Democracy In The Muslim World

By Saad Hafiz 
Monday, October 31, 2011 
Courtesy Of "The Daily Times"

There seems little choice but to give leadership and political development in Muslim countries a chance to succeed, although many in the west may feel that Islam is incompatible with democracy

A familiar lament you hear from many Muslims is that our leaders are corrupt and inaccessible; that Muslims have borne the brunt of atrocities, particularly in the last hundred years from the forced unravelling of the Ottoman empire to Palestine, Kashmir, Iraq and Afghanistan in the present day; that Muslims are not in control of their destiny, which is effectively controlled by the ruling elite and more so by a perfidious west that is hell-bent on devouring the resources of Muslim nations. A major cause of the abysmal state of the Muslim world today can be attributed to capricious and corrupt leadership and a lack of democratic institutions.

History is replete with examples of absolutism and oppression in Muslim countries. We know that absolute monarchs, caudillos and clerical dictatorships thrive in Muslim societies. The Arab Spring notwithstanding, there traditionally has been little overt resistance to a military or civilian dictatorship. Muslim societies, particularly of late, have become fertile ground for authoritarian brands of Islam that promise certain austerities and peddle purist doctrines. In this environment, it is a tremendous challenge for representative democracy to become entrenched in the Muslim world. 

It is a fact that the overwhelming majority of Muslim rulers regard their countries as their personal possessions to be used as they see fit. This concept of power led in the past centuries to kings controlling their subjects’ lives from birth to death. The centuries-old culture of leadership that is ingrained in many Muslim societies has played a disastrous role in keeping most Muslim countries among the poorest in the world. Many Muslim countries also condone the awful treatment of women and minorities.

It is also true that nowadays most Muslim leaders squander their countries’ resources and revenues, leaving the majority of their populations mired in poverty, disease, hunger, war, and hopelessness. We know of the widespread misuse of oil wealth by rich Muslim nations, including those ruled by tribal dynasties or military, civilian and religious elites. National resources that should be used towards developing human potential are allocated to armament programmes and to the spread of a retrogressive Islamic ideology.

A very useful table in The Economist provides its readers with a damning indictment of the decades of dictatorial rule among the members of the Arab League. Countries have been compared on the basis of democracy, corruption and press freedom, and have fared embarrassingly badly on each count. For instance, Egypt ranks 138th for democracy, 98th for corruption, and 130th for press freedom. Libya, ruled until very recently by the late Muammar Gaddafi since 1969, ranks 158th, 146th, and 193rd. Yemen, where a revolt is in progress, has been governed by Ali Abdullah Saleh since 1978, and ranks 146th, 146th, and 173rd. Saudi Arabia, unsurprisingly, is placed at 160th for democracy and 178th for press freedom.

On the other hand, there are a few cautiously optimistic examples of successful Muslim leaders and secular democracies in Turkey, Indonesia and Malaysia. One such example, Turkey’s Prime Minister Erdogan, on his recent re-election proclaimed: “The people gave us a message to build the new constitution through consensus and negotiation. We will bring democracy to an advanced level, widening rights and freedoms.”

There seems little choice but to give leadership and political development in Muslim countries a chance to succeed, although many in the west may feel that Islam is incompatible with democracy. Muslim modernists would disagree, pointing to examples of leaders and countries where democracy based on consensus and negotiation is working. There is also evidence that political Islam, given the opportunity to find space through the ballot box, can work within a representative democracy.

The writer is a banker interested in history and international affairs