Claps…forgive some of us if chills don’t go up and down our spines. The absence of certain freedomes does not imply the absence of all freedomes. Restricted freedomes, one can argue, is actually a good thing.
More often than not, it was an oligarchy and the Caliph’s rule was not absolute. The Caliph could not rule wihtout support from key tribal figures.
Further, the concept of consulation is beyond a nice notion, it’s a requirement. Although not democractic per sae, at least Muslims can boast that they didn’t vote in a lunatic, who later convinced them en mass, to the tune of some 80% of them, to back an absurd war…you get the gist, I hope.
Elections are an ends to a means, and if one wants to get dogmatic and loopy over them, so be it.
The true value of democracy is not the elections, or even the vapid participation by the ignorant masses, but of checks and balances and divisions of power which is a true innovation that America has perhaps done best at, and has nothing to do with democracy really.
LOL…because, once the wall fell, they were pretty much left alone!