Following the recent events in the Middle East and North Africa countries, once again from Some analysts affiliated with the Labor system L democracy A deviant topic under nocompatibility Islam with Democracy has been raised. And because of the experience for us Iranians The past three decades of our history has changed The follow-up of this issue is of particular importance. Therefore, we hope that we can With this design Let’s discuss some of the common points of view. As an introduction to this review With a summary of the points of view of Professor Bernard Lewis in It has been published in the Wall Street Journal. Let’s start. This interview was conducted at Princeton University. In this interview, he revealed the plan of the system Dominion in dealing with developments in the Middle East takes
work from where Was destroyed? This title The controversial book of the famous ninety-five-year-old historian, Bernard Lewis) is about the decline of the Islamic world. This book at the time of the attacks September 11, two thousand It was in print. Bernard Lewis says: I think that autocracies are doomed sooner or later. The main question is what will replace them. We have a much better chance of establishing what I use the word democracy with hesitation, which is to build a society that is open and tolerant. so that it is consistent with the existing institutions in the traditions of that society. Why should we expect them to implement the western system? And why should we think that such a system will be applicable.
Mr. Lewis, It refers to Germany in 1918. After World War I, the victorious Allies tried to impose a parliamentary system on Germany, which had a different political tradition, and as a result, Hitler came to power. Hitler came to power with free and fair elections. These statements were made by Mr. Lewis, who himself fought with Nazi Germany as a soldier in the British Army. The result of free elections can be non-democratic governments ! be To cite a contemporary example of such a phenomenon, we can refer to the 2006 elections and the victory of Hamas in the Palestinian Authority in Gaza.
He compares the young men of Hamas and its leaders with Hitler and his regime, and is trying to pretend that if we allow free elections to be held based on the existing democratic system, it will create the danger of a new dictatorship.
In order to avoid being accused of opposing Islamization, he continues as follows:
Insisting on parliamentary elections is a dangerous illusion and it does not mean that DNA) Muslim culture is inconsistent and contrary to democratic practices. On the contrary, Islamic culture and civilization is clearly against autocracy and irresponsible government. The western election method is not perfect. Even in the West, democracy’s success has been accompanied by weaknesses. France, where democracy is claimed to have been invented, is experiencing a fifth republic and God knows how many more will come and go.
Mr. Lewis laughs and says, “In my opinion, we should not think that the Anglo-American system of democracy is a version that can be efficient all over the world and is the ideal global system.” Instead, Muslims should not only have the opportunity to find their own way and walk on it, but they should also be encouraged and helped in this matter.
Mr. Lewis refers to a letter written by the French ambassador in Istanbul, just before the French Revolution. The French government showed impatience that the ambassador had spent a lot of time on some negotiations, so the ambassador in a letter to his superiors in France wrote: “Here it is not like France where the king is the sole decision-maker and does as he wants, here the sultan must consult with others.” In the history of the Middle East, consultation is the key word and it has been repeated many times in classical texts and relying on it goes back to the time of the Prophet.
In practice, political leaders should work with unions and different strata of society Like merchants, craftsmen, secretaries, owners, they did transactions and exchanges. Each of these classesThey chose their own leaders. Community leaders, and even Ottoman sultans, were obliged to deal with these groups and consult different strata in decision-making.
In the meantime, he also speaks a fair word and says:
Americans usually explain and define freedom as limited government. for the wordFreedomThere is no equivalent of authority in Arabic. Freedom means the negation of being a slave. Freedom was a legal and social word and not a political one. It was not used as a word to indicate political rank and base. The word that has the closest relationshipWith the concept of freedom in its western meaning, the word ‘adl’ meansJustice” Is. Justice in the Islamic culture It is the degree of goodness and goodness of the government.
Yes, he said it right because according to the slogans of the people in the week the past in the square The mosques and streets of Yemen, Bahrain, Egypt, and Libya that cried out for freedom, this word, although not in its exact meaning, has found its way to the minds of the people of this land.
Mr. Lewis says that the mistake of modernity was that it increased the power of the government and somehow reduced or eliminated the forces that were between the government and the people and limited the ruling power. Such a phenomenon Congratulations and lions In the Middle East, it gave them the ability to consolidate their power by using modern communication tools, weapons and information. Such autocrats have a power far beyond the power of sultans achieved
This statement is true and our difference with Westerners is that why don’t you allow the Middle East to choose its own government system based on its accepted culture that combines freedom with justice? Wasn’t the long experience of imposing autocratic governments in the past enough? Is the demonstration of democracy in mercenary governments in the region in the past, which has led the Middle East to these incidents, not enough?
If there are mistakes in the administration of countries like Syria, isn’t it better to use reasonable people’s methods instead of spending millions of dollars of Saudi oil money to bring down this government? Did the presence of the people in the Pearl Square put pressure on the Westerners, which was Are Saudi tanks and Jordanian soldiers shot like this by order of Westerners? Was the presence of the Yemeni people not enough for the supporters of Ali Abollah Saleh to put pressure on him to hand over power?
Today, this plan is not based on the tolerance of the West, which determines the task, but it is these Takbeer-speaking nations that determine the future path.
