Democracy is rapidly declining across the globe. This is the finding of reports published in 2021 by some influential non-governmental research and advocacy organisations such as Freedom House, V-Dem, International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance, and Cato Institute. Consequently, large democracies including the U.S. and India found themselves downgraded, among other things, on grounds of partisan pressure on the electoral process, bias in the criminal justice system, discriminatory policies, violence against Muslims, harassment of journalists and other government critics, and growing disparities in wealth, economic opportunity, and political influence.
The ulema-state alliance
If for most non-Muslim countries this sort of democratic recession is a recent phenomenon, Muslim nations have been scourged by it for a long time. In fact, the election of the first post-Prophetic Caliph, Hazrat Abu Bakr, was mired in controversy. According to a supposedly sahih (authentic) hadith in Bukhari, after the Prophet’s death, the Ansar community in Medina wanted the Caliphate to be jointly headed by two ameers (leaders), one each from the Ansar and the Meccan tribe, Quraish. But Abu Bakr, a Quraishite, allegedly refused saying, “No, we will be the rulers and you will be the ministers, for they [the Quarish] are the best family amongst the Arabs and of best origin.” He wanted the Ansar to elect Quraishites Hazrat Umar or Abu Ubaida bin Al-Jarrah. But Umar’s refusal resulted in Abu Bakr himself being finally chosen as the first Caliph.
