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Thread: Best Islamic Democracy?
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Dahir

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Simple Question: What is the best Islamic democracy in the World?

There is the criteria for this:

Is the country led by a people-oriented leader?

Is the country economically stable?

Is the country of reasonable size/population (4Million+)?

Is the country politically pure (minimal corruption) and stable?

Does the country have high religious value?
 
*searches through human rights records of every country*

none available..
 
*searches through human rights records of every country*

none available..
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C'mon, those Malaysians have got to be SOMEWHAT qualified, and Syria ain't TOO bad. Just get past Turkey, Egypt, and some of the other screwed up countries.

Wow, you're right, every Islamic nation on Earth has a terrible recent human rights history.
 
Well, Turkey would probably fail on the "high religious value" criteria, but otherwise it is probably one of the more succesful Muslim nations. Otherwise I agree that Malaysia or even Indonesia are performing reasonably well.

I must also note that having "people oriented leaders" does not make a democracy.

I must also note that having "people oriented leaders" does not make a democracy. In a democracy the people must choose it's leaders and be able to send them away if they fail to fulfil their promises.

But nevertheless, Syria cannot be called a democracy though, can it? Do you believe they have "people oriented leaders"? Assad is a dictatoc, no? And on human rights his leadership and that of his father were quite horrible, no?

What about Tunesia? Do people here beleive that is a reasonably well functioning country?
 
^^ tunisia lol.. hahahahaha havnt u heard about the amnesty uproar n stuff... checkout its human rights record, its cactus, there's alot of theft n stuff going on coz of the low paid secret agents and a tonne of other stuff


ps: amazing how powell reckons its a beakon of democracy.. orwatever he called it.. its got beautiful coastlines, perhaps that counts
 
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lolwatever said:
^^ tunisia lol.. hahahahaha havnt u heard about the amnesty uproar n stuff... checkout its human rights record, its cactus, there's alot of theft n stuff going on coz of the low paid secret agents and a tonne of other stuff
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Hehe, alright then. I was trying to think of an Arab example for an "Islamic Democracy" and I guess I failed .

Second attempt: All in all lebanon has a fairly dynamic and democratic political system, no?

The thing is, Malaysia and Indonesia don't implement Sharia law do they? I mean, not even formally? They are not "Islamic republics". So I kinda wonder if they would qualify on the count of having "high religious values".
 
heya kading, fact is none of them apply shareeah.. (atleast not the sort of shareeah you find in quran and hadith).

lebanon has its fair share of corruption, it got screwedup by the civil war.. once upon a time called little paris but that's past i guess..

btw don't be too saddened, the prophet told us that there wll be a period of tyranny that will be preceded by a tightly guarded monarchy (teh abbasids n umayads) and followed by a caliphate on the path of the prophet Muhammad..
 
From a non-Islamic perspective, I would say Turkey, although I couldn't really comment on "high religious values"... particularly if you consider implementing Sharia law to be a pre-requisite for that. Their human rights record has historically been poor, but they are making strenuous and genuine efforts to put that right.
 
Yeah.....They're doing well...but the most perfect country that falls very well into all the categories of questionning is Indo/Malay
 
Lebanon doesnt apply sharia does it? The country is like half christian isnt it? :?
 
yep true.. no different to the other countries around it..
i guess atleast it's upfront about that fact.. the other countries play hypocrite (and they're crap at playing hypocrite too!)
 
I think the origenal question of this thread is flawed since there's a slight contradiction between an islamic and a democratic country.
First of all consider the paradox of democracy: "What if peopel decide they want an undemocratic goverment? " We witness in teh west on a daily basis that rather then democracy being a competetive struglle between morality and ethics that it is in fact a popularity contest. As for Islam/shariah, I acknowledge it to be the most perfect possible system. so that means that any change in the system is for the worse. So an islamic democracy is a contradiction in terms is it not?
 
oh yeh sorry bro ur right... totally scaped me th etopic of this thread, i'm wrong.

yeh btu even democracy as a system, isn't applied anywhere in those countries. i wouldn't even call it a monarchy... its more like a gang show.
 
while I admire every goverment that tries to implement shariah into their juridical system, one must stay aware that that doesn't necesairly make that country Islamic. Just think of all the times religion is abused to control people, to persue personal gain.
 
i agree, just one thing, i don't think ther'es any government that's actually trying lol.. (assuming that trying takes more than just vows and words )
 
true..
Oh, how do I dream of a united nation of Islam again. Like the old caliphate.
Guess we'll have to wait for the return of Isa (pbuh) for that.
 
steve said:
I think the origenal question of this thread is flawed since there's a slight contradiction between an islamic and a democratic country.
First of all consider the paradox of democracy: "What if peopel decide they want an undemocratic goverment? " We witness in teh west on a daily basis that rather then democracy being a competetive struglle between morality and ethics that it is in fact a popularity contest. As for Islam/shariah, I acknowledge it to be the most perfect possible system. so that means that any change in the system is for the worse. So an islamic democracy is a contradiction in terms is it not?
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Well, not necessarily I believe. The sharia can obviously never be overruled by popular will, but neither is it all encompassing. A state will still have to be ruled and thus needs an executive that deals with the daily matters of the state. This executive will have to be overseen and monitored by a legislative and judicial branch. The legislative will still have to make laws on matters on which there is no divinely inspired law. Furthermore they have to formulate laws based on the sharia. The judiciary will have to make sure all laws the legislative creates are not condradicting the sharia. There is no reason why the executive and legislative branch can not be elected by universal suffrage in an Islamic state.

I believe we must see the sharia is a kind of super-constitution. All constitutions are generally hard to change, in the case of the sharia, it would simply be impossible to change. The sharia is also broader then a traditional constitution of course. But still, there is plenty of room for the popular will in such a system. Or not?

Personally I would be worried though about this excessive focus on unity in Islam. IMHO it has created a general intolerance towards different interpretations of Islamic law.
 
"First of all consider the paradox of democracy"
Whatever you want to call, but Islamic system started with voting... first 4 Caliphs of Islam were voted, which is lacking in most Islamic countries. Let's just call it Islamic Democracy for the sake of the argument. In my UAE is better since it has one of the best humanitarian record, but it is semi-democracy. Public elects half of the members of parliament and Monarch select the other half. I don't know for sure, but I think whole parliament in Kuwait is elected by public. Kuwait is not bad either. Qatar is best, govt. spends a lot on their people, but it is not democracy either.
 
the case of the sharia, it would simply be impossible to change
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Just a correction, sharia in general can be changed, because rules in the sharia depend on fiq. The only things in the sharia that can't change are the specific and clear rules in Quran, but they are not that much.