Surah 42 · Verse 38

[42:38] The most important public task needing consultation is the election of leaders. About thirty years after the departure of Muhammed, polytheists abandoned the election system and established a monarchy or sultanate. Their puppet clerics tried to distort the application of this verse by claiming that consultation to elect a leader was not recommended but the leader, that is, the self-appointed tyrant, should consult. Unfortunately, this travesty of logic became the mainstream view of the followers of hadith and sunna. Ironically, neither the prophet nor his closest companions imposed themselves by selfappointment or by resorting to a glorious or royal genealogy. Those who split hairs to mimic every aspect of life attributed to Muhammed and his companions, from bathroom etiquette to how to groom one's beard, ignored this most important Quranic instruction that was practiced by Muhammed, and his companions for more than 40 years, starting from the immigration to Yathrib and continuing with Abu Bakr, Omar, Uthman and Ali, an era called the Khulafa-i Rashideen, that is, Guided Caliphs. The later satanic Caliphs, assuming the blasphemous titles of "God's Caliph (successor)" or "God's Shadow on Earth" for centuries committed numerous atrocities in the name of God until 1924, when the caliphate was abolished by a young turk, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. Democracy practiced according to the separation of powers is not perfect, but it is the best system we have discovered so far. As long as the democratic procedure is not corrupted by the money from interest groups or corporations, democracy helps the majority to pursue its self-interest, which ultimately is forced to include individual rights and the interests of minorities. Ottoman Caliphs prohibited the importation and use of the printing machine based on the religious fatwa of a sheikh al-islam (highest cleric within the Ottoman Empire) who prohibited the use of the printing machine from 1455 to 1727, for 272 years, for 100,000 precious days, in a vast land stretching from North Africa to Iran, from today's Turkey to the Arabian Peninsula. While Europe indulged in learning God's signs in nature, shared the knowledge via printing machines, and was rewarded by God with a renaissance, reform, technology, and prosperity, Ottomans devolved and sunk further in ignorance. While Europeans engaged in philosophical arguments, the Ottomans recited the holy book no better than a parrot, the book that highlighted the importance of learning, questioning, discovery, and the pursuit of knowledge. They marveled at handwritten books of hearsay and superstition, at the lousy arguments developed by Ghazzali, who with the full support of a king, aimed to banish philosophy. While Europe sought a better system to save themselves from the tyranny of kings and the Church, the Ottomans recited handwritten poems to praise their corrupt kings and idols. No wonder why the land, the name, the face, and the religion of the children of this population is now associated with backwardness, ignorance, oppression, violence, and poverty. Federal democracies facilitate cooperation among diverse groups with different religions, cultures, and legal systems and provide common ground for a productive, peaceful, and freely co-existing society.