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Top 5 Most Liberal Muslim Countries

Liberal and Muslim in the Same Sentence? 'Tis Very Possible

By Fabiola Hernandez, published Jul 02, 2008
Published Content: 78  Total Views: 202,442  Favorited By: 8 CPs
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The media and our history books feed us prefabricated ideas on how the Middle East is a closed, conservative bubble. It's a breeding ground for religious extremists and women have virtually no rights. But this is all wrong.

One cannot simply group countries across three different continents into the same category as radicals. While it is true that some nations such as Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have strict control over their people's lives, many Arabs enjoy a liberal lifestyle. The following are the most liberal Middle Eastern countries in the world, according to the State of the World Liberty Index.

Jordan - Freedom of religion is upheld in this small state of 5.8 million people; Christians and Jews are allowed to worship freely and they are officially recognized. Women are allowed to serve as cabinet ministers and the Jordanian government is working towards raising the percentage of women in public service. Women are not required to wear the veil, but in some places they wear it out of fear of being ostracized.

United Arab Emirates - Its GDP per capita is the 5th highest in the world and it has the fastest growing economy in the world. It is not a surprise than neighboring Saudis drive into Dubai and other parts of the UAE for the weekend. The clubs, bars, movie theatres, and world class shopping are abundant and control over print media is lax. Christians, Jews, and Hindi can practice their religions freely in this oasis of liberty in the desert of Islamic conservativeness we call the Middle East.

Turkey - This very secular and democratic Islamic nation has ties with the West through organizations such as NATO and is currently seeking entrance into the European Union. Its constitution protects all religions from discrimination; In particular, the Turkish strive for secularism can be viewed in their law that prohibits religious head garments being worn in government buildings, schools, and universities. The Turkish government invests a good portion of its funds into the promotion of fine arts, theatre, and architecture, moving its popular culture closer to that of Europe's.

 
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Top 5 Most Liberal Muslim Countries

Grand Mosque in Bahrain

Credit: Vladimir Arshinov

Copyright: Wikimedia Commons

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Takeaways
  • Kuwait has one of the most vocal media in the Middle East.
  • Its wealth is distributed amongst its middle class, making Bahrain more liberal than other nations.
  • The media and our history books feed us prefabricated ideas on the Middle East.
Did You Know?
Women are allowed to serve as cabinet ministers and the Jordanian government is working towards raising the percentage of women in public service.
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Comments
Showing Comments 1 - 8 of 8
 
 
What about Lebanon?! There are 15+ official religions, and as far as i know, they are practiced without any problem except for Jews. There havn't been Jews in Lebanon for a very long time. Otherwise, Lebanon is a pretty chill country religion-wise.

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Posted on 08/12/2008 at 8:08:15 PM

 
I do not agree with this list at all and wonder what the CP was smoking. To be accurate, there are a whole lot of Muslim countries outside of the Middle East that were not considered. #1 most liberal Muslim country should be Kazakhstan. While some of the southern countries of Central Asia are more strict, Kazakhstan's proximity to Russia and the vast Caucasian population that lives there have made the country the most tolerable to other creeds and religions. While over 50% is Muslim and it is the official religion, about 40% of the pop. is Christian and they live in harmony together wonderfully. Muslim/Christian marriages are common and while they have their traditions that were secretely practiced while part of the USSR, none of them are any different than most other religions and none of them takes away the rights of women or individuals. To be sure, there is variation with small villages in the south being vastly more conservative than northern cities.

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Posted on 08/12/2008 at 5:08:15 PM

 
Way to go. I'm really a fan of Dubai since they have an Internet City. Lots of big companies like Microsoft have offices there. They support entertainment: music and movies. Do an Internet search about it. Check my site

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Posted on 08/06/2008 at 1:08:22 PM

 
Erich, you have confused a veil with a burqa. A burqa is a garment that covers the entire body top to bottom. Since the author did not specify which kind of veil, it may have been a niqab, a headpiece that covers the head entirely, or a khimar, a headscarf that only covers the hair and breasts. Also, please remember that the Bible states that women should cover their hair (1st Corinthians, Chapter 11). This should not be surprising since Islam and Christianity are very closely related. ~Julia, neither a Muslim nor a Christian.

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Posted on 08/05/2008 at 11:08:22 PM

 
Carol.... oh please spare us the moral equivalence. We're talking about Muslim countries here... countries which routinely EXECUTE people for simply being GAY. Some states in America have a death penalty for the worst of the worst CRIMINALS. You know, people who rape, murder and torture others... it's hardly the same thing. (and for the record, I'm neither gay, nor a fan of the death penalty... but to compare it to the persecution of gays in muslim countries is the height of naivety.) Go ahead and keep ignoring the treatment of women in those countries as well... how wonderfully "liberal" of you.

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Posted on 08/05/2008 at 8:08:25 PM

 
I think this is a balanced piece and quite informative about different cultures of these different countries. As to Erich's comment- think how barbaric the US seems to many countries in the world for enforcing a death penalty.

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Posted on 08/05/2008 at 5:08:34 PM

 
Wow... this isn't exactly what I would call a positive endorsement. Wearing burkas out of fear of ostracism... being arrested for kissing in public... these are the BEST 5? I wonder how comfortable gays feel in those countries....? hum...? Or do they just deport their gay population, being liberal and all... (unlike the "conservative" muslim nations, who hang homosexuals)

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Posted on 08/05/2008 at 12:08:31 PM

 
UAE liberal? The internet is mindlessly controlled to stop anything that they do not like. This blocks use of voice messaging over the computer as in Skype. This extends down to even an electronic relay in my experience. If you do not have a VPN it is going to be pretty thin internet. The telephone monopoly charges bigtime to call europe or the US. The stores pretty much sell the same food, rather than food that salutes the 80% of the population that is expatriate. The companies have the law biased in their favor, and against the workers. Most of the workers are pretty much relegated to slave status in most jobs. As for liberalism, ask the UK lady getting sentenced to 6 years for a bit of sex.

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Posted on 08/01/2008 at 11:08:02 AM

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