There is not a day when the people of the world do not hear some news about the killing and wounding of people in the Middle East due to war, terrorism, mine explosions, ethnic violence, security crackdowns and the like. Such news are published so frequently in the world media that they have perhaps numbed the sensitivities of the public to the daily "deaths" that take place in the Middle East. How did it happen that Middle Easterners ended up with this fate? Is there a viable prospect for them to free themselves from this situation?
As a Muslim, who has lived in Iran all her life and is somewhat familiar with the conditions of other Muslim nations in the region, I believe that the absence of democracy is the main and primary reason for the pitiful condition of Middle Easterners. Unfortunately, because of certain historic events, most Muslim countries in this region and throughout the world lack true democratic foundations. Because of this, rulers often fail to meet people's basic needs, and a dangerous gap emerges between the rulers and the ruled.
The primary excuse of rulers in the region for the absence of democracy is that democracy is not compatible with local traditions or Islamic principles. Of course, those who subscribe to this view recognize only the official reading of tradition and religion and do not care for alternative readings. Such governments equate any criticism against their performance with criticizing national or Islamic values, and thus identify their critics as traitors or infidels. Some of these governments revert to using phrases such as "Islamic democracy" or "Islamic human rights" to justify their viewpoints, as if common terms with relatively definitive meanings can be changed to mean something else. Democracy is the same in the East and the West, among Muslims and Christians alike. Fortunately, alongside global activists, a new generation of Muslim human rights defenders has emerged which shies away from political lineages. This movement has no name, no leader, no central office or branch: it exists in the heart of every Muslim who does not stand for injustice and oppression, and who is not willing to accept any false claim in the name of religion. Progressive Muslim reformists, whose numbers are increasing in Muslim countries, have challenged dogmatic readings of religion and, using arguments extracted from within religion itself, demonstrate that not everything that a government performs is Islamic, even if it is done in the name of Islam. They want to put an end to the misuse of Islam and prove that Islam and democracy are indeed compatible.
Meanwhile, when talking about democracy, one must not forget that even though democracy is defined as the rule of the majority, the majority that comes to power through elections does not have the right to rule in what ever manner it wishes. The elected majority can operate only within certain bounds as defined by human rights principles and cannot divert from them. For instance, no elected majority can approve imposing unjust policies on half a country's population, meaning it's women, not even in the name of religion. No elected majority can subvert free speech and the rights of minorities.
We await the day when we can have "legitimate" governments in the Middle East; governments that earn their legitimacy not only from the ballot box, but also from their respect for human rights, and their reluctance to violate such rights under the guise of national security or upholding principles of religion.
