A partial note on shari‘a and democracy

I’m intending to use this blog (more than I have to this point, anyway) as a place to post notes that I’ve extracted from books that I’ve read and marked up and, therefore, as an incentive to extract those notes.  Again, this is an attempt to make my blog serve a specific function for my other work, for the less ephemeral writing that I intend to publish elsewhere.  I certainly hope, though, that at least some of you will find these notes interesting.

What follows is taken from John L. Esposito and Dalia Mogahed, Who Speaks for Islam? What a Billion Muslims Really Think (New York: Gallup Press, 2007).  The book is based on the massive, multi-year Gallup World Poll, the largest study of its kind that had ever been carried out to that point.  In the section from which I’ve drawn here, the discussion is centered on the fact that the majority of citizens in Muslim-majority countries appear to want a society that is both informed by religious values and, at the same time, democratic:

•  In only a few countries did a majority say that Sharia should have no role in society; yet in most countries, only a minority want Sharia as “the only source” of law.  In Jordan, Egypt, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh, majorities want Sharia as the “only source” of legislation.
• Most surprising is the absence of systemic differences in many countries between males and females in their support for Sharia as the only source of legislation.  For example, in Jordan, 54% of men and 55% of women want Sharia as the only source of legislation.  In Egypt, the percentages are 70% of men and 62% of women; in Iran, 12% of men and 14% of women; and in Indonesia, 14% of men and 14% of women.

Ironically, we don’t have to look far from home to find a significant number of people who want religion as a source of law.  In the United States, a 2006 Gallup Poll indicates that a majority of Americans want the Bible as a source of legislation.

•  Forty-six percent of Americans say that the Bible should be “a” source, and 9% believe it should be the “only” source of legislation.
• Perhaps even more surprising, 42% of Americans want religious leaders to have a direct role in writing a constitution, while 55% want them to play no role at all.  These numbers are almost identical to those in Iran.  (48-49)