"Saad Eddin Ibrahim Urges Democracy for Muslim World" by Ralph Dannhiesser in THE WASHINGTON FILE

CSID in the News

"Saad Eddin Ibrahim Urges Democracy for Muslim World:
Egyptian activist calls for U.S. follow-through on pledges of support"
By Ralph Dannheisser
The Washington File (U.S. State Department)
May 19, 2003

Washington -- An Egyptian democracy activist, recently freed from prison after multiple trials in his home country, has delivered an impassioned plea for efforts to promote democracy throughout the Muslim world.

Saad Eddin Ibrahim issued his call May 16 at a conference sponsored by the Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy (CSID), a four-year-old democracy advocacy group headquartered here.

He coupled his plea to his largely Muslim-American audience with an appeal to "hold American officials accountable to their promises" to work toward democratization in the Middle East and elsewhere. America's own democratic tradition assures that "you can do it," he said.

Ibrahim and 27 associates at the Ibn Khaldun Center for Development Studies were arrested in June 2000 on charges relating to the implementation of voter education and election monitoring projects funded by the MEDA Democracy Program of the European Union. Ibrahim initially was sentenced to seven years in prison, but the Egyptian Court of Cassation overturned the trial verdict late last year.

The appearance by the frail Ibrahim was the high point of the two-day conference, at which two key State Department officials reiterated the U.S. government's policy of giving all possible help to democracy movements.

He got a standing ovation when he approached the dais to speak, and when he finished he received CSID's first "Muslim Democrat of the Year" award, in recognition of his "heroic and unrelenting struggle for freedom, human rights and democracy in Egypt and throughout the Arab and Muslim world."

Carl Gershman, president of the National Endowment for Democracy, who introduced Ibrahim, described him as "a Sakharov in the Middle East, a Lech Walesa in the Middle East, a Vaclav Havel in the Middle East...a person around whom democratic activists can rally."

Assistant Secretary of State William Burns lauded him as "a man of uncommon courage, honesty and vision."

Ibrahim related, with an edge of incredulity, the story of his arrest and imprisonment.

He recalled that 30 "very well built security agents" stormed his home in the middle of the night, while 200 more -- "enough to invade a small town" -- waited outside in armored vehicles. "And all of this for a 63-year-old intellectual, unarmed, never used violence against his government ... for the simple reason that I was advocating what you are all here for: democracy," he told the rapt crowd.

When he gave it some thought, Ibrahim said, he "felt deep down that I was stronger than my oppressors.... If a state mobilizes that many people, with so many armored cars, to arrest one unarmed intellectual, it must be a very insecure state."

At first, he recalled, "I thought I would never see freedom ... but I never lost hope."

He said his spirits were buoyed when, early in his imprisonment, Nelson Mandela sent him the first copy of the Arabic translation of his book, "The Long Walk to Freedom." And he was further encouraged when he got word of the fledgling CSID and became convinced there was "a new generation that would carry on the torch for democracy in the Arab world, in the Middle East, in the Muslim world."

Ibrahim said he had been assured two weeks ago by Assistant Secretary of State Lorne Craner, one of the two State Department officials on the conference program, that "this time the United States is truly serious about its cooperation" with those Muslims pursuing democratization.

"I hope the United States will have the sustainability, the consistency to see it through, along with indigenous forces that will build their own democracy," he said.

Ibrahim insisted that true Islam is fully compatible with democracy. Indeed, he said, the prophet Mohammed signed the Charter of Medina, containing "all the aspects of pluralism, which is the prerequisite of democracy," some 500 to 600 years before the Magna Carta was written. The charter, entered into with 14 non-Muslim groups living in Medina, laid down the principle of "equality in worldly matters," Ibrahim said.

"For me, that answers many questions about whether Islam is compatible or incompatible with democracy, for that was the essence of democracy," he said.

Moreover, he said, principles of diversity are cited throughout the Koran.

But decay soon set in, ending Islam's "golden age," and the question is, "How do you stop that decay?" Ibrahim said. "Democracy is the answer," he proclaimed. "Combining democracy with whatever values the followers of every religion can add to it, fine. But democracy must be there."

Earlier in the conference, Ali Mazrui, chair of CSID's board of directors, expressed the view that "some democratic principles have been part of Islam from the beginning." He said that what he termed "Islamocracy" has been "evolving across the centuries."

Mazrui argued that the form of democracy has varied from country to country, as it has been combined with other value systems.

"If the Scandinavian countries combine democracy with socialist principles and the English can combine a formal Protestant theocracy with a practical liberal democracy, can Muslims combine liberal democracy with Islamic principles?" he asked. "Can Islamocracy be a new vision of government?"

While applauding the United States' proclaimed policy in support of democracy worldwide, Mazrui expressed some criticism of recent U.S. actions.

"The country cannot afford to promote democracy abroad and let it lapse here at home," he said. "We can surely liberate Muslim women in Afghanistan without detaining Muslim men in the United States. We can empty the political prisons of Saddam Hussein without having a Guantanamo gulag of our own in Cuba.... The real test is whether the United States can win a war for democracy abroad without losing its war for democracy at home."

Like Ibrahim and Mazrui, CSID President Radwan Masmoudi addressed Islam's compatibility with democracy.

"If the Muslims feel that they have to choose between democracy and Islam, I think it is clear the majority will choose Islam," Masmoudi said. But he said the premise of requiring a choice was a false one.

"We have to convince not only the political and religious leaders in the Muslim world that democracy is compatible with Islam, we also will have to convince the masses. And that is a much harder job," Masmoudi said.By Ralph Dannhiesser
Washington File Special Correspondent

Washington -- An Egyptian democracy activist, recently freed from prison after multiple trials in his home country, has delivered an impassioned plea for efforts to promote democracy throughout the Muslim world.

Saad Eddin Ibrahim issued his call May 16 at a conference sponsored by the Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy (CSID), a four-year-old democracy advocacy group headquartered here.

He coupled his plea to his largely Muslim-American audience with an appeal to "hold American officials accountable to their promises" to work toward democratization in the Middle East and elsewhere. America's own democratic tradition assures that "you can do it," he said.

Ibrahim and 27 associates at the Ibn Khaldun Center for Development Studies were arrested in June 2000 on charges relating to the implementation of voter education and election monitoring projects funded by the MEDA Democracy Program of the European Union. Ibrahim initially was sentenced to seven years in prison, but the Egyptian Court of Cassation overturned the trial verdict late last year.

The appearance by the frail Ibrahim was the high point of the two-day conference, at which two key State Department officials reiterated the U.S. government's policy of giving all possible help to democracy movements.

He got a standing ovation when he approached the dais to speak, and when he finished he received CSID's first "Muslim Democrat of the Year" award, in recognition of his "heroic and unrelenting struggle for freedom, human rights and democracy in Egypt and throughout the Arab and Muslim world."

Carl Gershman, president of the National Endowment for Democracy, who introduced Ibrahim, described him as "a Sakharov in the Middle East, a Lech Walesa in the Middle East, a Vaclav Havel in the Middle East...a person around whom democratic activists can rally."

Assistant Secretary of State William Burns lauded him as "a man of uncommon courage, honesty and vision."

Ibrahim related, with an edge of incredulity, the story of his arrest and imprisonment.

He recalled that 30 "very well built security agents" stormed his home in the middle of the night, while 200 more -- "enough to invade a small town" -- waited outside in armored vehicles. "And all of this for a 63-year-old intellectual, unarmed, never used violence against his government ... for the simple reason that I was advocating what you are all here for: democracy," he told the rapt crowd.

When he gave it some thought, Ibrahim said, he "felt deep down that I was stronger than my oppressors.... If a state mobilizes that many people, with so many armored cars, to arrest one unarmed intellectual, it must be a very insecure state."

At first, he recalled, "I thought I would never see freedom ... but I never lost hope."

He said his spirits were buoyed when, early in his imprisonment, Nelson Mandela sent him the first copy of the Arabic translation of his book, "The Long Walk to Freedom." And he was further encouraged when he got word of the fledgling CSID and became convinced there was "a new generation that would carry on the torch for democracy in the Arab world, in the Middle East, in the Muslim world."

Ibrahim said he had been assured two weeks ago by Assistant Secretary of State Lorne Craner, one of the two State Department officials on the conference program, that "this time the United States is truly serious about its cooperation" with those Muslims pursuing democratization.

"I hope the United States will have the sustainability, the consistency to see it through, along with indigenous forces that will build their own democracy," he said.

Ibrahim insisted that true Islam is fully compatible with democracy. Indeed, he said, the prophet Mohammed signed the Charter of Medina, containing "all the aspects of pluralism, which is the prerequisite of democracy," some 500 to 600 years before the Magna Carta was written. The charter, entered into with 14 non-Muslim groups living in Medina, laid down the principle of "equality in worldly matters," Ibrahim said.

"For me, that answers many questions about whether Islam is compatible or incompatible with democracy, for that was the essence of democracy," he said.

Moreover, he said, principles of diversity are cited throughout the Koran.

But decay soon set in, ending Islam's "golden age," and the question is, "How do you stop that decay?" Ibrahim said. "Democracy is the answer," he proclaimed. "Combining democracy with whatever values the followers of every religion can add to it, fine. But democracy must be there."

Earlier in the conference, Ali Mazrui, chair of CSID's board of directors, expressed the view that "some democratic principles have been part of Islam from the beginning." He said that what he termed "Islamocracy" has been "evolving across the centuries."

Mazrui argued that the form of democracy has varied from country to country, as it has been combined with other value systems.

"If the Scandinavian countries combine democracy with socialist principles and the English can combine a formal Protestant theocracy with a practical liberal democracy, can Muslims combine liberal democracy with Islamic principles?" he asked. "Can Islamocracy be a new vision of government?"

While applauding the United States' proclaimed policy in support of democracy worldwide, Mazrui expressed some criticism of recent U.S. actions.

"The country cannot afford to promote democracy abroad and let it lapse here at home," he said. "We can surely liberate Muslim women in Afghanistan without detaining Muslim men in the United States. We can empty the political prisons of Saddam Hussein without having a Guantanamo gulag of our own in Cuba.... The real test is whether the United States can win a war for democracy abroad without losing its war for democracy at home."

Like Ibrahim and Mazrui, CSID President Radwan Masmoudi addressed Islam's compatibility with democracy.

"If the Muslims feel that they have to choose between democracy and Islam, I think it is clear the majority will choose Islam," Masmoudi said. But he said the premise of requiring a choice was a false one.

"We have to convince not only the political and religious leaders in the Muslim world that democracy is compatible with Islam, we also will have to convince the masses. And that is a much harder job," Masmoudi said.

(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)

[Read article at the Washington File website] (external link)

2121 K Street, NW, Suite 700
Washington, DC 20037
Phone: (202) 942-2183
Fax: (202) 628-8189