by Raymond Ibrahim<\/p>\n
Private Papers<\/em><\/p>\n I<\/span>ran and the U.S., who may otherwise be on a collision-course, share one common goal: promoting democracy in Iraq.\u00a0 Just this last September Associated Press reported that Iranian president \u2014 a possible accomplice of the U.S. embassy takeover of 1979 and one who believes Israel should be \u201cwiped off the map\u201d\u2014Mahmoud Ahmadinejad declared: \u201cWe demand democracy . . . and termination of occupation in Iraq to provide the grounds for its reconstruction and development.\u201d The call for democracy may seem odd coming from the president of an Islamic theocracy.<\/p>\n But does liberal-style democracy even have a chance of taking root in Iraq or will it eventually evolve into something else, something Ahmadinejad can be proud of?\u00a0 \u00a0 To date no Arab country is democratic.\u00a0 Two reasons account for this: 1) historically, all Arab and Muslim countries were originally governed under Islamic law; and 2) all of the current governments in place today were not elected but are products of post-colonialism, revolutions, military takeovers, and Western nepotism \u2014 Saddam\u2019s Iraq, particularly before the ill-omened Kuwaiti invasion, was a perfect example.<\/p>\n However, if Muslims are given a choice to elect their government, will it necessarily be secular and liberal, as the West apparently hopes, or will it be a means to an end to once again establishing Islamic law?\u00a0 The case of Algeria comes to mind.\u00a0 In 1991, the Islamic fundamentalist party (FIS) won the largest number of votes in the country’s first-ever parliamentary elections. As a result, the secular-military regime proceeded to\u00a0cancel the general election, thereby plunging the country into a bloody civil war. Nor should we forget that the Ayatollah Khomeini, who ushered in the theocratic state of Iran, while not officially \u201celected\u201d \u2014 the Shah\u2019s Iran then being a monarchy \u2014 was brought to power by the will of people.<\/p>\n This begs the question: is secular democracy antithetical to Islam? \u00a0Coming from a Christian background, Western nations take it for granted that democracy and monotheism can happily coexist.\u00a0 Christ Himself declared \u201cRender unto Caesar that which is Caesar\u2019s [the corporeal] and unto God that which is God\u2019s [the spiritual]\u201d (Matt 22:21).<\/p>\n But there is no such distinction between mosque and state in Islam; rather, Islam is extremely involved with this life and how it is lived.\u00a0 To that end, meticulous Laws governing Muslims\u2019 day-to-day activities have been pronounced by Allah Himself and His Prophet.\u00a0 How can Believers, then, establish or abolish that which has already been fixed from on high?<\/p>\n T<\/span>he following is an excerpt from a never-before translated argument by al-Qaeda\u2019s premiere ideologue and number-two man, the pediatrician Aymin al-Zawahiri, repudiating democracy in favor of Islamic law:<\/p>\n \u201cDemocracy is partnership [the unforgivable sin in Islam] with Allah. The\u00a0difference between democracy and theocracy is that the latter makes Allah the Legislator while democracy is rule of the people for the good of the people. . . .<\/p>\n \u201cThis \u2018rule of the people\u2019 is a new religion that deifies the masses by giving them the right to legislate without being shackled down to any other authority. . . .<\/p>\n \u201c[I]n democracies, those legislators elected from the masses become partners worshipped in place of Allah.\u00a0 Whoever obeys their laws ultimately worships them. . . .<\/p>\n \u201c\u2018Adi bin Hatim \u2014 Allah be pleased with him \u2014 a former Christian who submitted [i.e. converted to Islam], said: \u2018I came to the Messenger of Allah [Muhammad] while he was reciting the verse: \u201cThey [Christians] take their priests and monks as masters beside Allah\u201d [9:31]. \u00a0 \u2018So I said, O Messenger of Allah, we never took them for masters.\u2019\u00a0 \u201cIndeed!\u201d quoth he, \u201cdo they not allow for you that which is forbidden, and you permit it, and forbid that which is allowed, and you forbid it?\u201d \u2018I said yes.\u00a0 He said, \u201cTherefore you worship them.\u201d\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cIt is the prerogative of godhood to be obeyed by mankind by establishing laws for them to govern their lives. Whoever, then, claims any of these prerogatives for himself, claims the most exclusive rights of godhood.\u00a0 He raises himself up as a god among the people, in place of Allah.\u00a0 No worse corruption befalls the earth as when gods multiply in this manner \u2014 when slaves become enslaved to other slaves; when one of the slaves claims he personally has the right to be obeyed by the slaves; that he personally possesses the right to legislate for the people; that likewise he personally has the right to differentiate between the Good and the Bad.<\/p>\n \u201cAs for democracy\u2019s principle of equality between the citizenry, this makes for a number of situations \u2014 all of them blasphemous.\u00a0 Among them are:<\/p>\n \u201cNo limit to apostasy, since democracies provide freedom of religion; likewise abolition of jihad against the apostates [who under Islamic law deserve death].<\/p>\n \u201cAbolition of jihad in the way of Allah \u2014 that is, jihad against infidelity and blasphemy \u2014 since democracies promote freedom of religion.<\/p>\n \u201c\u00a0Abolition of the\u00a0jizyah<\/i>\u00a0[tax paid by non-Muslims] and the subordinate conditions imposed on non- Muslims \u2014 since now there is no difference between nationals, irrespective of religion.<\/p>\n \u201c\u00a0Abolition of man\u2019s domination over woman.\u00a0 The Most High said: \u201cLet men have authority over women\u201d [4: 34].\u00a0 But in a democracy, women have the right to emulate the same dignity and legal rights of men. . . .\u00a0. Like we said, the principals of democracy confront the commands of Islamic law in direct opposition\u2026.<\/p>\n \u201cIslam is so much richer than all these blasphemous notions.\u00a0 The Most High said: \u201cToday have I perfected your way of life\u201d [5: 3]. So whoever once doubts the perfection of Islam, renouncing it in favor of one of the systems of the infidels, such a one is an infidel.\u00a0 Allah Most High said: \u201cOnly infidels reject our Words\u201d [29:47].<\/p>\n It should be borne in mind that though these are Zawahiri\u2019s words, his entire argument accords well with the beliefs of many traditional Muslims \u2014 Sunnis and Shias.<\/p>\n Perhaps this also explains why the Persian president is pushing for democracy in Iraq: he\u2019s trusting that the will of the people will establish the Will of Allah \u2014 and therefore a powerful ally for theocratic Iran.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Zawahiri’s democracy may be just what the Persian President needs. by Raymond Ibrahim Private Papers Iran and the U.S., who may otherwise be on a collision-course, share one common goal: promoting democracy in Iraq.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[227,783],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p466Sb-1s5","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2643,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/obamas-new-liberal-realism\/","url_meta":{"origin":5585,"position":0},"title":"Obama’s New Liberal Realism","author":"victorhanson","date":"June 20, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Obama abandoned Wilsonianism to avoid supporting Iranian democracy. by Victor Davis Hanson National Review Online President Obama has largely drawn praise for his tepid response to the mass uprisings in Iran challenging the reelection of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. In general, Obama has offered three justifications for his tentativeness \u2014 and they\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "June 2009"","block_context":{"text":"June 2009","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/archives\/2009\/june-2009\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2632,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/thoughts-on-america-and-iran\/","url_meta":{"origin":5585,"position":1},"title":"Thoughts on America and Iran","author":"victorhanson","date":"June 24, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"by Victor Davis Hanson NRO's\u00a0The Corner Thugophilia Isn't Moral I think we are going to see, incrementally, perhaps, a rise in the ratings of former president Bush.Iraq is proving to be amazingly resilient, not only functioning as a democracy, but by withstanding the best efforts of Iran to kill it\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "June 2009"","block_context":{"text":"June 2009","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/archives\/2009\/june-2009\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6949,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/kerry-boasts-of-pluralistic-syria-once-assad-gone\/","url_meta":{"origin":5585,"position":2},"title":"Kerry Boasts of ‘Pluralistic’ Syria Once Assad Gone","author":"victorhanson","date":"January 29, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"by Raymond Ibrahim \/\/\u00a0RaymondIbrahim.com\u00a0 U.S. Secretary of State, John Kerry, was recently\u00a0interviewed\u00a0about Syria. \u00a0While many of his assertions can be debated, one especially requires a response. Throughout the interview, he repeatedly insisted that, if Bashar Assad would only leave power, everything would go well \u2014 especially for all of Syria\u2019s\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Syria"","block_context":{"text":"Syria","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/the-world\/the-middle-east\/syria\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/11769416185_50193bfa40-300x240.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3844,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/clueless-on-cario\/","url_meta":{"origin":5585,"position":3},"title":"Clueless on Cario","author":"victorhanson","date":"February 8, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"by Victor Davis Hanson PJ Media My Three-week Victory, Your Seven-year Mess It is difficult trying to figure out what the left\u2019s position is on democracy and the Middle East. 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Once upon a time, a number of prominent liberals \u2014 among them Thomas Friedman, Fareed Zakaria,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Egypt"","block_context":{"text":"Egypt","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/the-world\/the-middle-east\/egypt\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4001,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/give-iran-some-rope\/","url_meta":{"origin":5585,"position":4},"title":"Give Iran Some Rope","author":"victorhanson","date":"May 8, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"What is to be done about a nuclear Iran? by Victor Davis Hanson Tribune Media Services The debate in the U.S. over how to contend with Iran as it pursues nuclear weapons goes like this: Many conservatives worry that the Bush administration \u2014 stung by the backlash over Iraq and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "May 2006"","block_context":{"text":"May 2006","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/archives\/2006\/may-2006\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1695,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/so-what-happened-to-iraq\/","url_meta":{"origin":5585,"position":5},"title":"So What Happened to Iraq?","author":"victorhanson","date":"April 19, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"by Victor Davis Hanson Tribune Media Services Six years ago, the conventional wisdom was that Ayad Allawi, then prime minister of the appointed Iraqi Interim Government, was a puppet of the United States. Last month, though, the Allawi-led Iraqiya alliance won, by a narrow margin, more parliamentary seats than any\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "April 2010"","block_context":{"text":"April 2010","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/archives\/2010\/april-2010\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5585"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5585"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5585\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5586,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5585\/revisions\/5586"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5585"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5585"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5585"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}