Al Monitor
David Pollock – (…) “In principle,” said the Adl wal-Ihsan leader, “Islam and democracy are absolutely contradictory: the former assigns sovereignty to Allah; the latter, to the people. In practice, however, we can apply Islam gradually, as the people prefer.” I asked, “You mean apply Shariah?” His answer: “Why are you so obsessed with things like cutting off the hands of thieves? And why do you care so much about petty thieves, when the king of Morocco, or the king of Saudi Arabia, are the biggest thieves in the whole country?” “So you would cut off their hands?” I asked. He did not answer the question. While it is still taboo to insult the king in public, there is no evidence that most Moroccans support such a radical program. The king’s reforms, modest as they may be, have given some Moroccans hope for gradual change (…)
