election

Session II—Participatory Governance:
are Elections the Best Alternative?
Moderated by Seri Ahmad Sarji bin Abdul Hamid, former Chief Secretary to the Government and current Chair of the Institute of Kefahaman Islam of Malaysia, the second session focused on going beyond the question of whether Islam and democracy are compatible, to consider how democracy could be defined in an Islamic context. What are the roots of participatory governance in Islamic scripture and history? What role can these traditions, such as shura, play in modern Islamic governance? Are elections the best method for ensuring participatory governance and, if so, what types of elections are needed?

Seri Ahmad Sarji introduced the discussion by challenging participants to consider the ways in which citizens in Muslim countries can participate in government: referenda, advisory bodies (shura councils), elections for legislatures, elections for heads of state, or some combination of these practices.



Ghazi Suliman, human rights activist and chairman of the National Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy in Sudan, began a discussion of the ways in which Islam has been used in some countries, for instance Sudan, as a means for suppression and the installation of autocratic regimes. This, coupled with the censorship of moderate Muslim voices and increasing state patronage of religious scholars, has led to the propagation of a dogmatic form of divisive Islamic extremism, a form that rejects democracy, human rights, and good governance as devices of Western imperialism. He stated that Islam is in fact an accommodating religion of moderation that maintains, at its core, enlightenment values of natural justice, humanitarianism, and mutual consultation. If Muslims were to delve into their theological and historical heritage, they would find that Islam not only encourages but obligates Muslims to conduct their political affairs in a consultative manner through the shura. This concept is enshrined in the Qur’an in two places. In the first, the Prophet is ordered by God to “deal gently [mercifully]” and not to be “severe and harsh-hearted” in governing, but rather to “consult with [the people] in their affairs.”1 The second reference appears in Surat al-Shura, where Muslims are enjoined to “answer the Call of their Lord, perform the salat [prayers]…and…conduct their affairs by mutual consultation.”2 Other than these two verses, there is no further mention of shura as a system of governance in the Qur’an, continued Suliman. Islamic history, on the other hand, offers many different models of governance as practiced by the Rightly Guided Caliphs (al-khulafa ar-rashidun) and subsequent Muslim rulers.3 For example, while the first caliph, Abu Bakr al-Siddiq was elected through a pledge of allegiance, or bay‘a, by the people, other leaders were directly appointed, as was the case with the third caliph, Uthman ibn ‘Affan. It is important to note, he said, that the variety of methods through which the concept of shura was practiced—both then, and to some extent, now—clearly indicates that there is no single model of governance in Islam. Hence, from a jurisprudential point of view based primarily on the Qur’an, Muslims are free to implement any system of governance, provided that it is fair, just, and consultative. There is therefore no fundamental conflict between Islam and democracy.

Syed Shahabuddin, President of All India Muslim Majlis-e-Mushawarat and former member of Parliament, agreed with Ghazi Suliman, adding that democracy is not a trademark of the West and need not take any one single form. The central premises of democracy—justice, the rule of law, the guarantee of rights and freedoms, consensus, and accountability, as listed by Ghazi Suliman—are also Islamic values, enshrined in the Qur’an. Moreover, a key principle of Islamic jurisprudence is the “rule of permissibility.” This stipulates that whatever is not categorically forbidden by God and His Prophet is permissible for Muslims. Under this doctrine, elections, ijma‘ (consensus), shura, and referenda can all be mechanisms for achieving participatory governance in an Islamic context. It is up to Muslims to select those methods which best suit their realities.