Introduction to Chapter 4

From this point on the author directly tackles the arguments presented in the Boston Review series, titled "Islam and the Challenge of Democracy." The author discusses the limits of human nature, democracy and Islam. The chapter puts light on the evolution of democracy. The confusion deepens only because the public is presented with isolated facts and disjointed information. The system that are presented as the most suitable for human governance are totally devoid of the aspects that could effective deal with human nature.

Community only exists if it serves the invisible needs of its constituent parts — the citizens. Devoid of all spiritual aspects of life, democracy is opposite to fixed ideals as it allows for variances. It allows one man to control another, in matters that are none of his business. Democracy now happens to empower demagogues to rule, allow the powerful to take away the rights of the people — the weak majority — reduce human beings to competitive plunder on a grand scale — to be slaves to the system and compelled to serve their baser instincts at the cost of subservience to others. Unfortunately, under the influence of materialism and secularism democracy is evolving into the power to destroy everything good and virtuous.

It seems as if the champions of democracy have followed Karl Marx’s ideology to the letter. ...

As a result what we are presented with as a democracy has, in fact, turned into a bureaucracy for regulating most of society. It moves onto become socialism or even closer towards the extremes of communism. There is not much difference left between protectionist and authoritarian regimes and the established democracies, except that the former do not change presidents every five years.

The author then moves on to discuss the core misconceptions surrounding the issue of democracy and Islam and discusses as to what could be the best possible solution to the problems faced by the world today and what is the real challenge to the existing inequalities and discrimination at all levels,

After an elaborate discussion the author concludes along with setting the foundation for the forthcoming chapter in the following words:

.......In the coming chapters, we may see how these thoughts can be refined with the exposure of such analysts to the reality of Islam notwithstanding the present practice of majority of Muslims, or the gap between the ideal and reality in the Muslim world. It is only a matter of time — of when not if — for democracy to succumb under the weight of excessive exploitation of its principles due to some inherent flaws in its philosophy. It will be the time, when all experiments, all ideologies and all thesis will accept........