Editing Islam and democracy (section)

===Quran===
Muslim democrats, including [[Ahmad Moussalli]] (professor of [[political science]] at the [[American University of Beirut]]), argue that concepts in the Quran point towards some form of democracy, or at least away from [[despotism]]. These concepts include ''[[shura]]'' (consultation), ''[[ijma]]'' (consensus), ''al-hurriyya'' (freedom), ''al-huqquq al-shar'iyya'' (legitimate rights). For example, ''shura'' ([[Al Imran]] – Quran 3:159, [[Ash-Shura]] – Quran 42:38) may include electing leaders to represent and govern on the community's behalf. Government by the people is not therefore necessarily incompatible with the rule of Islam, whilst it has also been argued that rule by a religious authority is not the same as rule by a representative of God. This viewpoint, however, is disputed by more traditional Muslims. Moussalli argues that despotic Islamic governments have abused the Quranic concepts for their own ends: "For instance, shura, a doctrine that demands the participation of society in running the affairs of its government, became in reality a doctrine that was manipulated by political and religious elites to secure their economic, social and political interests at the expense of other segments of society," (In ''Progressive Muslims'' 2003).