The present troubles in the Middle East and North Africa should make us very thankful for our system of democracy.
John Benton
Since the turn of the year, the ‘Arab Spring’ has brought demonstrations in many Muslim countries as people seek freedom. Whereas governments have been toppled in Tunisia and Egypt, popular protests elsewhere are being brutally suppressed. It is arguable that such uprisings indicate deep weaknesses in Islam. Theodore Dalrymple* has highlighted two. The first is political. Within Islam ‘the legitimacy of temporal power could always be challenged by those who, citing Muhammad’s spiritual role, claimed greater religious purity, or authority... With power constantly liable to challenge from the pious, or the allegedly pious, tyranny becomes the only guarantor of stability’. It is such oppression which has triggered the demonstrations. The second problem for Islam is intellectual. ‘In the West, the Renaissance, the Reformation, and the Enlightenment, acting upon the space that had always existed, at least potentially, in Christianity between Church and State, liberated individual men to think for themselves... Islam with no separate secular sphere where enquiry could flourish free from the claims of religion, if only for technical purposes, was hopelessly left behind.’ We wish the Arab Spring well. However, there is a danger. History teaches us that those who start revolutions are not always the ones who come to power.
subscribe now
Join today to gain access to the rest of this article and many others.
The Editorial
Delight in democracy
The present troubles in the Middle East and North Africa should make us very thankful for our system of democracy.
Since the turn of the year, the ‘Arab Spring’ has brought demonstrations in many Muslim countries as people seek freedom. Whereas governments have been toppled in Tunisia and Egypt, popular protests elsewhere are being brutally suppressed. It is arguable that such uprisings indicate deep weaknesses in Islam. Theodore Dalrymple* has highlighted two. The first is political. Within Islam ‘the legitimacy of temporal power could always be challenged by those who, citing Muhammad’s spiritual role, claimed greater religious purity, or authority... With power constantly liable to challenge from the pious, or the allegedly pious, tyranny becomes the only guarantor of stability’. It is such oppression which has triggered the demonstrations. The second problem for Islam is intellectual. ‘In the West, the Renaissance, the Reformation, and the Enlightenment, acting upon the space that had always existed, at least potentially, in Christianity between Church and State, liberated individual men to think for themselves... Islam with no separate secular sphere where enquiry could flourish free from the claims of religion, if only for technical purposes, was hopelessly left behind.’ We wish the Arab Spring well. However, there is a danger. History teaches us that those who start revolutions are not always the ones who come to power.
subscribe now
Join today to gain access to the rest of this article and many others.
more infologin
If you are already a subscriber, log in to continue.
log inaccess code
If you have an access code, enter it here:
free trial
Get free access for 14 days:
Click here to find out how we take care of your personal data.