Islam and democracy : a complex encounter

In an "essentialist" view, Islam"s concept of community lends itself to an authoritarian view of politics. The vitality of this view, which derives from the enduring intrinsic appeal of certain Islamic values, is demonstrated by the constancy of its presence in the ideologies and programs of Islamists regardless of the different historical, cultural, political, economic, or national contexts in which they operate. Nonetheless, it rests on the facile premise that Islamic ideals, in and of themselves, preclude the creation of a more democratic interpretation of politics. A "materialist" view of Islam, on the other hand, argues that Islam has little bearing on politics and sees the failure of attempts at Islamic modernism principally as a consequence of the socioeconomic conditions that spawn the growth of fundamentalist groups, who find in the utopian vision of fundamentalism an alluring "answer" to their social predicament. For their part, modernist Islamic movements are engendered by the growth of professional and entrepreneurial classes, which espouse a more pluralistic interpretation of Islam that speaks to their market-oriented economic interests. This analysis suggests that the prospects for Islamic modernism will probably not improve in the coming years, since groups most given to modernist ideologies are far outnumbered by those who favor fundamentalism. This imbalance in favor of impoverished groups is what pushed liberal Islamists like Madani of Algeria"s Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) to embrace radical Islam. The analysis also implies, however, that shifts in the balance of social power will induce groups who previously had favored fundamentalism to adopt more liberal views of Islam. Nevertheless, one should not underestimate the intrinsic challenges of reinterpreting concepts and ideas that are deeply embedded in Islamic communities. According to the present study, discrete sets of intellectual and sociopolitical forces interact to produce either fundamentalist or modernist movements. The empirical utility of this approach is demonstrated through five case studies drawn from North Africa, the Middle East, sub-Saharan Africa, and South Asia. Three lessons are drawn: (1) The forging of modernist groups capable of advancing their ideologies in an open, democratic political arena must await a process of intellectual, socioeconomic, and political transformation. (2) While in some cases there are signs that this transformation is unfolding, the very conditions that have weakened authoritarian regimes in recent years will discourage the growth of Islamic modernist groups in the next decade. (3) The most promising changes, particularly on the intellectual plane, will probably occur outside of the Middle East. The implications of these three lessons are discussed in conclusion.