Islam, democracy and civil society

• Main Author: KUKATHAS, Chandran
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2003
• Subjects: International Relations; Religion
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/2931; https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/soss_research/article/4188/viewcontent/islam_democracy_and_civil_society_ChandranKukathas__1_.pdf
• Institution: Singapore Management University

What is the relationship between Islam, democracy, and civil society? This is thequestion which supplies the topic of this essay, Its purpose, more particularly, is to explore theplace of Islam in the modern world-a world which contemporary writers increasingly try tounderstand by invoking the notions of democracy and civil society. But the occasion for thisexploitation has a more precise origin still. The issue of the place of Islam in the modernworld is raised, more often than not, by writers and commentators for whom Islam is, aboveall, a danger, in geo-political terms, it is a danger to the West; in world-historical terms, it is adanger to modernity; and in philosophical terms it is a danger to democracy. For many, then,Islam stands in a relationship of tension with-if not complete antagonism to-democracy andmodernity. It is a religion, and a philosophy, which is a throwback to the middle ages, and anobstacle to human progress.(1) It is, in the end, incompatible with any kind of liberal politicalorder.