Behind a veil: Islam’s democratic history

Abstract

For all the impressive contributions Islamic civilisation has made to humanity, particularly in terms of science and knowledge, democracy is almost never associated with Islam. From the Western perspective, at the heart of the alleged divergence between Islam and the West is a predominant view that Islam is antithetical to democracy. This has been promulgated by the writings of a whole collection of scholars who portray Islam as a radical and fundamentally undemocratic movement, which poses a threat to the future of Western civilization. Judith Miller, for instance, writes that, ‘despite their rhetorical commitment to democracy and pluralism, virtually all militant Islamists oppose both’ (Miller, 1993: 45). Similarly, Martin Kramer offers that Muslim appeals to democratic principles ‘bear no resemblance to the ideals of Europe’s democracy movements’ (Kramer, 1993: 40). For his part, Bernard Lewis gives a more nuanced account, stating that there are prospects for the compatibility of Islam and democracy due to Islam’s proximity to the Judeo-Christian and Greco-Roman heritage, but that, as Islam manifests itself politically, it ‘seems to offer the worst prospects for liberal democracy’ (Lewis, 1993: 89). For Lewis, as for many other Western scholars of the region, there has always been an absence of democracy in the Muslim world, and Islam is responsible.