All the Conditions of Democracy Can Only Be Met
All the Conditions of Democracy Can Only Be Met When People Live by Islamic Moral Values
1- SOCIAL JUSTICE: Almighty God commands social justice and sharing
Social justice is one of the basic principles of democracy. People learned social justice from the Prophet Noah (pbuh) and the Prophet Abraham (pbuh). According to religious sources, when the Ark came to dry land after the flood, the Prophet Noah boiled together the small quantities of remaining chickpeas, lentils, raisins, figs, wheat and the like to make a kind of sweet broth. Everyone on the Ark then ate it together. That is social justice, because by this example Prophet Noah teaches everyone equality, solidarity and generosity and the importance of distributing food to all.
As revealed in the Qur'an, in verse 69 of Surah Hud, "Our messengers brought the good news to Abraham. They said, 'Peace!' and he too said, 'Peace!' and brought in a roasted calf without delay" the Prophet Abraham immediately killed a calf when guests arrived and had it prepared for them to eat. Almighty God notes that by offering food to people whom he had never met, the Prophet Abraham was behaving in the best way, and wisely stresses the importance of feeding the poor and of social justice.
2- EQUALITY: Almighty God reveals in the Qur’an that no race is superior to any other
As Almighty God reveals in one verse of the Qur'an, superiority lies in piety alone. In this verse God tells us:
Mankind! We created you from a male and female, and made you into peoples and tribes so that you might come to know each other. The noblest among you in God's Sight is the one with the most piety. God is All-Knowing, All-Aware. (Qur'an, 49:13)
Our Prophet (pbuh) expresses this truth commanded by God as follows in the hadiths:
"You are sons of Adam, and Adam came from dust. Let the people cease to boast about their ancestors." (Sunan Abu Dawud, Book 41, Number 5097)
"These genealogies of yours are not a reason to revile anyone. You are all children of Adam. No one has any superiority over another except in religion and taqwa (faithfulness)." (Ahmad, 158/4)
During his final sermon, the Prophet (pbuh) called on Muslims in these terms:
"There is no superiority for an Arab over a non-Arab and for a non-Arab over an Arab; nor for white over the black nor for the black over the white except in piety. Verily the noblest among you is he who is the most pious." (The Prophet Muhammad's Last Sermon; http://www.stanford.edu/ ~jamila/Sermon.html)
3- JUSTICE: Almighty God commands justice
God issues this commandment to believers in the Qur'an: "...You who believe! Be upholders of justice, bearing witness for God alone, even against yourselves or your parents and relatives. Whether they are rich or poor, God is well able to look after them. Do not follow your own desires and deviate from the truth. If you twist or turn away, God is aware of what you do." (Qur'an, 4:135)
The commands that our Prophet (pbuh) issued among Muslims and his just and affectionate attitude toward people of different religions, languages, races and tribes, as well as the way he treated everyone equally, making no distinction between rich and poor as God revealed in the Qur'an, represents an excellent example of the conception of democracy.
In one verse, God tells our Prophet (pbuh):
They are people who listen to lies and consume ill-gotten gains. If they come to you, you can either judge between them or turn away from them. If you turn away from them, they cannot harm you in any way. But if you do judge, judge between them justly. God loves the just. (Qur'an, 5:42)
Our Prophet (pbuh) adhered to God's commandment, even among difficult people, and never made any concessions on justice. As revealed, he always said, "My Lord has commanded justice..." (Qur'an, 8:29), thus serving as a role model for all times.
Democracy Will Come About When People Are Living by the Moral Values Commanded by God
As we have seen, in the essence of Islam, there is intellectual freedom, freedom of faith and expression. Some people assume that democracy entered the history of humanity with the ancient Greeks. However, it is God Who teaches democracy to people. From the time of the Prophet Adam (pbuh), all prophets have been the genuine representatives of intellectual freedom and respect to views. The essence of all the primary concepts – freedom of justice, not putting any pressure upon anyone, treating everyone as a first class citizens, respecting and trusting people, not judging anyone due to his views- which are associated with democracy are present in the morality of religion. Throughout history, people have learned these concepts from the righteous religions revealed by God and witnessed its most beautiful examples during the times when people lived by the righteous religions.
When we look at the times when people were oppressed due to their opinions and their different ideologies, members of various religions were humiliated, while the arts, science and architecture died out; times when people lost their joy in living and almost turned into robots, or when book burnings, murders, massacres, genocides became widespread, we see the influence of irreligious, atheist ideologies or those who misinterpreted religious morality with a radical mindset by distancing it from its essence.
Once God's righteous religion is lived in the form it is commanded by God, the true justice, democracy, respect and love, that people have been longing for, can be experienced. Very soon, democracy, brotherhood, love, friendship and peace will, by God's leave, dominate the world and people will experience the joy, bliss and abundance of faith as much as they can. As one can clearly see from the signs of the verses, hadiths of our Prophet (pbuh) and words of great Islamic scholars, the time in which we live is the End Times. The difficult and troublesome days of the End Times will, in this century, come to end, and the world will enter a brand new, bright era. Communicating the Oneness and Unity of God in the most beautiful and wise manner, and introducing people to Islam as described in the Qur'an and lived in Age of Felicity lays a very important foundation for the bright days that we will attain in the near future. Our wish is that God will also render this article instrumental in attaining the beauties in question. We sincerely hope that the days when we see "people entering God's religion in droves" come at once. God reveals these glad tidings as follows in the Qur'an:
When God's help and victory have arrived and you have seen people entering God's religion in droves, then glorify your Lord's praise and ask His forgiveness. He is the Ever-Returning. (Qur'an, 110:1-3)
http://www.harunyahya.com/en/Articles/202594/All-the-Conditions-of-Democracy-Can-Only-Be-Met-When-People-Live-by-Islamic-Moral-Values
1- SOCIAL JUSTICE: Almighty God commands social justice and sharing
Social justice is one of the basic principles of democracy. People learned social justice from the Prophet Noah (pbuh) and the Prophet Abraham (pbuh). According to religious sources, when the Ark came to dry land after the flood, the Prophet Noah boiled together the small quantities of remaining chickpeas, lentils, raisins, figs, wheat and the like to make a kind of sweet broth. Everyone on the Ark then ate it together. That is social justice, because by this example Prophet Noah teaches everyone equality, solidarity and generosity and the importance of distributing food to all.
As revealed in the Qur'an, in verse 69 of Surah Hud, "Our messengers brought the good news to Abraham. They said, 'Peace!' and he too said, 'Peace!' and brought in a roasted calf without delay" the Prophet Abraham immediately killed a calf when guests arrived and had it prepared for them to eat. Almighty God notes that by offering food to people whom he had never met, the Prophet Abraham was behaving in the best way, and wisely stresses the importance of feeding the poor and of social justice.
2- EQUALITY: Almighty God reveals in the Qur’an that no race is superior to any other
As Almighty God reveals in one verse of the Qur'an, superiority lies in piety alone. In this verse God tells us:
Mankind! We created you from a male and female, and made you into peoples and tribes so that you might come to know each other. The noblest among you in God's Sight is the one with the most piety. God is All-Knowing, All-Aware. (Qur'an, 49:13)
Our Prophet (pbuh) expresses this truth commanded by God as follows in the hadiths:
"You are sons of Adam, and Adam came from dust. Let the people cease to boast about their ancestors." (Sunan Abu Dawud, Book 41, Number 5097)
"These genealogies of yours are not a reason to revile anyone. You are all children of Adam. No one has any superiority over another except in religion and taqwa (faithfulness)." (Ahmad, 158/4)
During his final sermon, the Prophet (pbuh) called on Muslims in these terms:
"There is no superiority for an Arab over a non-Arab and for a non-Arab over an Arab; nor for white over the black nor for the black over the white except in piety. Verily the noblest among you is he who is the most pious." (The Prophet Muhammad's Last Sermon; http://www.stanford.edu/ ~jamila/Sermon.html)
3- JUSTICE: Almighty God commands justice
God issues this commandment to believers in the Qur'an: "...You who believe! Be upholders of justice, bearing witness for God alone, even against yourselves or your parents and relatives. Whether they are rich or poor, God is well able to look after them. Do not follow your own desires and deviate from the truth. If you twist or turn away, God is aware of what you do." (Qur'an, 4:135)
The commands that our Prophet (pbuh) issued among Muslims and his just and affectionate attitude toward people of different religions, languages, races and tribes, as well as the way he treated everyone equally, making no distinction between rich and poor as God revealed in the Qur'an, represents an excellent example of the conception of democracy.
In one verse, God tells our Prophet (pbuh):
They are people who listen to lies and consume ill-gotten gains. If they come to you, you can either judge between them or turn away from them. If you turn away from them, they cannot harm you in any way. But if you do judge, judge between them justly. God loves the just. (Qur'an, 5:42)
Our Prophet (pbuh) adhered to God's commandment, even among difficult people, and never made any concessions on justice. As revealed, he always said, "My Lord has commanded justice..." (Qur'an, 8:29), thus serving as a role model for all times.
Democracy Will Come About When People Are Living by the Moral Values Commanded by God
As we have seen, in the essence of Islam, there is intellectual freedom, freedom of faith and expression. Some people assume that democracy entered the history of humanity with the ancient Greeks. However, it is God Who teaches democracy to people. From the time of the Prophet Adam (pbuh), all prophets have been the genuine representatives of intellectual freedom and respect to views. The essence of all the primary concepts – freedom of justice, not putting any pressure upon anyone, treating everyone as a first class citizens, respecting and trusting people, not judging anyone due to his views- which are associated with democracy are present in the morality of religion. Throughout history, people have learned these concepts from the righteous religions revealed by God and witnessed its most beautiful examples during the times when people lived by the righteous religions.
When we look at the times when people were oppressed due to their opinions and their different ideologies, members of various religions were humiliated, while the arts, science and architecture died out; times when people lost their joy in living and almost turned into robots, or when book burnings, murders, massacres, genocides became widespread, we see the influence of irreligious, atheist ideologies or those who misinterpreted religious morality with a radical mindset by distancing it from its essence.
Once God's righteous religion is lived in the form it is commanded by God, the true justice, democracy, respect and love, that people have been longing for, can be experienced. Very soon, democracy, brotherhood, love, friendship and peace will, by God's leave, dominate the world and people will experience the joy, bliss and abundance of faith as much as they can. As one can clearly see from the signs of the verses, hadiths of our Prophet (pbuh) and words of great Islamic scholars, the time in which we live is the End Times. The difficult and troublesome days of the End Times will, in this century, come to end, and the world will enter a brand new, bright era. Communicating the Oneness and Unity of God in the most beautiful and wise manner, and introducing people to Islam as described in the Qur'an and lived in Age of Felicity lays a very important foundation for the bright days that we will attain in the near future. Our wish is that God will also render this article instrumental in attaining the beauties in question. We sincerely hope that the days when we see "people entering God's religion in droves" come at once. God reveals these glad tidings as follows in the Qur'an:
When God's help and victory have arrived and you have seen people entering God's religion in droves, then glorify your Lord's praise and ask His forgiveness. He is the Ever-Returning. (Qur'an, 110:1-3)
http://www.harunyahya.com/en/Articles/202594/All-the-Conditions-of-Democracy-Can-Only-Be-Met-When-People-Live-by-Islamic-Moral-Values