Editing Islam and democracy (section)

==Views of the general Muslim public==
Esposito and DeLong-Bas distinguish four attitudes toward Islam and democracy prominent among Muslims today:<ref>{{cite book|first1=John L.|last1=Esposito|first2=Natana J.|last2=DeLong-Bas|title=Shariah: What Everyone Needs to Know|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2018|pages=142–143}}</ref>
* Advocacy of democratic ideas, often accompanied by a belief that they are compatible with Islam, which can play a public role within a democratic system, as exemplified by many protestors who took part in the [[Arab Spring]] uprisings;
* Support for democratic procedures such as elections, combined with religious or moral objections toward some aspects of Western democracy seen as incompatible with sharia, as exemplified by Islamic scholars like [[Yusuf al-Qaradawi]];
* Rejection of democracy as a Western import and advocacy of traditional Islamic institutions, such as [[shura]] (consultation) and [[ijma]] (consensus), as exemplified by supporters of absolute monarchy and radical Islamist movements;
* Belief that democracy requires restricting religion to private life, held by a minority in the Muslim world.

Polls conducted by Gallup and PEW in Muslim-majority countries indicate that most Muslims see no contradiction between democratic values and religious principles, desiring neither a theocracy, nor a secular democracy, but rather a political model where democratic institutions and values can coexist with the values and principles of Islam.<ref name=polls>{{cite book|first1=John L.|last1=Esposito|first2=Natana J.|last2=DeLong-Bas|title=Shariah: What Everyone Needs to Know|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2018|page=145}}</ref><ref name=pew>{{cite web|website=Pew Research Center|title=Most Muslims Want Democracy, Personal Freedoms, and Islam in Political Life|date=July 10, 2012|url=https://www.pewglobal.org/2012/07/10/most-muslims-want-democracy-personal-freedoms-and-islam-in-political-life/|access-date=April 20, 2019|archive-date=April 17, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190417133154/https://www.pewglobal.org/2012/07/10/most-muslims-want-democracy-personal-freedoms-and-islam-in-political-life/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=gallup>{{cite web|website=Gallup|title=Majorities See Religion and Democracy as Compatible|date=Oct 3, 2017|first1=Magali|last1=Rheault|first2=Dalia|last2=Mogahed|url=https://news.gallup.com/poll/28762/majorities-muslims-americans-see-religion-law-compatible.aspx|access-date=April 20, 2019|archive-date=August 12, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190812164738/https://news.gallup.com/poll/28762/majorities-muslims-americans-see-religion-law-compatible.aspx|url-status=live}}</ref>