Islam and democracy: fear of the modern world

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   When Fear Became a Political Weapon

   

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   A newspaper vendor named Brahim once told Fatema Mernissi something that captures the essence of our modern tragedy: "It reawakened terror-innocent Iraqis killed by American bombs in 1991, innocent Americans killed in 2001." This symmetry of suffering reveals a profound truth about the relationship between Islam and democracy that most analyses miss entirely. The Gulf War didn't just redraw political boundaries-it created a psychological rupture that still haunts millions. Life continued superficially unchanged, yet occasionally, especially in unfamiliar surroundings, an unnamed dread would surface. The war left an indelible mark, periodically disrupting normal life. What makes this particularly striking is how Arab women emerged as some of the most vocal war opponents, breaking tradition by organizing protests without waiting for male authorization. While men became entangled in strategic complexities, women's traditional exclusion from power paradoxically granted them freedom of thought. Perhaps they instinctively understood that violence legitimized by democratic nations would unleash further violence within Arab societies.

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   The Architecture of Boundaries

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   Boundaries-"hudud" in Arabic-define Arab society, from Baghdad's circular design to the hijab's metaphorical borders. These aren't merely physical barriers but psychological architecture providing security in a culture prioritizing group cohesion. When social boundaries collapse (women without hijab) and political boundaries crumble (foreign powers bombing cities) simultaneously, profound disorientation results. The enemy occupies not just physical space but the heavens, entering homes through television-a "fluid servitude." With Mecca requiring American protection, what remains truly protected? This explains why gender becomes a flashpoint in democracy discussions. The fundamentalist call for hijab serves as political weapon during economic crisis, functioning as labor division mechanism. Any Muslim state can halve unemployment by appealing to despotic traditions confining women to homes. A linguistic connection reveals everything: in Arabic, "gharb" means both "West" and "place of darkness"-a territory where the sun sets and night consumes daylight.

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   The Imam's Fragile Throne

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   Islamic political theory positions the imam as paradoxically vulnerable-traditionally challengeable and accountable, though modern politicians exploit this to mask authoritarian rule. The ideal imam earns legitimacy through justice and responsiveness, but today's "media imam" has shed this vulnerability entirely. When a Sufi boldly asked Caliph al-Ma'mun whether his throne rested on Muslim consent or violence, the caliph admitted he'd merely inherited it-exposing Islam's fundamental tension with hereditary power, which the Koran condemns. This exchange captures both Islam's beauty and political tragedy: any person can question the most powerful ruler, making no throne truly stable. What's been forgotten is the mutual fear-the imam inspired it, but also carried it himself. An imam commands obedience only if just, rendering his power inherently fragile. This structural weakness opens two paths: violent rebellion or rational discourse.

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   The Rationalists We Forgot

   The Mu'tazila were political revolutionaries who argued humans must be free and responsible for their fate-otherwise God would be responsible for evil. Their stance was radical: authority must come from the people, who alone choose their representatives. Under the Abbasids, this rationalism briefly flourished as official doctrine. Translators gathered Greek, Persian, and Indian knowledge, sparking a flowering of Muslim thought. Al-Khwarizmi pioneered algebra, al-Kindi advanced philosophy, al-Razi revolutionized medicine, al-Battani developed trigonometry. But palace intrigues ended this openness. Reason was condemned as "foreign," freethinkers labeled infidels, and shari'a stripped of its questioning dimension to serve despots. This authoritarian Islam was reactivated after independence, with petrodollars financing propaganda encouraging submission. Arab intellectuals like Muhammad al-Jabiri have reclaimed this rationalist past, reconciling millions of young Arabs to modernity-yet Western media ignores these voices, preferring to showcase fanatical movements instead.

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   The Selective Embrace of Foreignness

   Arabs have discussed democracy for 150 years using the Greek word "dimuqratiyya"-no Arabic equivalent exists. This linguistic gap reflects a deeper cultural disconnect. Yet here's the paradox: while foreign technologies like telephones and automobiles are enthusiastically embraced despite their foreign names, democracy faces fierce resistance. The masses prefer "tumubil" over "siyara," "tilifun" over "hatif," yet no political party challenges these foreign objects. With democracy, however, traditionalists argue one cannot be Muslim and embrace it simultaneously. This selective resistance reveals a deeper struggle-the inability to distinguish between beneficial modernization and perceived cultural threats. Nineteenth-century nationalists, focused on anti-colonial struggle, rooted themselves deeply in Islam as defense against Western imperialism. They faced an impossible choice: construct modernity by claiming the humanistic heritage of their Western colonizers, or safeguard unity by clinging to tradition while rejecting Western innovation. Tragically, they chose the second path, sacrificing freedom of thought to preserve unity. By shutting out reason, Muslims weakened themselves, becoming the crippled, powerless mass displayed during the Gulf War.

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   The Hidden Charter and Wasted Lives

   The pervasive sentiment in Muslim countries is captured in the phrase "Ana daya'"-"My life is a mess"-echoing through marketplaces and universities. Consider Mina, a carpet weaver who worked ten years without a labor card. After a debilitating hand injury, unions betrayed her by reporting her complaints to her boss, who fired her. Mina turns to Islam for dignity and moral strength, using it to channel pain into righteous anger. Yet this traditional heritage, while providing spiritual comfort, paradoxically limits workers' ability to conceive of modern rights like medical coverage or workplace safety. Muslims find themselves governed by two contradictory systems: the UN Charter guaranteeing freedom of thought, and the shari'a enforcing obedience. While most Muslims can recite Koranic passages from memory, the UN Charter remains hidden "like a harem courtesan" in diplomats' cases, far from public scrutiny. This strategic opacity explains the peculiar phenomenon of Arab "republics" with presidents serving lifetime terms.

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   The Song of Freedom

   Arab women have begun their flight toward freedom, stumbling but determined, having nothing to lose but their fears. For centuries they sang of freedom in harems, celebrating escape through songs passed down through generations. Unlike their grandmothers who sang behind latticed windows, today's women dance unmasked toward limitless horizons. The imams rage because women challenging domestic obedience undermines the entire political system built on female modesty. Yet despite strict surveillance, Arab women have achieved remarkable educational success-in Saudi Arabia, women represented 32% of university professors in 1986, growing significantly by 2020. These educated women, even when veiled, fundamentally alter authority relationships within their communities. Women writers have made enormous cultural impact. Unlike in Western publishing, feminist literature sells extremely well in the Arab world, with men comprising the majority of buyers. Writers like Salwa Bakr and Hanane el-Cheikh consistently appear on bestseller lists, competing successfully against conservative propaganda. In twelfth-century Nishapur, poet Attar dreamed of a world without boundaries. His poem tells of thousands of birds seeking the legendary Simorgh, with only thirty surviving the journey. Upon arrival, they discovered they themselves were the Simorgh-"thirty birds" in Persian. This allegory suggests community can be a mirror of individualities, strengthening the whole. Within Islamic tradition itself lie the seeds of democratic renewal-if only we reclaim them, remembering that reason was once our greatest strength. The debate today turns on six words: religion, belief, and obedience versus personal opinion, innovation, and creation. Which path will we choose?

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