Why most of the islamic states are not secular?

Question

Except turkey i don't know any islamic state that is secular i.e giving equal rights to people of all religions.What is with islam that it is not secular.

Answer 1

the only islamic countries in the world are Iran and Saudi Arabia so what are you talking about?

most of other countries where the majority are muslims they have secular laws... but secularism which i prefer is not 100% any where

it seems everyone is taking secularism on their own ways from the west to the east but of course europe have been improving a lot and thats because europe have been stable for a long time now! :)

Answer 2

Correct, it is monotheistic - one way only, there is no central point of interpretation of the Koran.

So sects produce their own interpretation wrongly or rightly.

The Turks had an exceptional leader in Ataturk (I can't remember the correct spelling) Young Turk rebellion 1920's I think

Answer 3

The answer to this like the answer to all good Questions is multi-layered.

There is no surah in the Koran equivalent to "render to Ceasar" so philosophically from Day1 Islam did not see the distinction between state and religion.Failing to see this distinction is not peculiar to Islam.It is a relatively recent western development. As I undestand it Islamic political philosophy does not neccessarily adhere to the concept of separation of powers either.It took Europe quite a while to break away from the concept of absolute rulers,the Holy Roman Empire and the Catholic Church of Rome.Most of Europe ditched these ideas by 1800.But it took Ireland and Spain until the late 1900's to totally catch up.

In the 1920s Turkey and Kemel Attaturk mirrored Western political evolutions of the French Revolution and the European nationalist/democratic revolutions of 1800s.Later Islamic political movements (Egypt's Nasser/UAR/ Baathism) mimicked post WW2 the socialistic poilitical movements of an earlier pre-WW2 Europe .

That said , by all accounts, at different times in history various Islamic empires/nations have allowed equal rights to religious minorities. Whilst that is not the same as a secular Islamic state it goes some way towards it.

Maybe its just a matter of timing differences.Eventually everyone will catch up with everyone else.

Answer 4

Because we are all infidels if we are not of the Islamic faith.

Answer 5

Iran used to be secular until the americans and british didnt like their then president nationalising its oil fields -

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1953_Irania...

Answer 6

This is a question they will answer by blaming some one else and giving themselves some justification  

Answer 7

Another reason is due to the extreme corruption in the Middle East which has created such vast poverty.  People turn to the Koran for answers and are exploited by Islamic clerics who typically hold the most extreme ideological views.  And because they control so many of the masses they enforce Islamic law via street justice.  It is not law to wear the burka in Afghanistan but a woman could beaten or killed by men on the street if she were to walk around uncovered.   Look at what distribution of the wealth has done for Kuwait and Dubai.  They are very modern in their thinking and moving towards becoming a secular society.

It's a novel concept.  If you want the Middle East to start looking more like us...stop bombing them and work on improving their economies.

Answer 8

Just a little correction: Secular means keeping religion (any religion) separate from the State. So how many western democracies are 'secular' in that sense? Is the British sovereign not the head of the Church of England? And in democratic Canada, the Sikhs fought a long battle to gain the right to where their religious turban; the head scarf ban in French schools is another example. And the raging debate in American schools between Creationists and Darwinists is yet to be resolved.... Give the Islam bashing a break, will you?

Edit: Now that is indeed a clear question (your rephrased version). Historically, Muslim states have been overwhelmingly Muslim (and autocratic) with very few, small minorities, which may simply mean that they never had the political clout to get a fairer deal from their rulers. The modern exigencies of geo-oil-politics has only made democracies 'dangerous' for the West (look how a popular movement in Iran under Khomeini bothered everyone), and hence these non-secular, majoritarian autocracies have continued. There is simply no pressure on them to become 'secular' (As there has been on Turkey, because it wishes to join the EU + it has no oil!)

Answer 9

They have strong religious views and dont want what has happened in America and other Western Countries (the lack of morality, lewdness) to come into their countries.  I am Christian but I can understand their eagerness to preserve their values.