The Qur’an An Abiding Wonder
The Qur’an: The Book of God
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restricted individual liberty and social inequality.
Often, in the name of democracy, a dynastic
monarchy is supplanted by an elective oligarchy,
leaving the individual still feeling that he is no more
than a pawn in the struggle for power. In the 18
th
and 19
th
centuries, people rose in rebellion against
monarchical systems of government, but, once free
of the yoke of kingly rule, they had to resign
themselves to rule by an elite group calling
themselves ‘representatives of the people’ – which
did not seem much of an improvement on life
under the old monarchs, who had laid claim to
being ‘representatives of God on earth.’
All political philosophers have been caught up in
contradictions of this nature. And there appears no
way out of the impasse. Even the so called
“representation’ of the people is open to question.
Take the example of the British conservatives who,
in one year, won a decisive victory, winning an
overall majority of 144 seats. In terms of votes,
however, the conservative share of the vote (43%)
had fallen since 1979, i.e. as far as seats were
concerned the conservatives had won a massive
overall majority. But, as far as votes were
