FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Anne Johnson, Communications
December 17, 2003
Director, (202) 523-3240, ext.
27
Washington ? The Weekly Standard
published an article in its December 22 edition in which U.S. Commission
on International Religious Freedom Commissioner Nina Shea was quoted as
having made a statement regarding Islam and democracy. This quote
is inaccurate, according to Commissioner Shea. Moreover, Shea's interview
does not reflect the views of the Commission, which is on record in reports,
op-eds, and press releases as repeatedly stressing the compatibility of
Islam and democracy and human rights.
"We greatly value the contribution
Commissioner Shea is making to the work of the Commission and look forward
to her contribution in the future. She has published extensively
on issues of freedom of religion and belief, and her support of this principle,
so critical to the work of the Commission, is unquestioned," said USCIRF
Chair Michael K. Young.
Below is the text of her letter
to The Weekly Standard:
Letters
The Weekly Standard
To the Editor:
"The Muddle of the Moderate Muslim,"
December 22, 2003, abridged my quotation about Islamic systems of government
and democracy, which changed its meaning. I said that Islam and democracy
are not easily compatible. This is undoubtedly as much for political as
doctrinal reasons. The documentation compiled by Freedom House's Center
for Religious Freedom demonstrates that in the major Islamic law (sharia)
states of contemporary times ? Iran, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Afghanistan ?
individual rights to freedom of religion and expression, and the legal
equality of women and religious minorities are not recognized. As one of
the consequences, in all these states Muslim political dissidents have
been arrested for the capital crimes of blasphemy and apostasy for having
proposed liberal reforms or criticized the government. Furthermore, when
Islamic constitutions provide that no law can be repugnant to Islam, as
the Iranian and the proposed Afghanistan constitutions do, legislative
power risks being undermined by unelected sharia jurists and clerics. Prof.
Abou El Fadl is one of the few who possess the scholarship in both legal
traditions needed to identify and develop the democratic potential in the
Koran. He believes that "For Muslims, a democratic commitment cannot
be made in a doctrinal vacuum, but will require that it reconcile with
their religious convictions." He has undertaken efforts in this direction,
making arguments that individual human rights are moral, "divine law must
be distinguished from fallible human interpretations" and the "state should
not pretend to embody divine sovereignty and majesty." This work
may be more than a motive for some in the Egyptian press to discredit him.
Nina Shea
Director, Center for Religious Freedom
Freedom House
