Can Democracy And Islam Coexist
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While the government of Iraq struggles to develop a new constitution, the educated Muslims world over are trying their very best to put the principles of democracy and Islam together.
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The question then arises if democracy and Islam can coexist and are so compatible, why is there a constant struggle in the Muslim world to put the two together?
Can democracy and Islam coexist in Iraq, Afghanistan and the Middle East?
The debate about democracy and Islam is usually centered round the role of women in the society, voting issues, and freedom of religion. Many believe that democracy and Islam can coexist while there are other that believe the Muslims will end up creating societies which the illusion of free or democratic society.
There is no doubt that whether democracy and Islam can coexist ultimately boils down to the issue of freedom of religion.
It has been seen that when Muslims speak about freedom of religion, they usually talk about non-Muslims being allowed to exist in a Muslim society. History and modern times have shown us that there is virtually no Muslim society where non-Muslim are allowed to thrive and grow. In fact, non-Muslims are not permitted to promote their religions among Muslims.
One can definitely say that democracy and Islam can coexist if a Muslim can have the freedom to leave Islam and covert to another religion, say Christianity. Islam is very strict on the law apostasy. Islam does not allow a Muslim to leave the religion and if one does, he becomes an apostate who should be given a chance to return to Islam. However, if the person does not return to Islam, the punishment is death.
This law of apostasy makes it very clear that democracy and Islam cannot coexist together and there are no Muslim leaders in the world who will disavow the Islamic law of apostasy.
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