"Self-respect cannot be hunted. It cannot be purchased. It is never for sale. It cannot be fabricated out of public relations. It comes to us when we are alone, in quiet moments, in quiet places, when we suddenly realize that, knowing the good, we have done it; knowing the beautiful, we have served it; knowing the truth, we have spoken it”. Whitney Griswold

Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak with wife Suzanne and two sons

To many people, the statement, “Democracy is essentially a Western concept, one that is ill-suited to countries with other cultures and historical traditions”, raises eyebrows. If democracy is compatible with Islam, then there shouldn’t be any problem having its values and ideals encompassing the entire globe. However, some leaders will continue to resist democracy not because it is impossible for some cultures to grasp, but because of selfishness on the part of the leaders themselves. According to world famous Muslim scholar Yousuf Al Qadarawi, there is no problem if Muslim countries embrace democracy. He was quoted saying: "Democracy has done some good things. It has saved humanity from despots and dictators who act like gods. The details should be left to the people. Let them decide for themselves". [(1)] However, he cautioned that the kind of democracy in the Muslim world would be different. “This is because in Islam there are some fixed principles that cannot be changed. But there are some things where the people can call for change, depending on the time and place,” he said.

Followers of Islam have been admonished by Allah to look to the Qur’an for governance as per the statement: "And he who does not rule by what Allah sent down, it is they who are the rebellious." (5:47) Muslim countries could have prospered only if they were ruled by just rulers. Majority of Muslim rulers today have been designated tyrants and usurpers by learned Muslim scholars. At the time of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), there were no beggars; equality and justice thrived; highway robbers and criminals diminished due to the enforcement of rule of law; and peace and prosperity thrived everywhere under the sway of Islam. The separation of state from Islamic practices is an impossible undertaking for any strict Muslim nation.

Despite allegiance to tribal philosophy reigning supreme in some Muslim cultures, the most important aspect to undertake before implementation of democracy would be massive education of the citizenry. Muslims believe that Qur’anic injunctions are superior to all other forms of governance. What is dissuading Muslim rulers from embracing democracy is the fear of eternal punishment. Certain factors that remain hard to address in Muslim countries include issues pertaining to gender equality and abortion. To Muslims, sodomy and lesbianism are an abomination while abortion, according to certain schools of jurisprudence, is only permissible when the health of the mother is in danger.

The departure of Zein el-Abidine ben Ali of Tunisia from the political scene and the subsequent upheavals in the streets of Cairo, Amman, Tripoli, and Sana’a attest to the growing discontent among traditionally-inclined and politically-impervious Arabs who endured decades of misrule imposed by bureaucracies composed of miscreants and tyrants with ties to western powers who have mastered the art of double-standards. The spread of self-immolation by disgruntled youth besieged by unemployment and poor living conditions in several Arab cities could not even attract the attention of the brazenly Bedouin Arab leader reclining in a golden chair surrounded by concubines deep inside a well-fortified golden palace. After harrowing decades of ill-treatment and oppression by dreaded police forces, ordinary Arabs have awoken from heavy slumber ready to take charge of their destinies without any encumbrances. Having squandered the national wealth of Tunisia for years, autocrat Zein el-Abidine bin Ali finally packed his possessions stealthily under the cover of darkness to seek refuge among heavily-robed Saudi Mullahs before he could be apprehended unawares by an overwhelmingly rowdy youth baying for his blood.

In Cairo, Muhammad Hosni Mubarak mysteriously exited the political spectrum after handpicking a ruthless vice-president and dissolving parliament indefinitely. Mubarak’s attempts to quell civil disturbances by deploying his despised police force failed to materialize after being overtaken by an ocean of angry demonstrators who kept vigil at the famous “Tahrir Square” in the heart of Al-Qahira. Mubarak has been in power since the assassination of Anwar Sadat by the Islamic Brotherhood in 1981. The man perceived by the West as a darling, ally, and above reproach for strictly adhering to the West’s never-ending laundry list of wishes, remains culpable in the eyes of ordinary Egyptians primarily for imposing on them thirty-one years of sweeping martial law. The thousands of demonstrators who gathered in the historic liberation square of Cairo decry decades of extra-judicial killings, arbitrary arrests, unemployment, embezzlement, political subjugation, and many other forms of injustices committed by Mubarak’s regime.

After the unprecedented departure of the authoritarian rulers of Tunisia and Egypt respectively, another hot-headed leader, Muammar Ghaddafi of Libya-a man who has been on the helm for over forty years-remains cornered by unrelenting rebellion. Sardonically, Ghaddafi has resorted to using full-scale military tactics including scotched-earth pounding of civilian populated areas by Libyan air force jet fighters and artillery fire to subdue an uncontrollable opposition that has already spilled to every part of the desert-whipped country. There have been reports of machete-wielding, gun-totting pro-Ghaddafi loyalist hoodlums indiscriminately killing unarmed opponents.

Judging by his quest for prestige and power in the international stage, Ghaddafi is seemingly bragging to have all the attributes of Hannibal, the Carthaginian general who is regarded by many historians as the father of strategy. Hannibal son of Amilcar Barca was reputedly the leading Carthaginian commander during the First Punic War (264-241 BC) that was fought between Ancient Carthage and the Roman Republic. For 23 years, Carthage and Rome fought for supremacy of the western Mediterranean Sea especially over the Island of Sicily and to a lesser extent including surrounding waters and North Africa. [(2)] By naming his rebellious son Hannibal, one can tell that senior Ghaddafi is obsessed with an ancient Carthaginian general whose origins remain uncertain. In 2008, young Hannibal Ghaddafi went ballistic after igniting brawls in London and Paris respectively. Free-wheeling and extravagance transformed many sons of Arab leaders to be hedonistic and life-embracing bonvivants. Conversely, as the war of liberation intensifies in Libya, many political analysts and historians keep guessing whether Ghaddafi will keep on fighting courageously like Hannibal who finally succumbed to a humiliating defeat without fulfilling his objectives. History will tell how Ghaddafi reacts to the no-fly zone being discussed in western cities.  

In Bahrain, a tiny kingdom in the Middle East separated from Iran by the Persian Gulf, mounting violence in the main city of Manama triggered by embittered protesters finally ended after the ruling theocratic sheikhs agreed to political transformations. Similarly, in Yemen, a nation bordering Saudi Arabia to the south, there have been reports of massive protests against the dictatorial regime of Ali Abdallah Saleh. President Saleh, a former army colonel in the Yemeni army, has been in power since 1978. Since the beginning of the Tunisian and Egyptian uprisings, demonstrations calling for regime changes and democratic governance have jolted the nations of Jordan, Djibouti, Oman, Iraq, Iran, and others.

Ali Abdallah Saleh of Yemen

For a long time Muslim scholars associated democracy with western values and ideals. Some scholars even went as far as describing democracy as un-Islamic, corrupt, and contrary to Islamic political thought. On the contrary, after witnessing abrupt changes in the behavior of the mainstream Arab/Muslim, novel interpretations keep sprouting from mosque pulpits calling for political reformation and democratization of Muslim lands. In the past, despite castigating democracy in the strongest terms, vocal Muslim scholars kept aloof from denouncing corrupt leaders for fear of severe repercussions. Instead, their sermons revolved around human rights, equality and justice, freedom and governance, respect and dignity, and topics of like nature that abound in the genesis of democracy. The term democracy incorporates: (a) freedom to form and join organizations; (b) freedom of expression; (c) right to vote; (d) eligibility for public office; (e) right of political leaders to compete for support; (f) right of political leaders to compete for votes; (g) alternative sources of information; and (h) free and fair elections. On the other hand, democracy is about majoritarian rule.

It could be argued that the current clashes visible in Arabian/Muslim cities are harbingers for impending political changes and a stepping stone for future globalization of democracy. From a realist perspective, the internationally televised self-immolation ritual demonstrated by an irritated, unemployed Tunisian degree-holder seems to have globally spread far and wide leaving many autocrats in looming danger. Perhaps, it is only democracy that holds the necessary remedies for the recurring clan rivalries, border clashes, political instabilities, and widespread social stratification visible in the world today.

Sources

(1)Muslim World Needs Democracy, says Qaradawi: http://www.muslimnews.co.uk/news/news.php?article=11311

(2) Sidwell & Jones 1997, p. 16.

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Mr. Makina is a contributor to WardheerNews and a graduate student of International Relations. He can be reached at Adan.makina@gmail.com

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