Islam and Democratization in Asia By Shiping Hua

in Southeast Asia. ⁶ Some deal with the same issue with a focus in the future. ⁷ However, a book that focuses on the relationship between Islam, Muslims, and democratization within the context of Asian cultures from the perspectives of theory and empirical country studies in South, Southeast, and Central Asia does not exist. The current book fills the vacuum.

The Center for Asian Democracy at the University of Louisville hosted the “Islam and Democracy in Asia” workshop in Louisville, Kentucky, the United States, on March 13–14, 2008. The workshop was designed to explore the relationship between Islam and democratization within the context of Asian cultures and institutions. The ten essays included in this volume were selected from over 120 received from scholars all over the world. Presenters at the conference included not only scholars, but also practitioners such as diplomats. Although most presenters were from scholarly institutions in North America and Europe, over half of them have their ethnic origins in Asia. This diverse group of essays also represents a variety of viewpoints: some believe that Islam is compatible with democracy; others have doubts about it. Topics of the papers presented vary. Some are about theories that explore the relationship between Islam and democracy. Others are empirical studies that deal with the subject matter from the regional perspectives of South Asia, Southeast Asia, and Central Asia.

In chapter 1, “Islamic Governance and the Democratic Process,” Muqtedar Khan articulates, from an Islamist perspective, what constitutes the modern notion of Islamic governance. He examined Islamic sources for ethical governance guidelines and the notion of an Islamic constitution. He developed a model of Islamic governance and then argued that neither of these can be achieved without a systematic democratization of society and the application of democratic processes in the system of governance. He thus argues that Islam and democracy are not just compatible, but that democracy is an essential and necessary ingredient of Islamic governance.

Khan points out that Islamists have resisted and even rejected this line of argument on the grounds that it privileges modernity and democracy a priori and then evaluates Islam using modernity as a standard. However,