Christopher Jahn wrote: >And it came to pass that Bamm Gabriana wrote: > >>>Name *one* democratic islamic country. >>> >> >>How about Indonesia - the largest Muslim country and the >>world's newest democracy? >> >> > >Is it actually an "Islamic Democracy", or is it a democracy with >a large Islamic population? > >To qualify as an "Islamic Democracy", Islam must be a pre- >requisite of participating in the government; excluding part of >the population negates the democratic process. > >Having read the nebulous artifact they call their constitution, >I don't think this government will be an improvement over the >last 50 years. > >BTW, their Constitution declares that theirs is a nation that >"believes in the One, True Almighty God". > >It does not, however, say anything about the Prophet. >
Perhaps you confuse the words "Islamic" with "Islamist", two words which are quickly entering the vocabulary of readers of CNN and other news agencies. Islamic means pertaining to the Muslim religion, or led by the principles guiding them. Islamist refers to a political ideology that believes that a state should be ruled by Shariah law. Under this system Islam is definitely a prerequisite to participating in government. Indonesia is an islamic country because, aside from being predominantly muslim, the leaders are guided by their personal belief in Islam. Afghanistan is an islamist society because they believe that there is no distinction between islamic (adjective) law and the laws of the state. In the Philippines, the MILF is islamic, the Abu Sayyaf is islamist. The MNLF simply wants moro independence without regard to religion. The three groups are very different from one another.
