: Is Iraqi Democracy Ready For Political Islam?

It’s a buzz phrase that’s been repeated like a mantra ever since – well, ever since the US and Britain needed a better reason to invade Iraq. When al-Qaida links couldn’t be found and the search for weapons of mass destruction didn’t move our allies into action, bringing democracy to the suffering people to Iraq became the new raison d’etre for “Operation Iraqi Freedom.” But what does democracy mean to a people who have never practiced it? How do you bring a society from tribal identifications with ethnic or religious groups into an arena where respect for the will of the majority forms the foundation of the state? While emerging Muslim democracies like Afghanistan have shown how problematic it can be to map a Western political system onto a post-colonial and post-war Muslim country, the fact is that most of the Muslim world practices democracy in some form or another. Half of the world’s Muslims – around 500 million people – has even lived under the rule of an elected woman leader. But all that doesn’t negate the special challenges faced by democracies where political Islam is a factor. In promoting democracy in Iraq, the US has put itself in a bind: what if the people freely elect an Islamic government? “Why cannot an Islamic form of government… not also be democratic?” asked Secretary of State Colin Powell. “Democracy can coexist with any faith.” But Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld counters, “We will not allow the Iraqi people’s democratic transition to be hijacked by those who might wish to install another form of dictatorship.” Both leaders see Turkey as an example of an Islamic democracy, but any country that goes into a tizzy whenever a scarved woman walks onto the floor of Parliament couldn’t possibly be an example for Iraq’s deeply religious society. But Iraqis press on, meeting in Madrid for an Islamic democracy conference, a US-sponsored conference in Baghdad, and another one in Nasiriyah, Iraq next weekend, and the general consensus is that Islam will play a role. “Islam is supposed to unite people, said Stuart Charme, a religion professor at Rutgers University. “The prophet wanted to give people an identity that would overcome their tribal divisions.”

Shahed Amanullah is editor-in-chief of altmuslim.com.