DATE=4/28/2000
TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT
TITLE=ISLAM AND DEMOCRACY
NUMBER=5-46225
BYLINE=ED WARNER
DATELINE=WASHINGTON
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Islam is likely to make global gains in the
twenty-first century, according to participants at a
recent Washington conference. But they said much
depends on Muslim nations achieving democracy. V-O-A's
Ed Warner reports on the discussion.
TEXT: Political Islam is a scare word for many
people. It suggests turbaned zealots rioting in the
streets.
But it does not frighten Graham Fuller, a senior
analyst at the research organization, Rand. For him,
political Islam -- politics animated by religious
conviction -- is an encouraging development:
/// FULLER ACT ///
Political Islam is the largest force today for
de facto political reform in the Muslim world.
It is a very exciting phenomenon. It is in its
infancy, basically, because this is the first
time perhaps in the history of the world that
Islam has now the freedom and the electronic and
technical means to pursue a totally open agenda.
/// END ACT ///
While political Islam is very hopeful, said Mr.
Fuller, it has a long way to go to achieve democracy.
There is no democratic model among Muslim nations to
set a standard. Regimes that suppress their
opposition lead to the very violence that alarms the
West and tarnishes Islam.
But the West also has reservations about Islamic
democracy, added Mr. Fuller:
/// FULLER ACT ///
I know that the U-S government faces certain
problems from political Islam. The government is
anxious that democratization can open the door
to popular emotions that have a lot of anger
about what has been going on in the world and in
U-S policies and western policies for some time.
There is anxiety about what that might mean.
/// END ACT ///
Mr. Fuller said the United States should get over its
anxiety and welcome democracy as a force for reform in
Muslim nations. The world's leading democracy, he
said, is hardly in a position to object to democracy
elsewhere.
Islam may flourish in multi-religious, democratic
America, said Murad Hoffman, an Islamic scholar and
former German ambassador to Arab countries:
/// HOFFMAN ACT ///
Very many Muslims have come to this country as
students, have become academically trained
people with social prestige and with money. In
Europe, most Muslims come as illiterate workers.
Most Muslims here are citizens, while most
Muslims immigrating to Europe do not become
citizens by simply immigrating. In America,
nobody has a collective memory of the threat of
Turks, while in Europe Islam is associated with
historical memories of threat.
/// END ACT ///
Islam may thrive in America for another reason, said
Mr. Hoffman. In contrast to Christianity, he believes
it is a religion undiluted by modernity:
/// HOFFMAN ACT ///
The Christian churches are adapting to the
fashions of their times to such an extent that
they are making themselves superfluous, reducing
themselves to social institutions. We have
something essential to contribute to Western
society to save it from self-destruction. Islam
can reestablish the transcendental links without
which no civilization has yet survived.
/// END ACT ///
But like Graham Fuller, Mr. Hoffman says the spread of
Islam also depends on Muslim nations making democratic
progress. (Signed)
NEB/EW/TVM/JP
28-Apr-2000 17:26 PM EDT (28-Apr-2000 2126 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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