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Tunusian thinker and politician, Rachid al-Ghannouchi,
is a thinker who has contributed to the idea of contemporary Islamic thought by
rethinking and interpreting the relationship between democracy and Islam,
redefining the language of civil society and his thoughts that the concepts of
civil society and secularism are incompatible. His basic idea is the defense of
democracy and pluralism against post-colonial dictatorship in Tunusia. With the
meaning that he assigned to the concept of “Shura”, he claims that democracy
actually exists in the very esence of Islam. But He claims that Islam is compatible
with democracy, but underlines the fact that modern liberal democracy types do
not fit into the Muslim world due to the secularism. In this article,
Ghannouchi’s understanding of democracy and secularism which can be considered
as a richness presented to the political concept of today, will be discussed.

        Summary

Rachid al-Ghannouchi, a Tunisian
thinker and leader of the Islamic movement, has been a leading figure in
contemporary Islamic thought  in recent
years and is well respected by global circles. In addition to being a thinker,
he is also directly involved in politics. His most important characteristic is
that he defens democracy against tyranny and puts his views into practice in
his politcal life. Because he gained appreciation of many segments with his
conciliatory attitude in his country during the Arap Spring and after.

Rachid al-Ghannouchi considers
democracy as the common legacy of all civilizations. Islamic heritage was also
used in the formation of this heritage. Therefore, to benefit from democracy is
to benefit from our own civilization.

According to Ghannouchi who does not
consider democracy as merely administrative tool in the form of “public
administration for public”,democracy is a mode of behavior and cultural stage.
This form of behavior develops both as a feeling for oneself and for others.
Democracy used in administration is only one side of general democracy. From
this poit of view, if democracy is not provided at the point of culture and
behavior, democracy will be reduced to form and will lose its functionality.

Ghannouchi who considers democracy
as a form and content regime, states that formally democracy has principles
such as election, separation of powers, pluralism. On the other hand It is the
expression of the value given to man in terms of the content regime. In this
respect, the best regimes are those that confess and assure the value given to
human beings. And by this way, he places the understanding of protecting human
into essence of democracy.

The most important values that
democracy offers to people are the sovereignty of the people, elections,
separation of powers and public freedoms. The extent to which government is
democratic is directly proportional to the degree of public participation in
public affairs. The more this participation is in the administration, the more
democracy is increased.

According to Ghannouchi, what is
essential in ideal democracy is not the concentration of authority in a center
but its distribution. This requires that the decision be made jointly, not
individually. The Qur’an also aimed at the breadth of participation such as
democracy, at the point of decision-making by emphasizing the concept of shura.

Ghannouchi also expressed the
shortcomings of democracy in the West. According to him, these deficiencies are;
the fact that  the votes of voters who
appear to be equal does not have the same effect. Another deficiency of Western
democracy is that it cannot cross national borders. The political philosophy of
the West, which is based on materialism and nationalism, is effective in
experiencing these deficiencies.

Ghannouchi emphasized much more the
separation of powers and the multi-party principles among the principles of
democracy.  According to him, what is
important in the principle of separation of powers is not how many forces are
divided and to whom the task is assingned. What is important is that there is
mutual aid between state forces rather than conflict and intervention.

On the other hand, he criticizes
Islamists who do not accept the multi-party system which is another important
principle of democracy. Ghannouchi considers pluralism as the basic elements of
the rule of law and states that this system acts as an insurance for  the prevention of
tyranny.

Ghannouchi; in explaining the
relationship between Islam and democracy, is on the side of those who claim
that Islam and democracy are compatible. From the concept of shura, he states
that there is democracy at the core of Islam. Although he argues that Islam is
compatible with democracy, he also underlines that modern liberal democracy
does not fit into the Muslim world because of its secular foundations.
According to Ghannouchi, these deficiencies in Western democracy are not an
obstacle for its use. Because democracy is a machanism that can be adopted to
our culture by removing these deficiencies.  

While Ghannouchi takes the concept
of secularism, he goes to its emergence period. He indicates that the Muslim
world does not need secularism by comparing the conditions of emergence in the
West and its presence in the Muslim world. Because, when are looked at the
reasons for the emergence of secularism in the West, it is seen that there is a
struggle against a religion that prevents progress. However, there is no need
to include secularism in the Islamic world, since Islam is not a religion that
hinders science, freedom and progress. He also argues that secularism in the
West and secularism in Muslim countries are not the same. Secularism in the
West, while separating religion from the state, exhibits a situtaion that does
not interfere with each other; secularism in the Muslim world turned into a
means of oppression against religion by the state. While secularism in the
West  brought religious freedom, it
became a factor that put pressure on religious by the state in the Muslim
world.

Ghannouchi who criticizes the way
secularism is practiced, thinks that Islamic movement has no problem with
secularism which is applied in the form of neutrality of the state against
beliefs and the rescue of the public sphere from the authority of the clergy.
Ghannouchi’s this thought seems to be effective in his current politics.

According to Ghannouchi, who also
puts the meaning he attaches to secularism to modernity, these concepts are
applied in Muslim countries as controlling people and oppressing religion. But
true modernity should ensure human freedom and establish a democratic system.

Ghannouchi contributed to
contemporary Islamic thought with his definition of civil society and his
comments on the relationship between civil society and secularism. He thinks
that civil society and modern society are equivalent and that civil society is
based on voluntarism. On the other hand, Muslim society is a society without
coercion when viewed from the point of faith. Therefore the Muslim community
shows the characteristic of civilization. Civil society also requires the
morality: “The things you wish for yourself, wish them for others, either.”
However secularism, as seen in Western society, has had consequences such as
selfishness and individuality. In such a case, while secularism harms civil
society, a secular society will lose its civilian character.