As I write this short note, the people of Iran, Yemen, Libya, Bahrain, Algeria, and Djibouti are facing down police forces, the military and political goon squads in their respective countries. Revolutionary action is underway lead by the youth, who are standing up for freedom in attempts to rid these countries of entrenched dictators who rule over their populations with an iron fist. A common denominator in all these countries is the varying approaches to Islamic law; approaches, understanding, and practices of Islamic law that has left much to be desired.
The revolutionary actions of the populace against self proclaimed “Islamic” leaders in all these places are related to what the people (majority Muslim populations) recognize as the need for civil, political, social, and economic reform. Revolutionary actions in these countries are related to the failure of self-proclaimed “Islamic” leaders who, rather than help to create societies where wealth is more evenly available, have officiated over the construction of societies divided between a small group at the top, which owns and controls most of the wealth and power, and the majority of the population which lives in relative poverty and squalor. The people on the streets today in Iran, Yemen, Libya, Bahrain, Algeria, and Djibouti have joined the call made by their counterparts recently in the successful revolutions of Tunisia and Egypt. In the wake of the failure of the self proclaimed “Islamic” states, the people in all these places are clamoring for civic states. They are clamoring for democracy at all levels of the society, at the economic, and at the political and social levels, which are compatible with the doctrines of the Holy Koran, which teaches equity in the earth’s bounties, and mercy to one’s fellow man.
The unfolding events in North Africa and the Middle East suggest that a watershed moment has arrived, which some authors have coined as a “collective and moral earthquake,” or a new awakening. The central demands of the people in this new awakening are very basic. They are seeking to be respected as human beings, to be treated as equal citizens in their own homeland, to be treated with dignity, and to be afforded the right to equal participation in politics and the economy.  As the protest grows the value, language, and meaning of religion is being reshaped and given new meaning. This transformation, or new meaning is now being seen in the changed language, even in such organizations as the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, who have now joined the clamour for a ‘civic’ (madaniyya) state, rather than for a religious (diniyya), or even for a military (askariyya) state.
These changes are not only important, but necessary. The people of these countries deserve support and solidarity.