22 November, 2014

PAK CLERIC RULES OUT DEMOCRACY


No, he is no joker. He is a very responsible and senior functionary of Jama'at-e-Islami. So we must listen to him and his ilk carefully.

[To be fair, he is not referring to Jihad in the misconceived sense of killing the infidel. He is referring arguably to self-improvement]

But that he considers democracy an unworthy instrument of social reform and statecraft is obvious. And this must be largely the sub-conscious feeling of Muslims globally, for democracy is rarer amongst Muslim nations than, say, amongst the Christians and the Hindus.

Recall Iqbal: "Jamhooriyat woh nazm-e-hukoomat hai ke jisme / Logon ko gina jata hai, tola nahin jaata" [Democracy is a system of governance that counts, rather than weighs, people] [Incidentally, this has been a source of concern for genuine democrats, too]

http://www.thenews.com.pk/article-166561-Jihad-should-replace-democracy-to-overcome-challenges:-Munawar-Hasan

I seek to raise a debate here: Is democracy - as we understand it today - rarer amongst Muslim nations than their major counterparts? 

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