ISLAM AND THE MODERN WORLD

ISLAM AND
THE MODERN WORLD

THEME
ISLAM AND THE MODERN WORLD
The rise of Islam and the interaction of Muslims with other peoples of the planet is one of the greatest stories of the world history. Manifestly Islam became one of the leading religions of the world through the quality of its profound message, relevant approach and universal appeal to all mankind. It distinguished itself from other religions of the world when it repudiated the dogma of being a subjective experience of relationship with a deity or a state sponsored expediency through Priest craft. The Muslims saw their zenith and are now in a serious transition.
Notwithstanding its universal message of peace, brotherhood, intellectual and scientific contribution, it is being interpreted as a breeder of contempt, purveyor of fearful conformity and an entity fuelling intolerance and extremism. Traditional faith and practices are regarded by the West as a reflection of medieval times, suggesting that Islam perhaps cannot meet the challenges of the modern world.
Carry out in-depth analysis of success story of Islam, its current paradoxes encompassing suitable recommendations to address the contemporary challenges.

SUB THEME
The word Islam means peace and as such it lays great emphasis on moderation and growth of a society which is tolerant and is blessed with virtues like forbearance and restraint. The co-existence of many civilizations and cultures during the periods of Muslim glory bears testimony to this effect. Different in approach from other religions, Islam met phenomenal success during a very short period of time. Not withstanding this truth the West propagates vehemently that Islam spread through brute force and thrives on antagonism, violence thus branding it as an extremist religion. The recent manifestations of events have further exacerbated the delicate situation.
Carryout analyses of success story of Islam identifying its uniqueness vis-à-vis other religions, reasons of Islam being misunderstood as an extremist religion un-suitable for modern times with a view to iron out the current paradoxes.

ABSTRACT
Present day state of the Muslims is not reflective of their glorious past. After having ruled the world for centuries; the Muslims are now pushed back to wall. The Muslims, who were once the role models for the Black Continent, are now being treated as a threat to modern civilisation. There has been a steep descend in the role and influence of Muslims on international horizon over the past two centuries. The nations who used to be the centres of civilisation and modern sciences and who used to control the world economies are now forming the core of the third world and are subjected to dictates of the West.
Success story of Islam in its initial days is indeed a very novel phenomenon. The advent of Islam took place in one of the most backward regions of the world. The people of the region were well known for their brutalities and ignorance. However Islam with its universal approach and quality of teachings transformed these tribesmen into a World Power. The Muslim dynasties excelled around the globe and where ever the light of Islam went, large scale conversion to the new religion followed. The new religion appealed the people more than the other contemporary religions due to inherent quality of its message. The major driving force behind the success story of Islam was the treatment rendered by the Muslim rulers to the new subject. Minorities enjoyed full freedom of action and social justice and human rights were the pillars of the social setup. Contrary to all this, present day image of Islam is that of a religion spread by the use of force; propagating violence and brutalities. With this follows the idea that Islam is a religion of Stone Age and is unsuitable for a more complex and developed world and society.
Preface
Current image of Muslims in the world necessitates presenting before the world true picture of what Islam is, contrary to how it is being projected and being conceived by the Western World.
Since the topic is one of the leading debates the world over, finding material on the subject was not a problem. However, selecting quality authenticated material and then developing it in the correct direction proved to be the most important challenge during the course of the research. In that, guidance provided by the College Faculty from time to time proved to be vital.
Introduction
1. With the advent of Islam, the process of communication of Allah’s Will to his ambassador on earth concluded. As such, no prophet was to precede The Holy Prophet (PBUH) and no book was to precede the Holy Quran. Through the Prophet (PBUH) and Quran, Allah conveyed his teachings to the human beings which were to remain valid till the Day of Judgement. This Religion differed from all previous religions of the world in that it had a universal approach and a practical lesson, thereby ensuring that the worldly affairs and the religious obligations run parallel to each other. Owing to its practicability and a balanced approach, the religion spread in the world with an unprecedented speed. Its followers met phenomenal success in its initial days and soon the new religion was threatening centuries old civilizations.
2. Islam did not remain confined to the bounds of Arabian Peninsula for very long. Soon its followers were to be found in every corner of the earth. Muslim dynasties excelled over a period of next five centuries. They not only progressed militarily but were also recognised as centres of civilisation and modern sciences. Muslim societies always remained accommodative and the minorities had all the rights and resources to excel.
3. After having controlled the world affairs for centuries, Muslim dynasties started eroding. The Muslims started forgetting the lessons of Quran and the Holy Prophet (PBUH) and as a consequent were pushed back to wall. While the Muslims were addressing their own problems and disintegrating into smaller and smaller units, the Black Continent was acquiring knowledge and skills, once an attribute of the Muslims. Progressively all Muslim dynasties ceased to exist and were transformed into colonies of the West.
4. By the mid of the 20th century, most of the Muslim colonies managed to win independence from their masters. But this independence remained political in character only. These countries are following the dictates of the West and are dependent upon them for their very survival.
5. Recent events on the canvas of earth have further provided West with an opportunity to exploit the already fragile situation of the Muslims. Islam is now being propagated as a religion spread by force breeding violence. All Islamic states are being viewed with suspicion. Two global civilisations appear to be poised in a complex confrontation on various levels of human activity.
6. With Islam being labelled as a terrorist harbouring religion, the scope of development of Muslim countries is reducing day by day. Moreover, the past reality of Islam being the leading religion of the world is now becoming a reality too far. The situation demands Muslims to take immediate measures to come out of this state of dilemma. They have to present before the World the true picture of their religion and prove with their actions that they are still a force to reckon with.

Aim
7. To carryout an analysis of success story of Islam highlighting its uniqueness in comparison with the other religions of the world, identifying the roots and reasons of misplaced notion of Islam being an extremist religion, analysing it’s suitability as a universal religion of modern times and recommending measures for the Muslim Ummah to iron out the current paradoxes.

Part –I
Story of Rise & Fall
Rise of Islam and the Age of Caliphate (7th to 13th Centuries)
8. General. In the ancient world, the Arabian Peninsula was a cultural and religious backwater, only marginally affected by such great civilisations as those of Egypt, Israel, Phoenicia, Mesopotamia and Persia. Yet Islam arose in the centre of Arabia, the most culturally isolated and economically backward region, in the towns of Mecca and Medina. The personal faith of Muhammad and his enthusiast companions provided the catalyst for a mighty outpouring of the Arabs. Within less than a century after Muhammad’s death in 632, Arab warriors reached the Atlantic in Morocco and the Indus River in what is now Pakistan. Above all through Spain and Sicily, tentative cultural contacts were to become possible in the Middle Ages between the two largely closed and mutually suspicious worlds of Islam and Western Christendom .
9. But the most enduring and significant alterations in the political and religious map of the Mediterranean basin and the Near East resulted from the clash of the expanding Arabs with two old established empires, both of which had aspired to dominate ancient world, Byzantium and Sasanid Persia. Byzantium Empire was thrown back upon the mountainous heartlands of Anatolia and the Balkans. Intervening centuries witnessed an increased interaction between Greeks and Muslims. Byzantium was the one power which the Muslims really respected, both for the artistic glories of Byzantine civilisation and because the Byzantines were rightly regarded as the repositories of wisdom in such fields as science and medicine. In this way, the Greek influence on early Islamic culture became a lasting one, and affected not only the disciplines just mentioned but also the development of Islamic theology.
Age of Great Islamic Empires (13th to 18th Centuries)
10. Invasion of Mongols. The Mongol invasions of the Thirteenth and Fourteenth centuries constituted a time of troubles for all the Islamic lands east of Egypt. The Mongols under an outstanding leader, Chingiz Khan, irrupted both into China and into western Asia, the Islamic World. Within a few years of Chingiz’s appearance on the Oxus River in 1219, the Muslim power in central Asia and eastern Persia had been overturned. Baghdad fell to Chingiz’s Grandson Hulegu in 1258. A line of Abbasid Caliphs was set up soon after this in Cairo under Mamluk protection.
11. The various branches of the Western Mongols gradually adopted Islam. Despite the fact that the name of the Mongols ranks in the popular mind with those of perpetrators of mass destruction, this initial violence subsided.
12. The Mamluks. An alliance between Christian Europeans and the pagan Mongols against the Muslims of the Near East never materialised in the thirteenth century due to the vigour of a great imperial power in Egypt and Syria, that of the Mamluks. As their name implies (‘owned’) these were of slave status, gaining independent power in 1250 and retaining it till the Ottoman conquest of 1516-17.
13. The Ottoman Empire. In the fifteenth century the Mamluk state grew perceptibly poorer in resources and fighting manpower. The successive conquest of Syria and Egypt by the Ottomans in 1516 -17 therefore occasioned no surprise.
14. More than any other Muslim power of the late classical period, the Ottoman Turks struck terror into the hearts of Christian Europe to the extent that they were described as ‘The Present Terror of the World’. In 1354 they crossed into Europe, cutting off Constantinople in its rear, and expanded relentlessly into the Balkans. States like Serbia and Bulgaria were humbled, and for 500 years to come were to be nations without history. The Ottoman victory at Mohacs in 1526 brought most of Hungary under Turkish rule for a century-and-a-half, providing a base from which to threaten Austria and the very heart of Christian Europe.
15. Fall of Ottoman Empire. Christian Europe rallied in the seventeenth century after the Treaty of Karlowitz in 1699 was dictated to a defeated Turkey. Soon afterwards, the ‘Sick Man of Europe’ was born, to suffer a protracted decline of some two centuries. The Turks were pushed back through the Balkans; yet in its heyday, the Ottoman Empire was the most powerful and lasting state known to the Islamic world since the early Arab Caliphate.
16. In the opening years of the sixteenth century Shah Ismail Safavi brought the whole of Persia under his control with the capital at Isfahan. Safavids maintained their power for over two centuries, till in the early eighteenth century when they were overthrown by the Afghans .
17. Mughal Empires. The remaining great Muslim empire arose in Northern India, where the Turks and the Afghans founded military dynasties from the eleventh century onwards. All through its existence, the dominant feature of Indian Islam had been its minority position, numerically speaking, within a non-Islamic, predominantly Hindu environment; hence Muslim princes often ruled over extensive non-Muslim populations and relied on them as officials or soldiers.
18. The English settlements in India formed the bases for subsequent territorial expansion in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and it was the British who, in the aftermath of the Indian Mutiny, in 1858 deposed the last feeble representative of the Mughal line in Delhi.

Imperialism and Independence (19th & 20th Centuries)
19. Period of Decline. With the nineteenth century, the Islamic ‘Middle Ages’ drew to a close. European political and economic influence dominated the fringes and later the heartlands of Islam. In addition, the Russians pushed across Siberia and into Central Asia; the Dutch fastened their control upon Indonesia, the French extended their dominion over the local rulers of Morocco, Algiers and Tunis and the Italians seized Libya. In the late nineteenth century, the scramble for Africa brought extensive Muslim populations under French, British and German control.
20. After Napoleon’s Egyptian expedition of 1799-1801, the Near East was never the same again. Reaction in Egypt led to the overthrow of the Mamluk ruling class and the emergence of Muhammad Ali in 1805 as Governor of Egypt and founder of the Turkish dynasty which was to rule there till 1953.
21. The 1st World War saw the ending of Egypt’s formalities with Turkey. Her present national boundaries were secured, with the capital now moved to Ankara. The Arab lands were detached from Turkey. The ‘Palestine Problem’ also emerged during the War as Britain issued the Balfour Declaration in 1917 in favour of a national home there for the Jews.
Part – II
Islam as a Faith – An Analysis
What Islam Stands For?
22. Islam is the complete submission of man before God, the one and only faith consistently revealed by God to mankind from the very beginning. Noah, Ibrahim, Moses and Christ – Prophets who appeared at different times and places – all propagated the same faith.
23. What then distinguishes Muhammad (PBUH) from the other prophets? He was the last Prophet of God. God revived through him the same genuine faith which had been conveyed by all the former prophets. Islam in its pure and original form was transmitted to mankind through Muhammad (PBUH). Since there was to be no messenger after Muhammad, the Book revealed to Him was preserved word by word so that it should be a source of guidance for all times.
24. The life of Muhammad, and the manner in which he conducted himself, was also recorded in a unique manner by his companions and by later compilers of the Traditions. A more complete and authentic account of the life, sayings, and actions, of any prophet or historical personage has never been compiled. In this way, the Qur’an and the authentic Sunnah of the Prophet together became a reliable source for precise knowledge of what Islam is, what it stands for, what guidance it provides, and what obligations it places upon us.

The Pillars of Islam – An Analysis
25. Belief in Oneness of God. Among the fundamentals of Islam, the most important is belief in one God; He alone is the Creator, Master and Controller of all that exists. To associate anyone in His worship is as great a sin as it is an act of infidelity. He responds to man’s prayers and He alone has the power to accept or reject them.
a. The sovereignty of God in Islam is not just a supernatural phenomenon. It covers all aspects of political and legal sovereignty also, and in these too no-one other than God has any share.
b. Certain consequences flow naturally from this Islamic concept of God. God is the Master of man’s destiny and no one else can interfere with the fate of other or with his own fate. Man’s hopes and fears must, therefore, be directed only to God.
26. Belief in Prophet Hood of Muhammad (PBUH). We come now to our second most important belief- belief in Muhammad’s Prophet Hood. God conveyed His message to man through Muhammad. This took two forms – the Qur’an which God revealed to the Prophet and the Sunnah of the Prophet which is an unerring guide to man in respect of all that is permissible and all that is prohibited in the eyes of God.
a. Without this belief in the Prophet, belief in God would become a mere theoretical proposition. It is the example of practical leadership, and the ideological guidance provided by the Prophet, which transforms belief in God into a culture and a civilization, and enables man to evolve a way of life.
b. The Sunnah of Holy Prophet (PBUH) provides a practical manifestation of teachings of Quran and reinforces the practicability of words of Quran.
27. Belief in Hereafter. The third fundamental creed of Islam is belief in the hereafter – Akhirah. Denial of hereafter is the denial of Islam even though one may have belief in God, in the Prophet, and in the Qur’an.
a. Man has not been unleashed on the earth as an irresponsible savage. He is accountable to God for his actions. At the end we will all be called upon to render a complete account of our acts to God.
b. This concept in itself provides the life of Muslims an ultimate aim. It is not that the life is a short lived affair and will finish hereafter, but the aims and objectives to be pursued in the life have everlasting fallouts.
28. The above discussion reveals that Islam represents a whole civilization, a complete culture and a comprehensive world order. It provides moral guidance in all walks of life. This is why Islamic values are not solely for the ascetic who renounces the world, but for him who actively participates in different spheres of life, and works within them.

Islam as a Code of Life – An Analysis
29. General. The role of the Prophet Muhammad and the revealed message which he communicated to mankind were revolutionary; they brought about a radical transformation in society. Man was freed from slavery to innumerable nameless and arbitrary forces into the service of One God. He learned of the dignity of man, and the universal brotherhood and equality of all men before God.
30. Analysis. The liberal and revolutionary concepts of Islam and its Prophet Muhammad, which transformed society in the seventh century, are still today amongst the most potent forces at work for the betterment of humanity. They provided the impetus for a new age of culture and civilization, arts and learning, material and spiritual progress.
a. First and foremost he proclaimed belief in the Oneness of God. Man’s life was spent in fear of the unknown and helpless belief in nameless powers, which could not but foster confusion, cowardice, doubt and indecision. By removing the fear of all else save God alone, the Prophet of Islam made man a self-reliant, courageous and rational believing being.
b. The second great favour conferred by the Messenger of God on human beings was the concept of the equality and brotherhood of all mankind. Before him the world was divided into innumerable castes and creeds, some claiming nobility for them and condemning others. It was from Muhammad that the world first heard the revolutionary message of human equality.
c. The third great gift bestowed by the Prophet of Islam is the concept of human dignity. During the age of darkness, none was more humiliated than man. It was solely through Muhammad the Prophet that men came to appreciate the fact that the human beings were entitled to much more regard, respect and honour than any other creature.
d. The doctrine of forgiveness of sins was one of the most bounteous gifts of Islam to mankind. This gospel of hope was a revolutionary message to despondent humanity condemned for ever by the guilt of original sin and past misdeeds.
31. In the ancient world, the prevalent view was that the path of salvation lay not through the rough and rumble of life, but only in isolation from the social, economic and political problems of worldly pursuits. Forced by this dichotomy to choose between the world and religion, large numbers of the most able people dissociated themselves from the rigours and constraints of religion. The teachings of Quran and practical example of Holy Prophet (PBUH) persuaded men of religion and men of the world to unite in bringing about God’s kingdom on earth. It would be difficult to conceive a more complete transformation of life than the one brought about by the fusion of the secular and the sacred.
32. Analysis carried out in this part of the paper reveals that the unprecedented success of Islam was attributed to the dynamic teachings of Islam, universal approach of the religion and the very nature of its teachings which were new phenomena for the entire world in general and the Arabs in particular.

Part III
Uniqueness in Comparison with
Contemporary Religions
The Word Islam
33. The religion of Jesus bears the name of Christianity, derived from his designation of Christ; that of Moses and of Buddha are known by the respective names of their teachers. The religion of Mohammad alone has a distinctive appellation. It is Islam.
34. In order to from a just appreciation of the religion of Mohammad, it is necessary to understand the true significance of the word Islam. Salam (salama), in its primary sense, means, to be tranquil, at rest, to be at perfect peace; in its secondary sense, to surrender oneself to Him with whom peace is made .

Varied Beliefs of Arabs
35. Let us now take a brief retrospect of the religious conceptions of people of the world when the Prophet of Islam commenced his preaching. Among the heathen Arabs the idea of Godhead varied according to the culture of the clan. Some believed in a future life; others had no idea of it whatever. And thus there floated in the Arab World an intangible, unrealised conception of a superior deity, the Lord of all.
The Jews
36. The Jews probably might have assisted in the formation of conception of Phallic Worship. But the mass of the Jews had never, probably, thoroughly abandoned the worship of the Teraphim; a sort of household god made in the shape of human beings, and consulted them on all occasions, perhaps more as guardians.
37. The Mosaic Law contained no ordinances respecting prayers: only on the payment of tithes to the priests, and the domestic solemnity of the presentation of the firstlings, was there a prescribed formula of a prayer and acknowledgment. The necessity for the service of priests, combined with the absence of any positive precedent coming down from the Lawgiver himself, tended to make prayer, in the majority of cases, merely mechanical.
The Christians
38. When Jesus made his appearance in Judea, the doctrine of divine unity and of a supreme Personal Will, overshadowing the universe with its might and grace, received acceptance only among one race—the worshippers of Jehovah.
39. His conception of the “Fatherhood” of God embraced all humanity. All mankind were the children of God, and he was their Teacher sent by the Eternal Father. The Christian had thus a nobler exemplar before him. But six centuries had surrounded the figure of Jesus with those followers who, in opposition to his own words, resolved him into a manifestation of the Godhead. The ‘Servant’ took the place of the ‘Master’ in the adoration of the world.
40. The teaching of Jesus, representing a later development of the religious faculty in man, recognised the true character of Prayer. But the want of some definite rule for the guidance of the masses, left them completely to the mercy of priests, who monopolised the office for regulating the number, length, and the terminology of prayers .
Hinduism
41. The early Hindu worship consisted of sets of acts, oblations and sacrifice accompanied with invocations. The sacrifice could be performed only by the priest according to rigid and unalterable formula. Without religious feeling or enthusiasm, the worshipper stood by, as a passive spectator of the worship, which was performed on his behalf.

The Religion of Muhammad (PBUH)
42. Against all the absurdities described above, the life-aim of Mohammad was directed. Addressing, with the voice of truth, inspired by deep communion with the God of the Universe, Mohammed, that “master of speech” as he has been truly called, never travelled out of the province of reason. Mohammed the grand apostle of the unity of God stands forth in history in noble conflict with the retrogressive tendency of man to associate other beings with the Creator of the universe. And so on goes this wonderful book, appealing to the nobler feelings of man, __ his inner consciousness and his moral sense.
43. The Advent of Islam. All these evils had culminated to a point in the seventh century, when the Prophet of Arabia began to preach a reformed religion. Major reforms set forth by this new religion are as under:
a. Regulating the Prayers. In instituting prayers, Mohammed recognised the yearning of the human soul to pour out its love and gratitude to God and by making the practice of devotion periodic, he impressed that disciplinary character on the observance of prayer which keeps the thoughts from wandering into regions of the material.
b. Direct Interaction with Almighty. Islam recognises no caste of priesthood, allows no monopoly of spiritual knowledge or special holiness to intervene between man and his God. Each soul rises to its Creator without the intervention of priest or hierophant.
c. Custom of Annual Pilgrimage. The wisdom which incorporated into Islam the time honoured custom of annual pilgrimage to Mecca and to the shrine of the Kaaba, has breathed into Mohammed’s religion a freemasonry and brotherhood of faith in spite of sectarian divisions.
d. Intoxication and gambling, the curse of Christian communities, and the bane of all uncultured and inferior natures, and excesses of all kinds, were rigorously prohibited.

The Comparison – Uniqueness of Islam
44. Nothing can be simpler or more in accord with the advance of the human intellect than the teachings of the Arabian Prophet. The few rules for religious ceremonial which he prescribed were chiefly with the object of maintaining discipline and uniformity, so necessary in certain stage of society; but they were by no means of an inflexible character.
45. The wonderful adaptability of Islamic precepts to all ages and nations; their entire concordance with the light of reason: the absence of all mysterious doctrines to cast a shade of the sentimental ignorance, all prove that Islam represents the latest development of the religious faculties of our being. Those who have ignored the historic significance of some of its precepts to present modes of thought ought to exclude it from any claim of universality. But a little inquiry into the historic value of laws and precepts, a little more fairness in the examination of facts, would evince the temporary character of such rules as may appear scarcely consonant with the requirements of prejudices of modern times.
46. The practical character of a religion, its abiding influence on the common relations of mankind, in the affairs of everyday life, its power on the masses, are the true criteria for judging of its universality. We do not look to exceptional minds to recognise the nature of a religion. We search among the masses to understand its true character. Does it exercise deep power over them? Does it elevate them? Does it regulate their conception of rights and duties? __ are the questions we naturally ask. In Islam is joined a lofty idealism with the most rationalistic practicality. It did not ignore human nature; it never entangled itself in the tortuous pathways which lie outside the domains of the actual and the real. Its sole object was the elevation of humanity towards the absolute ideal of perfection.
47. The success of Islam in the seventh century of the Christian era, and its rapid and marvellous diffusion over the surface of the globe, were due to the fact that it recognised this essential need of human nature. To a world of wangling sects and creeds, to which words were of far greater importance than practice, it spoke in terms of positive command, it aimed at the integration of the worship of a Personal Will, and thereby to recall humanity to the observance of duty which pointed to the path of spiritual development. And by its success in lifting up the lower races to a higher level of social morality it proved to the world the need of a positive system. It taught them sobriety, temperance, charity, justice and equality as the commandments of God. With these lessons as the main theme of teachings of Islam, it remains the most suitable religion for mankind till date.

Part IV
Western Perception of the Muslim World
Historical Back Ground & Recent Developments
Historical Back Ground
48. There has never been a situation of interaction between the West and the Muslim world when there was an absence of suspicion, misperception, and latent hostility. It has been unequal ness that defines the relationship between the West and the Muslim World. Historical relationship between the West and the Muslim World would be discussed to identify the roots of this hostility. An attempt will be made to highlight how Western attitude and perceptions toward Muslims continue to shape and determine its present relationship with the Muslim world .
49. Geographical Proximity. The first thing to note is the contiguity of the West and the Muslim World, a geo-historical fact basically unchanged for the past fourteen centuries. If the crucible of Islam had not been in the Arabian peninsula and the Mediterranean basin and stood instead at a physical distance from Europe, the history of the relationship between the West and the Muslim World would have been significantly different and in the same measure perhaps less acrimonious. From the very outset of the Prophetic mission of Muhammad it was inevitable that Muslims and Christians would become locked in a contest.
50. In the first ten centuries after the revelation of the Quran to Muhammad was completed, the Christian West succeeded in maintaining a very difficult posture of defensive containment of the dynamic expansionism of Muslims.
51. It was Europe’s millennial relationship with Islam, the cultural interactions and military engagements, the Crusades and its memories, that shaped Europe’s and the West’s attitude towards Muslims and Islam.
52. Maxine Rodinson, the well-known and respected French scholar of the Arab and Islam, observed pithily, “Western Christendom perceived the Muslim World as a menace long before it began to be seen as a real problem. “This perception of the Muslims as a “Menace”, of Islam as a religious challenge to the doctrines of Christianity and of the expanding Arab-Muslim Empire as a mortal threat to Christendom generated a virulent response from the Church. The Muslim adversary was powerful and competent, and it threatened to overrun the lands of the Latin Church. The military defence of Western Christendom also required mounting an ideological offence against Muslims and Islam. Hence, the full force of Church polemic was unleashed to describe Muslims as pagans and Islam as a heresy.
53. The essential features of the anti-Islamic polemics were set forth during the very first century of the Arab-Muslim expansion. John of Damascus, a Syrian Christian in the early 8th century, was among the early polemicists to construct the main arguments against Islam. The main line of Christian reaction to Islam has remained essentially unchanged from the period of John of Damascus to modern times, since the area of contention between Christianity and Islam remains the same.
54. Once the Muslim threat was contained and reversed, a more objective and less defamatory view of Muslims and Islam began to be entertained in the West. From the 16th century onwards Europe outflanked the central Islamic zone. The Renaissance launched Europe into a process of cumulative changes which brought about the twin political and industrial revolutions of the 18th century. This produced a gap between Europe and the Muslim world in the 19th century, which has widened ever since.
55. Unlike the Europeans who learned from Muslims in the “Golden Age of Islam”, the 9th through the 12th centuries, the generation of 1789 felt supremely self-confident. For Voltaire, just as later for Marx, Muslim religious consciousness and the values of Islam reflected the largely irrational nature of mankind. This negative perception of Muslims is continually reinforced in the imperialist age as Muslims refuse fully to concede defeat and accept the political-cultural supremacy of the West.

Recent Developments and the Failure of the Muslim World
56. It is an indisputable reality that Muslims have not successfully met the challenge of the “Great Western Transmutation”. They are on the negative or low investment side of the developmental gap. In the contemporary situation, the Muslim world is decidedly a large portion of the “Third World’, mired in the poverty, illiteracy, diseases, marginalization, and underdevelopment.
57. In the very recent events at the canvas of globe, we have played at the hands of the Western World whereby some elements of the Muslim World reinforced the negative perception of the West about the Muslims. Events of September 11th are a practical manifestation of the same.
58. Facing a unidirectional threat, the Muslim Ummah is not united to meet this threat. Today the Muslim countries are following their own national interests and in pursuit of the same, they have lost sight of where lies the interest of Ummah.
59. Chaos and confusion rather than consciousness and creativity are reigning supreme in the Muslim World. A very unhealthy development has been the spread of narrow nationalism among Muslim Intelligentsia creating further obstacles in the way of unity. Political frontiers strengthened and abetted by nationalism appear difficult to be demolished in the foreseeable future with Pan-Islamism remaining a dream unrealised.
60. The failure in terms of political institution building is equally demoralizing. There are 46 member countries in the Organization of Islamic Conference, and not one of these countries has yet worked out a successful model of democratic-representative from of government.
61. Today the Muslim World is lagging behind in the field of Science and Technology. In order to have weight in our point of view, we must be a force to reckon with. It is high time the Muslims give due weight age to this facet and embark upon a programme of scientific and technological development.
62. Muslim failure with the media has been another grey area. It not only provided West with an opportunity to project the events as per their own designs, but also denied the Muslims the opportunity to project what Islam actually is and how it can address the evils of the modern society.

Part V
Challenges of Modern Times and Islam
An Analysis
Features of the Modern Era
63. In the fifties, when many Muslim countries had gained their independence, a series of problems emerged. The colonial rulers had left the new nations in the state of economic and mental dependency. All this led to the break-up, disintegration and dislocation of the economies, cultures and societies of the Muslim world, as well as countless Muslim minds.
64. Alongside the modernisation has brought about concepts of nationalism, socialism and capitalism and secularism. A new World Order has been shaped, Western Societies, in spite of their technological developments face challenges of anxiety, confusion and mental dissatisfaction and a gulf between religion and science has been created which is seemingly getting wider day by day. These new trends would be discussed in the light of message of Islam and it will be ascertained as to how Islam provides a rational solution to these challenges. At the end, a comparison between Islam and the other leading religions of the World will be made to ascertain whether Islam still remains the most suitable religion, in the modern times.
65. Islam vs Nationalism. Nationalism demands and secures, if necessary by force, the total and supreme loyalty of the people to a nation. Islam, on the other hand, demands loyalty, submission and dedication to the one and only God and recognises no other loyalty. Some other arguments are:
a. Nationalism is a form of glorified tribalism, and Islam abolished tribalism.
b. Nationalism has given rise to the structure of the modern nation-state which demands the promotion of its own interests in preference and at the cost of all others. It is the primary cause of all modern conflicts and wars and the condition of mutual terror that exists between nation and nation and man and man.
c. Nationalism thrives on such diverse factors as territory, language, culture and racial superiority. Islam, on the other hand, recognises no geographical, linguistic, cultural or racial barriers .
66. Islam vs Socialism
a. The socialist philosophy merely replaces tribalism with economic classes and is based on the assumption that man acts in his class interests.
b. Islam, on the other hand, motivates man’s social and economic conduct in such a way that no one pursues greed and acquisitiveness which characterise the capitalist system; Islam enjoins the pursuit of collective good in a collective framework in which the individual goals are attained without incurring social costs: Islam unifies the social order in a brotherhood of man which ensures more than any welfare state or socialists system that the weakest members of the society, if any, are fully protected .
67. Islam vs Secularism
a. There is no common ground between secularism and Islam. The fundamental assumption of secularism is that material well-being in the present world is an essential means to human happiness. That material well-being does not remain a means and becomes an end in itself is a major dilemma of secular culture. Its main orientation has to be towards maximum efficiency.
b. Let us turn now to the material gains which are overtaking secular society. The disturbing side-effects of growth have assumed alarming proportions. Any decline in growth now will bring about an inevitable deterioration in the quality of life and that is unacceptable to secular man. Secular society is facing an institutional collapse. The situation has not come about as a result of any external challenge but as a direct consequence of a fundamental duality which has gradually destroyed the basis of every secular institution.
The World System
68. Over the last decade or so, we have come to an important realisation: the world community is evolving into a system: the previously more or less independent parts are becoming more and more interlinked and interdependent. A consequence of the system’s character is that a disturbance in any one part of the world spreads quickly all over and, indeed, may trigger off a chain reaction .
69. That certain trends are threatening the world system. The main ones amongst these are the menace of global terrorism, the increasing rate of depletion of renewable resources, increasing trends towards modernisation and industrialisation of practically all human activities, the increasing trend towards urbanisation and growth of the megalopolis, the increasing gap between the developed and the developing countries, the increasing dependence on technology and increasing isolation from nature, and alienation of man: from nature, from other men and from himself.

The Muslim System
70. The Muslim system is a traditional system. Its most basic principle is that it is goal-orientated. Traditionally, the goal of the Muslim system is to seek the pleasure of Allah. That is, to create and maintain an environment in which Islam can be operationalised in all its manifestations. Thus, in contemporary terms, the goal is the maintenance and stability of the system itself. Stability, in terms of the Muslim system, is its ability to maintain its basic parameters in the face of change and hence ensure its operational continuity.
71. When we view the Muslim world as an interactive, holistic system, we see that there is no place in it for paternalism, let alone the domination of one nation – state over another. The system demands sharing of experience and information, cooperation in scientific, technical and commercial fields and coordination of activities on the international level – in fact, the system needs the operational form of the concept of Shura.
72. The prime goal of the system is to develop a stable relationship with its environment, yet adjust to changes in space-time relationships. Both values and goals are a means for the Muslim system to adjust to change.

The Ills of Western Societies – The Remedy
73. West now recognizes the absence of spiritual values as the main reason behind the anxiety, confusion, madness, suicide, many other psychological and nervous disorders, and the feeling of perplexity and illusion among youth, all of which constitute a threat to the security, peace and welfare of humanity, despite all the material progress achieved during the last two centuries .
74. There is a deep-rooted contradiction between body and soul that can be only conciliated by suppressing one in favour of the other. One either suppresses the body to free the soul, or suppresses the soul in order to attain material emancipation. But, in reality, in neither case does suppression lead to goodness.
75. Islam, on the other hand, provided the balanced alternative which harmonises soul and body and disposed off any contradiction and conflict between them. Islam never accepted the idea of an irreconcilable conflict between these two entities. Moderation or equilibrium lies at the basis of God’s creation. And it is Islam which restores to man the balance and moderation with which he is endowed by God.

Gulf between Religion and Science – The Reply
76. A similar split occurred between religion and science. Man has an instinctive disposition to worship, yet he has too an instinctive disposition to know the secrets of the material world around him, and to subject these to his power. Both dispositions are instinctive and authentic: both are innate. No necessary contradiction, split or conflict exists between them. Divine Revelation provided no grounds for it, but man’s errors have created conflict and dispute between them. This dichotomy occurred in Europe at the beginning of the Renaissance when the Church opposed science and scholars, and threatened to bury, torture and kill people of science such as Copernicus, Galileo and Jordano Bruno. As time passed, the gap widened and the conflict deepened.
77. This misinterpretation of the nature of the relationship between the two subjects could not help but disturb man’s balance and security. It aroused conflict in man’s inner self between two genuine elements each requiring satisfaction. His anxiety is reinforced, and when he is forced to choose between satisfying his immediate needs, and fulfil the religious obligations thereby addressing a world altogether less real and tangible whose existence, in any case, he doubts, the decision likely to be made becomes evident.
78. Islam in its simplicity eliminates this contradiction again by means of a realistic and simple procedure. The God, who man worships in his prayers, is the same God who gave man knowledge for the first time, and the same God who invites man still to learning and knowledge. Thus comes the unity of orientation through the Oneness of God. Islam establishes a unity between religion and science and learning as between religion and life.

Suitability of Islam for Modern Times
79. This century has witnessed the growth among humans of a new awareness, namely, that mankind must live together, every group of it interdependent upon all the others. Fortunately Islam presents us with an excellent base, rational and critical, as well as tested by fourteen centuries of history. Our need for a sure and promising foundation on which to build a world-order of human relations obliges us to listen, to consider and to learn from Islam.

80. Contemporary Religions in Modern Times
a. Roman Catholic Church offers no salvation outside its bounds. That no one will be saved unless he is a member of the Catholic Church of Rome. As to Protestantism, we have still heard nothing regarding Islam except rumours and hearsay from individuals .
b. Judaism and Hinduism are ethnocentric religions by nature. In modern times, they have resurged more ethnocentric than ever. They offer no prospects of a dialogue with the other world religions.
81. Islam’s theory of other faiths still commands the loyalty and support of a billion Muslims around the world. It provides us with the best foundation for a religious world in which the religions honour one another’s claims without denying their own. It also provides us with the only legitimate foundation for seeking the religious unity of mankind.

Part VI
Recommendations
82. After having analysed the threat in fourth part of the paper and having discussed the validity of Islam as the most suitable religion for modern times, this part of the paper will give certain recommendations which can assist the Muslims of the world to come out of the current crisis and gradually move towards the glory which had been their hallmark in the past. The recommendations are given in ensuing paras.

83. Self Realisation. Today Muslim world lies prostrate before the West, divided, dumb and docile, stunned at the immense gap that exists between themselves and others. Realizing that they cannot match the west in either power or progress they are deeply perturbed. They should realize that they have very powerful weapons in their armoury which they have not been using for centuries. The weapons are the Quran___ the best code of life, and the Sunnah___ its finest demonstration. As already pointed out, these weapons have been tried by Muslims again and again for centuries and unfailingly, they enabled the Muslims to come out with a proper response to every challenge.
84. Religious Tolerance. Both in precept and practice Muslims were liberal, tolerant, and broadminded towards non-Muslims as well as towards Muslims holding different beliefs and giving various interpretations to Quranic verses. We do not hear of religious wars in Muslim history or of large-scale persecutions by the governments. Rigidity, obstinacy and narrow-mindedness in matters of religion among Muslims are later developments which are the result of several unhealthy factors. They were the cause as well as the consequence of decline and must be given up in the larger interest of the Ummah.
85. Liberal and Dynamic View. In this state of disarray, Islamic ideology and Muslim culture can be helpful provided we adopt a dynamic and liberal view, a universal and enlightened outlook, on accommodating and accepting attitude. For this, we do not have to give up the broad outline delineated by the Quran nor the simple cultural constraints imposed by its ideology. The only requirement is to keep Islam an easy religion and not make it difficult as was done by the protagonists of other faiths.
86. Unity of Ummah. The aspect of the unity of the Ummah is the most important factor in Muslim response to the challenge of the West because in today’s highly advanced world, pooling of resources is essential for any material progress. USA and other developed countries could become great powers because of the enormous resources at their disposal. Without achieving this objective, any steps for material progress and scientific and technological advance will hardly make any impact.
87. Meeting the Challenge of Fragmentation. Muslim response to the challenge of nationalism and political fragmentation imposed by the West has to take a route through the masses rather than through the bosses. Sufi organisational structure built up in the 12th century A.D. and later, can be adopted as a model with strapping of modern communication media attached and applied according to requirements. The Sufi organisational structure was so powerful and enduring that it enabled Muslim society to absorb the shock of devastating Mongol onslaught in the 13th century. It was established at the grass-rout level, among the masses, with frequent travelling linking one centre with the other through out the Muslim world, keeping communication constantly alive. This constant exchange of views, deliberation over common problems, efforts to evolve ways and means to combat inimical forces kept the spirit of unity throbbing in the hearts of Muslim masses and strengthened their faith in Islamic ideology. Pan – Islamism should be organised at the level of the masses and the intelligentsia through a chain of centres all over the Islamic world, having purely socio-cultural objectives to begin with .
88. Stable State Institutions. A great failure of most Muslim countries has been to establish sound and stable institutions in the political, judicial, economic and scientific fields. There is a dire need to establish stable state institutions to strive for national development and the development of Ummah as a whole.

89. Scientific Research. Muslims must concentrate on commitment to scientific research without giving up religion to achieve material progress. To begin with, Muslims should set up as many scientific laboratories as within their means and devote their talent to research work. Secondly, the Muslim World should change from an agricultural base to an industrial base which is a vital requisite for progress.
90. The Proper use of Media. Anyone today with access to a television, radio or newspaper will have been recently inundated with negative images of Muslims. In the age of the media, of the sound bite and of television images, Muslims have not yet found a way of expressing themselves adequately. Media can be used as a strong weapon to communicate Islamic point of view and to reduce the misunderstandings between West and the Islamic World. There is a need of a strong Islamic news channel which could be used to propagate the point of view of Muslims, just as leading channels like BBC and CNN are used by the West. There is also a requirement for Muslims to be visible in the Western media more frequently, on discussion programmes, on the radio and so on. It would allow them to project their point of view as well as to counter their exotic and alien image.
91. Outstanding Irritants. Finally, the major problems that cause so much anger and distress amongst Muslims need to be addressed: those of the Bosnians in Europe, the Palestinians in the Middle East and the Kashmir’s in South Asia. The West must illustrate to the Muslims that justice will be done in these cases; that the United Nations does not act only to hammer its enemies. In turn Muslims masses must exercise restraint and demonstrate that foreign embassies, diplomats, travellers and non-Muslims are safe in their countries.

Conclusion
92. Story of rise of Muslims as a world power is a unique one in the history of mankind. The Muslims rose from one of the remotest regions of the world and threatened the centuries old established civilisation. As such, these civilisations always

perceived Muslims as a threat. The Muslims who in their days of dominance were accommodative always found an atmosphere of hostility from their rivals. In the past century or so, many Muslim states have won independence from their Colonial Masters but in a way still remain their subject. The current state of Muslims is not reflective of their being followers of a religion which is most dynamic and progressive.

93. The current state of affairs whereby West is propagating Islam as a backward and brutal religion is not a new story. Our response to the current crisis will have to be a calculated one. We will have to act more intelligently realising the gravity of the threat and taking long term remedial measures. With an intelligent, modern and correctly directed approach we can still find a way out. Unlike individuals, civilisations have an infinite capacity of self regeneration. They can pull themselves back from the very edge of the crisis and regain balance. This is the time for Muslim society to assert its right to organise its existence according to its principles. If we fail, we may have failed for ever.

Annex A

ISLAM AND THE CHALLENGES OF 21ST CENTURY

EXTRACTS OF TALK BY DR ANIS AHMAD
AT COMMAND AND STAFF COLLEGE, QUETTA
(24 JUN 2002)

1. Features of 21st Century
a. Technology in society.
b. Communication of information.
c. End of Cold War and rise of Unipolarism.
d. Development of Ideological Exclusivism; Capitalism is system of the day.
e. Age of Clash of Civilizations.

2. Western View of Islam
a. Islam is an anti-Christian faith. The same concept was propagated by the famous Christian writer Martin Luther (1483-1546). This concept is contrary to truth as the great Crusades were not started by Muslims but by Christians.
b. All attempts have been made to distort the image of Holy Prophet (PBUH).
c. No attempt has been made to understand the concept of Holy War. The concept has been understood wrongly and is being widely propagated in the same manner.
d. Religious emotionalism is used to grasp political powers.
e. Islam is unjust to women in that there is discrimination in the law of inheritance, evidence of women is not treated equal in court and women are denied political leadership.
f. Islam is against the idea of “Liberal Democracy”.

3. Recent Western Comments about Islam
a. Muslim fundamentalism is being declared as dangerous a threat as Communism was once. (Comments by the Secretary General NATO in a TV interview).
b. From November 1994 to May 1997, the Daily Telegraph published 194 items using term Fundamentalism out of which 142 items were used against Islam.
c. Distorted images of Muslims conducting acts of terrorism against Westerns and women are being published in various periodicals as a routine matter.

4. Muslim View of West
a. West stands for Godless materialistic ideology devoid of spirituality and values of morality.
b. It stands for political, racial and cultural colonialism.
c. It stands for crusading anti-Islamic civilization.
d. It stands for modernity, liberalism, democracy and secularism.
e. It has most of the good teachings of Islam except belief in Allah and the Holy Prophet (PBUH).

5. Muslim Understanding of Islam
a. Ritualistic Religion.
b. Spiritualism.
c. A legalistic Religion.
d. Concerned about personal salvation more and about the society less.
e. Muslims ourselves have not justified the obligations of Islam.

6. Quranic point of view of Islam
a. Universalistic and comprehensive guidance.
b. Dynamic view of Din; religion has not a narrow connotation.

7. Challenges of 21st Century
a. Globalization of economy, political power, culture, media and education.
b. Economic blackmail of 3rd World Countries.
c. Enforced alliance with the World Power. Only other alternative is to become her enemy.
d. Intellectual and cultural crisis.
e. Social crisis.
f. Moral crisis or crisis of values.
g. Beginning of a “Crusade” or clash of civilizations.

8. Muslim Response
a. Need to study and understand Islamic Culture, values and thoughts.
b. Non-apologetic, simple, straight forward and honest communication of Islam.
c. Rebuilding confidence in values of Iman, Taqwa and Jihad.
d. Adoption of simple living, complete trust in Allah and adoption of Islamic way of living.
e. Must guard against getting dissolved in the cultural assault of the West.
f. Development of Islamic personality and building of Muslim family.
g. Development of Ummatic attitude as compared to individualism.
h. Development of a knowledge based society.
j. Excellence in thought through an integrated use of ijtihad and technological developments of modern times.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. The Challenge of Islam by Altaf Gauhar
2. The Future of Muslim Civilization by Ziauddin Sardar
3. The Spirit of Islam by Ameer Ali
4. Islamic Civilization by RM Savory
5. THE HEIGHTS Glory of Muslim World by Ahmed Abdulla
6. Living Islam by Akbar S Ahmed
7. Periodical “IRANIAN JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS” Article by Salim Mansur
8. Talk delivered by Dr Anis Ahmad to students of Staff College 2002 on “Islam and Challenges of 21st Century “on 24 June 2002.