Today although there is no universal agreed definition for democracy but the general meaning accepted is that in democracy every member of society has equal access to power and all members enjoy certain freedoms, while decisions are made according to what majority decides and everyone has a say in these decisions. The infamous quote which summarizes this is: “rule is for the people by the people and to the people”. Understanding the history behind the development of this idea is important, in order to understand the true implications of democracy today.
Modern democracy takes its roots from the time span of 14th to 17th century. During this time Renaissance took place in Europe starting from Italy (Florence) and spreading to other areas, ultimately taking over whole Europe. People decided to get rid of the detrimental role of church and Kings, both of which were exploiting people in name of religion. Common peasants and workers in Europe under the leadership of their philosophers and thinkers converged their efforts on the idea of democracy, which implied separation of role of religious authority from public life.
Long before this renaissance, it was in Europe, in particular under the Greeks where this idea had manifested itself. Some of the Greek states, including Athens implemented a form of democracy in 600BC. After them the Roman Empire practiced this governance model. Although in their times the Roman royal family had the authority, they had setup a system of senate which practiced a form of democracy.
The renaissance had come after an intense struggle in Europe between clergy and common peasant/farmers. The power structure shifted from the hands of church and kings into the hands of Knights and other influential. Since democratic politics required financing even in its early days, therefore the rich continued to play an active role in power.
In Democracy, money has been an active determinant in deciding who accesses and ascends to power. This is because representatives of people need money to advertise their campaigns, so only those people came forward who were financially capable of promoting themselves among masses and then eventually elected, when they stood out in masses they were financially supported by certain people of certain backgrounds. The financers were actually at back spending money, because they might not be directly in a position to come up and present themselves, therefore they used others to be presented as leaders, and through them they hoped to achieve their objectives by eventually influencing legislation.
A more recent example of this is the War on Iraq launched by ex-president Bush. Oil industry had pumped 1.5 million $ in Bush’s election campaign. Thereafter when he won, his policies aimed to achieve the objectives of the oil lobby which had rallied for his support.
Further more if we see history of today’s progressed nations we can clearly see that none of these nations progressed on the basis of democracy. These nations took their current forms in 19th and 20th century and later on democratic rights were given to their people. For example USA gave black people right to vote in 1965; however USA had already emerged as a global player well before that, in particular after World War II in 1940s. UK was a significant power in 19th century; however the right for women to vote was given in 20th century. In 1880 only 3% people had the right to vote.
China, Russia (formerly the USSR) and Germany clearly prove democracy is not a prerequisite for economic development and is decisive proof that much can be achieved without democracy. Russia and China appear to be doing rather well without following the example of Western liberal democracy and, indeed, challenge the model with disdain. So the question needs to be asked: is there any relationship between democracy and development? Development is a set of policies to industrialize a nation and to create an environment where people’s interests can be achieved and their basic needs are fulfilled along with opportunities provided to fulfill further luxury needs also. This requires a consistent set of policies which takes the whole nation in one direction irrespective of whether they are following democratic way or not USSR was super power they didn’t followed liberal democracy of west still they dominated and were very close to dominate Europe as well, the other example is that of Islamic states of Umayyads, Abbasids and Ottomans all of these stayed as super power of their times specially Ottoman Islamic state which was technologically advanced and expanded up to the eastern borders of Austria. And the system of Caliphate was radically different from Democracy.
Another important point to be understood is the difference between Consulting about something and Voting about something. In fact this is where Islam and Democracy are separated Islam goes with consultation under the framework of Quran and Sunnah. Now in that famous statement mentioned in beginning, “rule by the people” means that people have the right to legislate and they will make their own rules on the basis of majority which totally contradicts Islam, in Islam there are some things which commands Muslims to make decisions on the basis of right and wrong means Halal and Haram not on the basis of majority. For instance in democracy, if we want to make interest based banking legal we can do this by 51% of votes in parliament even if Islam doesn’t allow this. This fact can be seen in many Muslim countries including Pakistan and even in Saudi Arabia where everything is based on insurance policies including medical facilities, whereas Islam considers insurance as Haram.
Islam has already decides matter for us in Quran and Sunnah of our beloved Prophet (S.A.W.W) and Quran tells us that
“The decision rests with Allah only” [Yousuf: 67]
The notion that ‘majority is always right’ is negated in Islam, as decision rests with Allah (SWT). However we are allowed to act on the basis of consultation and even we can vote of those matters which are Mubah, for example whether to build roads or bridges to facilitate particular city. Secondly in Democracy, every member has access to power implies every lay man can have say in matters of state, including technical matters, for example whether dams should be made or not, and every lay man has say in economic matter without having any knowledge about economic. On the contrary in Islamic Caliphate, the Caliph will ask the concerned person of that particular field, he will not make decision on the basis of majority. And Quran commands us to consult but consultation is different to democracy because we consult only with concerned and expert persons of those particular matters, so in Islam there is consultation not democracy. We have to rule by Allah’s and His Messenger’s (S.A.W.W) decree in matter of political setup, economy, war and peace, social values and foreign policies.
And if we rule by the ‘will of people’ as it is the bases of democracy then Allah (SWT) says:
“If you obeyed most of those on earth, they would misguide you from Allah’s Way
. They follow nothing but conjecture. They are only guessing” [Al-An’am: 116]
“Those who don’t rule by what Allah has revealed are disbelievers” [Al-maidah: 44]
“Those who don’t rule by what Allah has revealed are wrongdoers” [Al-maidah: 45]
“Those who don’t rule by what Allah has revealed are evil-livers” [Al-maidah: 47]
In reality democracy is just another form of dictatorship, where authority is practiced by an elite group, which legitimizes its existence as majority representatives. In case of Pakistan democracy is dictatorship of feudal groups like Bhutto family, Sharif family, Chaudhary brothers etc. A group dictates according to its will, and theoretically democracy is a corrupt concept because it gives law making power to limited minds of human beings who can’t make rules which will satisfy all human beings. Therefore, there will be conflicts, some people will agree with some rules and regulations and some will go against it so human beings can’t make rules satisfying everyone’s needs.
Allah (SWT) knows us better than us and He alone should make rules for us which are present in Quran and Sunnah.
Allah (SWT) says:
“And whatsoever the Messenger gives you take it and
whatsoever he forbade you abstain from it” [Hashar: 7]
The Muslim world, has tried invain for decades, to compete west. Sometimes it tried democracy and at other places it tried dictatorships. In Pakistan this circle has gone on for over 64 years. It is about time we realize the perpetual flaws that are intrinsic in this model of democracy & dictatorships. The only way forward, is to implement the Deen of Allah (SWT) in its complete form, covering all aspects of society, political, governance, economics, foreign policy etc. Only by doing so, will we be able to move forward and compete with the west, by empowering ourselves with a system far more dynamic and robust than the capitalist model.
About Author: Waqas Hussain is Telecom engineer from Lahore, Pakistan. He is a student of history and writes articles from historical and political perspective.