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Why do scholars not discuss the system of governance and its contemporary application in Islam, and why do they not renew the jurisprudence of legitimate politics to keep pace with the jurisprudence of reality, and is it possible to reconcile democracy and Islam in a way that allows the people to elect and monitor their leader?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

Accusing scholars of negligence or ignorance in the jurisprudence of Islamic politics (fiqh al-siyasa al-shar'iyya) and the jurisprudence of reality (fiqh al-waqi') is a grave audacity towards them. What is incumbent is to think well of them and respect them. Many works have been written in the modern era clarifying the principles of Islam in political fields, among them: "The State in Islam" by Al-Qaradawi, and "Political Pluralism in the Islamic State" by Salah Al-Sawi. There is a fundamental difference between democracy and Islam; Islam holds that God is the source of legislation, whereas Western democracy holds that the people are the source of legislation.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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