Can Islam have a democratic future? It has a glorious past and present

Then came the establishment of the State of Israel. The Palestinian and Israeli issue is deep, emotional, frustrating and unforgiving for a lot of Muslims around the world, not only for the Palestinians and Arabs.

These emotions have somehow surfaced in the political evolution of almost every Muslim country. Muslims have been denied the opportunity to evolve their own democratic tradition. But this does not mean that we are incapable of evolving, developing and innovating a system that would lead a democracy in some form.

Most people look at Islam as one monolithic religion. But in South East they have gone through their own specific process of diversification, innovation and adaptation.

What is the reason that Muslims in south-east Asia are more moderate, flexible and more adaptable than Muslims in the heartland? South-east Asia was already very well informed by two major religions - Hinduism and Buddhism - when Islam came. It was forced to adapt, adopt, and innovate.

I call us here in south-east Asia "Muslims in the periphery". We are more flexible, moderate and ready to adapt and adopt. Look, for example, at the role of women. You cannot dream of putting south-east Asian Muslim women behind the wall. Because when Islam came to south-east Asia, women already were planting rice and marketing their wares.

Therefore Muslims in south-east Asia, and especially Muslims in Malaysia, are somewhat like other developing societies. They are diversifying their economy, developing their institutions and slowly trying to open up the system.

To me Malaysia is the only Muslim society that is effectively facing modernity and globalisation. We used to laugh about them when they were trying to achieve what they called the "Islamisation" process of knowledge of the economy, society and of education. But look what they have achieved. Of course the Malaysian model is not perfect. It can be embellished, modified and improved upon but it is a rich model and at least it is working

There is this idea of turning Iraq into a democracy following from which there will be a march of democracy throughout the Middle East. It will be a very long march. Wealth came in the late 60s, 70s, 80s and in the 90s. But that wealth, rather than allowing the country and the society to open up, somehow closed it down further. There is one supreme patron - the government.

What you see in the Middle East is not development. What you see in the Middle East is modernity. Modernity you can buy. If you have the money you can buy all the gadgets of the latest invention, but there is very little development. That is the distinction. But in Malaysia and Indonesia you see greater efforts for human resource development, a process that forces a country to be more open. The society is diversifying. Therefore there is room for participation, access and for give and take within the same Islamic society.

I once asked President Khatami of Iran, a Shi'ite, this hypothetical question: There are two men. One lives in a closed society. Every minute of his life is prescribed. He has to follow the rules of Islam. He has to pray five times a day. He has to fast. He has to pay his alms - his zakat. He has to do everything prescribed by the law, government, regime and police.

There is another Muslim who lives in an open society, with all the choices to be bad. Yet he remains good. He prays five times a day. He fasts. He pays his alms and does everything that the religion requires of him. Which is the better Muslim? President Khatami clapped his knees and laughed. He said, "You from south-east Asia are better than many Muslims around here".

My point is that Islam can inspire you to become a good democrat. Islam can also inspire a society to become a democracy. It depends on various factors that have to somehow work in order to propel that process of democratisation forward.