Islamic Reform - South Asia Studies Project

February 19, 2012 Special Dispatch No.4509 Jihadist Urdu Magazine Slams Victorious Arab Islamist Parties: Prophet Muhammad 'Rejected an Offer To Rule From the Kuffar [Infidels] of Mecca'; He 'Rejected All Possibilities of a Broad-Based Democratic Government [in Mecca] in Light of the Koran and Wahi [Divine Revelation]' In a recent article, the Urdu-language jihadist magazine Nawa-i-Afghan Jihad rejected the responses of Islamist parties that emerged victorious in elections following last year's uprisings in Arab countries. It cited the examples of the Prophet Muhammad rejecting offers to form a democratic rule during his time in Mecca and Medina. The article, titled "The Success of 'Democratic Islamists' in the Elections of Tunisia and Egypt," was written by one Hafiz Ehsanul Haq, with the honorific Hafiz, meaning someone who has memorized the Koran. Haq called for rejecting the system of democracy, dismissing it as incompatible with Islamic and Koranic teachings. He cited how Prophet Muhammad refused offers from non-Muslims to form coalition governments in Mecca and Medina. The full text of this report is available to MEMRI's Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor Subscribers. Subscription information is available at this link. JTTM subscribers can visit this page to view the report.