Below is a draft of somethings that came in to my mind rushing. Read it today after a long time. This is a rough draft that I want to make into several articles that are based on understanding threats that Islam faces today and their possible solutions. It would be of great help if you please share your thoughts, suggestions, critics and any resources here.
I finally found my muse in the article I just read by Robert and an article written by khawaja ahsan-ul-haq and a reheard lecture of Dr. Asad Zaman.
Economics is talked about like there is nothing else matters. What any country country needs to prosper is a healthy growth rate of GDP, a well accumulated pool of foreign reserves and a peaceful environment to sustain this development. Any country that needs to cater the rampant corruption or that needs to take care of governance has to yield to the conclusion that economic growth means everything for mankind and all else stays behind. Some might say this out of their empathy and pity for the poor and they would say ‘roti k bgair insaan khuda ko yaad nhi kr skta’. This is the zeitgeist of modern world that Islam is in contrast with in totality.
To analyze this argument we need to delve into what ideology rules the modern man and what is it that nature actually calls on man to do. Simply put, a duel between the modern ideology and the ideology of Islam. The economy of today rests on consumerism. The idea of eat, drink and enjoy. The idea that there is no higher purpose of humans as they, are, a mere accident and there is nothing other than what they can feel through their five senses. There is no soul and there is no afterlife. There is no morality except of what is offensive to any other human being. The idea that religion is a very personal matter and no one can tell anybody to believe in anything one doesn’t want to believe in. That everyone has the right of freedom of speech and freedom of expression. The idea that everything primitive is bad and everything new is good.
The idea that happiness is something that resides in the material world and there is no spiritual side to it. That man can himself be the master of his own destiny and can conceive universal human values, while science can develop a methodology probabilistic or deterministic that would eventually explain everything and anything there is in the universe. The idea that women are equally obliged to earn and there are no limits to what they can do. There is no room to think of a selfless act in this world as people are essentially selfish. The idea that world is in chaos and that ‘might is always right’ and so is the majority of people.
These ideas represent a specific class of people that is rapidly growing in the world and in fact they are growing at a rate that is faster today, even, from the spread of Islam. These atheistic and secular ideas rule today and Islam addresses these issues in a very balanced and wholesome manner. It takes into account the nature of lust and tells us to not be spendthrift. It takes into account the needs of humans like food but tells us to be modest. It tells us to control ourselves. It is not void of any aim, it gives a higher perception of the creation of humans and directs humans to spread peace by making people believe in oneness of Allah and takes away from humans the burden of making laws that they could never perfect without what has been revealed divinely. The idea that man will ever reach to the conception of these universal laws that could eventually help prevail peace without taking into account the divinely is impossible, because evil is always there and it will always conspire against good, no matter what.
Islam gives a purpose to the creation of humans that they are created for nothing except to please Allah through actions that are higher in ranks in eyes of Allah. Islam guides humans to a unity that nothing else could ever create between humans. It opens the bounties of Allah through which everybody could quench their thirst on earth. It guides of fairness in dealings. It tells to be honest and to be truthful. It tells to leave no stone unturned to help your neighbors and fellow humans. It tells all this not to have more customer satisfaction but to succeed in the hereafter. It creates inside humans the fear of biblical pursuits.
It takes off fear from people of everything except their creator. It frees them of worries of building their lifestyle and of building homes, and owning clothes that they might never wear. It dresses women in modesty of being the ones who could standby in their homes as the protectors of the future generations and to instill character in them for a brighter and a more harmonious future.
Revivalists of Islam always point to the fact that we have forgotten what we have and are blindly following West in everything that they have including education, development and science. There are many things that we could consider to better our society that does not involve ideologies of the West. It is very simple to say but hard to implement but I want to say it and will not hold back. We need to see the threats first that are today being faced by Muslims and Islam all over the world and then to come up with the solutions that are completely indigenous to Islam and Muslims.
After we have seen the threats we could move on to find their solutions. According to me the biggest threat to Muslims is ignorance. The second threat is their massacre that is happening in different parts of the world. The third is the absence of will to act. The fourth is the absence of unity. The fifth is the incapacity of there being able to support themselves economically.
The ignorance has multiple levels and is the most dangerous threat for Muslims. We don’t know our religion, our history, our purpose, our role in today’s world, the complete ignorance of the hidden motives that west has, the ignorance of understanding what is happening in the world and who is who really.
The solution is to think of a society where Islamic principles are implemented in their purest form. Then we have to see what kind of needs would come about and how would we have to cater these needs. In this way we could glimpse of what is necessary and what needs to be done.
