Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, July 2009, page 54

Muslim-American Activism

Future Prospects for Islam and Democracy

A CSID luncheon speech by Ahmed Shaheed, minister of foreign affairs for the Republic of Maldives, focused on his conservative, mostly Muslim country’s recent peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy. Six years ago there were no political parties and the government controlled the media and courts, Shaheed said. Among the lessons learned from the Maldives are that Islam and democracy are compatible and it is possible for the Islamic world to change. The West shouldn’t see a country through a monochrome lens, Shaheed advised, and label it either good or bad.

Georgetown University Professor John Esposito discussed “the significant gaps between what people want, what their governments allow them to have—and what our government wants.”

In Muslim-majority countries like Egypt, Libya, Sudan and various North African countries, Esposito said, governments retain the trump card. They can hold elections or pull them back. They can remain security states with an “iron fist inside a velvet glove.”

There is greater desire for Islamism and good government in the region, according to Esposito: people don’t want Westernization or secular governments. Pointing out that 50 percent of Americans believe U.S. laws should be based on the Bible, he said it is no wonder that many Muslims want shariah as a source of law.

Among the speakers at the banquet dinner was Madelyn Spirnak, State Department acting deputy assistant secretary for Near East affairs, who described U.S. outreach to local religious leaders and educators who visit the United States to “observe religious diversity here and to see Muslim life in America first hand.

“Muslims are an integral part of America. Muslim-Americans are not ‘outsiders’ looking in,” Spirnak said. “You are a part of the fabric of this country and have been for generations. We in the government welcome dialogue and have an open door to your communities, which play a constructive and important role in improving the public policy of our country.

“Rest assured that the United States government remains committed to democratic principles and human rights and will continue to support those in the Middle East—and throughout the world—those who seek to enjoy these universal freedoms,” she concluded.

—Delinda C. Hanley

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