The Wave: Man, God, and the Ballot Box in the Middle East

The promise of democracy for Muslims offers something historically unparalleled. Where Islamist groups once dreamed of revolution, quietly developed paramilitary cells, and assassinated their secular opponents, mainstream Islamist groups today see elections as a means for society to maintain akhlaq; the mores that define good Muslims. The fundamentalist embrace of democratic politics as a vehicle for removing secular dictatorships in the Arab world is now the rule, not the exception, holding out the possibility that, for the first time since the early caliphs, an organic, reciprocal relationship will emerge between leaders and their communities.

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