Samuel Huntington's Arguments Against The Fundamental Ideology Of Democracy

Many scholars argue that certain cultures and beliefs are against the fundamental ideology of democracy, and they believe that in order to establish democracy, these two factors must be changed. Many scholars, such as Samuel Huntington, identify Islam as incompatible with democracy , and Iran is used as an example in many of the scholarly arguments. I believe that the definition of democracy differs among different nations which results in considering various countries such as Iran, undemocratic. My thesis is that democracy is compatible with Islam, and to support my claim I refer to the arguments of three authors: Mariana Malinova, John L. Esposito, and John Obert Voll. To refute Samuel Huntington’s argument that Islam is incompatible with …show more content…
In the West, a nation state is considered the most important factor of political loyalty and narrower loyalty (are embedded within the larger loyalty to the nation state. Other factors such as religious and linguistic identities are less relevant in the West. However, in Islam, as Huntington mentions, it is the opposite, and people show more loyalty to Islam. He mentions that “Throughout Islam the small group and the great faith, the tribe and the ummah, have been the principal foci of loyalty and commitment, and the nation state has been less significant.” In addition to that, “The idea of sovereign nation state is incompatible with the sovereignty of Allah and the primacy of the ummah.” Huntington investigates the weakness of the nation state in Islam through the conflicts that occurred between different Muslim groups after World War II; for example, Iraq occupying neighboring countries. He then supports his claim by pointing out the observation of another author, Ira Lapidus. Lapidus observes that religion (Islam) plays a major role in the political systems and the social and economic aspects of Arab …show more content…
They further claim that “In global terms, the definition of “democracy” is closely identified with major elements of the political traditions of Western Europe and the United States.” On the other hand, they argue that, “Even within the Western tradition democracy is an essentially contested term.” The two authors refer to Islamic countries as “Theo-democracy”, but they argue that basic democractic elements such as representative elections and parliament are compatible with Islam, and Islam encourages democracy. The authors associate democracy with the concepts of shura (consultation), ijma (consensus), and ijtihad (independent interpretive judgment), and finally claim that democracy in Islam exists whither the term “democracy” is used or