rnment on the basis of modern reasoning and on the basis of rules of government that have been tested in other nations (Oxford Encyclopedia of the Islamic World, 2003).
Three concepts are fundamental to this particular view. Abdulaziz Sachedina (1988, 2001) asserts that these principles are shura, or consultation, al-maslahah, or public interest, and 'adl or justice. Sachedina (2001) further states that implicit within Islam is the obligation of leaders (including the Prophet Muhammad) to consult with advisers in making decisions impacting upon the people. This consultation is readily apparent throughout many Arab countries throughout the Middle East in which consultation between a leader or official and subordinates serves as a means of obtaining the advice necessary for just government.
Murata and Chittick (1994) note that Islam and the Shariah are concerned with differentiating right activity from wrong activity and explaining how things must be done correctly. One of the central pillars of Islam is the obligation of charity and of justice to all. Certainly, ideals of justice and charity or good works are equally subsumed within democracy and the democratic tradition.
Islamic law, the Shariah, establishes the commands and prohibitions of Islam and is used in many Muslim countries as the basis of the teachings by the Ulama. As Muraa and Chittick (1994) have commented, this law, though religious in its origins, has been applied in secular settings throughout the Muslim vorld to provide the moral and ethical basis on which society is to be governed.
Similarly, Sachedina (1988) notes that for many years, Islamic scholars in general and Shi'ite scholars in particular rejected the concept of legislation and felt strongly that Islam and Islamic states did not require the presence of any institutions of democracy in order to fulfill God's law. All that was needed to ensure freedom, dignity, and respect for o...