Islam and Democratization in Asia By Shiping Hua

The Quran also recognizes the authority of those who have been chosen as leaders and in a sense deputizes these consensual rulers.

Many of those who claim that Islam contains democratic principles have singled out the principle of shura to illustrate their point. ¹⁴ Shura is basically a decision-making process—consultative decision making— that is considered either obligatory or desirable by Islamic scholars. Those scholars who choose to emphasize the Quranic verse: “…and consult with them on the matter” (3:159), consider shura as obligatory, but those scholars who emphasize the verse wherein “those who conduct their affairs by counsel” (43:38) are praised, consider shura as desirable. ¹⁵ Remember the first verse directly addressed a particular decision of the Prophet and spoke to him directly, but the second verse is more in the form of a general principle. Perhaps this is the reason why traditional Islamic scholars have never considered consultation as a necessary and legitimizing element of decision making.

Thus we remain in limbo. There is no doubt that shura is the Islamic way of making decisions. But is it necessary and obligatory? Will an organization or a government that does not implement a consultative process become illegitimate? We do not have a decisive answer to that issue. One thing is clear, though—more and more Muslim intellectuals are agreeing that consultative and consensual governance is the best way to govern. Jurists, however, remain either conservative or ambivalent on the topic. Many of them depend on non-consultative bodies for their livelihood and even their religious prestige and they are in no hurry to deprive themselves of the privileges that non-consultative governments extend to them. Thus, in a way they are implicated in the delay in public