The Quranic Teachings

 jkrai Thanks for your nice comments. I agree that the core teachings of all the religions in their pristine purity are same. However, the pristine and pure teachings of almost all of the religions have been adulterated either in letter or in spirit. The ultimate purpose of the belief in one and only Creator and the Sustainer of the Universe is the unity of the whole mankind. Let us join hands to reconcile the differences among the people of different religions and even if we disagree on some points, let us keep respecting each other as our fellow human beings.

My latest conversation: The Quran, Secularism and the Religious Freedom

 quranicteachings  jkraiI have read your latest conversation on The Quran, Secularism and the Religious Freedom, yesterday itself.

But wrote the mail on reading this article, because here I saw longing for polity based on a particular religion.  Which connotes a notion of one religion being superior to other. If we look at most of the religions, we find that the core teachings for all the human till the time they are alive on earth are same.

I have comments on your this point:

"Then why this cattle-like ignorant MAJORITY of the people should be allowed to impose their chosen individuals on all the people, to rule or to legislate or to ordain what is lawful and what is not lawful for all? How can opinion or choice of a philosopher or scholar or a wise man be equal to that of a layman or ignorant? When every important job in the world has some eligibility qualification, why not the legislators should have any eligibility criteria? When every important job in the world is through selection according to some criteria, why the most important job-holders should be elected by unqualified MAJORITY rather than being selected by a wise minority?"

We can not differentiate people on basis of their belief system, as cattle-class.

The pain, sadness, troubles and tribulations for the humankind does not change, whether the rulers are following Islam or any other religions. Can the human race have absolute happiness, if the republic become Islamic only? Are people really completely and absolutely happy in Islamic group of nations. Or there really differences in the plight of the people even in other nations.

Forget about the man made calamities; Do people not suffer with diseases, old age, and lastly the death, and the sorrows brought by these, despite of their belief system?

How and who on earth would judge the correctness of the people, who become the rulers if we loose the democracy. Every system including democracy has pitfalls, yet the democracy makes an effort to give right to people, if they are really well educated. But your this article does not show light, and hence I again request you to think about it.

jkraiquranicteachings

Before any discussion on the Islamic Republic, a clear distinction needs to be recognized between the two major forms of government, i.e. a ‘Democracy’ and a ‘Republic’.

According to Hamilton,  “in any Democracy--either a Direct or a Representative type--as a form of government, there can be no legal system which protects The Individual or The Minority (any or all minorities) against unlimited tyranny by The Majority..... Such a form of government is characterized by The Majority Omnipotent and Unlimited. This is true, for example, of the Representative Democracy of Great Britain; because unlimited government power is possessed by the House of Lords, under an Act of Parliament of 1949--indeed, it has power to abolish anything and everything governmental in Great Britain. Under this form of government, neither the courts not any other part of the government can effectively challenge, much less block, any action by The Majority in the legislative body, no matter how arbitrary, tyrannous, or totalitarian they might become in practice. The parliamentary system of Great Britain is a perfect example of Representative Democracy” [Hamilton, 1976].

In contrast to ‘Democracy’, “a Republic is: a constitutionally limited government of the representative type, created by a written Constitution--adopted by the people and changeable (from its original meaning) by them only by its amendment--with its powers divided between three separate Branches: Executive, Legislative and Judicial. Here the term "the people" means, of course, the electorate. The people form their governments and grant to them only "just powers," limited powers, in order primarily to secure (to make and keep secure) their God-given, unalienable rights. The American philosophy and system of government thus bar equally the "snob-rule" of a governing Elite and the "mob-rule" of an Omnipotent Majority. This is designed, above all else, to preclude the existence in America of any governmental power capable of being misused so as to violate The Individual’s rights--to endanger the people’s liberties” [Hamilton, 1976].

Put in simple words, in a Democracy the Majority can make or abolish any law whatsoever without any restrictions. The legislative power of the Majority is not limited by any constitution. The parliamentary system of Great Britain is a perfect example of this form of government. On the other hand in a Republic, the legislative power of the Majority is limited by a constitution. The Majority cannot make any law against the basic principles enshrined in the constitution. This is the form of government that was envisaged by the American forefathers and the United States of America was meant to be a Republic rather than a Democracy.

Now the question remains that what is the basic difference between an ordinary Republic and an Islamic Republic? A short answer to this question is that in any Republic, the Majority cannot do any legislation against a constitution that is framed by their founding fathers based on the collective human wisdom. In an Islamic Republic, the Majority cannot do any legislation against the Quran revealed by the Almighty God or against a constitution derived from the Quran. In a Democracy, the Majority can do any legislation whatsoever without any restrictions.

In other words, in a Republic the power of the Majority is limited be a man-made constitution derived from the collective human wisdom; in an Islamic Republic the power of the Majority is limited by the Word of God (the Quran), or limited by a constitution derived from the Quran (the Divine Book); and in a Democracy the power of the Majority is not limited by anything.

[1] Hamilton A. L., (1976), “The American Ideal of 1776 - The Twelve Basic American Principles”

My latest conversation: The Quran, Secularism and the Religious Freedom

 quranicteachings  jkrai Thanks. But I have further query. The sacred books of other religions whatever revealed are considered divine, so how will you resolve the situation, because others also may put a similar claim to derive the constitution from their divine books.

 jkrai In a country where the followers of a particular religion are in majority, they can derive their constitution from their divine book if they like.

Suppose in Pakistan, where Muslims are in majority, if there is pure democracy (unbound by any written constitution), the majority may pass a bill banning all other religions. Democratically speaking, they have all the right to do so. But if they have a republican form of government and the Quran is the basis of their constitution, the majority cannot pass any bill banning other religions because the Quran guarantees complete freedom to all other religions.

My purpose in these posts and the articles is not to prove any particular system good or bad but just to share my understanding on what is the difference between pure democracy, a secular republican system and an Islamic republican system, in addition to raising some questions for a thoughtful mind. I have deep respect for the followers of all religions and believe in religious freedom as according to the Quran , there is no compulsion whatsoever, in the matter of religion. You may like to know the quranic teachings on liberty, freedom and equality. Pls. visit following links:

http://quranicteachings.org/the-quran-on-liberty/

http://quranicteachings.org/the-quran-on-freedom/

http://quranicteachings.org/the-quran-on-equality/

My latest conversation: The Quran, Secularism and the Religious Freedom