Part of Concepts of Ahl as-Sunnah (series completed)
· Lesson 1098 of 1251
Summary of Sunni concepts | Concept (1096) | Democracy
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Transcript
Machine translation — may contain errors
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A summary of the concepts held by the Ahl al-Sunnah.
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Democracy.
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Democracy is a term of Latin origin.
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"Demo-cracy."
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It is composed of two parts:
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"Demo," which means the people.
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And "cracy" (kratos), which means rule.
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Therefore, the meaning of democracy is:
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The people ruling themselves.
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Where supreme authority resides with them,
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And they exercise it through electing their leader
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And their representatives in the governing council,
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The parliament.
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In it, the one who secures the largest number
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Of the people's votes is appointed.
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For this reason, it is also referred to as
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The rule of the majority.
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Furthermore, the people also possess,
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Within the democratic system,
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The right to a referendum on certain major issues,
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Such as the country's constitution.
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Democracy emerged
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In opposition to theocracy,
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Which means the rule of the clergy,
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Or religious rule,
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By which is meant the dominance of the clergy
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Over governance and their authoritarian control of it,
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Claiming divine right,
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On the basis that they are authorized by the deity.
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Democracy also describes itself
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As being the antithesis of a dictatorial regime,
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Which means the rule of an individual,
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Or the monopolization of power by a specific entity.
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Although democracy
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Appears on the surface to be a good thing,
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Because it prevents tyranny and authoritarianism,
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It nonetheless contains numerous polytheistic elements and evils,
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As will be clarified in a separate concept.
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Many politicians have criticized it,
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As have Western thinkers themselves,
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And many in the East have been influenced by it.
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The famous statement by the British Winston Churchill regarding it is:
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"Democracy is not the best system devised by humans,
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But it is the least bad of all systems."