Due to the experience of contemporary political battles, especially in the Middle East, Islam is often portrayed as fundamentally intolerant of and hostile to individual freedom. But the presence of diversity and variety within a tradition applies very much to Islam as well. In India, Akbar and most of the other Moghul emperors (with the notable exception of Aurangzeb) provide good examples of both the theory and practice of political and religious tolerance. The Turkish emperors were often more tolerant than their European contemporaries. Abundant examples can also be found among rulers in Cairo and Baghdad. Indeed, in the twelfth century, the great Jewish scholar Maimonides had to run away from an intolerant Europe (where he was born), and from its persecution of Jews, to the security of a tolerant and urbane Cairo and the patronage of Sultan Saladin.

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Related to the last article - interesting discussion in the comments on the articles

As part of the Western imagination, democracy, as a universal value, is believed to be a fundamental prerequisite to the creation of a modern nation-state. In our contemporary history, other forms of government are considered by many in the West - and are particularly portrayed in the media - as antiquated, barbaric, backwards and even suffocating to the populations they govern. Put simply, democracy is accepted by many as a given, something that should just be; and the few intellectuals who do challenge even the most basic principals of democracy are vilified with associations to "communists," "anti-capitalists," and "dictators."