Are Islam and democracy compatible?

by Michel Hoebink*

28-05-2007

Is Islam compatible with democracy? This was the topic of debate among three Islamic intellectuals at an event held recently in Amsterdam. It proved to be a fierce confrontation between secularist Sadiq al-Azm and Muslim reformers Abdolkarim Soroush and Tariq Ramadan.

AbdolKarim Soroush lecturing at Sharif University (photo: Hessam M.Armandehi)

As it was in the 17th century, the golden age of Spinoza and Rembrandt, the Netherlands is presently a haven for free thinkers from less tolerant regions. Three prominent reformers from the Islamic world are currently visiting Dutch universities.

Abdolkarim Soroush, the most important source of inspiration for the Iranian reform movement, and Syrian philosopher Sadiq al Azm, the most famous atheist in the Arab world, are both visiting professors at Amsterdam's VU University. Meanwhile, Tariq Ramadan, the famous Swiss-Egyptian champion of a "European Islam", is visiting professor in identity and citizenship at Erasmus University in Rotterdam.

Islamic democracy?
This month, May 2007, the three took part in a discussion at a packed Felix Meritis centre in Amsterdam. (The huge turnout was in inverse proportion to the level of security. Has the Netherlands already changed so much since the murders of Pim Fortuyn and Theo van Gogh?) The burning question for the evening was whether Islam is compatible with democracy. Is there such a thing as an Islamic democracy?

Sadiq al Azm

Secularist Sadiq al-Azm doesn't believe so. The principles of democracy, he says, come from Europe. Modern reformist thinkers are trying to 'naturalise' them and give them legitimacy by claiming they are supported by the Koran. The Iranian Ayatollah Khomeini thus referred to an "Islamic republic". But according to Mr al-Azm, there is no such thing as an Islamic republic, any more than there is an "Islamic democracy".

Permitted if not forbidden
Abdolkarim Soroush and Tariq Ramadan concur with Mr al-Azm to an extent. They agree that the principles of democracy can't be derived from the Koran, as some reformers have claimed. But they say this doesn't mean that Muslims can't have democracy. Everything that Islam doesn't expressly forbid is permitted, democracy included. In fact, the most important democratic principles combine well with the moral doctrines of the Koran: the separation of powers, the rule of law, an independent judiciary, and the accountability of government to its to citizens.

Tariq Ramadan

Own model for Muslims
However, both Mr Soroush and Mr Ramadan think this doesn't oblige Muslims to embrace European notions of democracy.

"We agree on the principles," says Mr Ramadan, "but if you study the individual European countries you see the principles are applied differently everywhere. Each European country has its own model of democracy. Muslims should be given the space to develop their own model too."

"Nonsense," is the fierce response from Mr Azm, "That's exactly what our dictators in the Middle East are always saying: 'We also have democracy, but our democracy is a bit different from yours. We have our own version of democracy.' Our dictators love this argument. You're talking like one of them!"Irreconcilable
According to Mr al-Azm, the two reformers want to have their cake and eat it: "Let's not beat about the bush. If you want democracy, certain principles will have to go. There are areas in which the two are simply irreconcilable. Slavery is allowed in the Koran! And Jews and Christians are second-class citizens, as ahl al-dhimma. That's totally incompatible with democracy."Mr Soroush admits that Mr al-Azm has touched on a sensitive issue. But slavery isn't the problem, he says. "It's true the Koran allows it, but it doesn't prescribe it, so it's not a problem for Muslims to abolish it."

Easily ignore
On the question of the status of non-Muslims and also of women, Mr Soroush believes there are indeed pronouncements in the Koran that are hard to reconcile with democratic principles. However, he doesn't think these "two minor points" are worth all the fuss:

"It isn't a matter of essential principles here, but of a couple of rules that Muslims can easily ignore without running the risk of being called an unbeliever."

Here Mr Ramadan disagrees

"I don't think it is at all evident that Islam doesn't grant equal citizenship to women and non-Muslims. In traditional jurisprudence it is true that Jews and Christians have an inferior position. But in Medina the Prophet granted equal rights to the Jews. I believe that equal citizenship is a part of Islamic tradition."