Religious Democracy in the Thought of Mohammed Shahrour: A Critical Analysis

The secular-minded modernist movement in the Arab world, which shows little attachment to religious tradition and heritage, adopts a minimalistic approach to religion and religious teachings, aiming to limit the scope of religion and eliminate it from public life. For this reason, it considers the notion of religious democracy meaningless. Mohammed Shahrour and Sadiq Jalal al-Azm are among the representatives of this movement. Shahrour believes that an Islamic government or a “religious state” has no basis in the Qur’an, is not referenced in the Qur’an, and that the criterion for appointing a ruler is public acceptance and endorsement. He asserts, “Whatever the majority of people do not accept is not Islamic.” On this basis, he considers the government based on the concept of Velayat-e Faqih (Guardianship of the Jurist) in Iran to be a form of dictatorship. This article, while explaining his view on religious democracy, seeks to provide a critical analysis of it. It seems that adopting such a stance—which is incompatible with Qur’anic and historical evidence—stems from Shahrour’s unfamiliarity with the idea of Velayat-e Faqih, and also from the improper and even unethical conduct of those claiming to represent the Islamic model of governance throughout Islamic history.