Secular Islam

Tawasakm · July 25, 2004

I have seen quite a few arguments here in favour of secularist government. What I haven't seen (and I may have missed it since I'm new - please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong) is an extension of that argument to the middle east. I have read some arguments about democracy seeding and the pros and cons. I don't mean to refer specifically to the war in Iraq and the particular methodology currently being employed by the United States and allied forces operating under them.

What I would like to know is to what extent people feel that religion in government has given rise to problems in the middle east (and I suppose I should include Israel here). What I would also like to know is to what extent people may infer that the situation would be different should church and government be effectively separated. Or would the people of the middle east be the worse for wear with such a radical restructuring?

If secularism is desirable then what effect would that have on culture and families etc? Would it be desirable to have a western form of democracy or are there other ways to achieve this separation which would impact less radically? I have thought that it might be possible to achieve a secular government which doesn't necessarily follow a western model and which might therefore be more palatable to the region but have been unable to actually arrive at anything meaningful myself.

If religion is at the heart of conflict then what must occur to government bodies to correct this problem?

I look forward to any comment.

July 25, 2004

Your question is an interesting one and one to which I could not give satisfactory answers.

The idea of a secular democracy - the kind that the West supposedly has and would impose on Islamic countries - is strictly Western in origin. It also has led to the questionable notion that all things Western are superior, as we hear daily in the justifications for the imposition of a Westernised, secular "democracy" on Iraq.

To my thinking, democracy in the Wesr is by no means satisfactory and has brought only a hierarchy of wealth to replace that of religion. The West may have developed better institutions and a more civil and humane society but er do not have, and have never had, a democracy of the people. I wonder also whether "true" democracy would result in better or fairer government. I wonder whether it is in human nature to achieve that.

When we think of a secular democracy for Islam in the fond belief that our secular democracy is the ultimate in freedom and humanity, I wonder whether any stop to think what a democracy government that followed the teachings of Jesus accurately would be like.

Religious or secular: it may depend more on the principles and philosophy of government. The checks on government and institutional power would also be an issue in either.