By Joo Eun Kim

Assistant News Editor

Ordinary Westerners would not associate democracy and nonviolence to the Islamic states. Yet, according to Dr. Azizza al-Hibri, the speaker for Jellema Lectures 2002, Islam teaches democracy and nonviolence, which Westerners may find it hard to believe. Dr. al-Hibri gave a lecture entitled ``Religion and the State in Islam'' on Thursday, April 4th, which was the sequel to her lecture on ``Gender and the family in the Qu'ran.'' Dr. al-Hibri is a Muslim feminist who has received a worldwide recognition as she advocates for human rights through journals and the Department of State. She is a professor of law at the University of Richmond Law School. Her second lecture consisted defenses of the Islam's core values that have been wrongly stereotyped, especially in midst of terrorism.

Dr. al-Hibri said that the concept of democracy is present in the Qu'ran, the fundamental text for Islamic faith. Islam covers everyday life, including the political structure; thus it is a religion dealing with politics as well. The core value of Islam is justice, ``not punitive justice but restorative justice,'' said al-Hibri. ``Mercy is a major attribute of God in Islam.''

In Islam, democratic values have been present since the past. There are two principles of democracy, and the first one is the concept of Bay'ah, which means ``voting.'' The Qu'ran says that ruler cannot rule without the consent of people. Even the Prophet Mohammad, the founder of Islam, did not rule just because he wanted to rule; he only ruled when the people voted for him to rule. The Prophet had been born and raised in the city of Mecca, but he was persecuted. Thus, he went to Medinah, where a group of Arab women approached him to make him the ruler. 1500 years ago, women were the first to vote for the Prophet to rule, even before men. Dr. al-Hibri said that through the example in the Qu'ran, it can be concluded that Kuwait not giving suffrage to women is not a religious act but a cultural one. Al-Hibri said that so many people do not know the Qu'ran and assume that cultural actions are religious ones--even the Muslims. When Dr. al-Hibri was interviewed by a Muslim TV show, the questioner had not even known that the example of women voting is in the Qu'ran.

Then Dr. al-Hibri went on to defend the seemingly severe laws of Islam. For instance, in Islam, a punishment for theft is cutting off a hand. Although this may sound harsh, the thief has to go to the court first, before the punishment is executed. It also has to be proven that the theft was done out of malice, not hunger. And even then, the theft can be forgiven. Moreover, during a famine the punishment was lifted for the public's interest. All this is to show that Islamic laws are ``merciful.''

The second principle of democracy is Shura, consultation. There are two kinds of consultations in democracy, vertical and horizontal. The vertical consultation happens when the president consults the congress, which is appointed by the public. The horizontal consultation is between the president and his own counselors. In the same way, rulers of Islam must consult. The Prophet had followers who contested the Prophet's decisions when necessary. When the Prophet had revelation, it could not be contested, but when the Prophet gave his opinions, he needed to consult his followers.

Moreover, Islam does not support an authoritarian government. In Islam, there is no church, no clergy, no hierarchy, and no official head of state. ``Each one has a same access to God,'' said al-Hibri. Thus, Islam welcomes different ideas from people and promotes democratic relationship based on humility.

Dr. al-Hibri also gave an in depth discussion of what should be standard in interpreting the Qu'ran. The process of interpreting the Qu'ran is ijtihad, and anyone can take on this task. The Prophet himself had said anyone who attempts to do ijtihad will rewards, even if the interpretation is wrong. Then the question is, is Taliban's ijtihad acceptable? The answer is no, because what they practice goes against the Qu'ran. Al-Hibri said that they can believe whatever they wish, but what they're doing wrong is forcing other non-Taliban Afghanistan women to practice the same belief.

There are four schools of ijtihad in modern Islamic countries: Hanbali, Hanafi, Maliki, and Shafri. All of these ijtihads are valid, and ijtihads must be changed depending on the culture and the time. The key concept of Islam is that no one can impose his or her own ijtihad onto another person. Thus, the head of the state does not impose any belief on the people. There is no established religion in an ideal Islamic state.

Contrary to common stereotype of Islam, Islam speaks against coercion in religions. One governing text in Islam is the Charter of Medinah, drawn up by the Prophet. This charter is an agreement between the Prophet and his tribes. It is similar to the Constitution in that it lays out a federal role over the tribes. This charter specifies that Jewish tribes will live according to their own rules, showing religious freedom. First, this charter says that ``the Muslims and Jews in Medinah are one people.'' No matter how hard to belief it may be, this meant that Muslims were entitled to support and defend Jews, vice versa. Second, the charter says that ``people should be secure in their own homes,'' resembling the Bill of Rights. Third, the charter states that one may not punish someone by guilt association. Finally, the charter forbids giving any advantage to someone influential in executing punishments.

Clearly, the picture of the idea state that Islam promotes does not coincide with the picture of Islamic states today. So what happened? Dr. al-Hibri shared an event from which the corruption of the Islamic states happened. After the death of the Prophet, four Khalifahs, successors of the Prophet, were chosen. The third Khalifah was corrupt, so people wanted him to step down. But there was no precedent for impeachment, so the jurists were figuring out what to do when the rioters could not wait any longer. So the rioters assassinated the third Kalifah, even if he had warned them that the assassination will be a start of a violence that will rule for centuries. His prediction came true, and after his death, there was a demise in democracy.

The corruption went on. The first Kalifah was also corrupt, and he wanted his household to rule continuously. So he forced people to vote for his son to rule next. Then the son of the first Kalifah also took on the corrupted path and massacred the grandson of the Prophet and his followers. Such were the corrupted nature of the heads of state that went against Islamic foundation, the Qu'ran. ``People who were not pious took power from pious and imposed their interpretations,'' said Dr. al-Hibri. The rulers went against the Islamic doctrine that forbids imposing of ideas and forced people into submission. Dr. al-Hibri described it as ``politics trying to suppress religion,'' not religion suppressing the politics.

Another issue that hinders Islamic countries from following democratic principles is the long history of colonialism. Colonial powers chose weak leaders in Islamic countries. Moreover, colonial powers like Britain and France, when they took over Algeria and India, closed Arabic schools so that the Qu'ran could not be taught. Thus, people were denied to engage in ijtihad, which is essential in Islamic faith. Now, Muslims need interpretation of the Qu'ran that fits in the 21st Century, but they do not have it. The history of the authoritarian government makes it harder for Islamic countries to be democratic.

Dr. al-Hibri believes there needs to be a better understanding of the Qu'ran and a study of Arabic language and the Charter of Medinah. She believes in a gradual change so that Islamic countries will return to the basic principles of Islam. ``It will be a while until we get there,'' she said.