A Critique of Democracy from the Perspective of Bernard Lewis, Based on the Views of Imam Khamenei

The relationship between Islam and democracy has been a challenging debate in Western and Islamic academic circles in the past hundred years. Some Orientalists have also researched this topic. In examining this issue, some believe in the compatibility between these two systems, while others argue their incompatibility. Both groups have presented arguments to support their views; however, it seems that these differing positions primarily stem from scholars’ definitions and interpretations of the concepts of “Islam” and “democracy” and their intellectual foundations. Moreover, the sources they have used in this regard have had a significant impact on their research findings. This study scrutinizes the subject of “democracy from the Quranic perspective” on three axes: Western and Islamic definitions of democracy, compatibility and incompatibility of Western democracy with the Islamic system, and the components of democracy in Islam based on Bernard Lewis’s perspective, critically analyzed according to the views of Imam Khamenei. Initially, the definition and foundations of democracy from Lewis’s perspective are extracted and then evaluated based on Imam Khamenei’s viewpoints. The research methodology relies on a descriptive-analytical and critical approach.