Islam: History, Ideology, Commerce And Democracy

For many years, there seems to be a growing public interest in Islam, and its place in the world. For instance, there were ample western discussions before the 20th century that argued the political Islam explicitly accepted and “tended toward despotism” and saw Muslims as unfit for self-governance (Said, 1978). Pessimists have continued to uphold this beleif through arguments that tell the unlikeliness of muslim countries to develop because Islam does not allow for the separation of spiritual and temporal authority (Najjar, 1958), or that the notions of pluralism, accountable political institutions, and popular sovereignty as the foundation for governmental authority are all “profoundly alien to the Muslim political tradition” (Kedourie, 1992). In this essay, I analyze the evidence that suggests Muslim countries have a democratic deficit, and scrutinize the causal connection between Islam and political regime. With this, I examine two cases of “model muslim democracies” being Turkey, and Indonesia in order to understand the relationship between Islam and democracy in order to conclude the ways in which popular notions of Islamic authoritarianism can be false, and how the theory of muslim democracy can occur in the world.

Introduction

Culture has always influenced the economy of societies, and this idea is mostly prominent in the writings of Max Weber’s interpretation of the early years of European capitalist development. (Weber, 1958) argues that Protestant values have fostered work ethic, thrift, and other behaviors that are conducive to industrialization. Weber hypothesized that certain aspects of Protestantism, such as the nature of the relationship between the individual and God, were conducive to the acceptance of democratic norms of equality (Lipset, 1960). With this, we already have confirmation that the possibility of a religion influencing the socio-political life of a people is true. Therefore, how is this translated to Islam as a religion having a causal connection with the political regimes of muslim countries?

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History of Islamic Ideology

Spread of Islam

In his book, “A short history of Islam” Montgomery Watt writes of Islam’s birth in the Arabian Peninsula in the early 17th century. It is beleived that in 610, Muhammad ibn Abdullah woke to a vision from angel gabriel while he was on a spiritual retreat outside his home town of Mecca. Angel Gabriel announced to him that he was the chosen messenger of God. Over the next twenty-three years, Muhammed received messages from God (Allah), and began sharing them publicly. Although he attracted converts from within his clan, as well as from other low-status groups in Mecca, resistance from Meccan elites led him to flee to the northern town of Medina in 622, and after several years of warfare between Medina and Mecca, Mecca surrendered to Muslim armies in 630. By the time of his death in 632, Islam dominated the western part of the Arabian peninsula (Watt, 1970).

Conquest

(Watt, 1970) writes that thespread of Islam beyond the confines of the Arabian peninsula can be linked to two sources: conquest and commerce. A first wave of Islamic expansion took place in the 8th century through Arab conquests (Donner, 1981). In the century following the death of Muhammad, Arab Muslims had a vast empire extending from Western Europe to South Asia. Within ten years, Arab Muslims controlled Iraq, Syria, Palestine, Egypt and western Iran (Donner, 1981). By 712, Arab armies had taken control of major outposts within Central Asia and were waging war with Chinese armies, leading to the conversion of Turkish tribes in Central Asia (Watt, 1970). Thus, within 120 years after the death of Muhammad, Arab Muslims controlled territories extending from Lisbon to the Indus delta, and had made inroads in both central Europe and China.

Commerce

The second wave of Islamic expansion took place not through military conquest by nomadic armies however through commercial ways (Donner, 1981). Starting in the 11th century, Muslim traders carried Islam across the steppes to central Asia, through the desert to sub-Saharan Africa and across the ocean to the southern Philipinnes, Malaysia, Indonesia, as well as to East Africa (Levtzion, 1979). In southeast Asia, Islam appealed to the rulers of coastal principalities who were engaged in intense rivalries with other local rulers; conversion to Islam gave local rulers both access to larger trading networks and social and administrative support vis-a-vis their rivals (Reid, 1988). Conversion in East Africa occurred unevenly, but also started in coastal trading towns, and subsequently followed the route of the Nile (Watt, 1970). The influence of Muslim traders in these regions led to the doubling of the size of the Muslim world between the eleventh and sixteenth centuries.

Overall, this spread of Islam reflects the way a subset of countries that are today of Muslim majority became so through a legacy of conquest, and with the evidence from a number of studies showing that early political institutions have long-run effects on both political outcomes (Herbst, 2000), we are able to conclude that historical legacy of Islam, and not the ideology itself can contaminate the work of scholars attempting to research the causal effect of Islam on contemporary political outcomes. (Fish, 2002) suggests that this would imply that the history of Islamic conquest influences the nature of regime type today, independent of the effect of Islamic values.. Consequently it could provide evidence to question the notion that Islam is incompatible with democracy. (Robinson,Acemoglu) review the history of humankind since the old ages in order to find the answer to the title of the book and they reach the conclusion that “The reason for some of the nations and countries to be more prosperous and democratic than others is not actually the religious, cultural or geographic differences, but rather inclusiveness of economic and political institutions. Institutions are “inclusive” when many people have a say in political decision-making, as opposed to cases where a small group of people control political institutions and are unwilling to change. They argue that a functioning democratic and pluralistic state guarantees the rule of law and create a level playing field both of which promote economic prosperity by providing incentive structure that allows talents and creative ideas to be rewarded.

Another study which especially researches the reasons for emergence of many autocracies in the Muslim world, might actually help finding the answer for the question. Ahmet Kuru’s study “Authoritarianism and Democracy in Muslim Countries” (2014) argues strongly that the source of the problem is actually not religion, but the rentier nature of regimes. The study underlines that the source of money to buy off the loyalty of society can change from one country to another. One regime may use oil money, while some other can use foreign aid for the same purpose.

However, if there is no clear causal effect between Islam, and political regime, what are some of the evidences that this theory stands true, and how?

Islam and Democracy

One answer from a recent published book by Ahment Kuru, “Islam, Authoritarianism, and Underdevelopment” would suggest democratic institutions are possible when there is an ability of states to allow for the separation of religion and politics-necessary for democratic institutions. (Kuru, 2019) argues that this 'separation' of religion and the state in these muslim democracies-discusses below-accomplishes the disestablishment of Islam, and the (Shari'a) law, that-in contrast to other Islamic states-have either Islam in some form of words enshrined in their constitutions or else claim Islam itself as their constitution.

In his research over 57 Muslim countries, (Kuru, 2019) concludes that: “The authoritarian regimes, which were established thanks to the financial conditions, use religion and secular opinions in order to legitimize their rule. This means that; Islam as a religion or Fiqh do not generate authoritarianism. The leaders or regimes that tend towards dictatorship as a result of social, economic and political reasons, use or rather misuse/abuse Islam or Fıqh to legitimize their drift from justice and democracy.” In other words, in an attempt to legitimise their authoritarian regimes, rulers of the Arab world generally contend that their tradition of government was bequeathed by the Prophet Muhammad and that this convoluted blend of religion and the state is inseparable and unquestionable (Kuru, 2019). Thus, with a separation of state and religion that limits the exclusionary attitudes that come from politicizing a religion, it is possible for model muslim democracies to exist, and thrive.

Turkey

Turkey straddles Europe and Asia and has a 96% muslim population. Modern Turkey was established in 1923 as a secular republic after its defeat in WW I and occupation by allied forces. It has had several coups, both successful and unsuccessful. Interestingly, when the Turkish military intervenes, it actually plays a constructive role to ensure Turkey remains secular as per its constitution Some observers, especially among those who see in Islam an obstacle to democratic development, point to secularism as the crucial difference between Turkey and the rest of the Muslim world. The English word 'secularism' may be somewhat misleading, since it is often used in the context of antireligious philosophy. The term used in Turkish is based on the French 'laicitè,' which denotes what we might call 'separation'--the principle of separation between religion and the state.

Indonesia

Indonesia, a country in Southeast Asia, is the largest Muslim-majority nation. But despite this-and many might be unaware- Indonesiaʹs state religion is not Islam. Indonesia officially recognises five religions: Islam, Christianity (Roman Catholicism and Protestantism), Hinduism, Buddhism and Confucianism. Since it achieved its independence from the Netherlands in 1945, Indonesia has become a democracy characterised by cultural diversity and a sensible interpretation of Islam.

While Islam is the state religion of most countries in the Arab world, with constitutions based on the Koran, Indonesia is based on a nationalist ideology – Pancasila – which advocates secular, democratic and nationalist principles. It is multi-ethnic, multicultural and multilingual – all indicators of progressive nationalism. Despite many problems that Indonesian government has to face, the country can successfully keep its economic growth, curbing the unemployment rate, reforming the legal system, and building infrastructure. Since 1998, Indonesia has undergone three general elections, which were consecutively won by secular (non-religious) parties, namely Indonesian Democratic Party (1999), Golkar (2004), and Democratic Party (2009), and these three parties have a great commitment for democracy and Indonesian pluralism. Again, this gives evidence of a successful muslim country whose seperation of state values to religious ones contributes to a progressive political status.

Conclusion

The effects of religion and culture have on the dueling forces of democracy and authoritarianism. authoritarianism is not only determined by the type of regime that is in power and the nature of political relations under that regime. Linked to this, there exists a complex of social relations rooted in class, gender, religious, and ethnic differences. These relations are not only produced as a result of economic and institutional structures, such as the type of development strategy adopted or the structuring of state–civil society relations. They are also constituted by individuals and groups engaging in social and political interactions for the purpose of fur- thering their interests—whether in support of or against democratization