Part of Concepts of Ahl as-Sunnah (series completed)
· Lesson 1106 of 1251
Summary of Sunni concepts | Concept (1104) | Disadvantages of democracy
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A summary of the concepts held by the Ahl al-Sunnah.
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The evils of democracy.
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Since democracy is the political application of the theory of sovereignty,
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its fundamental evil is that it enshrines polytheism (shirk) against Allah in governance,
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which we have explained is an inevitable consequence of adopting and believing in the theory of sovereignty.
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In it, democrats flee from the worship of rulers and popes to the worship of the masses and parliaments,
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and from a tyranny exercised in the name of the divine right of the church and rulers,
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to another tyranny exercised in the name of the divine right of the masses and parliaments.
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We have begun to hear phrases such as "the sovereignty of law" instead of "the sovereignty of the Shari'ah."
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And "no crime or punishment except by law" instead of "the forbidden is what the Shari'ah has forbidden."
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And "the lawful is what the Shari'ah has permitted," and that is sufficient as the greatest evil of the disbelief inherent in democracy.
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In addition to this primary evil in the democratic system,
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democratic thinkers themselves have enumerated other flaws of democracy.
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Among them, firstly, is that it is not, in reality, the rule of the majority,
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because most people refrain from elections and do not participate in them,
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as evidenced by the voter turnout percentages in elections.
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Secondly, the owners of capital are the true controllers of the democratic system,
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because they dominate the media, which is dependent on their wealth.
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It is the media that shapes public opinion,
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even through news, analyses, and false, deceptive propaganda.
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Thus, opinion and governance do not truly belong to the majority,
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but rather to the wealthy,
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in order to achieve their interests and strengthen their political influence.
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Thirdly,
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the democratic system is based on political parties,
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which are parties that differ in thought and methodology,
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a difference that leads to friction and conflict among them,
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instead of cooperation and synergy to achieve the interests of the country and its people.
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Fourthly,
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the principle of equality in electoral votes and referendums
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does not distinguish between the vote of an expert with sound judgment and academic qualifications,
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and the vote of a layman with limited thought and opinion,
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which deprives the Ummah of effectively benefiting from the views of these qualified experts
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to influence events.
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Whereas the system of Shura in Islam achieves
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the highest benefit from the expertise of those who are referred to as the people of binding and loosing (ahl al-hall wa al-'aqd).
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Fifthly,
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studies have shown that the average lifespan of governments in democratic systems over half a century
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did not exceed eight months.
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That is a brief period,
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which does not enable any government to implement its reform and development plans and programs.
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A summary of the concepts held by the Ahl al-Sunnah.