One of the fundamental, cross-party, basic operating principles for mainstream political parties in Canada and most Western democracies is that there ought to be a healthy separation between church and state. Canada — and most Western democracies — have nominally Christian majorities.
Interestingly, a new survey by the Pew Research Center says that in those countries where the majority population (or a near-majority) is Muslim, there is a very different view of the relationship between church and state.
The survey also finds that Muslim publics overwhelmingly welcome Islamic influence over their countries' politics. In Egypt, Pakistan and Jordan, majorities of Muslims who say Islam is playing a large role in politics see this as a good thing, while majorities of those who say Islam is playing only a small role say this is bad for their country. Views of Islamic influence over politics are also positive in Nigeria, Indonesia, and Lebanon.
Turkish Muslims express more mixed views of the role Islam is playing in their country's political life. Of the 69% who say the religion plays a large role, 45% see it as good and 38% see it as bad for their country. Among the minority of Muslims who say Islam plays a small role in politics, 26% consider this to be good for Turkey and 33% say it is bad.
Pew also reports that “Muslim publics” also think democracy is the best form of government
…majorities in most of the Muslim communities surveyed say that democracy is preferable to any other kind of government. This view is especially widespread in Lebanon and in Turkey, where at least three-quarters of Muslims (81% and 76%, respectively) express a preference for democratic governance. Support for democracy is less common in Pakistan, but a plurality (42%) of Muslims in that country prefer democracy to other types of government; 15% of Pakistani Muslims say that, in some circumstances, a non-democratic government can be preferable, and 21% say that, for someone like them, the kind of government their country has does not matter.