Iraq Press Roundup

In its editorial Thursday, the independent Shabab al-Iraq newspaper said without secularism, democracy would be incomplete and threatened.

The editorial with the title "Is it possible to build democracy without secularism?" said there is no real democracy unless it is secular and that it is essential to consider whether religion endangers democracy.

Religious figures and Islamists believe democracy is a concept that threatens religion and its believers, the editorial said.

"Although there are several kinds of Islam, it is possible to formulate an Islam that suits the concept of democracy," the editorial announced.

The editorial also claimed it is even possible to formulate Islamic principles that would embrace secularism and establish it as a philosophy considering Islam, in its deep political foundations, relies on secular ideals.

It considers problematic the fact that no more than 10 percent of the Muslim population in Iraq realize Islam contains secular elements and more than 75 percent do not equate Islam at all with democratic principles, though it is something the people call for.

The newspaper says roughly 20 percent of Islamists, those who consider Islam as part of the political system, will accept a democracy conditioned by either the religious or secular ideals of Islam, which is a point mentioned in the 2005 Iraqi Constitution.

The editorial says even though Islamists use the word "democracy" in public, they have little faith in the system.

"Forced democracy pushes Islamists to violate its rules when chances permit," it said.

"Violation of democratic rules in Islam is forbidden because it is a social violation that reflects forbiddance and a harm to Islamic concepts," it added.

The editorial highlighted the risk of linking politics to religion in democracy. It says the religious-minded political elites claim the government derives its authority from religion and therefore the government is sacred.

It noted the Islamists are trying to force what they hold sacred on the rest of society based on these ideals.

The editorial said those who are calling for secularism as a democratic principle in reality are trying to radicalize the idea of secularism because they see it as contrary to religious doctrine.

Being concerned, then, with the Islamic principles of secularism, those who embrace the idea are calling for a "civil" state instead of a "secular" one.

The editorial said there is a need to educate the people on the idea that secularism does not violate religious principles but is a condition of democracy that complements religion as a way to settle disputes in society.

It noted the Islamists are afraid democracy will negatively impact their doctrines, and that is why they call for a democracy conditioned by Islamic principles.

The first principle Islamists believe is a democracy conditioned by Islam is a system that poses the least threat to religion, and that is the form they favor, the newspaper said.

They believe a second form, unconditioned democracy, contradicts Islamist principles entirely. But a secularly conditioned democracy, the third form, is a principle the Islamists see as the greatest threat to their religion.

The newspaper concludes that religious figures in Iraq who feel their religion could be threatened, whether by a democracy conditioned by secularism or one conditioned by Islam, must realize that neither the secular form nor anything else could ever affect the will of God.