Deomcracy is kufr because it means the sovereignty of the people instead of the Sovereignty of Allah. It means rule in accordance with the will of the majority, whatever they think is good, it will be judged as good; whatever they think is bad, it will be judged as bad. Under Democracy, the people legislate for themselves what is Halaal and Haraam; it is Shirk.
This is the basic argument of those who claim that Democracy is contrary to Islam. They have all read the same pamphlets, and use the same talking points. And yes, if THAT is what you mean by “Democracy”, then no one would disagree. And this is why I have said that most of the people who hold this position are severely lacking in political education, not to mention imagination.
I am not aware of any democracy anywhere that does not exist within the framework of a constitution. The constitution defines the parameters of the government’s powers, and lays the groundwork for the rule of law in the society; laws which are not subject to shifting public opinion. By and large, in most democratic models (and there are dozens of models; not only one, as believed by those who claim Democracy is Haraam), the population is empowered with the right to elect their leaders, not to vote on laws. The leaders they elect vote on laws, and the eligibility for a law to even be considered for a vote is that it does not conflict with the constitution. Are you with me so far?
If you have a constitution that enshrines the Shari’ah as the supreme law of the land, and legislators cannot propose or enact laws that conflict with it; please tell me how it is forbidden for the people to choose their leaders? If you establish a governmental body of Shari’ah scholars who are responsible for evaluating the Shari’ah compliance (i.e., the constitutionality) of each piece of legislation before it can be submitted for a vote, where is the kufr?
At this point, the “Democracy is Kufr” argument falls apart, and its advocates inevitably revert to their own personal cynicism about whether such a model can be established; but that is an entirely different matter. We are talking about the principle of Democracy being contradictory to Islam in all forms; and this is clearly not the case.
Now, you may say “in order to have a Shari’ah-based constitution, you will need the people to agree to that, and vote for it, before you can implement it…and that is Kufr because you are giving people the option to accept the Shari’ah or reject it!”
OK. Let’s talk about the real world.
If I see a Muslim drinking alcohol, and I have no legal authority over him, do I beat him or do I advise him? If you say that I should beat him, ok. What if it is a group of Muslims, and I do not have the ability to beat all of them? I have no option but to hate what they are doing, and to try to give them naseehah, and hope that they will accept it. If they accept it, al-Hamdulillah. If they reject it, all I can do is continue to urge them to do the right thing. Are they Kuffar because they are drinking alcohol? If you say “yes”, not only is this a deviant view, but it presents you with a new problem. If you believe that it is your duty to individually impose Shari’ah, to be an authority unto yourself, then you will have to impose the punishment for apostasy on them; which will be even more difficult than preventing them from drinking alcohol.
If I am unable to stop them, am I committing Kufr because I do not force them to comply? Am I committing Kufr because I advise them to do the right thing? Are they committing Kufr because they continue to sin? You see, this ‘all or nothing’ mentality puts you on the road to extremism very quickly; and furthermore, it cripples you from being able to actually achieve anything useful.
At the end of the day, no society will establish the Shari’ah as the law of the land unless there is a collective consensus that this is what they want. As the people of Yathrib collectively agreed to invite Rasulullah ﷺ to rule them. The democratic consent of the governed is a practical inevitability in human society; the people must agree. There is no way around that. When you give an individual, or a group of people, naseehah, when you advise people, when you make da’awah to them, you are essentially asking them to vote for Shari’ah. Is this Kufr? If they refuse your advice, are they no longer Muslims?