View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Brigham Young University Law School BYU Law Review Volume 2006 | Issue 3 Article 5 9-1-2006 Democracy and Islam: An Odyssey in Braving the Twenty-First Century Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.law.byu.edu/lawreview Part of the Comparative and Foreign Law Commons, and the Religion Law Commons Recommended Citation Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani, Democracy and Islam: An Odyssey in Braving the Twenty-First Century, 2006 BYU L. Rev. 727 (2006). Available at: https://digitalcommons.law.byu.edu/lawreview/vol2006/iss3/5 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Brigham Young University Law Review at BYU Law Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in BYU Law Review by an authorized editor of BYU Law Digital Commons. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. JILLANI.FIN 9/12/2006 8:33:27 AM Democracy and Islam: An Odyssey in Braving the Twenty-First Century ∗ Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani I. INTRODUCTION During the last few decades, the Muslim world has witnessed various traumatic events. The Iranian Revolution and the hostage situation, the suicide bombings in Palestine and in Africa, and the tragedy of 9/11 are only a few examples of episodes that led many to regard Islam and democracy as incompatible. It is alleged that Islam is a monolithic faith opposed to pluralism, that it has a poor human rights record, and that Muslims seek “heaven by creating hell on earth.”1 Nevertheless, there is abundant evidence that democracy and the Islamic faith are compatible.