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By Abubakr Karolia, South Africa (April 2004)
In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
Since the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center’s and the Pentagon in America on September 11, 2001, the occupation of Afghanistan by the American military in October 2001 and the occupation of Iraq by the American and British military forces in March 2003, Muslims worldwide are questioning why they are being targeted by the modern super powers and what had happened to the Islamic Empire that could have defended them and the reasons for its decline?
With regard to the answer to these questions, I believe it has become pertinent for the survival of Muslims in the 21st Century, to determine and to share ideas on how we can critically access the reasons for our decline, our problems and the solutions for our revival and renewal.
Introspection
It is about 1437 years since the Prophet (S) of Islam brought a dynamic Divine Message and it is appropriate and fitting in times of tribulation, to systematically research and analyze what has happened to Muslims in the condition of history and discover some of the problems that suggests uncertainty for the contempory Muslim societies.
Will Muslims, question what transpired in their history sincerely and critically pursue the causes that brought about their ignorance and subjugation? Will they continue to ignore the vital signs for change or be distracted by their emotions and overconfidence which in my opinion will lead to more violence, disunity, disillusionment and a further decline? Subsequently to this assessment will the Muslims take responsibility and implement solutions constructively so as to progress on the path of recovery and re-education?
What we do read and hear is that for centuries the world of Islam was the foremost of human civilization, accomplishment and a dynamic way of life. In the designation of history when European history was termed Medieval, Islam was going through its strides of enlightenment and the achievement of a superior and advance civilization.
A Glorious Past Disintegrates
Now, by 1492 the stronghold that was Andalusia (Muslim Spain) had fallen to the Christian armies. Though, the balance of power for the Muslims continued with the Turkish conquest of Constantinople in 1453. By the late 15th Century C.E., the Tartars of the Golden hordes that had converted to Islam in 1252 C.E. were toppled by Russia. This narrowed the Muslim power base to the Ottoman Empire. By 1924 The Ottoman Caliphate was destroyed and there was no longer a central Muslim power or leadership. The Muslims lands were colonized in the 18th and 19th Century by the European powers.
After the demise of the Ottoman Empire, the colonial super powers had created the modern “nation states”, each with a nationalistic flavor that fragmented the Muslim political power base and destroyed the central administration of the Caliphate, an institution that stood for more then 1300 years. These Colonizers begun to systematically hatch their agendas, establish and wield their power in the Muslim lands.
Many Muslim tribal leadership and groupings supported the imperial colonizers due to the violence and difficult conditions imposed by the Ottoman Empire. To site an example is when the British supported the various Arab tribes to unite under the Saudi family against the Ottoman Empire. The Ottoman Empire became fragmented and was destroyed politically, ideologically, internally and externally
This British expanded their power in the Middle East by restructuring political leadership of the Arabs and entrenched their interest effectively in these lands. The political maneuvering of Britain, France, Italy and other colonizers destroyed Muslim brotherhood and the concept of the Ummah.
Muslim countries were ripe for occupation. France colonizes Algeria between 1830 and 1962 and Morocco 1912-1956. Italy suppressed Libya from 1911 right up to the Second World War (1939-1945).
A Blind Future
Due to the demise of the central administration and leadership of the Ottoman Caliphate a variety of groups and movements sprouted in Muslim countries, some with good intentions which led to alien ideas that were linear, pedantic and unaware of the current situation and did not analyze the Muslim predicament of the era correctly.
Groups as the Ikhwanul-Muslimeen of Egypt, Tabligh Jamaat of India, Jamate-Islami of Pakistan, Wahabism and Salafi movements from Saudi Arabia, Pan Arabism as in Libya, Egypt, etc, the secular Baath Parties in Syria and Iraq and the secular movement of the Young Turks in Turkey, The Algerian Socialist experiment etc, were reformist, resurgent, nationalist, political reactions, unsure of their new ideas divided the Muslim Ummah (Community).
These responses and reactions were narrow and were “a little too late” and brought on the partition of India and Pakistan in 1947 by Britain and gave birth to the unresolved issue of Kashmir and the occupation of Palestine by the Zionist with the help of Britain and France in 1948. As there was no central authority of the Caliphate after 1924 or a consultative forum or a united power or political base the Muslims were ripe for the fulfillment of violent agendas of the Western powers and their cohorts, arrogant takeovers which dissolved any ideas of peace in these lands.
In the 1950’s, new Imperialist powers as America and the Soviet Union entered the Muslim lands and continued to fan the flames of Muslim disunity and ignorance. There strategic involvements were Geo-political and an economic one, as oil was discovered in Bahrain (1932) and Saudi Arabia (1936).
Western Politics, Technology And Greed
Western countries were advancing in the scientific and technological fields in leaps and bounds and they required resources as oil to ensure their growth and enhance their socio-economic and political supremacy. Obviously the oil factor changed the political strategy of the Imperialist and they ensured that cooperative Muslim leaders would make certain that their agendas would continue unhindered.
The colonizers centralized their political authority and policy through the formation of the modern nation states which expanded their supremacy. Several of these Muslim nation states were founded on greed and Muslim disunity, which brought new found wealth and power for countries such as Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, United Arab Emirates etc, who pointed their allegiance towards capitalism and free markets systems that were conceptualized and invented by the Western hegemony for their ends.
The failure to deal effectively with the Western challenge and onslaught, without competent leadership and division, created a hopelessness that haunted the Muslim population which led to cataclysmic disorder, economic oppression and tyrannical leaders which has continued in the 21st Century.
The reason why this scenario was allowed to develop was due to the fact that a balance of power was non existent in the Middle-East and the Muslim World. The Imperialist did not respect the dignity of Muslims and considered them a defeated people, who had lost their Islamic heritage, were a backward civilization that must accept and appreciate Western democracy and the rule of Western Law.
It seems obvious that Muslims had slid into decadence even if one skims the surface of Muslim history. In the beginning of the 18th Century there was still hope that the Muslim leadership could have reformed and changed the course of history and save the Muslim World the embarrassment that they are experiencing in the 21st Century.
By the 19th Century, it was hopeless and the Muslim leadership and various communities had deviated from the harmony of the Islamic message which had created a humanitarian people, a powerful civilization and a vibrant culture that the world respected. Corruption and ignorance had set in so deep and it was a matter of time that the technologically superior and a disciplined western civilization out maneuvered the Ottoman Empire (Turkey) and buried the “sick man” of Europe.
A Critique And A Discussion
This effort and critique is to find reasons for the quandary that Muslims find themselves in the contemporary era and how to reform themselves in the 21st Century. Nor is the study comprehensive or methodical, but highlights and briefly discusses some of the difficulties and problems that may have led to dysfunctional and fragmentation of ideas that have steered Muslims away from the guidance of the Qur’an and the Prophetic way.
The task and the priority to rekindle the spark of dignity by Muslim experts as anthropologist, sociologist, historians and other specialists individually and collectively pursue, systematic scientific research programs and creative efforts to establish as to why this vibrant culture of the Muslims went into a decline and to find practical solutions for its renewal and revitalization.
Six topics or issues have been chosen for discussion to find a response for a renewal and hopefully begin a debate which may lead towards a healthy change and revival. - Insha-Allah.
The salient issues in my opinion for discussion are as follows:
Towards an enlightened re-education
Science and Technology
An Attitude towards women
An Attitude towards Muslims
An attitude towards non-Muslims
An attitude towards Allah and His Rasul (S)
To be continued.
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