伊斯蘭教與民主－－一個新制度論的分析

Islam and Democracy: An Analysis of New Institutionalism

強調政教合一的伊斯蘭教，究竟能不能與建立於政教分離基礎上的西方式民主體制相容，迄今猶未有定論。以Samuel P. Huntington為首的西方學者從文明衝突的觀點質疑伊斯蘭教有礙民主，不利於民主制度的發軔與發展。另外也有阿拉伯學者提出「穆斯林例外主義」，強調過去的一段歷史對穆斯林社會有深刻的影響力，它已限定穆斯林的認知與處理基本問題的方式，穆斯林社會不可能演化成民主社會。本文認為這兩種觀點都失之偏頗。本文透過新制度論途徑去探究伊斯蘭教與民主能否相容，經過對古蘭經的分析後發現，大部分的經文其實都與猶太教、基督教的聖經一脈相承，至於伊斯蘭律法的其他三大法源也都具有彈性解釋的空間，因此很難說伊斯蘭教的政治根源有悖於民主原則。然而，穆斯林社會在走向民主化之前，似必須先經歷世俗化的過程，解決內部政治認同的爭議與達到某種程度的政教分立。世俗化與政教分立雖不代表民主化，但卻是民主化的前提。從80年代中期以來，我們已看到中東國家的伊斯蘭團體透過自由選舉在議會袒占有一席之地，或者在選舉尚未開放的國家扮演強有力的反對勢力。本文舉伊朗與土耳其的伊斯蘭運動經驗為例，說明此一將伊斯蘭神學重新詮釋的跡象與趨勢。總之，過去西方殖民的歷史時空背景確實影響到穆斯林對民主的認知，而且這種認知又因當代的以巴衝突、美國介入中東事務而益形複雜。換言之，決定穆斯林社會民主化前途的關鍵不在伊斯蘭教，而可能是強權主導下的國際局勢。

Whether Islam can coexist with Western democracy, based upon the separation of politics and religion, remains an issue of speculation. Western scholars led by Samuel P. Huntington opined that Islam hinders the development of democratic institutions from the view of conflicts of civilization. Meanwhile, some Arab scholars labeled the non-democratic phenomenon in Islamic societies as 'Muslim Exceptionism,' arguing that certain periods of past influenced Muslim societies heavily that they could condition the perception and way of thinking by Muslims so that their societies cannot evolve towards democracies.This article analyzes this issue through the new institutionalist approach. After studying the Koran, we found that most part of it is congruent with the Bible. Three other sources of Islamic laws are flexible in interpretation. Thus it is difficult to say that the political base of Islam disagrees with the principle of democracy. Muslim societies, however, must experience secularization before democratization, in order to solve the internal debate about identity. Although secularization cannot equate democratization, it still is the prerequisite for democratization. We have seen Muslim groups in the Middle East compete in free elections or play a rigorous role as opposition. Iran and Turkey are two good examples of such Muslim societies that support the reinterpretation of Islamic theology. In all, the history of Western colonization has influenced the perception of Muslim about democracy. The conflicts between Israel and the Palestine and the American interference further complicate the perception. Despite these, Muslim societies do not necessarily averse to democracy.