kingship, despotism and theocracy.* It is a bold advance on the
earlier forms. By asserting equality of all men, by requiring the state
to advance the interests of the people and by enlarging the area of
individual freedom, it has rendered remarkable service to humanity.
The criticism levelled against it really applies not to democracy in
general, but to its typical form developed in the West.
This form of democracy is based on secularism and, therefore,
suffers from a fatal weakness. It is built on the shifting sands of
changing human interests and beliefs. Because it is not grounded in
permanent values, it is at the mercy of every gust of wind. Secular
democracy is in fact a reaction to theocracy which, directly or
indirectly, had disturbed the very basis of peace and freedom in
Europe. Theological disputes continually threatened internal peace.
Secularism tried to solve the problem by excluding morality and
religion from the purview of government and making them matters
of private concern of the individual. The unfortunate result was
that man in his political life was left with no stable frame of
reference and no objective standard to guide him. Political decisions
could be made not on the basis of any established principle, but
under the influence of passing national mood. "To err is human"
was proved to be too true. Men often judged wrongly and acted
wrongly, both collectively and as individuals. The supposition that
people as a whole can never go wrong received little support in
actual practice. Collective wisdom has been as imperfect and fallible
as individual wisdom. The governments that evolved reflected the
individual failings. According to Lord Snell:
Governments are always composed of men who share the general
imperfections of mankind, with the result that they can never be more
noble or more enlightened than are the human beings who administer
their laws and shape their policy.(5)
Aldous Huxley makes the same point in his book, Science, Liberty and
Peace when he says:
There has never been a time when too much power did not corrupt its
possessors, and there is absolutely no reason to suppose that in this
respect, the future behaviour of human beings will be in any way
different from their behaviour in the past and at the present time (p. 41 ).
*Theocracy is the worst form of despotism. Under this system, people
are exploited in the name of God. There is no place for priests in Deen.
Islam: A Challenge to Religion 217