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464chapter sixmodern state because it is the task of the state to look after theconcerns of people in this life (health system, education, security,economy), whereas life in the Next World should always be theindividual’s own prerogative.12. It is not permissible to separate religion from society, but it islogical and pertinent to separate religion from politics. As soonas religion enters politics, a culture of exclusivist claims will spreadand poison the relationship between groups and denominations.The many legal justifications for the discrimination of otherbelievers in the books of fiqh should be a warning sign foreveryone.13. Democracy is a natural state of human beings. Democracy protectsthe principles of the freedom of choice, free elections, freedomof speech, and academic freedom. It projects life in societyas a social contract that binds the rulers and the citizens. It providesthe minimum of procedures to which humans naturallyadhere to, for example, the practice of consultation ( al-shåra). Ithas been prescribed in the Book as a duty but its exact modi operandihave been left open because people apply it differently accordingto their contingent political systems. Unfortunately, Arab-Muslimshave not produced a single system of consultation that securesthe above democratic principles.14. The Caliphate, with all its despotic credentials, held its politicallegitimacy until its abolition in 1924; subsequent political regimeshave continued with the Caliphate’s despotic tradition but havenever gained its political legitimacy. We still lack a new conceptof political rule that enjoys unchallenged legitimacy and differsfrom the notion of a Caliphate (which, hopefully, will neverreturn).15. The so-called Islamic awakening is a big swindle. Instead of anawakened morality we have gained a culture full of hypocrisy,dishonesty, and unreliability. And the more people focus solelyon their prayers and rituals, and the more women decide tobecome muÈajjib§t (veiled), the more we will observe a decline inorder and public morality.16. The more people turn to the books of fiqh and the manuals of themedieval fuqah§", such as al-Sh§fi#Ê’s al-Umm, or Ibn #$bidÊn’s\§shiyya, the more people are cut off from their natural dispositionas laid out in the Book. Applied on the level of society, themore we rely on the political doctrines of our honourable schol-