Islam and Democracy: The Way Forward

Islam and Democracy: The Way Forward Sharì‘ah in Public Policy: Term Paper June 2015
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Islam and Democracy: The Way Forward
Isham Shafarin bin Ishak1
Abstract
In many Islamic countries, democracy has been forcefully implemented in their countries by the
western powers without considering the countries readiness to implement it. The consequences
of that action is that democracy failed to improve the condition of the countries, even worsening
the previous order to the point of the countries are becoming failed states.
Most modern Islamic scholars are of the opinion that democracy is compatible with Islamic
teachings of shura, ijma’ and ijtihad and most also agree that Democracy is the best available
current method to run a functioning government in the modern time. But when implemented in
these Islamic countries abruptly, democracy failed to ensure good governance and economic
progress.
We will try to look deeper and investigate this paradox. We are focusing more on the ideology
rather than the institutional framework of democracy. We would like to find the correlation
between democracy and the relevant Islamic principles. We would like to proof that Islam and
democracy are compatible and can work together in a state. By showing that, we hope to show to
the Muslim countries and the Muslim Ummah(people) the way forward as a nation in the modern
times.
Keywords: Islamic Democracy, Shura, Siyasah Sharì‘ah
1
Isham Shafarin bin Ishak, Department of Economics, Kulliyyah of Economics & Management Sciences, IIUM.
Ishamsi01@gmail.com, 019-9177789

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Islam and democracy are perceived by many as incompatible. The tradition of Islam
which can be traced to the founding of the religion by Muhammad pbuh ca. 610 CE in the Arabia
dessert is seen as very different from democracy which originates from the ancient tradition of
the urbanized Greek city states ca 450 BCE. In the old Greeks’ democracy, the state was rule by
consensus of the city’s inhabitants by their participation in a city council. The modern form of
city council is Parliament or Congress. Democracy is defined as rule of the people by the people.
The general consensus among nations is that democracy is the best form of government in the
modern time, arguably as no other form of government can proof that it is able to work as well as
democracy is. Political parties are formed to participate in public election to be elected to lead
the Executive part of the state. At the very least, democracy is seen to be able to guarantee the
people their human rights and the political freedom. Undeniably, in the world controlled by the
western country, democracy become one of the standard of their foreign policy.
Islam is a religion that put God at the center stage of life. Its’ core belief of tawheed or
the Oneness of God asserts the existence of a single and absolute truth that transcends the world.
Islam also come with its own code of law that is known as Sharì‘ah, which covers personal
belief, action, interaction with other human being, business dealings and also government. Thus
we would like to see whether Islam allows democracy to be practice within the core belief
system of Tawheed and the Sharì‘ah code of Law.
The perception of the incompatibility between Islam & democracy might be caused by
bad experiences of many Muslim majority countries in in the implementation of democracy.
According to two frequently used Democracy indices: Freedom in the World (2013) by the US-
based Freedom House and the 2012 Democracy Index by the Economist Intelligence Unit, only
one (Indonesia)2 out of 50 Muslim majority countries is acknowledged as fully democratized by
both index. Even worse, from the 50 Muslim majority countries, more than half (27) are
considered ‘Not Free’. Most of these countries claimed that they practice democracy; they have
elections, house of representative, judiciary and legislative system but when investigated in
details, most of their public institutions does not function as it is intended to. Because there is no
proper check & balance system in place, these countries are mostly (20 out of 27, or 74%) ruled
2
The Economist Intelligence Unit ‘Democracy index 2012: Democracy at a standstill’, 2012, p5

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by an authoritarian regime in which more often than not, lead to the misuse of power and
suffering of the people.
The nature of this incompatibility needs to be investigated to find out the root cause. If
we look back at the two Democracies indices; The Freedom House measure democracy from the
perspective of political right and civil liberties. Their methodology is derived from the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights. The Democracy Index by the Economist Intelligence Unit
meanwhile is looking at the following criteria; Electoral Process and Pluralism, Functioning of
Government, Political Participation, Political Culture and Civil Liberties. Thus we can say that
both indices measure ‘Political Process’ and ‘Civil Liberties’ as the necessary components of
functioning democratic countries.
The Universal Islamic Declaration of Human Rights was announced in 1981 by a large
number of Islamic religious scholars who represented various Islamic entities at the United
Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO)3. The document shows the
compatibility between the Universal Declarations of the Human Rights (UDHR), such as rights
to life, freedom, equality, justice, fair trial, protection against torture, asylum, freedom of belief
and speech, free association, education and freedom of mobility. The document even stated that
the rights are integral part of overall Islamic order and it is obligatory to all Muslim governments
and organizations to implement it. Thus we can conclude that there should be no conflict
between the Sharì‘ah Law and the Civic Liberties value that is needed in the fully functioning
Democratic countries. Even though the Muslim countries varies in their understanding and
implementation of the Sharì‘ah, but it should be sufficient to say that the Islamic traditions have
left Muslim with enough background and values to appreciate the need for basic human rights in
a modern democracy should have.
It might be in the ‘Political Process’ aspect in which the Muslim countries has some
weaknesses in. According to Anthony Black4, ‘tradition of Islam did not leave sufficient law and
guidance in the realm of political leadership and state structures. Mostly it only expresses a
3
Jasser Auda, Maqasid Al-Shariah A Beginner's Guide (London: International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT);
1st edition, 2008)
4
Anthony Black. The History of Islamic Political Thought: From the Prophet to the Present (Edinburgh University
Press; second edition edition, 2011)

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mood in which inferences could be taken. Thus the societies that emerge from Islamic faith tend
to be weak or transient political structure’.
If we look back at the history of the early formation of the Islamic Governments,
especially in the formation of Umayyad & Abbassid Caliphate, there were a lot of civil wars, and
disputes on how to choose the rulers. Even when the Muhammad pbuh passed away, the
selection of the Caliph/Ruler of the Muslim has been problematic. The separation between Sunni
and Shia branches can be traced back to this time, when Abu Bakr As Siddiq was appointed as
the 1st Caliph by shura/consultation among the companions, but some companions had the
opinion that `Alî ibn Abî Ṭâlib has been designated as the successor. The conflicts of political
leaderships continue beyond that into the ascension of the Umayyad 1st caliph, Muʿāwiyah ibn
ʾAbī Sufyān, and the substitution of Ummayad with Abassid Caliphate years later.
Back to our situation todays in which many Muslim countries are bottom in ranking of
democracy, we need to look deeper at the compatibility of democracy’s Political Process with
the Islamic Tradition.
One most widely used definition of democracy is by the Oxford Dictionary "a system of
government in which all the people of a state or polity ... are involved in making decisions about
its affairs, typically by voting to elect representatives to a parliament or similar assembly."5
Larry Diamond, a well-known American Political Scientist, further explain democracy by
saying that it consists of four key elements: "1. A political system for choosing and replacing the
government through free and fair elections. 2. The active participation of the people, as citizens,
in politics and civic life. 3. Protection of the human rights of all citizens. 4. A rule of law, in
which the laws and procedures apply equally to all citizens".6 We are interested in the first and
second definitions and how does Islamic tradition and values support the practice of free and fair
elections and active participation of people in politics and civic life.
The most important Islamic tradition in relation to Democracy is the principle of Shura or
consultative decision making. Some of the religious scholars interpreted it as the very basis of
democratic government is Islam. The term Shura refer to an act, an idea, a social technique and a
5
Oxford English Dictionary ‘http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/democracy’ (accessed May 3,
2015)
6
Diamond, L., Lecture at Hilla University for Humanistic Studies January 21, 2004: "What is Democracy"

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political institution-is central to the Islamic democracy. It is a direct outcome of the theory of
vicegerency and the basic spirit of Islamic society. 7
Qur’an suggests that mutual consultation is a praiseworthy action of believers.
‘And those who have responded to their lord and established prayer and whose affair is
[determined by] consultation among themselves, and from what We have provided them, they
spend’.8
Also in the Qur’an, the right way for a leader to make a decision is in consultation with
its advisors.
‘So by mercy from Allah , [O Muhammad], you were lenient with them. And if you had
been rude [in speech] and harsh in heart, they would have disbanded from about you. So pardon
them and ask forgiveness for them and consult them in the matter. And when you have decided,
then rely upon Allah . Indeed, Allah loves those who rely [upon Him]’.9
According to Sadek J. Sulaiman, ‘as a concept and as a principle, Shura in Islam does
not differ from democracy. Both Shura and democracy arise from the central consideration that
collective deliberation is more likely to lead to a fair and sound result for the social good than
individual preference. Both concepts also assume that majority judgment tends to be more
comprehensive and accurate than minority judgment. As principles, Shura and democracy
proceed from the core idea that all people are equal in rights and responsibilities. Both thereby
commit to the rule of the people through application of the law rather than the rule of individuals
or a family through autocratic decree. Both affirm that a more comprehensive fulfillment of the
principles and values by which humanity prospers cannot be achieved in a non-democratic, non-
Shura environment.’10
He regarded Shura and Democracy is similar in concept, only differs in application and
practice.
7
Tauseef Ahmad Parray ‘Islamic Democracy” or Democracy in Islam: Some Key Operational Democratic Concepts
and Notions’ (World Journal of Islamic History and Civilization, 2012)
8
Qur’an 42:38
9
Qur’an 3:159
10
Sadek J. Sulaiman “Democracy and Shura”, http://www.alhewar.com/SadekDemAndShura.htm, 1999

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He further wrote in another article; ‘Shura and democracy are thus one and the same
concept. They prod us to find better and better realizations of the principles of justice, equality
and human dignity in our collective socio-political experience’.11
Ijma’ is a concept in Islamic jurisprudence closely related to Shura. From language
perspective, Ijmāʿ (‫)إﺟﻤﺎع‬ refer to the consensus or agreement of the Muslim community basically
on religious issues. The foundation for the validity of Ijma’ is the often cited hadith (Prophetic
saying) that Muhammad pbuh stated, as stated in Abu Dawuud and al-Tirmidhi:
“Never will Allah make my Ummah (Community) agree on a wrong course” or “My
Community will not agree upon an error”.
Ijma’ is a consensus, expressed or tacit, on a question of law. Along with the Qur’an,
Hadith and Sunnah, it is basis which legitimizes law. Louay M. Safi reaches the conclusion that
the “legitimacy of the state depends upon the extent to which state organization and power
reflect the will of the Ummah, for as classical jurists have insisted, the legitimacy of the state
institutions is not derived from textual sources but is based primarily on the principle of Ijma”.12
Another principle closely related to the practice of modern democracy is Bay’ah, which
in Islamic terminology means an oath of allegiance.
Ibn Khaldun (d. 1406 CE) defined bay`ah, saying:
‘It is a pledge of obedience. It is as if the person who gives the pledge of obedience to his
ruler promises that he will accept his rules concerning his matters and the matters of all Muslims
as well. He will never dispute with him and will follow his orders willingly or unwillingly. The
people used to put their hands in the hand of the ruler when they gave the pledge of allegiance to
confirm the pledge just as a seller and a buyer do to confirm their contract’13
The practice of Bay’ah is a remarkably different from the prevalent relationship between
ruler and its subject at that period. Bay’ah is a contract which adhere means the ruler is obeyed
11
Sulaiman, S.J. ‘Democracy and Shura. In Kurzman, C. (Ed.) Liberal Islam: A Sourcebook’. (New York: Oxford
University Press, 1998, pp: 98)
12
Louay M. Safi ‘The Islamic State: A Conceptual Framework’, (The American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences, Vol
8 No 2, 1991)
1313
Ibn Khaldun translated by Franz Rosenthal ‘The Muqaddimah’(Princeton University Press:2004) , p278

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only as long as they adhere to the term of the contract. Thus it is closer to democracy than an
absolute monarchy.
Bay’ah practice can be traced back during the time of Muhammad pbuh. For example
before the event of hijra to Medina, Muhammad pbuh received a bay’ah from 75 people from
Madinah, in which the event is known as the 2nd Bay’atul Al-Aqabah.
Tauseff Ahmad said that ‘In the modern times, the ‘process of nomination’ followed by
elections can serve as a necessary “modernization of the proess of bayah”; and replacing it with
ballots make the process of pledging allegiance “simple and universal”.14
These three principles in Islamic Jurisprudence shown that the practice of democracy at
the level of the process at the ballot box and the authority of the government should not be
incompatible with Islam. In fact, some of the thinkers in recent Islamic history such as Jamal ad-
Din Al-Afghani (1838-97 CE), Muhammad Abduh (1849-1905 CE), Muhammad Rashid Rida
(1865-1935 CE) and contemporary Islamic scholars and writers such as Dr Yusuf Al Qaradawi,
Fazlur Rahman Malik (1919 –1988 CE), and Rachid al-Ghannoushi have explored the
compatibility of democracy with Sunni-Islam tradition and believe that democracy is one of the
pillar of an ideal Islamic state. But why we are seeing that these Islamic countries have been
very poor in Democracy, at least from the perspective of the index we have discussed earlier?
One of the reason is even though Islam is compatible with the basics of democracy, the
concepts are not developed further by the later scholars and the state. If we look at the history of
the Muslim, the practice of choosing the Caliph (ruler) of the Muslim by shura ended after the
fourth and the last of the al-Khulafāʾu ar-Rāshidūn (the Righteously Guided Ruler) Alî ibn Abî
Ṭâlib (559-661 AD CE) . The next Caliph after him, Muʿāwiyah ibn ʾAbī Sufyān; (602–680 CE)
has managed to abolish the shura practice for the election of the Khilafah so that his biological
son 'Yazīd ibn Mu‘āwiya ibn Abī Sufyān (647-683 CE) was designated as the next Caliph and
this practically established the Umayyad dynasty. This precedent was later followed by most
Muslim Caliph and rulers thus put a stop intial the election of Islamic Caliph by shura.
14
Tauseef Ahmad Parray ‘Islamic Democracy or Democracy in Islam: Some Key Operational Democratic Concepts
and Notions’ ( World Journal of Islamic History and Civilization, 2012)

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The Umayyad Dynasty understood that their position as Caliph means that they were the
entrusted representatives of God on Earth, thus responsible for both the definition and
elaboration of God’s ordinances or in the Islamic Law, the interpreter of the Sharia.15 This was in
line with the practice of the Prophet Muhammad SAW and the al-Khulafāʾu ar-Rāshidūn in
which they were the head of state and the head of religion. Nevertheless, some of their actions
has caused a lot of oppression and has given arisen internal civil wars such as what was known
as the ‘The Second Fitna’; which was a period of general political and military disorder that
afflicted the Islamic empire following the death of the first Umayyad caliph Muawiyah I the
resulted in the killing of Husayn ibn Ali in the battle of Karbala (680 CE) and Abdullah Ibn
Zubayr (692 CE)
The emergence of an elite group of scholars of the religion known as the Ulamā occurred
at this turbulence time. Originated from the schools founded by the companions of the Prophet,
′Abdullah ibn al-′Abbas (619-687 CE) in Madinah, Abdullah ibn Umar (614-693 CE) in Makkah
and 'Abdullāh ibn Mas'ūd (d 650 CE) in Kufah, these scholars began to offer to the publics,
differing views from the official jurisdiction coming from the state. There was a great crisis
between the rulers of the Umayyad and Abbassid Dynasty and the religious scholars of the day in
which the power of the state was facing serious challenge to limit its influence.
The clash between state which is headed by the Caliph and the leading scholars of the day
was perhaps best demonstrated by the defiance of Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal (780–855 CE) who
is the founder of the Hanbali school of Islamic jurispundence:
‘Ibn Hanbal was called to the court of al-Ma’mun, the Abassid Caliph. The Caliph
wanted to assert the authority of the Caliph in the religious matter by pressuring the scholars to
adopt the Mu’tazila view that the Qur’an was created rather than uncreated or had existed since
the beginning of time. ’Ibn Hanbal was defiant and refused to accept that, and because of that he
was imprison in Baghdad. In the rule of al-Ma’mun’s successor, al-Mu’tasim, Ibn Hanbal was
even flogged into unconsciousness. Only after that incident had caused an upheavel in Baghdad,
the Caliph has to release ‘Ibn Hanbal from imprisonment.16
15
P. Crone and M. Hinds “God's caliph: religious authority in the first centuries of Islam” (Cambridge, University of
Cambridge Oriental Publications, 1986), p. 43.
16
Wikipedia “http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmad_ibn_Hanbal” , (accessed April 5th 2015)

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Even by wielding the power of the state’s instruments such as the army and law
enforcement, the state has been unable to really control the scholars from influencing the public
sphere. Sunni Muslim scholars began to defy the Caliph. The adherent of sunni is known as Ahl
as-sunnah wa l-jamāʻah (people of the tradition of Muhammad and the consensus of the
Ummah) or ahl as-sunnah17. This was helped because the fact that Islamic tradition highly
treasures knowledge and give the scholars of the religion the respect equivalence to the caliph.
Rachid Ghannouchi explained this phenomenon by classifying the Islamic traditions into
ad-dini (the religious, sacred, or absolute) and as-siyasi (the political, profane, or relative). Ad-
dini which consists of the aqidah, ibadah & akhlaq is mostly agreed and there is no major
disagreement between scholars. The as-siyasi tradition on the other hand which tells how to
administer political affair, how to manage public office, qualification & power of rulers is the
area which has a lot of debate and disagreements. According to him, the as-siyasi is left for the
coming generation to devise and add, so that Islam is suitable to all time and ages. Ghannouchi
consider this to be one of the miracle of Islam in which no prescription is given to matters that of
changing nature, ijtihad needed to be exercise so that Islam will always be relevant. We will
come back to this when we discuss about Rachid theory of faraqat.18
The defiance of the state power by the scholars is further heighten by the establishment of
‘usul al-fiqh’ which the methodology was first put by Imam As-Shafie ra. (767-820 CE)
Shafi‛i redefined Tradition to make it possible to identify what was and was not Law
without the need for any external authority, or for codification by the Deputy. He effectively
reduced the ‘Roots of Jurisprudence’ (usul al-fiqh) upon which an argument might be based
from four – the Qur’an, the Consensus (ijma), Analogy (qiyas) – to just two – the Qur’an and
Reports. His basic premise was that the only authority was Muhammad himself. While in
practice the ‛ulama were deciding what the Consensus was, Shafi‛i insisted that Consensus could
be appealed to only as evidence of the mind of Muhammad himself, and only the Consensus of
the People as a whole would indicate that an opinion was indeed Muhammad’s own.19
17
WIkipedia “http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunni_Islam”, (accessed April 7th
, 2015)
18
Azzam S. Tamimi ‘Rachid Ghannouchi: A Democrat within Islamism’ (New York: Oxford University Press, 2001, p
187)
19
Anthony Black, The History of Islamic Political Thought: From the Prophet to the Present (Edinburgh University
Press; second edition edition, 2011) p 34

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The development of the science of law making in ‘Usul al-fiqh’ has confined the state
power to be subservient to the Quran and the Sunnah of the prophet, in which the interpretation
was by the religious scholars. Principles of Islamic jurisprudence otherwise known as Uṣūl al-
fiqh is the study and critical analysis of the origins, sources, and principles upon which Islamic
jurisprudence or Sharīʿah is based. Sharīʿah means Islamic Law which consist of God's eternal
and immutable will for humanity, as expressed in the Quran and Muhammad's pbuh example
(Sunnah), considered binding for all believers20. It deals with several topics including: crime,
politics, and economics, as well as personal matters such as hygiene, diet, prayer, everyday
etiquette and fasting.21 Thus the coverage of Sharīʿah is very much bigger compared with the
western jurisprudence which does not touch on the personal matters. Maqasid al-Shari'ah which
means ‘purpose of Sharì‘ah’ is also developed towards the latter Abbassid Caliphate time. It
support the idea that the state should act in accordance to the purpose of the Sharì‘ah, which is to
preserve the 5 foundational goals; religion, life, lineage, intellect and property. This has further
weaken the state power that the Caliph has and subjected it to the understanding of the religious
scholars on matters related to the religion.
By taking Sharīʿah outside of the state, thus the religious scholars have severely limit the
state power thus providing the necessary check & balance in the early days of Islamic empire.
By eliminating the power of caliph from making religious decree, the religious scholars
also subsequently prevented the caliph from making religious judgment. This effectively denying
ruler the power of legislation and assigned it to jurist. Consequently this liberated the judiciary
from the authority of the state. The separation happened during the late Abbassid Caliphate (late
tenth century AD) which is best seen through the work of Abū Hilāl al-ʿAskarī (d. c. 400/1010),
entitled Kitāb mā iḥtakama bi-hi al-khulafā’ ilāl-quḍāt (The Book of Cases Submitted by
Caliphs to Judges. In Abū Hilāl’s ‘theory of government’ – as it appears through his narratives –
the just ruler must submit to law and to the judgment of its representatives, especially the qāḍīs.22
20
Oxford Islamic Studies Online ‘http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t125/e2168’ (accessed June 3rd
,
2015)
21
Wikipedia ‘http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sharia’ (accessed April 6th
2015)
22
Mathieu Tillier “Judicial Authority and Qadis' Autonomy under the Abbasids”, (Institut français du Proche-Orient,
Beirut)

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The religious scholars also developed the fiqh for awqaf (endowment fund) to guarantee
the independence of the welfare economics of the public from the state. This is to ensure the
inhabitants of the Muslim land has a minimal economics endowment to ensure their well-being,
in the form of basic needs such as housing, and agricultural lands to the public service domain
such as education and mosque. The awqaf was administered by the religious scholars, and this
has further reduced the power of the state in the economics area.
This conflict in the Islamic civilization between state and the religious scholars or fuqaha,
brought the trajectory of the development of the Islamic state different from the Greek polis, the
Roman republica and the European states in which the development of state institution remained
within the state itself. This separation is the reason why the siyasah principle of Shura, Ijma’ and
the rest are not developed further in the Islamic state to become functional state processes and
operational standard. State and the religious scholars co-existed in the same Muslim land but
they were not interacting and overlapping instead were just tolerating each other presence. The
state was preoccupied with siyasah, but not having the knowledge to advance the understanding,
they became static. In the 13th to 15th century CE, when the European states were experimenting
with the early form of modern democracy and constitutional monarchy, Muslim world was still
stuck with the administration system inherited from the conquest of Persia in the 7th century CE.
Meanwhile the religious scholars isolated themselves from the administration, focused their
effort only on ad-dini. Thus we found many books and works on the scholars on the aspect of
aqidah, ibadah and akhlak but very few on good administration and governance practice. Both
developed separately and thus not achieving the required synergy needed to advance the Muslim
states at this point of time.
This separation continued until the latter Ottoman Empire in the late 18th century in
which the state tried to bring back the religious establishment under its control by forming
official positions (muftī & qāḍī) within the state bureaucracy to handle the Sharì‘ah related
matters. This might be also the result of interaction between the Ottoman Empire had with the
western civilization. But the long demise of ijtihad in the area of siyasah has condone the
Muslim to be backward and the revival needed to be started within the ummah themselves.

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The way forward
The succession of reformist has tried to change Islam from within. Towards the twentieth
century, the exposure to the western world through trade and the conquest of the Muslim land
has triggered observation of the backwardness of the Muslim from economics and cultural
compared with the democratic western worlds. One of first thinker that observed this situation
was Jamal ad-Din Al-Afgahni (1838-97 CE), who diagnosed that it was caused by the absence of
‘adl (justice) and shura and non-adherence of the government to the constitution.23 Al-Afghani
brought new perspective of the western world by criticizing the western imperialism while
advocating the adoption of western progress in science and technology. He also advocated the
unity of Muslim nations to strengthen the Muslim ummah.24
Muhammad Abduh (1849-1905 CE) and a succession of thinkers such as Muhammad
Rashid Rida (1865-1935 CE), Hassan al-Banna (1904-1949 CE), Sayyid Qutb (1906-1966 CE),
Malik Bennabi (1905-1973 CE), Sayyid Mawdudi (1905-1973 CE) were influenced by Al-
Afghani. All of them stresses the similarity between shura and democracy, and ijma’ with
consensus which is presence and strongly advocated that ijtihad should be revived because of the
changing of time and situation to the time of the great Imams of the past. Most of them also on
the opinion that Democracy as an evolution of Shura, should be incorporated into the Islamic
state governance to ensure it is able to carry out the ideal of ‘adl / justice and freedom from
oppression of the ruler.
Towards more recent time, Rachid Gannouchi has proposed a theory that Islam includes
faraghat (spaces) which said that Islamic tradition has leave area or spaces for human to fill in
with accordance to the respective needs and requirements of each ages25. Ghannouchi considers
this to be one of the miracle of Islam, in which the religion has given no prescription to matters
that of changing in nature. This will allow Islam to be relevant and compatible to all time and
ages. This theory fits nicely with the need for ijtihad to make sure Islam to be compatible with
the need of the modern time. As discussed earlier, the Islamic principle of Shura, Ijma’ and
23
Ahmad Sudqi ad-Dajani “Tatawur Mafahim ad-Dimuqratiyah Fil-Fikr al-‘Arabi al-Hadith”, (Beirut:Markaz Dirasat
al-Wahda al-A’rabiyah 1984) p115.
24
Charles Kurzman, “Modernist Islam, 1840-1940: A Sourcebook”, (Oxford University Press, 2002) p103-108,
25
Azzam S. Tamimi ‘Rachid Ghannouchi: A Democrat within Islamism’ (New York: Oxford University Press, 2001) p
187

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Bay’ah needs to be developed further to institutionalized it into the administration and
governance of the Islamic state. This would requires great thinking in making ijtihad, the
fortitude of the ruler to overcome many obstacles, and the strength and stead worthiness of the
public opinion in supporting and advocating the Islamic principles. Ghannouchi also emphasis
the needs of Shura to be developed further to provide check and balance to the caliph/ruler.
Yusuf al-Qaradawi, one of the most recognized Ulamā and the chairman of the
International Union of Muslim Scholars, has published a book of fiqh awlawiyat (fiqh of
priorities). He is saying that based on the Quran and the Hadith, Islamic injunctions have priority
according the situation and the need of the time. The fiqh of priorities fits in the need for ijtihad
as it requires Muslim to be relevant and keep always up to date with the progress of humankind
with regards to the worldly knowledge.26 Fiqh of priorities completes the theory of Maqasid
Sharì‘ah; which means goal and purpose of Sharì‘ah. The fiqh of priorities is making sure that in
order for Sharì‘ah to protect those goals, Sharì‘ah needs to ensure its relevancy and important
with regards to the changing times and the different environment.
A new paradigm that draws on the rich tradition and history of Islam and the advance in
the knowledge of modern world is needed to ensure the survivability of the Muslim ummah
26
Yusuf Qaradaqi https://chromosome.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/fiqh-aulawiyat-yusuf-qardhawi-full-web-
version.pdf retrieved 13/4/2015 Chapter PRIORITAS STUDI DAN PERENCANAAN PADA URUSAN DUNIA ‘ (accessed
May 5th
, 2015)
Judiciary / Ad-dini and
public welfare via waqaf
Executive power
Legistative of muamalat/
As-siyasi
Ulamā
/Religion
Ruler/
State
Shura
Council/
Public
Trustee of God
Figure 1 Model of Separation of Power in the Islamic State

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(community of nations). Based on the short discussion we have put in this article, we would like
to propose the following model (refer to figure 1) for the ideal structure of the government in an
Islamic state.
The model adds a democratically elected Shura Council together with the Ruler and the
Ulamā in a ‘three in one’ concept. The responsibility as a trustee/caliph of God on earth should
be shared among these three different groups. The vicegerency of human kind as entrusted by
Allah SWT should not only through a single ruler/caliph, but should apply to everybody, in
which this model of government is trying to capture that.
The model uses a modern concept of separation of power between judiciary, legislative
and executive. This is deemed necessary to prevent one of the branch from becoming supreme
and to provide check and balance between different branches. For our model of the ideal
government structure, we propose that the responsibility and the right of becoming the trustee of
God to be shared between the 3 branches of the Ulamā to represent the religion, the Ruler which
holds the executive power of the state and the Shura council who represents the public interest.
The Ulamā main role is to ensure the other two branches do not deviate from the Quran and
Sunnah. The Ulamā should also continue their traditional role as qāḍī in the judiciary, decide on
Ad-dini matters and manage the public welfare. The permanent shura council in the government
which is elected by the public represents the public interest and should provide the leadership in
As-Siyasi, mualamalat and in the realm of science & technology. The ruler as the head of state
has the executive power such as the head of army, police and government officials. But the ruler
power will be severely limited by the Ulamā class and the shura council as all major decisions
are decided by either the Ulamā or the Shura Council.
The separation of power between the three classes will prevent any class from becoming
corrupt and affecting the performance of the Islamic state. It will also let the best of the people in
muamalat (commercial and civil acts or dealings under Islamic law) to be part of the government
in the shura council and be involved in the running of the government. Muhamad pbuh in his
time would always consult the sahabah(companions) who were expert in a particular field to
give advice. This was shown during the Battle of the Trench in which Salman Al Farsi advice to
dig trench around the city of Medina to protect it from the 10,000 invaders from Makkah. This
structure of a permanent shura council would ensure Islamic government to be always making

Page 15
the best of the decision from worldly and Islamic perspective. The traditional role of ulama and
the ruler in their own domain are also continue with little changes, thus enabling them to carry
over 1400 years old Islamic tradition with them.
If we look throughout the history of the Muslims, there were periods of great renewal in
the ummah and also there were times of infamous trouble in the ummah too. This was
highlighted very poignantly in the Ibn Khaldun’s Muqaddimah in his theory of ‘Assabiyyah’
which describes the rise and fall of a dynasty which is basically based on the history of the
Muslim governments and dynasty since the time of the prophet. Many of such transfer of power
between one Muslim dynasty to the next involved civil war which caused a lot of suffering to the
people and economic losses. By having an elected Shura Council by the democratic process,
hopefully the chaotic transfer of power process can be eliminated because it is giving an avenue
to the people to choose the right leader to champion the right causes. Instead of taking arm and
instigate civil war, the reformer would campaign and gather public support to get elected to the
Shura council, in which he would get an avenue to introduce changes. This would also bring
vibrancy and spirit of renewal which was a bit lacking if we look at the history of the Ottoman
Empire, which was the last great Muslim dynasty.
This model hopefully able to show how the practice of democracy and be harmonized
and practice together with the rich history of Islamic tradition. We hope also to show in the
model that democracy is still constrained and bound by our understanding of Quran & Sunnah as
the eternal and undisputable Word of God.

Page 16
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