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Democracy and ethical values from Islamic perspective

‘Minimal democracy’ is the problematic of the residents of authoritarian countries, including most of Muslim majority countries. The record of Western liberal democracy for the ‘rest’ in both periods –colonialism and postcolonialism – is not defendable, neither in support of democracy and human rights abroad nor in support of peace, morality and ethics in the globe. According to ethical-based Shari’a, democracy is the best available means for serving the moral purposes of Islam. Democracy offers the greatest potential for promoting justice, protecting human dignity, human freedom and emancipation.

Islam and Democracy: Perspectives from Reformist and Traditional Islam

After explaining the identifying characteristics of traditional interpretations and reformist readings of Islam, this chapter highlights three underlying themes that are essential to the relationship between Islam and democracy: (a) popular sovereignty and oversight; (b) political equality; and (c) public decision-making. The chapter explicates how traditionalist and reformist readings of Islamic teachings have resulted in sharply diverging articulations of these themes. The two assumptions that underpin this chapter are as follows: Traditional and historical interpretations of Islam are incompatible with democracy. Reformist interpretations of Islam are compatible with democracy.

Human Action Within Divine Creation, A Muslim Perspective

My goal is to demonstrate how Muslims in twelve schools of thought, especially at the present time, understand human action within divine creation. In mainstream Islamic thought, the lesson of the Qurʾān is that human action is attributed to God and to the human agent simultaneously. The human agent has free choice in his acts. Human free choice and power are based on God’s power, providence, will and permission. In their existence and in all aspects and affairs of their lives, including their acts, human beings are not independent of God.

Reforming Islamic Thought through Structural Ijtihad

Iran Nameh: A Persian-English Quarterly of Iranian Studies, Vol. 30, No. 3, Nov. 2015, XX-XXVII Reforming Islamic Thought through Structural Ijtihad 1 Ijtihad, or

Routinizing the Iranian Revolution

“Routinizing the Iranian Revolution” in Islam in the Modern World, edited by Jeffery T. Kenney and Ebrahim Moosa, Routledge, New York, 2014, pp. 351-368 Routinizing

REVISITING WOMEN’S RIGHTS IN ISLAM: ‘Egalitarian Justice’ in Lieu of ‘Deserts-based Justice’

In traditional Islamic thought women’s rights have been defined on the basis of a ‘deserts-based’ notion of justice (al-ʿadāla al-istiḥqāqiyya), by which individuals are entitled to justice according to their status, abilities and potential. This notion of justice leads to proportional equality, which recognises rights for individuals in proportion to their ‘deserts’. In modern times this notion of justice has encountered enormous problems. Can we reread the Qurʾan and the Traditions in the light of an egalitarian notion of justice that is premised on fundamental equality between men and women?