Isalm, the West, and Democracy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Isalm, the West, and Democracy - Essay Example hammed, the Prophet of Islam, started his preachings of true and one God, ALLAH, almost 1400 years ago on a very small scale when he was called upon on the duty to be a Prophet by God. However, the subsequent battles, the increase in the strength of Muslims, the so called followers of Islam being called, provided enough manpower to start a spree of conquests and establish one of the largest empires of the world. However, due to its uniqueness, it failed to find a match with the governance styles prevalent in the world at that time. Based on Khilafa, which is the system of governance where few good and pious men choose the Khalifa or King, does not match in its entirety with the democratic systems of government where collective self governance is done through a popular election. This compatibility of democracy and Islam is one of the most debated topics in academic as well as non-academic circles especially in the aftermath of 9/11 and the subsequent re-defining of world order and the war on terror. The history of Islam suggest that the concept of election was present but to a very limited level. As discussed above that the Kalifa was chosen with the consent of the pious men of the society does indicate a certain level of crude electoral school present in the primitive Islamic society. It must also be noted that the earliest Islamic society was very limited and Medina, where the Islamic empire begun comprised only few thousands inhabitants. Islamic therefore necessarily do not advocate any particular form of governance therefore to argue that democracy and Islam are two incompatible issues is basically a flawed argument. All the earliest evidence of Islamic society and its teachings do not point towards a single system of governance in the country. Caliphate does not mean an Islamic system of governance as it was not the chosen method of governance. The issue of democracy and Islam need to be traced back to its origin. As Feldman has started to trace the

Sun Yat Sen and Democracy in China - Indispensable to each other A Dissertation

Sun Yat Sen and Democracy in China - Indispensable to each other A Critical Analysis - Dissertation Example He focused on modernizing the Chinese economy on the lines of the Western model (focusing on the British model) and sought to achieve his objective with the help of the Western civilization (British civilization). As a result, Chinese historians have been interested in examining the life, philosophy, and work of Sun Yat Sen. From Chinese historical accounts, it is clear that Sun’s contribution in the development of modern Chinese democratic republic is highly significant (Bergerie & Lloyd, 1998, p 1). Sun Yat-Sen’s family was farmers and devoted the early stages of his life (upto 6 years of age) in farming activities like herding cows. After this time, he was a member of the secret societies, such as Furen Literary Society, Revive China Society, and in 1888 he directed his efforts in voicing the grievances of the peasant communities. After 1890, he gradually became a part of the new emerging intelligentsia of the Chinese society. Yat-Sen joined the Revolutionary Allianc e (), a ‘nationalist and republican revolutionary party’ (, , , ) of China and ‘finally became its official leader’. The Revolutionary Alliance under the leadership of Yat-Sen proceeded to plan a way of putting an end to the then Chinese governmental regime (the Qing government). After this revolution in 1905 China’s famous revolution of 1911 occurred. In the aftermath of the revolution, Sun Yat-Sen became the President of the Chinese Republic for a brief period of time, from 1911 to 1912. However, the republican form of governance did not continue for long and rapidly deteriorated into a dictatorship regime. However, Yat-Sen did not lose faith in his primary mission.He believed that he could still chart out a new destiny, in 1915, for his nation with the help of his own endeavors. Yat-Sen, in 1918 set about organizing a military base in Canton, who would rally around him and help him to usurp the national power from the then ruling generals in Pekin g, such as Lu Hao-tung. In 1924, his military party was compelled to form a foreign alliance with Soviet Russia owing to the antagonism of the Western powers. This collaboration happened for acquiring arms and weapons from Soviet Russia and also to declare attacks on Britain. This partnership model (collaboration with Soviet Russia) provided Yat-Sen with the inspiration for the reorganization of the military party, the Guomingdang ( ) and the restatement of his philosophy of the â€Å"Three Principles of the People†. Bergerie suggests Sun based them all on the experiences he had with the alliance partnership with the Soviet Union (Bergerie& Lloyd, 1998, p 3-4). Chinese historians and people remember Dr. Sun Yat-Sen as one of the foremost reformers and revolutionaries in the history of the Chinese civilization. His primary objective in life was to put an end to the corrupt rule of the Qing dynasty and introduce a democratic form of government in China (Hays, 2010, p. 55). Thus , he is considered by Chinese historians to be the Father of the modern 20th century China. His political philosophies, both reforms initiated by Sun refers to these philosophies, have earned the respect of both the Chinese communist thinkers as well as the Nationalist Taiwanese reformers. During this period, in 1990s and 1920s, China was being ruled by the Qing dynasty, which had become steeped in corruption.The Chinese citizens were gradually beginning protest against the rule of the Qing dynasty. Most of the Chinese individuals were seething in anger against the corrupt rule which ignited a rebellious streak in them. They went ahead and formed secret societies which were engaged in planning and plotting against the Qing rulers.