Democracy, Islam and Compatibility: Arguably Compatible, with a Question that Deserves Re-Examining

Abstract

There are numerous debates and argumentations centered around Islam and its compatibility with democracy. It goes without saying, that there is rampant debate about democracy and Islam as to whether or not they are compatible, and a large portion of the research will attempt to establish that there is, within history, and religious text, a variety of evidence indicative of compatibility. But by the end, a different frame of thinking will be posed. The paper demonstrates that compatibility is more than possible, yet regardless, it is almost certain that the question will be raised when conflict erupts anew in the Middle East. If religion, by being thoroughly analyzed, is not the central reason for the lack of Middle Eastern democracy, then something else must be the cause. The culture that the media presents, of a violent Middle East soaked with human rights abuses, is a far cry from the culture that Islamic texts present about the early Islamic community. Perhaps then, after reading these arguments, future inquiry can use these findings to argue against even bringing religion into the inquiry as to why there is a lack of Middle Eastern democracy. The why, when it comes to a lack of democratic compatibility, might very well be culture and not religion.