He said it. Yet in the West to suggest that democracy and Islam are not fully compatible is to commit the crime of “Islamophobia.” Abd Al-Karim Bakkar must be some kind of Islamophobe.
And of course, no Western analyst believes Abd Al-Karim Bakkar. Why should they, when Noah Feldman and John Esposito know so much more about Islam than he does?
“Syrian Islamic Scholar Abd Al-Karim Bakkar: It Is Not True That Western Societies Have No Values,” from MEMRI, April 15 (thanks to Twostellas):
To view this MEMRI TV clip, visit http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/2071.htm.
“Some Islamic Writers Conveyed the Impression to People... That Western Societies Have No Values or Principles... This Notion Is Incorrect”
Abd Al-Karim Bakkar: “At one point, 40 or 50 years ago, some Islamic writers conveyed the impression to people... I feel we still suffer from this impression to this day, especially in the circles of the Islamic awakening... They conveyed the impression that Western societies have no values or principles, and that if a Westerner says hello to you, it is only because it serves his interests. Otherwise, he wouldn’t say hello to you.
“This notion is incorrect and contradicts reality. People today believe this notion because they confuse politics with everyday life in the West. These are two different things.
“In my view, there is no nation, anywhere in the world, that has no values. Even thieves have values. A thief who breaks into your home to steal your gold does not kill you once he finds the gold, because a thief does not consider murder to be a trivial matter. He feels that by killing, he would be committing a grave crime. Values are to be found everywhere around the world, but obviously, the values of people are not identical.”
[...]
Abd Al-Karim Bakkar: “Democracy runs counter to Islam on several issues.”
Interviewer: “You mean it contradicts Islam on these issues?”
Abd Al-Karim Bakkar: “Yes. But democracy is compatible with Islam on other issues. In democracy, legislation is the prerogative of the people. It is the people who draw up the constitution, and they have the authority to amend it as well. On this issue we differ.
“On the fundamental issues of Islamic society... People do not have the right to legislate a law permitting fornication, for example. This holds true for all nations, I believe. There are established principles... The Americans cannot replace English as their official language, even if they all voted for it, because this is an established principle of the constitution.”
