MPACUK - MPACUK & HT Discuss Indonesia Caliphate Conference
This is a Google Video of a recent discussion on BBC News 24 between Zulfi Bukhari of MPACUK and Nazreen Nawaz of Hizb-ut-Tahreer, regarding the recent HT-organised conference in Indonesia. The discussion is about whether Islam is or isn't compatible with democracy; Dr Nawaz responds by raising the issue of whether democracy is really the only way of attaining accountable governance. Zulfi Bukhari says that HT have always been anti-western and anti-democratic, and favour a caliph elected for life.
(I should add that bringing democracy to the Muslim world faces a significant problem that nobody seems to address, preferring to accuse anyone who doesn't support doing so at gunpoint of thinking Arabs, or other Muslims, are undeserving or incapable of democracy, and are thus racist. Western democracy routinely empowers minorities, meaning political minorities - either by transforming the largest minority of votes - and sometimes not even that - into a majority of seats in the legislature, or by empowering minor parties to form coalitions with major ones in order to dominate the legislature. We have learned to live with this in the West; it can't be assumed that other peoples, Muslim or otherwise, would want to.)
Democracy is only one aspect of an open society; equally important is toleration of other peoples' opinions and behaviour as long as it does not harm others. A muslim state- one which was constitutionally based on the quran and surah as distinct from a state inhabited by muslims- would not do that. You need only look at HuT's draft constitution for a caliphate for an example. It's likely that a muslim democracy would perfectly democratically decide that they were going to be ruled by the law of god, as expressed in the quran, and that the opinions of anyone who didn't want that were so obviously wrong that they could be disregarded.
Doesn't the Caliphate system concentrate too much power in one man (which would make him a bullet magnet)?
After all, the Rashidun (elected) Caliphate collapsed because three out of four Caliphs were assassinated? (Even though presumably assassination was more difficult in the 7th century as guns hadn't been invented yet.)
George Carty,
Well not exactly three out of four but two out of four. Umar ibn Al Khattab was killed by a disgruntled employee.
This is a very interesting discussion. I am glad BBC hosted it.
May Allah guide and unite the Muslim Ummah on the truth!