Evaluating Islam, democracy, science and public perception

Overview

Argued against the compatibility of Islam and democracy and argued against blaming the media for Western perceptions of Islam.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1. 1

   Give the case that Islam is compatible with democracy.

   Model answer

   The Qur'an commands that affairs be settled by consultation, the early caliphs were chosen by some form of agreement rather than inheritance, the Constitution of Madinah rested on a negotiated covenant, and Muslim-majority democracies such as Indonesia and Senegal function today.

2. 2

   What is argued against the compatibility of Islam and democracy?

   Model answer

   Thinkers such as Maududi and Qutb held that sovereignty belongs to God alone, so a parliament that can legislate against revelation usurps His authority, and critics point to the small number of stable democracies in the Muslim-majority world.

3. 3

   How might a Muslim democrat answer the objection about divine sovereignty?

   Model answer

   They can argue that God's sovereignty concerns ultimate authority over right and wrong while democracy concerns who administers a community, that consultation is itself commanded, and that most law in any state concerns matters revelation leaves open.

4. 4

   Present the case that shari'a is an adequate guide for every aspect of a society.

   Model answer

   It addresses worship, family, contract, crime and government, its stated purposes are the protection of religion, life, intellect, family and property, and its methods allow qualified scholars to reason to rulings on questions the texts never named.

5. 5

   What is argued against shari'a being an adequate guide for all of society?

   Model answer

   Critics point to areas it barely addresses, such as environmental regulation, corporate governance and public health systems, to the disagreement between schools on what it requires, and to the difficulty of applying rules formed in a pre-industrial society to modern institutions.

6. 6

   Give the case that Islamic responses to scientific cosmology have been effective.

   Model answer

   Muslim thinkers accepted the Big Bang readily because their theology already asserted a beginning, the kalam argument gives them a philosophical response, and treating scientific theories as descriptions of God's method avoids the conflict seen elsewhere.

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