able change, he Renaissance,s said to be the startingpoint from which the various travellers of thought de-parted. The disunity and the crisis n the nineteethcen-

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tury world of thought could rightly be attributed to theRenaissance.This birth of a new life in the fifteenth century could,however,not have beenas t was,had not an importantthinghappened.This"highl-yimp*o.:ra*:hing*qh-al-cp-nui-bu..i to ih.-..nprtai-qs.*.$p-e"*yA.s-*E:[o-pe:q-*c--o"9.!ac-q!p-!-Is-L*;",Spui"-*A ili' Cii'sade*At that ime, heIslamic civilization *"t much superior to that ofChristian Europe.The conquest f Palestineby the cru-sadersbrought Europe in contactwith Islam. The Isla-mic Near Eastwas then the centreof culture and civili-zation.From here, the treasureof Greek thought, whichwas preservedby Islam, together with other civilizinginfluinces, was transmitted to Europe via Italy. Refer-ring to this event,Professor rnold Toynbeewrites, Eco-nomicallyand culturally, conqueredslam took her sava-ge conquerers aPtiveand introduced he arts of civili-Laion into the rustic life of Latin Christendom']"0 InSpain, the Muslims radiated the rays of enlightenmentto the wholeof Europe or about780 years 710-1492)'"Muslim Spain," obierves Prof. Hitti, "wrote one ofthe'brightest haptersn the intellectualhistory of media-vel Euiope.Betweenhe middle of the eighthand the be-ginning of th. thirteenth century, as we have noted be-Fot., th" Arabic speakingpeopleswere the main bearersof the torch of ..rltut" and civilization throughout theworld. Morever they were the medium through whichancientscience nd philosophywere recovered'supplg-mentedand transmittid itt sucha way as o makepossiblethe Renaissancef \ilestern Europe. In all theseArabicSpainhad alarge share,"26\findelband' the historianofpirilosophy, pointed out that the fuahn"in lpqin+ro:r*d.iU.sisitng-ti**tJ-seirntif"is.prsgrsss".v.hish--t"hc'Ifcsri.adlosr n.the-ehain pf-.itc devslgll!trest.17lrinwood Reade,who did not believe n any religion,did not refrain from30

praising he Muslims n Spain or their progressiveociali;f.. H" wrote, "At a time when bookswere so rare inEurope hat the man who possesedne often gave it toa church and placed it on the altar pro remid'i'oanimaesude o obtain remissionof his sins;when threeor fourhundredparchmentscrollswereconsidered magnificentendo*melrt for the richestmonastery;when scarcelyapriest in England could translateLatin into his motheri"ngu"; ""d-*hettever in Italy a rnonk who had pickedup " ttn"tt.ring of mathematicswas looked upon as amagi.ian, herewas a country in which every child wast"ufht to read and write, in which every town possessed" pnbli. library; in which book collectingwas a mania;in which cotton and afterwards inen PaPerwas manu-factured n enormousquantity; in which ladies earneddistinctions spoetsand grammarians, nd in which eventhe blind were often scholars;n which men of sciencewere making cherrricalexperiments, sing astrolabesnthe observatory, nventing flying machines nd studyingthe astronomyand algebra f Flindustan."27Liberalism\[e have now taken nto account he contribution of Is-lam to the Renaissance.et us now trace the develop-mentof thought from the Renaissanceo the presentday.Two important events ook placewhich we ought to corl:sider n order to understandhe Islamicconceptof demo-uacy and its implication to the modern world Thesetwo importarrt "rr"ntqare the rise of Liberalisrn{ nd its.ourrt"rp"r, SocialismlBoth of themhave their own con-ceptionsof democracy.By comparingeach other'sexpe-rience,we learn moreof ourselves,nd, most mportant ofall, we also earn to understand ne another.Our Presentsituation in this unbalancedage, mprints upon us thenecessitvo understand ne another.To the Muslims, his

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necessityo undersrand ne another s nothingbut a v.er! Around the middle of the 19th century, a new classofficationof the Islamic deal. \[e read n theQuran, 'I7. r.n made heir appearances a resultof the extension fhavemadeyou into nationsand tribesso hat yo,r under- industry. This was the working class.rThey discovered,standonearrother.' 49 :13). to their amazement,hat their conditions from day toLiberalism, as is generally 6e[ev.ed,.-w-as.."a--consep,liBn-pf-ay grew from bad to worse. They were left under thej-lt-;;d.;;;i"l oij"r "tt".h"d .to ih" capitalistlssystem mercy of men in parliament who were supposed

o re-;i;;d;;;-r1,. firrrt of Liberalismwasbrought about present hern.Thesemen,who belonged o the capitalisti}"ril;-;;.i;ively changed ocio-e-co-nomicondiiionsand il"rr, or the bourgeoisie, ade awsand regulationsn thethe intrusion or ,"tiorrii Lod., of thought nto European stare, ot for the interests f societyas a whole.but onlylife. In the lZth .""*y, ih. for.", lib"erated y the Re- for themselves. his was all done under the shelterof,r"irr"n." made tself -lr" f.lt in its desire or a rational Liberalism.

The ndividualswere eft to themselves,ither."pf """ri"" of human ife. At this period, called the En- to live in happiness r_ o die in misery.As time

'wenton,lightenment,human hinking "rrrr*-.d a materialisticand more and more injusticewas done to the working classffieltivisti. rorn. At the.""a of the 18th century, cor- under this Liberal system.All sorts of social evils camei"ri""ai"g to the ever increasingpower of the -iaat. t nto existence. hesesocialevils mostly centeredaroundclassand"the rational modes oi ihonght, a revolurion their two main sources,massunemployment

and recur-,*rrr"a i., EnglanJ thit l"rrt ,pr."i throughout the ring economiccrisesThe doctrine of laissez aire could*1"i" ,f Errrop"..This was th" ro called Induitrial Re- not work anymore becruse nstead of introducing thevolution. This stage i d.,r.lop*ent in the socio-economiceign of prosperity, t ushered he despotismof povertyconditionsof \fleitern Europe, ogetherwith the middle and injustice.class ascensiono Power' gave birth to a certain con-ception of life designated s Liberalism. SocialisrnL;l.r"lic- prea-c-bej-_-rhal*e;1ety--ind-iy-rduatha-dhe right Under thesecircumstances,here emerged nto the histo-;-[f.. libertv ""a n"ppi".rriTo achieve hese.-en{9,-it ical scenea group of men who could see hrough thefu:il;ia ti;i io.ipry qtio^uld or interfere wirh-the affairs 'gylk createdby_Liberalism. Thesemen tried to eradicatepi ** in*i"iariis,-fUi.indinidual was thus regardedas social miseriesby advocating an all embracingreformil;-;;;;;;";f iii". ni t "alues were measured,in.erms of of society.They did not want to have anything moreihe berrefil they conferred on the individuals.,In the to do with Liberal society. They would _like to re-fi.ld, of economic enrerprise, private initiative was place t with a new socialorder called Socialism.Robert,tr.rr.d upon.The ,t"r" *"-, supposedo interfereas ittle iO*utt, Saint Simon, Fourier, were amongst the pio-as possible.The political diviiion under Liberalism ol- ]neersof this movement.Their method of reforpfng so-lo#ed the patterri of national stares.Eachstate egardedlcifty was rathe-revolutionary.At this stage, he concePtitself to be the highestsovereignauthority. In its viewllf socialismwas not yet attached o a systematicandof history, Liberalismpreferred o explain human deve- 1ig61eushilosophy_ofhistory and human_development.lopment as a progressive ucessionf stages. lI t only preached democratic, lasslessnd international4? 33


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societv un on a dominantly materialisticbasis'- his con-It..p, of Socialism, alledUtopian S.ocialism,i.d,Y :1t^T :;;;;;i i"}iu"".., u'til a new orm of socialismook11itsplace.t callec tselfScientificocialism.ts sPokesmenI';;[;;iM"r* ".td FriederichEngels'n 1848,Marx and IEngelsdrew up a manifesto.summarizing the views and

The,-philosophcal-,basis"of-.Sciendfic.socialism"is--Fliso-riEat-Ma-tsr"i;lis"m.Hisrp*risu1.'-14uledal-ism.-belie"-v-e5-*lbathistory"js,.the-.hisrory-oi" dass,srruggle. fhis struggle be-tween classesollows a dialecticalprocess.Man, accor-ding to this doctrine, s the creatureof his classand hisinte-rests.Iis beliefs,his hopes, is desires, is aspirations,his prejudicesand eYerythingelse,are mere reflectionsand-raiionalizationsof his class nterests.From this it

H istorical materialism

concludes hat .value-s-, orals, ethics'.and -e-v-en.'science,rerda!,iy-e-.-tpth-e-cla-s-s-p-osition-ol.rhei"dividualron-objectivity of valuesand scienee re thrat$rn

J;Z.,irr", of ScientificSocialismwhich wererevolutionary""i "i.ot"promising. Referring o the FrenchRevolution,f tieg *iih it, raJorraland iiberal socialorder, Engels*rit"r, "But the new order of things,rational enough-as;;;;t"J *ith .arlier conditions, turned out to be by,ro ,i."rr absolutelyational.The statebased pon reason."*pf.r"fy collapsed.Rousseau'sContrat Social hadfo.rrrd ts realizion in the Reignof Terror, from whichii . ioo.g.oisie,who had lost .ottfid"tr." in their politic.al,^p"atyi had iaken refuge irst in the corruptionof theDi..tor"t", and finally under the wing of Napoleonicd"rpotir-. The promiseof eternalpeacewas turned into"n l"dl.tt *"t of conquest. he societybasedupon rea-;; ; ;;J fared no b"tt"r. The antagonismbetweenrichurrd poot, insteadof dissolving n o gen-eral rosperity';; 6.-;; intensified bv the iemoval of the guilds and"if*t pti"ifeges, which Lad to sorneextent b-ri'dged t;;;;, ""d bt"th" ,"*o-r"l of the charitable nstitution of,ft" Ci"*tti' The freedom of ProPerty from feudal fet-i"rr, "..ooding to Engels, urned 9ut ^tob.e, or the smallcipitulittt ani srrrall ropri.to.s, the freedom o sell heir,-"11 prop.rty, crushedunder the overmastering ompe-tition of ih" i"tg" capitalistsand landlords';;tir" d"ltolp*"ria of industry upon a capitalistic basis"'

Like other materialisticsystems,Historical Materialismpostulates he primacy of matter over mind. UnlikeLiberalism, he individual is here regardedas of minor

.;;;i;t-trrg.lr, "made pon.?ty and misery of the;;;i;G -;tsEs cooditio.t, tf e*iitettce of societv'ca;h

;t-# becamemoreand more, n Carlyle'sphr-ase'he,ol" ,t""o, betweenman and man' The numberof crimes

measuredaccording o the standard of the bourgeoisie.In Scientific Socialism, hat which is called humanityis measuredaccording o the standard of the workingclass.The Socialist nternationalScientific Socialism has been a great force againstcapitalistic Liberalism, but it was-not the only one.As time grew, many forms of socialismcame nto exis-tence.That of Keir Hardie in England and Jaures nincreasedrom year to Year."28

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France,not to speakof Lasalle and Bernstein n Ger-many,were someexamples'Eomeof these ects f socia-ii-sm'orritedo form " .o*-ott front' The first attemptilii"a.; rn- secondattemPt was witnessedby the fjtry"-ii"""f

the Second nternational 1s89-1914)' The-Se-.orra-it."t"ational tried to unite all sectsof socialismo" *" ["tit of the doctrineof the classstruggle'But thiswas also met with failure. The differenceamongstso-.i"iitrt-i""t*sed from day to day' At the beginningofthe world war in 1914,socialismwas divided in'to inu-merablewarring sects.Their ideal of intern-ational rg=ttrerhoodwas ciippled by th-9nationalismof their mefn-f;j.- alt"t the #"t, an influen'tial secti'onof Marxistrill"tittt broke away from the restand formed their ownrnorr.-.rrr, the Communist International' In 1923, thenon-Communistsocialistsorganized themselvesnto ail"ay-."fi"J the Labour and Socialist International'Failwre of socialismAi;-i;;gil socialism had broughg^abo.utremendous hu-;;;td; J"r,g.r, it proved iiself to be incapableof be-;i;g "a lasting. ,yr^r"* of life and social order that""ril'"gr* " tooia Lxplanation of human life and at ther"r* ii*" creating tire feeling of human brotherhood;;;"g;; th. o"riori, nationalitiesand races hat adoptedih" to".i"titt creed. f by a good socialorder we mean'iit" "ilfiry rc satisfy thl biogenic-needs f man suchasi""a,-.f"fui"g arrd ihelter, the ability- to regulatehumanL"tr""io"t in the proPer way, the ability to provide. a*ooJ t"aa"t of ,o.i"l'mobiliiy, the ability to create he;6"t-*entality, if we employ these.standardso judgel-to.i"l order, h.tt *. can-only conclude hat Socialismhas failed.Its fundamental principle was torn to piecesby inter-national dissension.ts brotherhood was destroyedby36

it , *e*b"ts. Its coming into Power in many countrles,...l.r"tud its decline' Denis Healy' secretary to the In-iernational Department of the British Labour Party;;i;;r, "At first sight the prosPects f internationalso-rwrltes, nE rl rsE srglrl, Lu s PlvryeLLJ vr Ir

lcialismseemed right enough n 1945' n nearly {-l partsiof Eorop. the soci*alistt"tti"t were at least n ojfic;' tiBritain, Norway, Sweden, Australia and-New Zealand',tt"y tt.ta full iower. To many it seemed hat socialism*ijht dir".tly ixercise a majot influenceon world po-Iiti"csf only ihe varioussocialistpartiescould co-operateeffectively. In fact, however,'the obstacleso co-opera-tion wer", if anything,evengreater han before he war'The various socialist party differed gteatly in their doc-trine, structure,methodsand situation.By the very fact

holding office, they found purely national conflictsadded o theseolder differences." e;fh" -far!.u-te.,qf.S-p--c-ia"lsm'..s.i${er"-t-s.l--tb*r*liqgr'-l-i-q;,11o.so,bd-$.th;-;ii-;Ginss-s-cia-tqirueJie-'r*-b-'*"t-*qpls*srii!rU."[,-ijin"-*Ji -"..-ftt-dp,.,trinss. he classstruggle, orin'sta;;;, f pursued onsequently,ouldalsodisrupt hesocialistshlmselves. heir view that man is purely a

tionalism. t has createddistrustand despairamongst

roduct of his institution, has beenscientificallyprovedio b" wrot g. Their belief that man will becomebetterpsychically f Lit material conditionsare reformed,had:"lto ""tt an illusion.iThis is becausehe materialistic en-iderr.yof Socialismmadedesirablea too simpleexplana-tion of human life.)Islarn!?e shall now investigatehe natureof Islamicdemocra-cy. Beforewe do thii let us take a certainfact into ac-.ount. In the Muslim world today, the force of Islam isdaily gaining strength. t may perhapsbe asked,why isit like this? Can a religion or a systemwhich is staticIiI

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and backward gain increasing strength in this modern"e.l \fhy do ihe Muslims more and

more moYe to-wards Islam? tt e a"swer to this lies in the fact thatirili, ,roi o"ly a religionbut a socialorder containing;iffi;;;;;ri"i' "r " p"'og""iue ocietv't

containshe;J';";il;"iir-, liti" p"tivate.nitiative.andheworth3i?.^i"af"rau"t, "J 'fe goodn Socialism'ikesocialiusticeand commun"l"t'"'i'y' In Liberal societyhe';;; ;;; th" i;isiest authoritv' In Slcialism' he classil';il rtigit." a"uthoritv' n islam God is the highest,"*"triy.lTihe Islamiclr*t* theconceptionf God s""t'""'rUttru., pi.."-oi'theology,bu t a cottcretend""titi* formulation f ideasdenticalo thegooditt-T'"i"i"t".r.it:'Ti;; i"t instance,he socialawsof Islam;;; ;;ii;i 'ahkamAllah'' Ai Prof'

D' de Santillana;;'.Eil ;i;;ipl" of unitv and order which in otherr.liJ.i"r it .hrtJ.'i"it"t, polis, tate,n Islamspersonified

of the ype we wanthim to be' \{an'q apacity3:t?.'.:i" no, orriy ecognizedy theQuranasa posslbllrty' ur.;;;;;;; it " Z""aiii"' of "*iite"ce'It was heProphetiffi;;;i'-himself who noticed his conditioningn-ii;;;-;i;ocial factorssuch hat he ncluded san ar*;;il; i";irt i" Islam, he duty'to

createavourable ir-.*r*"t in societ)'.hu:{f,"t::iil"t":' I *:rt:itff:;il;;;- it""" t"id th"t 'Cleanliness s part ot thei""#;;;rtv ""a de'tit"tion, which we al l know to be;;;; *o1.", of social ""i1, *t'" considered y theProphet as a causeof infidelity' -It-.is therefore com-"."fi."tfUi" that Islam desireshe abolition of bad social:;l;i;;;. This desireof Islam doesnot' however' re-;;;;";;il a, "r, ad',ite or a mere recognition' .but. istransformed nto a reality in the form of a po-sitiven-;;;;;i;;.

-ihi, injo.,.tio,' to wipe out social evils is cal-ed'Zakat'.

that he arrangesis socialife accordingo certarnPnn-.t"1.;^;il;;iii. ""a l"* of development hich areposi-;ffi;;il;;;I" tr'" Qu'"" "ni the examples f thei;r"Jrr* rtarrr"-*"a. Errtery ocialsystem as a basis'i""5".i"rit*,'i;-i;;" economicnterest'

n Islam' t-is;;.";;;;it ih. ,"tirfattion of economic eeds'but the."fri.r"rionof " ."rt"in typeof characternd_personality'i;";t-ffiimr, Irl"m pro"ides he truecombinatione-;.;; -"*t "'"a spirit''The wo are nterdependent'

he

by Allah: Allah is the nameof the supreme ower actrngi; ;h; common interest."22Thus when a Muslirn says':;V;L";; ;"r socialorder on the belief in God"' he means

onecannotexistwithout the other'Mowlding the environment;;;"; of lrl"r,,, ii we requirea man to be a certaintype of person'we must t""tt the conditionsand oPpgr-;fit t* i" *f,i.ft n".outa develophimself

in the direction38

Socio-ecnoiic wellare;;;;r-1; ;;. "f tr'. five pillars of Islam'.A Muslimwho

;;;;;;; "gt." *ith the institution of Zakat becomesno

;;';M""Jim. zakit i, iht "*oottt of wealth collected;; ; i l ; ; i t ; to the worth of 2%oloor 100/o ccordinsi. i-fr. *rt"te of his proPerty or incom-e' t is not only at"" ." ii."me, but on the amount of wealth a Pgrs-o-nft"t. it it collected ncea year' The

yearly amountof thist iii", collection,, -""nt for the bttttt*"tt' of society' ;t;;ili;, p"rti.ul"tly therelief-of hepoor andneedv'i" irr. ."ity periodof islam, heProphet ndhiscompa-,riormotili". i theZ,akat'bt'idtt relieving he poor' alsoi"t'ttt.".-""J;;ti""-;i til"tt, for thoie who were nffit;'?;;;i;'.'*t'" hJ "; homeand or the defencefil;;";;;;6. r" 'hoit, zakat is nothing.butan. nsti-i"ir""-?"it#al welfare' Ttre Quran attributes he in-ir".r.t-"i Zak^t.o ,i" \ilisdornandUnderstandingf

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God, for indeed t is wisdom and understanding o era-Ji."ir social evils. Zakat, besides he knowled-ge.and*rrriip oi c"a, is the most mportant teachingof Islam'S" -u.tt ,o thai it is made a conditionof righteotsness'

He who doesnot attemPt o wipe out poverty.and-desti-irilo", tft"ff neverbe "bl. to lead a righteous ife' It wasthis progressive eachi'ngof Islam which caused itsr""ia'*tta in the half of the 7th century'- fhen.ltl"*;;;;;"iaytia, Palestine, gyPt and Persia, he conditionsof the poo. *"t. uplifted. In Persia he peasants ere re-lieved?.orn the oppressio.t f the landlords'jTo the Muslims io-d*y, this institution of Zakat serves;r rh;;AJle way betweettCommunismand Capitalism'gy .."it"ttlrrg the communiy's wealth, Islam safeguardsth. tight of the poor for a decent and satisfactoryexisterice.kBy noi abolishing private property,. Islamleaves oo* fo, initiative "rrd c?"ativenessn individual"n."rprit.. That which is evil in capitalism s stronglyG;J ty the Islamic svstem.-Yd-tt the evils fall;;;t, hoarding of wealih and foodstuff, wasting of^r^il" land anJ the squandering f wealth' Prof' Hittifonrid.tt the early Islamic administrationunder Caliphr Omar asbeingcommunistic. rof' GustavDiercks descri-i il;il t;cial"isticsystemof early Islam under the first, two Caliph, as posslrsing stateconstitution which has"" p"off.l in the history 9! the y9.tl{"'30 The MuslimsI ;;-i"y "r" trying to ptti this socialistic.syst-emf Islamiir. prr"ti"i'". ffien ^the-Muslims think of an Islamicryri.ti ift"y only mean by tha1, the system of--socialorg nir^tio", ."rriud out bI the Prophet and the 'Khula-ir"el-Rashi'dun',or the 'RighteousCaliphs" In the historyof lrl"-, this exemplaryperiod lastedonly foi .30 e11s;ir;;A; death of 'the'Prophet Muhammad' The well-known Muslim writer Syei Amir Ali observes, The;;;d.;"y of the rule and principles of Islam is towards

democracywith a strong tinge of .socialism'A11men'ii.h "nd poor, are equal"n ihe sight of God' andthe

;;il;';;.'o'ly uis ii.ut""""t' to Protect them from""it.tty. The revenuesof the state were not

for theil;;iii "t enri.hm"nt of th" Caliph but for the good.o{;i;-;;"pi.. The poor tax was ordained

from the richi; ; ,:h" elief of the poor, and charity was embodied ntoa law." etFwndamentals f Islamic d'emocracyil;;; ;h" foni"*.nt"ls of this socialisticdemocracv ffrl"-'"t. the concern or the unity of the human race;;^;h.;;do- of belief. lve read in the Quran: 'All*"rrt itta is but one nation' (10 : 19)' The differencesamonsstpeople are not considered s a sourceof racial?"""i i irtt l, l"tit"a bigotry or classantagonism'.blt ':a natural phenomenon rom which could be derrvecl;t.h a;""iit and understanding, f only one has thep'ttp.t- "iriiude towards it. 'For every.oneof -you" sayslft. Qut"n, 'did we appoint a law, and. f God has plea-,.J ri. would h"rr. *"d. you all a singlep-eopl-eut thatil " *igfttrty you in whai He Siave ou, thereforestrive;irh-;; "noitttt to do good't (5 t 48) Because f thefact that differences"*oig,' peopleare recogni'"4-.1t""r"t[ It it thereforeottl"yco*plimentary to estabfish;h;-,"1" iit* p.opr" ought to beJree in expressinsleir;iif;."t ;;y, or nr". I-n connectionwith this we read in;i;-d;""t th.r. is no force n religion; truly' the. ightlt"tl""a" frt.ii-Jittitguished-.from irror" (2 : 256) Thispo;lri". injunction "r,ii,' realizationby the Prophetandli , .o*p"rriorrs -ade Islam famous for its

tolerance'il.f"t-G to this tolerant -spirit-of .slam'Prof' Toynbee*tit"- .tft" right motive for toleration is the recognition,n"i "U the rJigions are quests n- searchof a commonrpitirt"t good ";'a that, eventhough someof thesequests

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\)mav be more advancedand more on the right linesthan;;'.t;,- rh. p.rr..ution of a 'wrong' religion by a soi-i;io"t"tielrt: religion puts i'tself in the wrong and deniesi; ; ;;,,-.lrederrtia]1s." ln at leastone noteworthy.c-ase"'.""ih""t Toynbee, lsuch tolerancewas gnjoing{ !r a"tooh., ,roonhi, followerson this high ground'Muham-;;i;;;*ttbed the religiousolerationof Jewsand Chris-,-i-"*'*tto had made fofitical iubmission o the secular;; "f Islam, and he gave this ruling expresslyon theground that these wo non-Muslim religiouscommuntties'iin" rft" Muslims hemselves,ere'Peopleof the Book""leAg"irr, because f this high min'dedprinciple-of Islam'*f,i.h' is called the religion of peace n the Quran,the methodsadoptedby Islam in order to gain entryinto the heartsof

-rrr,are alsopeacefuland persuasive'

Prof. T. \f. Arnold, who madea lifelong studyof l9lal'came to the conclusionn the following words: "Suchpeacefulmethodsof preachinga-nqpersuasionwere not,dopted, assome oold haveus believe,only when poli-tical circumstancesmade force and violence mpossibleor impolidc, but were moststrictly enjoined n numerousDassagesn the Quran." 82h'rottr"th. Islamii faith and its history, we are forced toconclude hat the minorities n an IslamicStateshall en-joy the rights of freedomand security.The Muslims shalltrot t"g"tl this as a burden but as a religious duty to be.arrieJ out. Islamhas hirteenhundredyearsof experien-ce in toleration. Iflhy must we doubt that it would notbe so oday?CwltwraldeoeloPmentThe progressiveendencyof the IslamicState s not only*"iit"i to economicwelfare" but also to cultural deve-lopment.The Quran says hat the acquisitionof know-i.ig. it an act of devotion towards God' The Prophet42

used o pray with the following verseof the Quran: 'OCoJ i".t."t" me in knowledge'(20- 1'14)';";";;i'i;; t"o*r.dg., ii*iii1'. plavsa verv-great nd#;;;;"t.. vitrt"'", the abiiitv to read and write the:#ffi;?-';i;;; and civilizations ouldbe des-;:#;: d'.;;' ;; l""wledge re ecordedn'dransmit-;#ff'-h';.;;i';-""d #iti"g' 16 us t is therefore;;;;-;;;?.r that Iilam attaches ucha great mportanc-e;;;.;;;;; -'.h to 't'"t faith and-understanding

sii""ri*f io reading, or the very word.Al-Quran,means;thri *hi.h is to Le read" In connectionwith thts thept"ift.r -inth"*-"d busiedhimselfwith-wiping -ci-ut,illi-;"J;:"ri;;;;i;;;;" of war capturedbv.the Muslims*.,"."11o*.d.to liberate hemselvesy teachinga num.ber; M;;[-t to read and write' The first verserevealed n.fr. O"tr" was "Read n the nameof your Lord"

(96 : 1)'il;;;il p"tt of ir,. Quran we read: consider the penandwhat theywrite.ilt"*;;y ""; perhaps nderstand hy in Islamscienceandculiurecan ullY develoP'd;;G; it-.o"tia.."d in^Islamo be themostsacred;i;;.: " p1".. *h.r" vou worshipGod'The slamic on-;;;5f *"ttrtip i, ,,ot only iormal pravers' ut alsothe appreciation of the universe and other creatrons orbia.TJir'.'l.qJi'iii"" of k"owledgeherein'flith this;J;;G;;"J, I'i.ir""ual andculturaldevelopment

sii.r, .oirid.r.i ", a religiousutyof the irst order' twas for this reason, hai the mosque' he Islamic houseri*"itftfp,-*", "lro a cultural centre' n Islamichistory;;"';td; had alwavs -serye-ds a university as well'i;;;J Len deliverei their lectures n theologv' juris-;;;;;"; pitlosophv a"d medicine n-the mosque-' t thei#. Jlrt'., niopi"i, themosquead n its buildingsorbii" fiUt"ty. "opi. were "ught o readandwrite nih" "t." of the mosque. 43

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Condemnation of aggressionT[e shall now examineanother aspectof Islamic demo-cracy, ts relation to warfare. Under no circumstances*"r'io be preferred. Only when the Muslims are op-fr.rr"d, p.rr".rtud, driven away.from-homeor attackedLy "., inir,rder' are hey permictedo takeup arms.inself-def"n.". Even in thesecircumstances,eace s to be pre-ferred aboveeYerything lse, or the rule of peace-isden-ii."l to the reignof ttt"*, the religionof peace'The wordIslam also *"."rx peace and the way to attain it bysubmitting o the *ill of God. The Qural definesa Mus-lim ashe-i'ho makespeacewith God, with his neighboursand with himself. Tie Prophet himself had given then4,ifi*t these ofty examples' n the Quran we read:(22 :39) 'Permission o fight is given rc those upon*hottt w"r i, rnadeand becausehey areoppressed"Hu-man ife in Islam s consideredo be so sacred hat to killo""- ** unjustly is the sameas killing the whole ofhumanity. '\fho.rr"t slaysa soul, unless t be for man-,l",tght., or mischief n the land, it is as though he slew;li ;;;; and whoseverkeeps t alive, it is as though hef..p, "fi"" al l men' (5 :32).the-spirit of-Islam which had#; p;t irrto pr"ciice by the.Piophet Muhammad' hadit, root in the injurrctio.r, of the Qot"tt' The Quran does"ot

t*p merely at corrdemrringnnecessary arfare' but"tro ,".t, to abolish ts causes.-Amonghe main causes f*", "r" national arroganceand belief in racial supe-ti"ti.y. ftt"se tendencieJ re ikely-to wipe out the mutualirri"t.tt""g. of respect etweendifferent peoples' 'espectof one another s enjoinedby the Quran' But this is notbasedon raceor nat-ionalisrnut on the meritsand bene-fiit *tti.tt a peoplehasshown owardsothers'The Quran,"".hur, 'Lei*oi one people augh at another'perchancethey may be better than theY are''To respect one another implies also some trust and44

eoodwill. In the relation betweenpeople,suspicionandiirrrurrc have caused^ gteet deal of troubles' fe may"sr"" *ith the Quran when it enjoins on us not always;-;;"tith suspiiio. or spread false news about other;6i;. ii there s.any--Mrslimnation*11'h-1,"7]i Li?ir"* ,init-i"".hi"gof theQuran,-t is thiswhichl; i;1"* ;""siders to be urrjust,even nore han non-Muslimsli *no are unjust. The Quran condemns ypocrisy urcom-I "r.Liri"*tu. 'nuit is a-badnameafter faith and whoeverI ao.t not"turn, these t is that are he unjust" (69 z 11).'I i" ."t" "f iniurti.", the Muslimsarenot reqqired o obeyh .h.it 'Ulel Amr', or rulers. (1 : 59) The rulers are to bell .l..t"d from among he people n a democraticmanner'

ll ;rh"it "ffairs are i .o,tttt.l among hemselves' z59)'lliIt'\ ft , selectionol rulersI Hi;."t;, as Karl Mannheim points out' knows onlytl iit". -J"r".tit. prir,.iples by which the elites are givenI ;il;tth;tiiy ""a q.r"lifit"i-ott to. rule' In feudalism',it;;t bl;ti ,nd kirrtitip. In Liberalism t.was wealth andtr"t"t- In Socialism i was personalachievement' slam';;;";.t. introducedanothei principle of selection'Thi!;;#tp[ ;;il;-the ..tlti'n"iio" oi moral and spiritual;;;ii;i;t which integrateour character'The Islamicprin-,.ipl. of selection Jmbines ersonalachievement nd theantegrity of character.

Islamic brotherhood, nd' be rwlersTh" ,,rl.r, in an Islamic state must not only seek o;;;;;;;'-rl'" *"tr"'" of their pegPl: but also to helpifr. ftf*fi-, in other countries.But if the Muslims n one.o.rntry do not act justly, o: . t'y. to make war upon;;;;i;; ,,"tior,, th.n ih" iviuslims n the other countries,r. "o, allowe to assist hem' As the Quran Pot:tt';Arrd help one another in goodness nd piety' and do4'


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not help oneanother n sin and aggression'5 : 2) ' Right;;U;t f"opt., my,country' or my class' s con-,ia.t.J Ey frt"* "t "Shirk' ot tht greatestsin againstGod. To raiseyour .ou""y, your pe-ople' r your class'i" irt"-irgrt.ri ir""d"td of-righteousness's the sameas;*ti'f God to a t*""a"ty position' Unfortunately',frir"J".tii", of "brolutism was upheld in Liberal natio-;;li; *ith th" "ppot"l of Mariin Luther' and to-day*irh th. consent f-modernsecularism'Disti.ncti.rterait of Islami'cdemocracy.ft;;ff;t* ,h", the Islamic conceptionof democracy'U"t.J^"" ihe unity of God, freedomand solidarity' con-tains al l the necessary1.*"r,r, of a.progressive.society'In its social,

".o,to*'it,material and technicalsides' s-

i;#;;;;;.r.v t'"'-"t'v much in commonwith other;;;;;";tt* ,o.it'it'' g;t it has' however' one factor#;i;;;i;t it ditti"t'lv above.other emocraticsvstens'ili;^;;; i"ctor is its conceptionof personality.Evervi.-".t;ri. tyti"m has ts to"ceptiott of personalityapart'from others. This ; t;;;;'is .lootei in the 'general.;;t;; of l ife' i ibtt"l capitalismconsidered tatus;ffi;;i;it "t tttt highestsocialvalues orwhich a man

rh""ft-;;;i;". soti"tii- ""J cottt-unism consideras thehighestvaluespt"o""i "thi'"t-"tt' and the satisfaction;^i;;;;;t;-,r.ia,' The attempt at transforming h'elu-man personalityby i"itt iiU"t"lism and Socialism's do-;ilffi ;;;l; ;";'- ,t '"i' .eua to. e,theighest'oththese attemp, ,o t'""'" 'ootti and healthv personalitieshave ailed. rr,. .til"'i; ;;t;; in Liberafism esultedin a one ,id.a pt'io""ii'y at"aopment' Similarly' theemphasison the *;;i;i wellbeing in- Socialism eads;ffi;;t;; sidedadiustment'slam s'however' n com-;i;;" "";t;;;.n, *ith- the conclusionof modern science'il[aii M";.,h.i,,, f"tt it, " "ti"ty without a goodsocio-46

economicorganizationcan neYer unction properly, but;-;;J;;.il-'..ono,,'it organizations not enough o make; ?;;d";;.t"iflu t'."fire ""'v social planning must,ro?-rr.gt"., ,h. oor,--"terial aspectof human life' This;;ilh"; tle educ"tionalbasis-ofLiberalismand Socia-itr*';;;; b,"-t."d1"tt.d and re-evaluated'There is no;i l ;iil; i, "r , "brolute tyPe of human.personalitv'Hu-ffi;;tJJit "ti"u*tu"lv d"'"t*inedbv- .ocialitua-;i;. A, modernresearch roved,-he possibility-ofper-r"""ii." development ' ut'limited due to the plasticity;H;;;"i"r'. ""a the diversity of socio-cultural nits.ih;r' ;i. Liberal and socialisr conceptionof personalitytypes are not the onlY ones'The transformati'on l man,The democracyof t't"* ltti""es' as I mentionedbefote' "f;# ;;;-t igtt"t, "i'n i" societv s neither wealth and;;;;;;';;; ,"iirfr.tio" of material needs'but his trans-formation into a p".ro.t with a particular type of cha-racter. In his personality, thought and action' instinct;;;;;";;", be.o*e o"" it"'*ottilus whole' Suchan ideal;;;;;;iil is called in Islamic terminologv as El-.Insantrt_i{.iit,'rlre perfect man. To be such a personalrty, rir "", t"q"ir"d fro- ot ttt"t we belong to a

particularrace, civilization or a group of supermenas Nietzsche*"ia have us believe. flhat is required rom us is thatwe try our utmost ro utilize o-ur it'herent and acquired1 ."pr.irv in the Process f self-transformation'Si r Mu-I il";;'d;;i;1, ih. M,rsli* philosopher-poetwho-diedt;-i938, *-t.'th" following iittts in refutation of Niet-1 "r.h., 'iTh. d.-o. racy of Eu'op" -, overshadowed

y, socialisticagitation urrd "n""hi cal fear - originatedi ;;t;i; t; th? ..o'o*ic regeneration f European ocietl"I $;;;.h;.-tto**.. abhois this rule of the 'herd' and'I hop"t.tt of the plebeian,he basedal l higher culture on47

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II

the cultivation and growth of an aristocracyof luPgr-men.But is the plebeianso absolutelyhopeless?he de-mocracyof Islam did not grow out of the extensiono{..orrorni. opportunity; it is a spiritualprinciple basedonthe asrrrmp-tionhat every human being is a centre ofl"t"rrt power the possibilities f which can be developedby culiivating a -.ertain type of character'Out of thepiebeianmaterial Islam has formed men of the noblestiyp" of life and Power. Is not, then, the democracyof."ily Itl"- an e*perimentalrefutation of the ideasofNietzsche?" aTh. it"tttformation of man meansalsoadjustmentn thephysicalaswell as he psychicalaspect f life' The strife"t i "rrd.rrrour to adiust and transform oneself,s calledby the Quran 'Ijtihad', that means,o exertyour capaci-ties to ittain an aim. Only by constantefforts do werealizeour aim. Man, as the Prophet once said cannotexist without constant efforts. The Quran says: 'Manshall only attain what he strives fot'. (74 : 38)In all "tp".tt of life, in the courseof-our attempt totr"rrrfor- ourselvesand society' we should not onlyknow what we are doing but also maintain the P-{oP9lattitude. A Muslim, as tie Prophet taught, must do-allhis best f he wants to reachsomething'and then, aftereverything has beendone, he should trust to God' \[eshoid ,ro-q t the Prophet advisedus, drown ourselvesin pride when we are successful, r bury ourselves ndespairwhenwe are n difficulties.The role of solid'ari'tY\7e will ,rt* too.h-upon anotherasPectof Islamic de-*o"ru.y. Before this let us cite a simple analogy' As;;i;.; obr.rrr"d, if a man is running alonehe gets ired,oorr", than if he is running in a gtottp' This means' hepr"t"i.. of othersdoing the same hing and striving for

Iffih" ,"-" object, givesus strengthwhich we could notligatheraloneby ourselves.[?t rit"t-irt"rr, ,r, in many respects't is therefore equiredlli.o* u"rt"e and successful-system'hat it providesalil;g feeling of brotherhood' Indeed brotherhood isii.o-pi.*.nr"iy to faith. ltr7ithout solidarity nothingrl.o"ld be reached.slam howeverdoesnot lack this feel-

llr

I l; ;i -th. Qurrr,, that all Muslimsarebro'thers,s put1in7o-pt".ti."l Snoo.kHurgonjeYt-tt-tt: But the le.ague

i"g "f lt"therhood. It is gene-r lly accepted. hat .the'rti"tg.tt brotherhoodthe world has ever Yi:":ttt*.,hth"t Jf the Islamiccommunity.An observer f Islam ikeino.r.k Hurgronje, when commentingon the failure ofi;i;; * ,nil" ij."[y the Muslim community, acknow-ledgednevertheless,he fact that Islam s hemostsuccess-ffiUtotlt.thood known in the world to-day' The teach-

riously "r-ro prri to shame ther communities'0flhitemen's.hur.L", kepi closed o colouredChristians,a missionaryboycottedon his accountof his marrying a negrowoman'""i ,ft" habit of lynching, are often quotedby Muslims", inrrur,.r, of the backwardnessf the Christian society'ih. id""l of a leagueof humanraces as ndeedbeenap-proachedby the "Mosle* community more nearly than

i'oi "rrio"r foundedon the basisof Mohammed's eligioni took the principle of equality of al l human r-a-ceso se-

by any other."35

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Democracy of Islam

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