.....(Hal-ku-dhigyo Dhaxal-gal Noqday) = ..... President, C/raxmaan A. Cali: ''Jamhuuriyadda Somaliland dib ayay ula soo Noqotay Qaran-nimadeedii sidaa awgeed, waa dal xor ah oo gooni u taagan maanta (18/05/1991) laga bilaabo''...>>>>> President, Maxamad I.Cigaal:''Jiritaanka Jamhuuriyadda Somaliland'' Waa mid waafaqsan xeerasha u-degsan Caalamka! Sidaa darteed, waa Qaran xaq u leh in Aduunku aqoonsado''...>>>>> President, Daahir R. Kaahin: ''Jamhuuriyadda Somaliland waa dal diimuqraadi ah oo caalamka ka sugaya Ictiraafkiisa''...>>>>> President, Axmed M. Siilaanyo: ''Jamhuuriyadda Somaliland, Boqol sano haday ku qaadanayso helista Ictiraafkeedu way Sugaysaa! Mar dambena la midoobi mayso Somalia-Italia''.....[***** Ha Jirto J.Somaliland Oo Ha Joogto Waligeed *****].....

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Democratic Islam: Despite apprehensions, the world must engage with this phenomenon


- With the Muslim Brotherhood's Mohamed Morsi set to assume charge as Egypt's first elected President, even as the army has introduced laws that severely restrict the powers of the Presidency, a milestone in the history of the nations of West Asia and North Africa has been reached. The Arab Spring, which saw the toppling of some authoritarian regimes in the region, is still a work-in-progress. Some regimes like Syria are resisting change. Elsewhere, as in Egypt, the old guard seeks to maintain a grip behind the scenes. But a key facet of change here is political Islam emerging into the open, democratically.

This has great import for the entire world. Note that the Arab Springis the biggest defeat for organisations like Al Qaeda. This ideological defeat refutes the notion that real change in this region can only come about through organised violence. Remember: one of Al Qaeda's primary aims has been to force regime change in Arab lands. Second, the issue is what form this political Islam will take - given that parties emerging from this background have gained in places like Tunisia and Egypt. To understand that, one must examine the phenomenon of political Islam itself.

This politics grew in a region where dissent and opposition was crushed, with active collaboration of Western regimes. The retreat of socialist-Left forces was attendant on the strengthening of Islamist groups and parties - given also the simple fact of their organising around religious spaces. Political Islam is a complex phenomenon, spanning the social roots of, say, the Muslim Brotherhood to the paramilitary nature of the Hezbollah in Lebanon. Today, when it emerges in democratic forms, the internal debate on defining democracy, individual freedom and civil society is inflected and enriched by engagements with other parties and forces as well as with the wider world.

There is certainly a danger of hardliners prevailing, but it will not help the democratic world to be inherently suspicious of such parties. Democratic processes and institutions must evolve in the region and, to aid that, the world must engage with political Islam.

Source: The Economy Times

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