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From lizards to spiders

 

By Sher Khan    

Democracy has no place in Islam. I had to invent new terminology to describe the democratic features of this religion. The term, “Islamic Democracy” is about as contradictory as "vegetarian wolf." When democracy visits Islamic countries it warps into “Devilocracy”, derived from the root word “Devil”.  

Democracy is not just about elections and voting, its about the people’s right to set the course of their country's prosperity. It's about human rights and peaceful cohabitation with people of different faiths and opinions. It's about separating state from religion, protecting civil liberties and even gladly accepting the presence of legitimate opposition parties. It's about personal, political and economic freedom. As we all know, Islam strictly prohibits all of the above.  

Islam is insensitive to human rights. It barely considers people of other faiths and opinions as human. When Mullahs call them apes and pigs, one does not see raised hackles, but nodding heads. Muslim countries have hotly protested several articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), especially articles 16 and 18 that spell out the equality of marriage rights and the freedom to change one’s religion.  

What happens when the people of a state are unaware of their destiny? Imagine a ship full of pirates with only one good person aboard. Imagine the good person wanting to rise to the position of leader. What does he do? He asks everyone to give up piracy and live decently, whereas his opponent promises great fortunes through robbery. Undoubtedly, the good guy will be outvoted, in fact, chances are that he will receive only one preference: from himself.  

Now, don’t misunderstand me. I am not calling all Muslims pirates, even though the prophet of Islam was the ultimate pro in that field. Many good people born to Muslim families have no choice but support Islam. They believe in democracy but are unaware of ‘Devilocracy’.        

According to the POLITY Project of the University of Maryland , no Muslim country ranks, or has ever ranked, within the first fifty democratic countries of the world. Even Turkey , once secular, now a peculiar, 'comme ci, comme ça' (So-So) country, scores 2.5 out of 7 in civil and political liberties, taking 89th place in this category.  

Some Islamic countries pretend to practice democracy but with risible results. Though they nominally conduct elections, the overall systems painfully lack most of the virtues of a real democracy. Some experts cite Turkey , Indonesia , Bangladesh , Mali , and Senegal as democracies but all of them suffer from the Islamic malaise. Islam suffocates the constitution and political agendas of all these countries. Corruption is rampant and building a solid economic infrastructure is about as difficult - and probable - as turning a gorilla into a chess master.  

Other countries such as Malaysia , Nigeria , and Iran , are superficially democratic but God’s rule invariably takes precedence over the people’s interest. (God in this case, not being anything holy in the great heavens, but usually in the guise of fatcats in chauffeured Mercedes).  

Recently, Iran played a game of ‘Devilocracy’. Bearded Mullahs participated in a so-called election devoid of any democracy. Garlic is an interesting spice; it is formed of many layers, but all the layers meet in one place. Mullahs are like garlic, they act differently but all of their roots converge to that same identical place called Islam. When Mullahs arrange elections and preach God’s rule, they simply make a mockery of democracy. It's like rapists presiding over therapy sessions, like terrorists teaching civics!

Some scholars argue, Islam should be reinterpreted first and then democracy will prevail. Others think that once democracy is implemented, Islam will reform. But it’s not a ‘chicken and egg’ conundrum and there’s no element, not by any stretch of the imagination that could come first because the two are utterly incompatible. There can be no viable democracy as long as Islam is factored into the equation.  It's like requiring heart surgeons to wear boxing gloves while performing transplants. It's like dusting furniture in a sandstorm. It's self-defeating, it's impossible and it's daft.

In Malaysia , UMNO (United Malays National Organization) is working like a UFO (Unidentified Flying Object). Ever since Malaysia gained independence from Britain in 1957, UMNO has dominated the country. That's almost half a century. Are we to praise Malaysia 's stubborn consistency or would it be more honest to doubt her democracy? Through the years, the ruling party has used many different kinds of ammunition to subdue its opponents: the Internal Security Act, the Sedition Act, the Official Secrets Act, the Printing and Publications Act, the Police Act, the Universities and Colleges Act. With so many amazing Acts, it sounds more like a three ring circus than a democracy!

Although Malaysia practices a form of religious tolerance, it is only out of self-interest. Luckily for them, the Kafirs of Malaysia generate lots of revenue for the economy. Hence, their necks have been spared from slitting. But Dr. Mahatir, the UMNO bigshot, proclaimed Malaysia an Islamic state, and in the meantime, the PAS, a genuine, from-bad-to-worse, heavy metal throat-slicing Islamic party is gaining momentum via a grass-roots campaign.

In Indonesia , a political party with an Islamic agenda gained seats in the 2004 National Parliamentary election. Although its influence remains marginal, they are slowly nudging towards their goal of full Islamization. The Prosperity and Justice Party, similar to the PAS of Malaysia racked up 25 percent of the seats compared to their previous 16 percent figure.

 

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