The Failure of Democracy in the Arab World
By: Mohamed Rafik
Tags: Western Values, Democracy, Philosophy, Arabs, Muslims

Democracy is a word derived from the Greek word “demokratia”, a word composed of “demos” which means “people” and “kratos” which means “the rule”. So the term is literally, rule by the people.

How the concept came to light? Well, the story goes, Lycurgues, who was the lawgiver of Sparta, visited the temple of Apollo at Delphi to consult the Gods concerning his system. The Gods told him that he is beloved by the Gods, and he is free to establish any system he wants.

the phrase “rule by the people”, might give the connotation of a form of government that is governed by the people themselves. But history proves that a government of that kind has never existed. It may also give the connotation of a form of government where the people chose the government and authorities they prefer. But history proves that people have accepted tyrants even if they despised them. So what does “rule by the people” mean? It means a rule that is shared by all the strata of society. A rule which is not a rule of autocracy, theocracy, aristocracy or a rule of oligarchy.

If the fact that democracy gives the chance to all the strata of people to lead is what makes it favourable, it’s giving the chance to everyone to vote is what makes it disagreeable among many, including philosophers such as Socrates. For Socrates, the question was why would we let anyone decide the destiny of a country? Why would we let anyone vote? For him, voting is a skill that needs to be taught and learned, and not everyone is fitting for the voting process. In a conversation with his associate, Adeimantus, Socrates tried to get him exposed to this issue by comparing the society to a ship.

Socrates: Adeimantus, if you are heading out on a journey by sea, who would you ideally want deciding the captain in charge of the vessel? Would you let any ordinary man? Or would you let an educated individual in the rules of seafaring?

Adeimantus: I would choose the latter of course.

Socrates: Why then, do we keep thinking that any person is fit to judge who should be a ruler of a country?

The issue which Socrates’ was shedding the light on is what led the Arab world to the level it is in now. the rulers of many countries in the Arab world are almost always the worst to be fit as leaders. With a huge percentage of uneducated individuals, the people seem to only chose the wrong choice.

In the Sharia, there is a council known as Ahl-e-Hal Wa Aqd (Council for solving problems and the making of agreements). It is a council that gathers the leaders of society, such as the people of knowledge, politicians and scholars…etc. They must be knowledgeable about social justice and its conditions and they must have the knowledge and the wisdom which allows them to know who is more befitting for leadership and chose it.

Plato looked at the people in any given nation as minors who must be nurtured by adults. keeping the idea of Plato in mind while enforcing it with the fact that a population of a certain country or a society can be ignorant or heedless, will make it impossible to ignore The Islamic solution to this issue.