Salahodin Aryapur

Theories of State in Islam and Secularism Salahodin Aryapur

The author tries to answer the question of whether the state theories in Islam could lead the Islamic societies towards implementation of the democratic values such as political participation, rationalism in legislation, implementation of the International norms and respect for Human Rights or not. In this respect, the author first analyzes the political theories in two big religions within Islam with a historic approach using the new texts and historic documents about the theories of Caliphate and Imamate. Afterwards issues such as,appointing the Muslim rulers, legislating in Islam, implementation of the Sharia law, Hudud and finally respect for the international orders and Human Rights are analyzed. The results of this analysis reveal that the political theories in Islam are not capable of presenting an efficient political system and Islam helped to create autocratic regimes. The other challenge is in the rigidity of Shaira law that led to resist against modern regulations, Human Rights and international orders. This study suggests that moving towards Secular democracy is an answer to solve these obstacles.