Variations of Islam and democracy in Muslim countries: From Islamic countries to secular Muslim countries and its relevance to the discourse of Islam and democracy

Abstract

The phenomenon of Islam and democracy in Muslim countries is practiced differently between Muslim countries with an Islamic state and Muslim countries with a secular pattern. This article wants to examine and reassess the view of Islamic exceptions or “Islamic exceptionalism” on the scarcity of democracy in Muslim countries with case studies of regime variations found in Muslim countries. This article analyzes the variation of Islam and democracy in Muslim countries, with a comparative method using data from the democracy indexing agency. There are four variations of Muslim countries: Islamic countries, semi-Islamic countries, secular countries, and semi-secular countries. This study shows that, from the four variations of the Islamic world, none of the Islamic countries has succeeded in achieving full democracy (full democracy). Three Muslim countries have a flawed democracy (flawed democracy), namely Malaysia, Indonesia, and Tunisia. The rest of the Muslim countries are under a political system controlled by the military (hybrid democracy) and authoritarianism. In addition, this article finds that social, political, cultural, and agency tools and support in supporting democratic values are still the main problems that harm the scarcity of democracy in Muslim societies

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“…They stress that the Islamic teachings do not align with democratic values, and Islam urges Muslims to follow God's orders only as He is the one and only source of political power that they must obey. Such opinions, Zolfadli argues, do not differentiate between Islam as "a doctrine or teaching and Islam as a historical-empirical phenomenon developed in Muslim society" ( [11], p. 195). Zolfadli goes on that "blaming the dimension of religion as the main factor that hinders the development of democracy in the world tends to simplify social, political, and cultural issues that develop in Muslim societies" ( [11], p. 195).…”

“…Such opinions, Zolfadli argues, do not differentiate between Islam as "a doctrine or teaching and Islam as a historical-empirical phenomenon developed in Muslim society" ( [11], p. 195). Zolfadli goes on that "blaming the dimension of religion as the main factor that hinders the development of democracy in the world tends to simplify social, political, and cultural issues that develop in Muslim societies" ( [11], p. 195). It is not surprising that the majority of Muslim countries are less democratic than the Western countries.…”

“…In the same vein, when democracy is conceived to be uncontested, it becomes unmatchable with Islam" [p. 9]. A survey by the Pew Research Center shows that the majority people in six Muslim countries (Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Pakistan, Tunisia, and Turkey) favor a democratic political system ( [11], p. 199). Not only in these six countries, but also in all other Muslim countries, the majority people are favoring democracy over any other form of political system.…”

“…However, most of these countries are still undemocratic. The "absence of democracy in Muslim countries such as in the Middle East and North Africa occurs because of the paradox between the ruling regime and the wishes of its people" ( [11], p. 199).…”