From lizards to spiders
By
Sher Khan
Democracy
has no place in Islam. I had to invent new terminology to describe the
democratic features of this religion. The term, “Islamic Democracy” is about
as contradictory as "vegetarian wolf." When democracy visits Islamic
countries it warps into “Devilocracy”, derived from the root word
“Devil”.
Democracy
is not just about elections and voting, its about the people’s right to set
the course of their country's prosperity. It's about human rights and peaceful
cohabitation with people of different faiths and opinions. It's about separating
state from religion, protecting civil liberties and even gladly accepting the
presence of legitimate opposition parties. It's about personal,
political and economic freedom. As we all know, Islam strictly prohibits all of
the above.
Islam
is insensitive to human rights. It barely considers people of other faiths and
opinions as human. When Mullahs call them apes and pigs, one does not see raised
hackles, but nodding heads. Muslim countries have hotly protested several
articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), especially
articles 16 and 18 that spell out the equality of marriage rights and the
freedom to change one’s religion.
What
happens when the people of a state are unaware of their destiny? Imagine a ship
full of pirates with only one good person aboard. Imagine the good person
wanting to rise to the position of leader. What does he do? He asks everyone to
give up piracy and live decently, whereas his opponent promises great fortunes
through robbery. Undoubtedly, the good guy will be outvoted, in fact, chances
are that he will receive only one preference: from himself.
Now,
don’t misunderstand me. I am not calling all Muslims pirates, even though the
prophet of Islam was the ultimate pro in that field. Many good people born to
Muslim families have no choice but support Islam. They believe in democracy but
are unaware of ‘Devilocracy’.
According
to the POLITY Project of the
University
of
Maryland
, no Muslim country ranks, or has ever ranked, within the first fifty democratic
countries of the world. Even
Turkey
, once secular, now a peculiar, 'comme ci, comme ça' (So-So) country, scores
2.5 out of 7 in civil and political liberties, taking 89th place in
this category.
Some
Islamic countries pretend to practice democracy but with risible results. Though
they nominally conduct elections, the overall systems painfully lack most of the
virtues of a real democracy. Some experts cite
Turkey
,
Indonesia
,
Bangladesh
,
Mali
, and
Senegal
as democracies but all of them suffer from the Islamic malaise. Islam
suffocates the constitution and political agendas of all these countries.
Corruption is rampant and building a solid economic infrastructure is about as
difficult - and probable - as turning a gorilla into a chess master.
Other
countries such as
Malaysia
,
Nigeria
, and
Iran
, are superficially democratic but God’s rule invariably takes precedence over
the people’s interest. (God in this case, not being anything holy in the great
heavens, but usually in the guise of fatcats in chauffeured Mercedes).
Recently,
Iran
played a game of ‘Devilocracy’. Bearded Mullahs participated in a so-called
election devoid of any democracy. Garlic is an interesting spice; it is formed
of many layers, but all the layers meet in one place. Mullahs are like garlic,
they act differently but all of their roots converge to that same identical
place called Islam. When Mullahs arrange elections and preach God’s rule, they
simply make a mockery of democracy. It's like rapists presiding over therapy
sessions, like terrorists teaching civics!
Some
scholars argue, Islam should be reinterpreted first and then democracy will
prevail. Others think that once democracy is implemented, Islam will reform. But
it’s not a ‘chicken and egg’ conundrum and there’s no element, not by
any stretch of the imagination that could come first because the two are utterly
incompatible. There can be no viable democracy as long as Islam is factored into
the equation. It's like requiring
heart surgeons to wear boxing gloves while performing transplants. It's like
dusting furniture in a sandstorm. It's self-defeating, it's impossible and it's
daft.
In
Malaysia
, UMNO (United Malays National Organization) is working like a UFO (Unidentified
Flying Object). Ever since
Malaysia
gained independence from
Britain
in 1957, UMNO has dominated the country. That's almost half a century. Are we
to praise
Malaysia
's stubborn consistency or would it be more honest to doubt her democracy?
Through the years, the ruling party has used many different kinds of ammunition
to subdue its opponents: the Internal Security Act, the Sedition Act, the
Official Secrets Act, the Printing and Publications Act, the Police Act, the
Universities and Colleges Act. With so many amazing Acts, it sounds more like a
three ring circus than a democracy!
Although
Malaysia
practices a form of religious tolerance, it is only out of self-interest.
Luckily for them, the Kafirs of Malaysia generate lots of revenue for the
economy. Hence, their necks have been spared from slitting. But Dr. Mahatir, the
UMNO bigshot, proclaimed
Malaysia
an Islamic state, and in the meantime, the PAS, a genuine, from-bad-to-worse,
heavy metal throat-slicing Islamic party is gaining momentum via a grass-roots
campaign.
In
Indonesia
, a political party with an Islamic agenda gained seats in the 2004 National
Parliamentary election. Although its influence remains marginal, they are slowly
nudging towards their goal of full Islamization. The Prosperity and Justice
Party, similar to the PAS of
Malaysia
racked up 25 percent of the seats compared to their previous 16 percent figure.
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