Tunuslu düşünür ve siyasetçi olan Râşid el-Gannûşî çağdaş İslam düşüncesine, demokrasi ve İslâm arasındaki ilişkiyi yeniden düşünüp yorumlaması, sivil toplum dilini yeniden tanımlaması ve sivil toplum ile laiklik kavramlarının bağdaşmadığı şeklindeki düşünceleri ile katkı sağlamış bir mütefekkirdir. Onun temel düşüncesi; sömürge sonrası Tunus’taki diktatoryaya karşı demokrasi ve çoğulculuğu savunmasıdır. O, “şûrâ” kavramına yüklediği anlam ile aslında demokrasinin İslâm’ın özünde de var olduğunu iddia eder. Fakat İslâm’ın demokrasi ile uyumlu olduğunu iddia etmekle birlikte modern liberal demokrasi türlerinin laiklik temelleri sebebiyle Müslüman dünyasına uymadığının da altını çizer. Bu makalede günümüz siyaset anlayışına sunulmuş bir zenginlik olarak değerlendirilebilecek olan Gannûşî’nin demokrasi ve laiklik anlayışı ele alınacaktır.

Tunusian thinker and politician, Rachid al-Ghannouchi, is a thinker who has contributed to the idea of contemporary Islamic thought by rethinking and interpreting the relationship between democracy and Islam, redefining the language of civil society and his thoughts that the concepts of civil society and secularism are incompatible. His basic idea is the defense of democracy and pluralism against post-colonial dictatorship in Tunusia. With the meaning that he assigned to the concept of “Shura”, he claims that democracy actually exists in the very esence of Islam. But He claims that Islam is compatible with democracy, but underlines the fact that modern liberal democracy types do not fit into the Muslim world due to the secularism. In this article, Ghannouchi’s understanding of democracy and secularism which can be considered as a richness presented to the political concept of today, will be discussed.        SummaryRachid al-Ghannouchi, a Tunisian thinker and leader of the Islamic movement, has been a leading figure in contemporary Islamic thought  in recent years and is well respected by global circles. In addition to being a thinker, he is also directly involved in politics. His most important characteristic is that he defens democracy against tyranny and puts his views into practice in his politcal life. Because he gained appreciation of many segments with his conciliatory attitude in his country during the Arap Spring and after.Rachid al-Ghannouchi considers democracy as the common legacy of all civilizations. Islamic heritage was also used in the formation of this heritage. Therefore, to benefit from democracy is to benefit from our own civilization. According to Ghannouchi who does not consider democracy as merely administrative tool in the form of “public administration for public”,democracy is a mode of behavior and cultural stage. This form of behavior develops both as a feeling for oneself and for others. Democracy used in administration is only one side of general democracy. From this poit of view, if democracy is not provided at the point of culture and behavior, democracy will be reduced to form and will lose its functionality. Ghannouchi who considers democracy as a form and content regime, states that formally democracy has principles such as election, separation of powers, pluralism. On the other hand It is the expression of the value given to man in terms of the content regime. In this respect, the best regimes are those that confess and assure the value given to human beings. And by this way, he places the understanding of protecting human into essence of democracy.The most important values that democracy offers to people are the sovereignty of the people, elections, separation of powers and public freedoms. The extent to which government is democratic is directly proportional to the degree of public participation in public affairs. The more this participation is in the administration, the more democracy is increased.According to Ghannouchi, what is essential in ideal democracy is not the concentration of authority in a center but its distribution. This requires that the decision be made jointly, not individually. The Qur’an also aimed at the breadth of participation such as democracy, at the point of decision-making by emphasizing the concept of shura. Ghannouchi also expressed the shortcomings of democracy in the West. According to him, these deficiencies are; the fact that  the votes of voters who appear to be equal does not have the same effect. Another deficiency of Western democracy is that it cannot cross national borders. The political philosophy of the West, which is based on materialism and nationalism, is effective in experiencing these deficiencies.Ghannouchi emphasized much more the separation of powers and the multi-party principles among the principles of democracy.  According to him, what is important in the principle of separation of powers is not how many forces are divided and to whom the task is assingned. What is important is that there is mutual aid between state forces rather than conflict and intervention.On the other hand, he criticizes Islamists who do not accept the multi-party system which is another important principle of democracy. Ghannouchi considers pluralism as the basic elements of the rule of law and states that this system acts as an insurance for  the prevention of tyranny. Ghannouchi; in explaining the relationship between Islam and democracy, is on the side of those who claim that Islam and democracy are compatible. From the concept of shura, he states that there is democracy at the core of Islam. Although he argues that Islam is compatible with democracy, he also underlines that modern liberal democracy does not fit into the Muslim world because of its secular foundations. According to Ghannouchi, these deficiencies in Western democracy are not an obstacle for its use. Because democracy is a machanism that can be adopted to our culture by removing these deficiencies.   While Ghannouchi takes the concept of secularism, he goes to its emergence period. He indicates that the Muslim world does not need secularism by comparing the conditions of emergence in the West and its presence in the Muslim world. Because, when are looked at the reasons for the emergence of secularism in the West, it is seen that there is a struggle against a religion that prevents progress. However, there is no need to include secularism in the Islamic world, since Islam is not a religion that hinders science, freedom and progress. He also argues that secularism in the West and secularism in Muslim countries are not the same. Secularism in the West, while separating religion from the state, exhibits a situtaion that does not interfere with each other; secularism in the Muslim world turned into a means of oppression against religion by the state. While secularism in the West  brought religious freedom, it became a factor that put pressure on religious by the state in the Muslim world. Ghannouchi who criticizes the way secularism is practiced, thinks that Islamic movement has no problem with secularism which is applied in the form of neutrality of the state against beliefs and the rescue of the public sphere from the authority of the clergy. Ghannouchi’s this thought seems to be effective in his current politics. According to Ghannouchi, who also puts the meaning he attaches to secularism to modernity, these concepts are applied in Muslim countries as controlling people and oppressing religion. But true modernity should ensure human freedom and establish a democratic system. Ghannouchi contributed to contemporary Islamic thought with his definition of civil society and his comments on the relationship between civil society and secularism. He thinks that civil society and modern society are equivalent and that civil society is based on voluntarism. On the other hand, Muslim society is a society without coercion when viewed from the point of faith. Therefore the Muslim community shows the characteristic of civilization. Civil society also requires the morality: “The things you wish for yourself, wish them for others, either.” However secularism, as seen in Western society, has had consequences such as selfishness and individuality. In such a case, while secularism harms civil society, a secular society will lose its civilian character.