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| Secular Democracy: On the Retreat |
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Issue 5: The real struggle is not a battle between tyranny and liberty but between Islam and secular democracy.
It was John Adams who stated, "When people talk of the freedom of writing, speaking or thinking, I cannot choose but laugh. No such thing ever existed. No such thing now exists; but I hope it will exist. But it must be hundreds of years after you and I shall write and speak no more." The pervasive use of liberty as an instrument to impose political control therefore needs to be understood in the context of a false battle. To hear President Bush you would think that the battle in the Middle East was simply about those who support tyranny and those who seek democracy. He is wrong - there are very few beyond the corrupt elites who want to maintain the despotic status quo in the Middle East. As Richard Clarke, the ex Anti-Terrorism chief stated, "Beyond Iraq, in the greater Muslim world, opposing democracy is not uppermost in the minds of Al Qaeda or the larger jihadist network. (In Saudi Arabia, for example Al Qaeda wants the monarchy replaced by a more democratic government.) Radical Islamists are ultimately seeking to create something orthogonal to our model of democracy. They are fighting to create a theocracy or, in their vernacular, a Caliphate." Thus the battle is not between brutal dictatorship and liberty but between secular democracy and the Islamic Caliphate (though I disagree with Clarke that the Caliphate is theocratic). When viewed through this prism of the Islamic way of life and its western counterpart, the issues then become more transparent as both political outlooks claim to believe in representative government, the rule of law, protection for minorities and good governance.
Secular democracy with its basis of popular sovereignty has yet to be challenged effectively, as until now both left and right have not engaged in any debate about the suitability of democracy. Most western leaders believe that secular democracy is the nirvana of modern political systems; Tony Blair even claims that secular democratic values are universal. However as Pat Buchanan correctly observes, "democracy-worship suggests a childlike belief in the wisdom and goodness of the people." A majority of people today would bring back the death penalty (some even for the punishment of paedophilia and rape), most people believe that the influx of asylum seekers increases crime, a majority of Americans in the south in the nineteenth century supported slavery and a majority of the German people elected Hitler and supported the Nuremburg laws in the 1930s. America's founding fathers and Bush's predecessors no more trusted the people than they did absolute monarchs. Hence the need for multiple checks and balances, an electoral college, a Supreme Court, an elected Senate to watch over the House of Representatives and the veto power of a President. Democracy contrary to what most people think is not even mentioned in the US constitution and that was no oversight. Thomas Jefferson made it very clear what he thought about leaving it to the people when he said, "Hear no more of trust in men, but rather bind them down from mischief with the chains of the constitution." How can democracy with its central tenet of popular sovereignty be seriously considered by the Muslim world when the very founding fathers of the US constitution were so dismissive of it? It would be analogous to the Prophet Muhammad arguing against the applicability of the Qur'an to societal life.
The failure to acknowledge the Caliphate as an alternative despite its resonance with tens of millions of Muslims is not surprising. Western political leaders are more at ease comparing their way of life with the low benchmark of brutal dictators of the Middle East (despite propping up these same leaders for years) than in actually arguing the substantive issues of which political system would be better for the Middle East. Even if the neo-conservatives are correct in their assertions that recent developments in the Middle East are equivalent to the collapse of the Berlin Wall, most commentators believe that the risks surrounding these changes will inevitably lead to the empowerment of those seeking an Islamic political change in the region. As Flynt Leverett, who headed up Middle Eastern affairs in Bush's National Security Council until 2003, commented regarding the possible ousting of President Assad in Syria, "the most likely near-term consequence of (his) departure would be chaos; the most likely political order to emerge from that chaos would be heavily Islamist." Pat Buchanan echoes this when he says, "Fundamentalism is on the rise, even in Iraq. There is a deep sense that only by a return to the Islamic roots that once made their civilisation the greatest on earth can the greatness of Arab peoples can be restored. And there is both a revulsion in this region against what is perceived as a decadent and toxic American culture and a will to be rid of US political and military domination."
In that sense both President Bush and those who call for the Caliphate are in unison in seeking to change the despotic status quo. However as can be deduced from the CSS report, the turn of events since 9/11 has tilted the strategic balance towards a future Caliphate, a political system more in tune with the beliefs of tens of millions of Muslims. The Caliphate by the nature of its human implementation will not be perfect in any way, but Muslims believe that the sources for its legislation emanate from a divine entity (whose existence Muslims should rationally prove as a precursor) that fully understands the huge complexity of life and the nature of human beings; something man on his own could never comprehend. Islamic principles are by their nature less subject to personal whim, constant change, political expediency or public fickleness while at the same time remaining flexible enough through the process of Ijtihad to deal with new realities. A statesman captured this differentiation perfectly when he wrote about the limitations of human beings in law making, the essence of democracy, when he said
You have rights antecedent to all early governments; rights that cannot be repealed or restrained by human laws; rights derived from the Great Legislator of the Universe.
Democracy on the march - I don't think so - John Adams was right then and he is right now.
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