The expansion of the Islam in France: a real obstacle for the democracy? Comparison with the British model.

The expansion of the Islam in France: a real obstacle for the democracy? Comparison with the British model.

Nowadays, the respect of democratic principles is one of the main key issues undertook by Member States. Governments have an essential role in providing the values of freedom, the respect of human rights and the principle of election by universal suffrage. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) of 1948 is one of the first international treaty which aims to defend the liberty and the respect of the human being. However, in recent years a phenomenon seems to disturb some of the European countries: the expansion of the Islam. This religion represents a real danger for some of Europeans governments like in France or German for instance, because she puts in doubt the freedom of the human, in particular the stigmatization of women but also because its laws are in total contradiction with the principle of democracy and the human evolution defended by our society. The problem is becoming considerable that it has created conflicts between communities and the recent terrorist attack by the Islamist organization, Daesh, that there have been in France, have generated an unprecedented stigmatization and rejection of this religion and its practitioners. French government tries constantly to find a compromise between the Republic principles and the Islam. One wonders why in some countries the integration of Muslims is questioned and creates a real public debate whereas in another the Islam is totally accepted and becoming standards. The Islam wouldn’t become the target of politicians to hide the real problem and urgent matters that the nation has to resolve as the actual economic crisis and the increase of the unemployment? Thus, it would be interesting to study the case of France, which is one of the most concerned countries in the European Union. This research method is intended to show clearly that there is a possible cohesion between the Islam and the democracy. To support this research, a comparison with the Britain model will be made to see differences between the ways things are done between both countries. The first part will cover the literature review which includes writing published in relation with the topic to show the scholar’s different point and presents theories that will argue the research question. The second part will be centered on the research design which aims to define what methodology will be used to respond to the research question and why.

The literature review

A considerable numbers of texts have been written about the Islam and the democracy. This literature review will focus on literatures which have a direct link with the research question. Firstly, the paper will explore reviews that deal about a possible agreement between the Islam and the democracy. Then, through several examples of works from the Dr Tariq Ramadan, this write-up will show that in practice the Islam can coincide with the European societies. To finish, it’s important to look at the Islamic religious text, the Coran, in order to understand that the term democracy can have a wider sense, of that which is generally well known.

There are four interesting literary papers that examine the correlation between the religion of Islam and the democratic principle: Islam and Democracy: What is the Real Question? By Asef Bayat; When Islam and Democracy Meet: Muslims in Europe and in the United States By J. Cesari; Islam and Democracy by John L. Esposito and John O. Voll; Modernization, Democracy, and Islam by Shireen Hunter,Huma Malik. These readings have a common point; they aim to explain the possible coexistence between these two “opposite”. In the twentieth century the religious resurgence and democratization have been two of the most significant developments, frequently they work together other times they are at odds. Through occidental societies like in Europe or United States, the authors describe the evolution of the Muslim population and by this way, their integration into the society. These reviews offer a new approach and analyze how the social struggles of diverse Muslim populations that took place because of the different terrorist attack, render Islam to embrace democratic ideas.

There is another package of literature review very interesting in concordance with the research question: To Be a European Muslim, Muslims in France, Etre occidental et musulman aujourd’hui (traduction: Be a westerner and a Muslim today) written by Tariq Ramadan. Tariq Ramadan is the professor of Contemporary Islamic Studies in the Faculty of Oriental Studies at Oxford; he is an important figure of the Islamic world in Europe. Across his works, based on a thorough study of Islamic sources, he seeks to answer basic questions about European Muslims’ social, political, cultural and legal integration. The study shows that it is possible to lead life as a practicing Muslim while ‘living together’ in multi-faith, pluralistic European nation states. Tariq Ramadan delivered also lectures across all Europe to have a better understanding of what is Islam and to aware people that the Islam is not an enemy for the democracy.

Thus, all these papers cited above, permit to know that the question research exists in a literary context and that it is a real societal issue today for some of the nations. The analysis of these reviews will consist to take all the arguments which prove that even if the Islam enhances precepts that may collide with the democratic and republican principles, this don’t disturb the liberty and the respect of the human being. To determine it, the example of the United States and Europe with France and Gran Britain will be studied through the social and cultural aspect.

However, the best way to know if Islamic principles are in total contradiction with European politics is to study its book, the Coran. Through this study, the challenge is to know if Islam can produce the democratic feeling. According to the etymological definition, the democracy is a transmission of the power to a nation proclaimed “sovereign” under a constitutional text. In comparison with England, it is not the constitutional text which guarantees the rights and the liberties of the citizens, but the long British democratic tradition, that is the analysis of the British spirit itself. The democratization is not thus a simple transmission of powers between two parties, the government and the population, for example, but rather the formation of feelings, reflex, criteria which establish the foundations of a democracy in the consciousness of people and in their traditions. To support the research question, the theory will be not to consider Islam as a constitution which proclaims sovereign people, or as a declaration which enumerates the rights and the liberties of these

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