Abstract
The ultimate question in any political system is that concerning the issue of who should govern? And how? The purpose of this article is threefold:
(1) to discuss the principles of majority rule and minority rights in an Islamic state and to argue that they are fundamental principles of governing in any political Islamic system;
(2) to identify the basic rights that are guaranteed to non-Muslims in an Islamic state; and,
(3) to show how non-Muslims were treated, in the past, when Muslims were in power. I will illustrate these points by quoting non-Muslim scholars and experts who cannot be accused of bias or prejudice. I will conclude by arguing that concerning the principles of majority rule and minority rights an Islamic model is ideal for governing multi-religious, multi-cultural, and multi-ideological societies.
Additional information
Notes
1. Giovanni Sartori, The Theory of Democracy Revisited (Chatham, NJ: Chatham House 1987).
2. Stephen Wayne, G. Calvin Mackenzie, David O'Brien and Richard Cole, The Politics of American Government, 3rd ed. (New York: St. Martin/Worth 1999).
3. Sartori (note 1) p.133.
4. John Stuart Mill, On Liberty, edited by Alburey Castell (New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts 1947), pp.111–112.
5. Sartori (note 1) p.134.
6. Austin Ranney, The Governing of Men: An Introduction to Political Science (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston 1958), p.181.
7. The Holy Qur'an, Text, Translation, and Commentary, by Abdullah Yusuf Ali (Brentwood, MD: Amana Corporation 1989), (49: 13).
8. Ibid. (5: 9).
9. Abu Daud and Baihaqi, see: A. Rahman Doi, Non-Muslims under Shari'ah (Brentwood, MD: International Graphics 1979), p.27.
10. Al-Tibrani, see: Doi (note 9) p.27.
11. Doi (note 9) p.27.
12. Muhammad Qutb, Islam the Misunderstood Religion, 5th ed. (translated by Rome: Islamic European Cultural Centre 1984), p.166.
13. The Holy Qur'an (note 7) (60: 8–9).
14. Ibid. (16: 125).
15. Ibid. (29: 46).
16. Doi (note 9) p.96.
17. The Holy Qur'an (note 7) (2: 256).
18. Ibid. (109: 1–6).
19. Doi (note 9) p.87.
20. Ibid., p.87.
21. Ibid., p.78.
22. Ibid., p.97.
23. Bernard Lewis (ed.), Islam: From the Prophet Muhammad to the Capture of Constantinople, Vol. II: Religion and Society (New York: Harper & Row 1974), p.216.
24. The Fires of Smithfield took place in the sixteenth century, in England. Christian ‘Puritans’ could not bring themselves to submit to the Act of Uniformity. Their only offence was that they differed from the Pope's religious opinions, and King Henry VIII burned them to death in order to show what a good Christian he was.
25. Doi (note 9) p.79.
26. Qutb (note 12) p.168.
27. The Hijrah refers to the Prophet's migration from Mecca to Madinah. This journey took place in the twelfth year of his mission (622 CE). This is the beginning of the Muslim calendar. The word hijrah means to leave a place to seek sanctuary or freedom from persecution or freedom of religion or for any other purpose. Hijrah can also mean to leave a bad way of life for a better or more righteous way.
28. Cited in Qutb (note 12) p.168.
29. Ibid., p.168.
30. Ibid., p.168.
31. Eliyahu Ashtor, The Jews of Moslem Spain, Vol. 3, translated from Hebrew by Aaron Kliem and Jenny Machlowitz Klein (Philadelphia, PA: Jewish Publication Society of America 1984), p.12.
32. Ibid., p.178.
33. Ibid., pp.217–218.
34. Ibid., pp.69–70.
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/...42980600608350
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