Often, especially since 9/11, folks have said, especially in the US press, that Muslims have never had democracy; heck! they don't even have their own word for it and use "Demokratiya" in Arabic. Now I am not an Arabic scholar or even a speaker of the language. (Though the fact that the last word in Libya's official name isn't that comes to mind: the People's Libyan Arab Gamahiriyya.)
But I do know that the Muslims of South Asia--fully half of the global Ummah, so to speak--have an answer to that question. Read more about, and a translation of a couplet from Allama Dr. Sir Mohammad Iqbal at: http://urdu-ke-naam.blogspot.com/2006/03/whats-muslim-for-democracy.html
Technorati tags applicable to this post: Urdu - India - Pakistan - Democracy - Islam - Democracy in the Muslim World - Islam and Democracy - Islam
1 comment:
What is a computer called in Persian?
What is Yoga called in English?
What is Karma in English?
What is cheese burger in Persian?
What is cool in French?
The word might not exist but the concept/idea/thing exists.
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