Editor’s note: In a video that appeared around election time in Egypt, Salafi leader Sheikh Abdel Moneim al-Shahat explained how true democracy is in fact a sin according to Islam, because it gives the people the ultimate authority, not Allah (the standard accusation against democracy by Islamists of all stripes). In other words, Shahat openly expressed how, at least for Salafis, democracy is a means to an end, that end being the established of Allah’s sharia, the draconian principles of which go directly against democracy.
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In reality, we cannot discuss certain terms as a whole. For instance, Democracy: we do not merely say it is “forbidden,” but rather that it is kufr [worst category in Islam, equal to apostasy]. However, you cannot use this as a headline for a newspaper interview. You have to listen to the whole argument. Democracy is not equal to shura [a Muslim council]; democracy means “the rule of the people”. Its theoretical principles say that whatever the “people” choose should be endorsed, so that if the “people” choose homosexuality, it should be ratified — and this is applied elsewhere. And if they tell you Muslim people would not opt for this…well, you are talking about an absolute notion, it’s either you accept it or you reject it… does it conform to Islam or does it not. This absolute notion completely contradicts Islam.