[DeenDude]

Which system do you prefer and why?

what do you define as "sharia", and what do you define as "democracy"?

moreso, which country would you say comes closest to implementing Sharia, per your definition?

And is Islamic Law compatible with the basic ideas of Western government (not talking about their policies now or in the pasdt, just the premise of one-person one-vote, freedom of choice, and so on).

I'd love to hear about this. Also, plz no trolling around here about how Sharia means taliban-like rule. Any "Muslim" idiots here will illicit only a big laugh from me and any other educated forum member here. Islamic law, whatever it is thought to be in particulars, simply cannot be against basic human rights. If it was, it wouldn't be Islamic.

Discuss!

[pure]

I define Sharia as the political way to implement Islamic rulings and tradition, moulding into a government itself.
Democracy on the other hand has no affiliation with religion and emphasizes on freedom of faith, speech and much of the government are controlled by the people.

In Sharia societies, there are limits for what people can do. No one can open a bar, or pronounce that they are no longer Muslim. These limits, however, are intended to enforce morality within a region.

Sharia is not compatible with democracy. Democracy gives people the power to do whatever they want. Too much freedom causes one to pursue immoral actions.

I have to say that no country in this entire planet follows through the Sharia law correctly. Saudi Arabia and Iran are pretty far from what Sharia is.

It's sad how the Middle East is bundled with many Arabic Muslim scholars, yet they can't define what Sharia should be.

[Dubai3000]

I am for a democracy with islamic sharia elements. A total democracy is again to much freedom to do everything which is wrong. And total sharia is no freedom at all states like Talibans, Saudi etc.... The best way is find a middle ground where everyone can be happy.

[wheelworks]

I prefer law rulings derived from Allahs commands over man made law

[WarriorAndWiseman]

Originally Posted by wheelworks

I prefer law rulings derived from Allahs commands over man made law

That's a very vague statement.

Refer to this part of Pure's post.

Originally Posted by pure

I have to say that no country in this entire planet follows through the Sharia law correctly. Saudi Arabia and Iran are pretty far from what Sharia is.

It's sad how the Middle East is bundled with many Arabic Muslim scholars, yet they can't define what Sharia should be.

[Dubai3000]

Originally Posted by wheelworks

I prefer law rulings derived from Allahs commands over man made law

yes but you can't call current sharia governments like Saudi or Taliban derived from Allahs command. I think for a sharia to happen is when majority of the people agree with it and not being forced down your throat

[sixpakistan]

apples or oranges?

shariah is a set of laws. democracy is a system of governance.

a better question might be 'representative democracy or caliphate?'

.. and, can a caliph be elected democratically, etc etc

[sixpakistan]

Originally Posted by Dubai3000

yes but you can't call current sharia governments like Saudi or Taliban derived from Allahs command. I think for a sharia to happen is when majority of the people agree with it and not being forced down your throat

what's your basis for thinking that?

[bihari]

the sharia and democracy go hand and hand....the sharia states that leaders should be elected, which is democracy

[sixpakistan]

Originally Posted by bihari

the sharia and democracy go hand and hand....the sharia states that leaders should be elected, which is democracy

well, not technically, no. not everyone has to participate in the election, and a caliph's successor can also be appointed by the current caliph. the caliph appoints his own governors also.

[YOUSUFofSD]

Sharia Law.

[wheelworks]

Originally Posted by WarriorAndWiseman

That's a very vague statement.

Refer to this part of Pure's post.

The Shari'ah was meant to be vague. It brings out the differences in people. The ones who succeed are the ones who can look past differences and turn them into something good donchaknow

[m_ali_qazi]

Originally Posted by sixpakistan

apples or oranges?

shariah is a set of laws. democracy is a system of governance.

a better question might be 'representative democracy or caliphate?'

.. and, can a caliph be elected democratically, etc etc

let me ask you something

don't fiqhi rulings depend on the cultural and social context of the environment? I mean, we hear things like, "imam fulan changed his fatwas when he moved from egypt to syria or hijaz to basra" etc etc.

well why is it that the ulema still rule in favor of establishing the khilafa when the imperial system does not exist anymore. Modern systems are all about nation states. So why khilafa? the most you can probably have is unions of nation states.

[WarriorAndWiseman]

Originally Posted by wheelworks

The Shari'ah was meant to be vague. It brings out the differences in people. The ones who succeed are the ones who can look past differences and turn them into something good donchaknow

I disagree. If it is open to interpretation by everyone then it will only lead to tussles between self appointed think tanks... wait that's whats happening today.

What your saying is that sharia is a vague set of rules to be played around with. In that case democracy would be a much better option donchaknow.

[wheelworks]

Originally Posted by WarriorAndWiseman

I disagree. If it is open to interpretation by everyone then it will only lead to tussles between self appointed think tanks... wait that's whats happening today.

What your saying is that sharia is a vague set of rules to be played around with. In that case democracy would be a much better option donchaknow.

I wasn't talking about Shari'ah to be interpreted by laymen. Rather it is open to be interpreted by qualified Shuyukh. Each nation is different in it's own unique way so there's a specific interpretation of shari'ah for the unique situations in regard to those respective nations.

The beauty of the Shari'ah is that it's not just a set of rules carved in stone. Each ruling is unique with a common foundation as stated by Allah and his Rasool.

The Shari'ah only works if it is used properly. If it is just spewn about as fodder for those 'self appointed think tanks' then obviously it's basically amounts to a caveman who thinks a book is supposed to be used for fuel to feed a fire (if you get my meaning)