Islamic Democracy

There exist a number of perspectives on the relationship of Islam and democracy among Islamic political theorists, the general Muslim public, and Western authors.

Some modern Islamic thinkers, whose ideas were particularly popular in the 1970s and 1980s, rejected the notion of democracy as a foreign idea incompatible with Islam. Others have argued that traditional Islamic notions such as shura (consultation), maslaha (public interest), and ʿadl (justice) justify representative government institutions which are similar to Western democracy, but reflect Islamic rather than Western liberal values. Still others have advanced liberal democratic models of Islamic politics based on pluralism and freedom of thought. Some Muslim thinkers have advocated secularist views of Islam.

A number of different attitudes regarding democracy are also represented among the general Muslim public, with polls indicating that majorities in the Muslim world desire a political model where democratic institutions and values can coexist with the values and principles of Islam, seeing no contradiction between the two. In practice, political history of the modern Muslim world has often been marked by undemocratic practices in states of both secular and religious character. Analysts have suggested a number of reasons for this, including the legacy of colonialism, oil wealth, the Arab-Israeli conflict, authoritarian secularist rulers, “the mind-set of Islam” and Islamic fundamentalism.

Traditional political concepts

Main articles: Political aspects of Islam and Shura

Quran

Muslim democrats, including Ahmad Moussalli (professor of political science at the American University of Beirut), argue that concepts in the Quran point towards some form of democracy, or at least away from despotism. These concepts include shura (consultation), ijma (consensus), al-hurriyya (freedom), al-huqquq al-shar’iyya (legitimate rights). For example, shura (Al Imran – Quran 3:159, Ash-Shura – Quran 42:38) may include electing leaders to represent and govern on the community’s behalf. Government by the people is not therefore necessarily incompatible with the rule of Islam, whilst it has also been argued that rule by a religious authority is not the same as rule by a representative of God. This viewpoint, however, is disputed by more traditional Muslims. Moussalli argues that despotic Islamic governments have abused the Quranic concepts for their own ends: “For instance, shura, a doctrine that demands the participation of society in running the affairs of its government, became in reality a doctrine that was manipulated by political and religious elites to secure their economic, social and political interests at the expense of other segments of society,” (In Progressive Muslims 2003).

Election in Indonesia

Sunni Islam

Deliberations of the Caliphates, most notably the Rashidun Caliphate, were not democratic in the modern sense rather, decision-making power lay with a council of notable and trusted companions of Muhammad and representatives of different tribes (most of them selected or elected within their tribes).

In the early Islamic Caliphate, the head of state, the Caliph, had a position based on the notion of a successor to Muhammad’s political authority, who, according to Sunnis, was ideally elected by the people or their representatives, as was the case for the election of Abu Bakr, Umar bin Alkhattab, Uthman, and Ali as Caliph. After the Rashidun Caliphs, later Caliphates during the Islamic Golden Age had a much lesser degree of collective participation, but since “no one was superior to anyone else except on the basis of piety and virtue” in Islam, and following the example of Muhammad, later Islamic rulers often held public consultations with the people in their affairs.

The legislative power of the Caliph (or later, the Sultan) was always restricted by the scholarly class, the ulama, a group regarded as the guardians of Islamic law. Since the law came from the legal scholars, this prevented the Caliph from dictating legal results. Sharia rulings were established as authoritative based on the ijma (consensus) of legal scholars, who theoretically acted as representatives of the Ummah (Muslim community). After law colleges (madrasas) became widespread beginning with the 11th and 12th century CE, a student often had to obtain an ijaza-t al-tadris wa-l-ifta (“license to teach and issue legal opinions”) in order to issue legal rulings. In many ways, classical Islamic law functioned like a constitutional law.

Shia Islam

A collage of Muslim women voters in the 2010s from different countries

According to the Shia understanding, Muhammad named as his successor (as leader, with Muhammad being the final prophet), his son-in-law and cousin Ali. Therefore, the first three of the four elected “Rightly Guided” Caliphs recognized by Sunnis (Ali being the fourth), are considered usurpers, notwithstanding their having been “elected” through some sort of conciliar deliberation (which the Shia do not accept as a representative of the Muslim society of that time). The largest Shia grouping—the Twelvers branch—recognizes a series of Twelve Imams, the last of which (Muhammad al-Mahdi, the Hidden Imam) is still alive and the Shia are waiting for his reappearance.

Theoretical perspectives on democracy

Al-Farabi

The early Islamic philosopher, Al-Farabi (c. 872–950), in one of his most notable works Al-Madina al-Fadila, theorized an ideal Islamic state which he compared to Plato’s The Republic. Al-Farabi departed from the Platonic view in that he regarded the ideal state to be ruled by the prophet, instead of the philosopher king envisaged by Plato. Al-Farabi argued that the ideal state was the city-state of Medina when it was governed by Muhammad, as its head of state, as he was in direct communion with God whose law was revealed to him. In the absence of the prophet, Al-Farabi considered democracy as the closest to the ideal state, regarding the republican order of the Rashidun Caliphate as an example within early Muslim history. However, he also maintained that it was from democracy that imperfect states emerged, noting how the republican order of the early Islamic Caliphate of the Rashidun caliphs was later replaced by a form of government resembling a monarchy under the Umayyad and Abbasid dynasties.

Varieties of modern Islamic theories

Muslih and Browers identify three major perspectives on democracy among prominent Muslims thinkers who have sought to develop modern, distinctly Islamic theories of socio-political organization conforming to Islamic values and law:

The rejectionist Islamic view, elaborated by Sayyid Qutb and Abul A’la Maududi, condemns imitation of foreign ideas, drawing a distinction between Western democracy and the Islamic doctrine of shura (consultation between ruler and ruled). This perspective, which stresses comprehensive implementation of sharia, was widespread in the 1970s and 1980s among various movements seeking to establish an Islamic state, but its popularity has diminished in recent years.
The moderate Islamic view stresses the concepts of maslaha (public interest), ʿadl (justice), and shura. Islamic leaders are considered to uphold justice if they promote public interest, as defined through shura. In this view, shura provides the basis for representative government institutions that are similar to Western democracy, but reflect Islamic rather than Western liberal values. Hasan al-Turabi, Rashid al-Ghannushi, and Yusuf al-Qaradawi have advocated different forms of this view.
The liberal Islamic view is influenced by Muhammad Abduh’s emphasis on the role of reason in understanding religion. It stresses democratic principles based on pluralism and freedom of thought. Authors like Fahmi Huwaidi and Tariq al-Bishri have constructed Islamic justifications for full citizenship of non-Muslims in an Islamic state by drawing on early Islamic texts. Others, like Mohammed Arkoun and Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd, have justified pluralism and freedom through non-literalist approaches to textual interpretation. Abdolkarim Soroush has argued for a “religious democracy” based on religious thought that is democratic, tolerant, and just. Islamic liberals argue for the necessity of constant reexamination of religious understanding, which can only be done in a democratic context.

Secularist views

Main article: Islam and secularism

In the modern history of the Muslim world, the notion of secularism has acquired strong negative connotations due to its association with foreign colonial domination and removal of religious values from the public sphere. Traditional Islamic theory distinguishes between matters of religion (din) and state (dawla), but insists that political authority and public life must be guided by religious values. Some Islamic reformists like Ali Abdel Raziq and Mahmoud Mohammed Taha have advocated a secular state in the sense of political order that does not impose any single interpretation of sharia on the nation, though they did not advocate secularism in the sense of a morally neutral exercise of state power. The Islamic scholar Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na’im has argued for a secular state built on constitutionalism, human rights and full citizenship, seeking to demonstrate that his vision is more consistent with Islamic history than visions of an Islamic state. Proponents of Islamism (political Islam) reject secularist views that would limit Islam to a matter of personal belief and insist on implementation of Islamic principles in the legal and political spheres. Moreover, the concept of ‘Separation of Powers’ was propounded by Ruhollah Khomeini.

Muhammad Iqbal

The modern Islamic philosopher, Muhammad Iqbal, viewed the early Islamic Caliphate as being compatible with democracy. He “welcomed the formation of popularly elected legislative assemblies” in the Muslim world as a “return to the original purity of Islam.” He argued that Islam had the “gems of an economic and democratic organization of society”, but that this growth was stunted by the monarchist rule of Umayyad Caliphate, which established the Caliphate as a great Islamic empire but led to political Islamic ideals being “repaganized” and the early Muslims losing sight of the “most important potentialities of their faith.”

Muhammad Asad

Another Muslim scholar and thinker, Muhammad Asad, viewed democracy as perfectly compatible with Islam. In his book The Principles of State and Government in Islam, he notes:

Viewed from this historical perspective, ‘democracy’ as conceived in the modern West is infinitely nearer to the Islamic than to the ancient Greek concept of liberty; for Islam maintains that all human beings are socially equal and must, therefore, be given the same opportunities for development and self-expression. On the other hand, Islam makes it incumbent upon Muslims to subordinate their decisions to the guidance of the Divine Law revealed in the Qur’ãn and exemplified by the Prophet: an obligation which imposes definite limits on the community’s right to legislate and denies to the ‘will of the people’ that attribute of sovereignty which forms so integral a part of the Western concept of democracy.

Abul A’la Maududi

Islamist writer and politician Abul A’la Maududi, conceived of an “Islamic state” that would eventually “rule the earth”. The antithesis of secular Western democracy, it would follow an all-embracing Sharia law. Maududi called the system he outlined a “theo-democracy”, which he argued would be different from a theocracy as the term is understood in the Christian West, because it would be run by the entire Muslim community (pious Muslims who followed sharia), rather than ruled by a clerical class in the name of God. Maududi’s vision has been criticized (by Youssef M. Choueiri) as an

ideological state in which legislators do not legislate, citizens only vote to reaffirm the permanent applicability of God’s laws, women rarely venture outside their homes lest social discipline be disrupted, and non-Muslims are tolerated as foreign elements required to express their loyalty by means of paying a financial levy.

L. Ali Khan

Legal scholar L. Ali Khan argues that Islam is fully compatible with democracy. In his book, A Theory of Universal Democracy, Khan provides a critique of liberal democracy and secularism. He presents the concept of “fusion state” in which religion and state are fused. There are no contradictions in God’s universe, says Khan. Contradictions represent the limited knowledge that human beings have. According to the Quran and the Sunnah, Muslims are fully capable of preserving spirituality and self-rule.

Javed Ahmed Ghamdi

Religious scholar, Javed Ahmed Ghamdi interprets the Quranic verses as ”The collective affairs of Muslims are run on the basis of mutual consultations” (42:37). He is of the view that all the matters of a Muslim state must be sought out through consultations.The parliamentary bodies would provide that platform to practice and implement those consultations.

Views of the general Muslim public

Esposito and DeLong-Bas distinguish four attitudes toward Islam and democracy prominent among Muslims today:

Advocacy of democratic ideas, often accompanied by a belief that they are compatible with Islam, which can play a public role within a democratic system, as exemplified by many protestors who took part in the Arab Spring uprisings;
Support for democratic procedures such as elections, combined with religious or moral objections toward some aspects of Western democracy seen as incompatible with sharia, as exemplified by Islamic scholars like Yusuf al-Qaradawi;
Rejection of democracy as a Western import and advocacy of traditional Islamic institutions, such as shura (consultation) and ijma (consensus), as exemplified by supporters of absolute monarchy and radical Islamist movements;
Belief that democracy requires restricting religion to private life, held by a minority in the Muslim world.

Polls conducted by Gallup and PEW in Muslim-majority countries indicate that most Muslims see no contradiction between democratic values and religious principles, desiring neither a theocracy, nor a secular democracy, but rather a political model where democratic institutions and values can coexist with the values and principles of Islam.

Islam and democracy in practice

Obstacles

Brian Whitaker’s ‘four major obstacles’

Writing on The Guardian website, Brian Whitaker, the paper’s Middle East editor, argued that there were four major obstacles to democracy in the region: ‘the imperial legacy’, ‘oil wealth’, ‘the Arab–Israeli conflict’ and ‘militant or “backward-looking” Islam’.

The imperial legacy includes the borders of the modern states themselves and the existence of significant minorities within the states. Acknowledgment of these differences is frequently suppressed usually in the cause of “national unity” and sometimes to obscure the fact that minority elite is controlling the country. Brian Whitaker argues that this leads to the formation of political parties on ethnic, religious or regional divisions, rather than over policy differences. Voting therefore becomes an assertion of one’s identity rather than a real choice.

The problem with oil and the wealth it generates is that the states’ rulers have the wealth to remain in power, as they can pay off or repress most potential opponents. Brian Whitaker argues that as there is no need for taxation there is less pressure for representation. Furthermore, Western governments require a stable source of oil and are therefore more prone to maintain the status quo, rather than push for reforms which may lead to periods of instability. This can be linked into political economy explanations for the occurrence of authoritarian regimes and lack of democracy in the Middle East, particularly the prevalence of rentier states in the Middle East. A consequence of the lack of taxation that Whitaker talks of in such rentier economies is an inactive civil society. As civil society is seen to be an integral part of democracy it raises doubts over the feasibility of democracy developing in the Middle East in such situations.

Whitaker’s third point is that the Arab–Israeli conflict serves as a unifying factor for the countries of the Arab League, and also serves as an excuse for repression by Middle Eastern governments. For example, in March 2004 Sheikh Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah, Lebanon’s leading Shia cleric, is reported as saying “We have emergency laws, we have control by the security agencies, we have stagnation of opposition parties, we have the appropriation of political rights – all this in the name of the Arab-Israeli conflict”. The West, especially the US, is also seen as a supporter of Israel, and so it and its institutions, including democracy, are seen by many Muslims as suspect. Khaled Abou El Fadl, a lecturer in Islamic law at the University of California comments “modernity, despite its much scientific advancement, reached Muslims packaged in the ugliness of disempowerment and alienation.”

This repression by secularistic Arab rulers has led to the growth of radical Islamic movement groups, as they believe that the institution of an Islamic theocracy will lead to a more just society. Unfortunately, these groups tend to be very intolerant of alternative views, including the ideas of democracy. Many Muslims who argue that Islam and democracy are compatible live in the West, and are therefore seen as “contaminated” by non-Islamic ideas.

Practice

The Green Algeria Alliance is an Islamist coalition of political parties, created for the legislative election, 2012 in Algeria. It consists of the Movement of Society for Peace (Hamas), Islamic Renaissance Movement (Ennahda) and the Movement for National Reform (Islah). The alliance is led by Bouguerra Soltani of the Hamas. However, the incumbent coalition, consisting of the FLN of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika and the RND of Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia, held on to power after winning a majority of seats and the Islamist parties of the Green Algeria Alliance lost seats in legislative election of 2012.
Shia Islamist Al Wefaq, Salafi Islamist Al Asalah and Sunni Islamist Al-Menbar Islamic Society are dominant democratic forces in Bahrain.
During the Bangladesh Liberation War, the Jamaat-e-Islami of Pakistan opposed the independence of Bangladesh, but established itself there as an independent political party, the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami after 1975. The Bangladesh Nationalist Party is the second largest party in the Parliament of Bangladesh and the main opposition party. The BNP promotes a center-right policy combining elements of conservatism, Islamism, nationalism and anti-communism. The party believes that Islam is an integral part of the socio-cultural life of Bangladesh, and favors Islamic principles and cultural views. Since 2000, it has been allied with the Islamic parties Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh and Islami Oikya Jote.
The Party of Democratic Action is the largest political party in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Party of Democratic Action was founded in May 1990 by reformist Islamist Alija Izetbegović, representing the conservative Bosniaks and other Slavic Muslim population in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the former Yugoslavia.
In the Egyptian parliamentary election, 2011–2012, the political parties identified as “Islamist” and “democratic” (the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party, Salafist Al-Nour Party and liberal Islamist Al-Wasat Party) won 75% of the total seats. Mohamed Morsi, an Islamist democrat of the Muslim Brotherhood was the first democratically elected president of Egypt.
Nahdlatul Ulama and Muhammadiyah are two very influential Islamist social movement in Indonesia. National Awakening Party, United Development Party and Prosperous Justice Party are major Indonesian Islamist parties, active in country’s democratic process.
The Islamic Action Front is Jordan’s Islamist political party and largest democratic political force in country. The IAF’s survival in Jordan is primarily due to its flexibility and less radical approach to politics.
The Islamic Group is a Sunni Islamist and Hezbollah is a Shia Islamist political party in Lebanon.
The Justice and Construction Party is the Muslim Brotherhood’s political arm in Libya and the second largest political force in the country. National Forces Alliance, largest political group in country, doesn’t believe the country should be run entirely by Sharia law or secular law, but does hold that Sharia should be “the main inspiration for legislation.” Party leader Jibril has said the NFA is a moderate Islamic movement that recognises the importance of Islam in political life and favours Sharia as the basis of the law.
The United Malays National Organisation is the dominant party of Malaysia since that county’s independence in 1957. UMNO sees and defines itself as a moderate Islamist, Islamic democratic and social conservative party of Muslim Malays. The Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party is a major opposition party and is relatively more conservative and traditionalist than the UMNO.
The Moroccan Justice and Development Party has been the ruling party in Morocco since November 29, 2011. The Justice and Development Party advocates Islamism and Islamic democracy.
The Muslim Brotherhood of Syria is a Sunni Islamist force in Syria and very loosely affiliated to the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood. It has also been called the “dominant group” or “dominant force” in the Arab Spring uprising in Syria. The group’s stated political positions are moderate and in its most recent April 2012 manifesto it “pledges to respect individual rights”, to promote pluralism and democracy.
The Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan is Tajikistan’s Islamist party and main opposition and democratic force in that country.
The Ennahda Movement, also known as Renaissance Party or simply Ennahda, is a moderate Islamist political party in Tunisia. On March 1, 2011, after the government of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali collapsed in the wake of the 2011 Tunisian revolution, Tunisia’s interim government granted the group permission to form a political party. Since then it has become the biggest and most well-organized party in Tunisia, so far outdistancing its more secular competitors. In the Tunisian Constituent Assembly election, 2011, the first honest election in the country’s history with a turn out of 51.1% of all eligible voters, the party won 37.04% of the popular vote and 89 (41%) of the 217 assembly seats, far more than any other party.

Pakistan

Early in the history of the state of Pakistan (March 12, 1949), a parliamentary resolution (the Objectives Resolution) was adopted stating the objectives on which the future constitution of the country was to be based. It contained the basic principles of both Islam and Western Democracy, in accordance with the vision of the founders of the Pakistan Movement (Muhammad Iqbal, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Liaquat Ali Khan). It proclaimed:

Sovereignty belongs to Allah alone but He has delegated it to the State of Pakistan through its people for being exercised within the limits prescribed by Him as a sacred trust.

The State shall exercise its powers and authority through the elected representatives of the people.

The principles of democracy, freedom, equality, tolerance and social justice, as enunciated by Islam, shall be fully observed.

Muslims shall be enabled to order their lives in the individual and collective spheres in accordance with the teachings of Islam as set out in the Quran and Sunnah.

Provision shall be made for the religious minorities to freely profess and practice their religions and develop their cultures.

This resolution was included in the 1956 constitution as preamble and in 1985 it was inserted in the constitution itself as Article 2 and Schedule item 53 (but with the word “freely” in Provision shall be made for the religious minorities to freely profess and practice their religions and develop their cultures, removed.). The resolution was inserted again in the constitution in 2010, with the word “freely” reinstated.

However, Islamisation has proceeded slowly in Pakistan, and Islamists and Islamic parties and activists have expressed frustration that sharia law has not yet been fully implemented.

Iran

Theory

Since the revolution in Iran, the largest Shia country, Twelver Shia political thought has been dominated by that of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder and leader of the revolution. Khomeini argued that in the absence of the Hidden Imam and other divinely-appointed figures (in whom ultimate political authority rests), Muslims have not only the right, but also the obligation to establish an “Islamic state”. To that end they must turn to scholars of Islamic law (fiqh) who are qualified to interpret the Quran and the writings of the imams.

Once in power and recognizing the need for more flexibility, Khomeini modified some earlier positions, insisted the ruling jurist need not be one of the most learned, that Sharia rule was subordinate to interests of Islam (Maslaha—”expedient interests” or “public welfare”), and the “divine government” as interpreted by the ruling jurists, who could overrule Sharia if necessary to serve those interests. The Islamic “government, which is a branch of the absolute governance of the Prophet of God, is among the primary ordinances of Islam, and has precedence over all ‘secondary’ ordinances.”

The last point was made in December 1987, when Khomieni issued a fatwa in support of the Islamic government’s attempt to pass a labor protection bill not in accordance with sharia. He ruled that in the Islamic state, governmental ordinances were primary ordinances, and that the Islamic state has absolute right (Persian: ولايت مطلقه‎) to enact state commandments, taking precedence over “all secondary ordinances such as prayer, fasting, and pilgrimage”.

Were the powers of government to lie only within the framework of secondary divine decrees, the designation of the divine government and absolute deputed guardianship (wilayat-i mutlaqa-yi mufawwada) to the Prophet of Islam (peace be upon him and his progeny) would have been in practice entirely without meaning and content. … I must point out, the government which is a branch of the absolute governance of the Prophet of God is among the primary ordinances of Islam, and has precedence over all secondary ordinances such as prayer (salat), fasting (sawm), and pilgrimage (hajj).

The idea and concept of Islamic democracy has been accepted by many Iranian clerics, scholars and intellectuals. The most notable of those who have accepted the theory of Islamic democracy is probably Iran’s Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who mentions Islamic democracy as “Mardomsalarie Dini” in his speeches.

There are also other Iranian scholars who oppose or at least criticise the concept of Islamic democracy. Among the most popular of them are Ayatollah Naser Makarem Shirazi who have written: “If not referring to the people votes would result in accusations of tyranny then it is allowed to accept people vote as a secondary commandment.” Also Mohammad-Taqi Mesbah-Yazdi has more or less the same viewpoint.

Practice

Some Iranians, including Mohammad Khatami, categorize the Islamic republic of Iran as a kind of religious democracy. They maintain that Ayatollah Khomeini held the same view as well and that’s why he strongly chose “Jomhoorie Eslami” (Islamic Republic) over “Hokoomate Eslami” (Islamic State).

Others maintain that not only is the Islamic Republic of Iran undemocratic (see Politics of Iran) but that Khomeini himself opposed the principle of democracy in his book Hokumat-e Islami: Wilayat al-Faqih, where he denied the need for any legislative body saying, “no one has the right to legislate … except … the Divine Legislator”, and during the Islamic Revolution, when he told Iranians, “Do not use this term, ‘democratic.’ That is the Western style.” Although it is in contrast with his commandment to Mehdi Bazargan. It is a subject of lively debate among pro-Islamic Iranian intelligentsia. Also they maintain that Iran’s sharia courts, the Islamic Revolutionary Court, blasphemy laws of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and the Mutaween (religious police) violate the principles of democratic governance. However, it should be understood that when a democracy is accepted to be Islamic by people, the law of Islam becomes the democratically ratified law of that country. Iranians have ratified the constitution in which the principle rules are explicitly mentioned as the rules of Islam to which other rules should conform.Ayatollah khomeini fervently believed that principles of democracy can’t provide the targeted justice of Islam in the Sharia and Islamic thoughts.(Mohaghegh.Behnam 2014) This contrast of view between the two Iranian head leaders of this Islamic country, as above mentioned about Khatami’s and Khomeini’s views have provisionally been being a case of disaffiliation of nearly half a country in most probable political coincidence, so the people cognizant of this heterogeneous political belief shall not be affiliated by newly formed views of democratic principles.(Mohaghegh, Behnam 2014)

A number of deviations from traditional sharia regulations have been noted in Iran

… the financial system has barely been Islamized; Christians, for example, are not subject to a poll tax and pay according to the common scheme. Insurance is maintained (even though chance, the very basis for insurance should theoretically be excluded from all contracts). The contracts signed with foreigners all accept the matter of interest.

Indices of democracy in Muslim countries

There are several non-governmental organizations that publish and maintain indices of freedom in the world, according to their own various definitions of the term, and rank countries as being free, partly free, or unfree using various measures of freedom, including political rights, economic rights, freedom of the press and civil liberties.

The following lists Muslim-majority countries and shows the scores given by two frequently used indices: Freedom in the World (2018) by the US-based Freedom House and the 2019 Democracy Index by the Economist Intelligence Unit. These indices are frequently used in Western media, but have attracted some criticism and may not reflect recent changes.

Key: * – Electoral democracies ‡ – Disputed territory (according to Freedom House)

Location	Democracy Index Score	Democracy Index Rank	Democracy Index Category	Freedom in the World Status	Type of government	Religion and State
Afghanistan	2.85	141	Authoritarian regime	Not free	Unitary presidential Islamic republic	State religion
Albania	5.89	79	Hybrid regime	Partly free	Parliamentary system	Secular state
Algeria	4.01	113	Hybrid regime	Not free	Unitary parliamentary	State religion
Azerbaijan	2.75	146	Authoritarian regime	Not free	Presidential system	Secular state
Bahrain	2.55	149	Authoritarian regime	Not free	Constitutional monarchy	State religion
*Bangladesh	5.88	80	Hybrid regime	Partly free	Parliamentary republic	Secular state
*Bosnia and Herzegovina	4.86	102	Hybrid regime	Partly free	Parliamentary republic	Secular state
Brunei	–	–	Authoritarian regime	Not free	Absolute monarchy	State religion
Burkina Faso	4.04	112	Hybrid regime	Partly free	Semi-presidential system	Secular state
Chad	1.61	163	Authoritarian regime	Not free	Presidential system	Secular state
Comoros	3.15	131	Authoritarian regime	Partly free	Presidential system, Federal republic	State religion
Djibouti	2.77	144	Authoritarian regime	Not free	Semi-presidential system	Secular state
Egypt	3.06	137	Authoritarian regime	Not free	Unitary semi-presidential constitutional republic	State religion
Gambia	4.33	107	Hybrid regime	Partly free	Presidential system	Secular state
Guinea	3.14	132	Authoritarian regime	Partly free	Presidential system	Secular state
Guinea-Bissau	2.63	148	Authoritarian regime	Partly free	semi-presidential	Secular state
*Indonesia	6.48	64	Flawed democracy	Partly free	Presidential system	Secular state
Iran	2.38	151	Authoritarian regime	Not free	Unitary presidential constitutional republic subject to a Supreme Leader	State religion
Iraq	3.74	118	Authoritarian regime	Not free	Parliamentary republic	State religion
Ivory Coast	4.05	111	Hybrid regime	Partly free	Presidential system	Secular state
Jordan	3.93	114	Authoritarian regime	Partly free	Constitutional monarchy	State religion
Kazakhstan	2.94	139	Authoritarian regime	Not free	Presidential system	Secular state
Kosovo	–	–	–	Partly free		Secular state
Kuwait	3.93	114	Authoritarian regime	Partly free	Constitutional monarchy	State religion
Kyrgyzstan	4.89	101	Hybrid regime	Partly free	Parliamentary republic	Secular state
Lebanon	4.36	106	Hybrid regime	Partly free	Confessionalist Parliamentary republic	Secular state
Libya	2.02	156	Authoritarian regime	Not free	Provisional government	State religion
Malaysia	7.16	43	Flawed democracy	Partly free	Constitutional monarchy, parliamentary democracy	State religion
Maldives	–	–	–	Partly free		State religion
Mali	4.92	100	Hybrid regime	Partly free	Semi-presidential system	Secular state
Mauritania	3.92	116	Authoritarian regime	Not free	Islamic republic, Semi-presidential system	Islamic state
Morocco	5.10	96	Hybrid regime	Partly free	Constitutional monarchy	State religion
Niger	3.29	127	Authoritarian regime	Partly free	Semi-presidential system	Secular state
Nigeria	4.12	109	Hybrid regime	Partly free	Federalism, presidential system	Secular state, Islamic state (only in the northern Nigerian states)
Oman	3.06	137	Authoritarian regime	Not free	Absolute monarchy	State religion
Pakistan	4.25	108	Hybrid regime	Partly free	Federalism, parliamentary republic	Islamic state
‡Palestine (occupied by Israel)	3.89	117	Authoritarian regime	Not free	Semi-presidential system	Secular state (in West Bank), de facto Islamic state (in Gaza Strip)
Qatar	3.19	128	Authoritarian regime	Not free	Absolute monarchy	State religion
Saudi Arabia	1.93	159	Authoritarian regime	Not free	Islamic absolute monarchy	Islamic state
*Senegal	5.81	82	Hybrid regime	Free	Semi-presidential system	Secular state
*Sierra Leone	4.86	102	Hybrid regime	Partly free	Presidential system	Secular state
Somalia				Not free	Federalism, Semi-presidential system	State religion
‡Somaliland (Somalia)				Partly free
Sudan	2.70	147	Authoritarian regime	Not free	Federalism, presidential system	Secular state (de jure), Islamic state (de facto)
Syria	1.43	164	Authoritarian regime	Not free	Semi-presidential system	Secular state
Tajikistan	1.93	159	Authoritarian regime	Not free	Presidential system	Secular state
*Tunisia	6.72	53	Flawed democracy	Free	Semi-presidential system	State religion
Turkey	4.09	110	Hybrid regime	Free	Presidential system	Secular state
Turkmenistan	1.72	162	Authoritarian regime	Not free	Presidential system, one-party state	Secular state
United Arab Emirates	2.76	145	Authoritarian regime	Not free	Federalism, Constitutional monarchy	State religion
Uzbekistan	2.01	157	Authoritarian regime	Not free	Presidential system	Secular state
‡Western Sahara	–	–	–	Not free		–
Yemen	1.95	158	Authoritarian regime	Not free	Provisional government	Islamic state

Islamic democratic parties and organizations

This is a list of parties and organizations which aim for the implementation of Sharia or an Islamic State, or subscribe to Muslim identity politics, or in some other way fulfil the definitions of political Islam, activist Islam, or Islamism laid out in this article; or have been widely described as such by others.

Country or scope	Movement/s
International	Hizb ut-Tahrir Muslim Brotherhood
Bahrain	Al Wefaq (Shia) Al Menbar (Sunni)
Bangladesh	Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami
Egypt	Freedom and Justice Party Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt Al-Nour Party Al-Wasat Party
Finland	Finnish Islamic Party
India	Jamaat-e-Islami Hind Indian Union Muslim League Indian National League Hurriyat Conference AIUDF AIMIM
Indonesia	Nahdlatul Ulama Muhammadiyah United Development Party Prosperous Justice Party National Awakening Party Islamic Defenders Front
Iran	Alliance of Builders of Islamic Iran Islamic Iran Participation Front
Iraq	State of Law Coalition (Shia) National Iraqi Alliance (Shia)
Israel	Ra’am
Jordan	Islamic Action Front
Kuwait	Hadas
Lebanon	Hezbollah (Shia) Islamic Group (Sunni)
Libya	Justice and Construction Party Homeland Party National Forces Alliance
Malaysia	Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party United Malays National Organisation Malaysian United Indigenous Party
Maldives	Islamic Democratic Party Adhaalath Party
Morocco	Justice and Development Party
Pakistan	Jamaat-e-Islami Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf
Palestine	Hamas Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine
Philippines	Lakas-CMD Moro Islamic Liberation Front United Bangsamoro Justice Party
Rwanda	Islamic Democratic Party
Sudan	National Umma Party Sudan
Somalia	Peace and Development Party
Syria	Muslim Brotherhood of Syria
Tajikistan	Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan
Turkey	Felicity Party Free Cause Party Justice and Development Party (AKP)
Yemen	Al-Islah (Sunni) Houthis (Shia)

Bibliography

Mahmoud Sadri and Ahmad Sadri (eds.) 2002 Reason, Freedom, and Democracy in Islam: Essential Writings of Abdolkarim Soroush, Oxford University Press
Omid Safi (ed.) 2003 Progressive Muslims: On Justice, Gender and Pluralism, Oneworld
Azzam S. Tamimi 2001 Rachid Ghannouchi: A Democrat within Islamism, Oxford University Press
Khan L. Ali 2003 A Theory of Universal Democracy, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers
Khatab, Sayed & G.Bouma, Democracy in Islam, Routledge 2007

Adapted from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia