Al-Qaeda opposed what it regards of man-made laws in favor of sharia law.
 Esposito and DeLong-Bas distinguish four attitudes toward Sharia and democracy prominent among contemporary Muslims:Advocacy of democratic ideas, often accompanied by a belief that they are compatible with Islam, which can play a public role within a democratic system, as exemplified by many protestors who took part in the Arab Spring uprisings;Support for democratic procedures such as elections, combined with religious or moral objections toward some aspects of Western democracy seen as incompatible with sharia, as exemplified by Islamic scholars like Yusuf al-Qaradawi;Rejection of democracy as a Western import and advocacy of traditional Islamic institutions, such as shura (consultation) and ijma (consensus), as exemplified by supporters of absolute monarchy and radical Islamist movements;Belief that democracy requires restricting religion to private life, held by a minority in the Muslim world
 Al-Qaeda seems implacably opposed to it, as it holds Shi'ism to be heresy

