First, define democracy

Lost in the contrived debate over whether Islam is compatible with democracy is a far more important set of questions: what does democracy mean to different societies - not just Westerners or Muslims, but to the Chinese, Tibetans and so on?

Does it matter that no Western government offered material support to the people of Pakistan as they sought to depose their dictator over the past several years?

Should we recall that it was Western countries that overthrew the democratically elected government of Iran in the 1950s?

The debate also avoids any appraisal of the malaise in Western democracies. One only has to look at the frivolity of the US presidential race, where candidates are criticised for their lack of tenpin bowling skills, to appreciate that something is wrong. In our own country democracy has often been reduced to a shallow exhibition of personalities.

Rather than insist that Muslims prove their worth in Western eyes, it would be more productive if we in the West took a good look at our own democracies.

Mustafa Qadri, Sydney

(Published in the Sydney Morning Herald on 18 April 2008)