It is tempting to assume that the tide of protests in Tunisia and Egypt that have led to the flight of one dictator and the unsettling of another, could, if taken at the flood, lead to democracy in the Islamic world. There is, however, no historical precedent to support it. But there is adequate evidence to show that popular uprisings in the Middle East are often seduced by the opiate of masses – Islam. It is instructive to remember that the revolution against the Shah of Iran was spearheaded by secular left forces before it was hijacked by the Islamists. Historically, the evolution of democracy all over the world has been in direct proportion to the decline of religiosity of the people. Freedom, rule of law and secular democratic institutions took root in Western Europe only after Christianity ceased to be a central factor in the lives of the people. In India, Hindu reformation during the Colonial period, spanning nearly a 100 years, enabled a peaceful transition to democracy; the absence of a similar movement within subcontinental Islam hindered its progress in Pakistan. While anti-Colonial movements in the Middle East, including in Egypt, had the underpinnings of Islam, they were held in check by secular dictators with a penchant for socialist rhetoric that was fashionable during the Cold War times. In the post-communist world, rebellion against authoritarian kleptocracy could give way to intolerant theocracy.