WEST WENT WR ON G SO DID TH E

RE ST

WEST WENT WRONG, SO DID THE REST

 Supremacy of a nation or a civilization over the others mainly stems
out of either its ideological superiority or material advancement. It has been
observed that an ideologically superior nation dominates the thoughts,
values and beliefs of ideologically weaker nations. Besides ideological
superiority materially superior nation enchains the thoughts, values and
beliefs of materially inferior nations. Ideological and material ascendancies
are not necessarily associated with each other; however it is a fact that an
ideologically superior nation, also flourishes in material gains. Nevertheless
material advancement of a nation is mostly attributed to its superior
ideology. While studying the history of rise and fall of nations one concludes
that weakness of a nation incites dominance of ideologically or materially
superior nations to enslave the weaker nation.
For an intellectual superiority logical thinking, reasoning and research
is a bed rock upon which a huge intellectual edifice can be constructed. The
intellectually weak nations cannot sustain and survive with their weakness in
the face of visible intellectual and material superiority. The nations which
give up the rationale and ideological thinking, besides deteriorating
intellectually, also decline materially.
Unfortunately most of the Muslim nations are facing the ideological as
well as material subjugation; virtually there is no Muslim nation which is
entirely independent in its ideology, policies, culture and material resources.
Some of the Muslim nations which appear to be politically independent are
ideologically and culturally dominated by extrinsic values. Their education,
official working, markets, various organizations and even a look at their
homes, reveal that these have been disillusioned by the foreign ideology
and culture. Members of such Muslim nations think with a biased mind, see
through tinted optics, and adopt conflicting customs. At the back of their
mind there is an idea that, “The right is, what is right in the eyes of the West
and wrong is, what is wrong in the opinion of the West”. Their standards of
modesty and righteousness are the ones which have been approved by the
West. The worst part is that they judge their own religion, culture and
ideology according to the Western standards. Whatever, out of their own
religion culture and ideology is in line with the Western standards is taken as
an accepted norm, and whatever is in contradiction to the Western values is
declared outmoded.
It is not easy to enumerate the multiplicity of the reasons which have
been the basic cause of the ideological and material subjugation of the
Muslim nations. Intellectual superiority dominates the hearts, minds,
attitudes and character of the exotic masses, as long as the Muslim nations
adopted logical thinking, reasoning and research, they remained a principal
nation, their beliefs and values were accepted as a standard. The weaker
nations intentionally or unintentionally followed and tailored themselves
according to the Muslim thinking and character.
During their period of command the Muslims after some times
gradually went into a deep slumber while resting on the luxuries achieved by
their hard working ancestors. The Muslims left the logical thinking and
research thereby created an intellectual void which gave a chance to the
other nations to advance in the field of research and philosophy. The other
nations explored the vast fields of knowledge and got ahead, leaving behind
the once dominating nation, “The Muslims”. The Muslims virtually had to
bow down to the material superiority of the Western nations and
subsequently adopted the hype of the Western culture.
After about 500 years, all of a sudden, the Muslims found themselves
pitched against intellectually, materially and militarily stronger West. All
those who rose against that superior force were virtually defeated
completely or partly. At that moment it was the intellectual and material
superiority, of West which fascinated masses towards the Western ideology
irrespective of its validity and principles of their own religion. Some of the
nations that stood against West, either had no original culture, or their
culture was so weak that they could not stand the pressure of the Western
dominance, therefore all such nations, with out much conflict, succumbed to
the Western ideology.
Islam being a complete religion, a comprehensive culture and a
genuine ideology stood firm against the Western civilization, despite certain
weakness in Muslim society, therefore both the forces i.e. Muslims and West
are in conflict with each other. The current phase of Western domination
(mostly attributable to Muslims’ negativity) is affecting the Muslims in
ideological as well as practical life.
Western culture / civilization is a by product of perplexity which
passed through various speculative theories like Incarnation1, Rationalism2,
Atheism3, Materialism4 and disbelief in God. Right from its origin the Western
culture is in conflict with religion. In other words the conflict between the
logic / philosophy and the religion gave birth to the Western civilization.
During renaissance (14th- 16th century) when a new literary movement
started in Europe, it came up against the church. Notwithstanding the
repugnance between both ideologies, an insightful mind could analyze that
logic philosophy education and research are not in conflict with the religion
(not Christianity). Owing to attitude of church and faith of masses thereto,
the church and the zealous activists of the movement failed to comprehend
this very basic notion.
Inquisitions5 were established by the theocratic authorities and
consequently activists of the movement were brutally punished. However
instead of being suppressed, the movement gained impetus because it had
a solid ground to stand on as compared to that of the church’s ideology
based on ancient Greek Mythology (church received nothing from Jesus
Christ, peace be upon him, in the shape of unadulterated book of
teachings). Whatever, fictional bits and pieces, the clergymen possessed to
offer to the people, was unequivocally discarded by the activist of the
movement. Thus the religion was shelved being no longer required for the
physical world.
Consequently the canted scientific and logical thinking virtually
transformed into rejection of religion and subsequently rejection of existence
of God, in all its forms. The activists of the movement thought it obligatory to
decline the existence of God or any supernatural authority, while resolving
the mysteries of the universe. Rejection of existence of God was not as a
result of logical conclusion; it was a prejudice against the church. All what
has so far been done by the West in the filed of logic and research is
actually based on their unsound and subjective posture for which the church
shares an equal blame.
The parable of the Western philosophy and progression is that of a
great architect who is matchless in his proficiency but is trying to raise his
dwelling on an utterly asymmetrical foundation, one day his masterwork is
liable to disintegrate despite all its magnificence. The fact remains that logic
reasoning and research is not in conflict with the religion, it may, however,
be in direct conflict with what is called Christianity as professed by church.
An important role has been played by the Western thinkers in
development of Western culture. The Western thinkers of 17th century were
the pioneers in shaping the Western civilization.
Descartes (1650) is considered to be the founder of the Western
philosophy, on one hand he believed in God, and besides material
world believed in the spirit as well. On the other hand he explained the
 physical world in a mechanical way, which ultimately instituted
materialism.
Hobbes (1679) took a further step he openly rejected super
natural objects and attributed all that is present in the universe to a
mechanical phenomenon; however he accepted existence of God as
an obligation.
Espinoza (1677) was at the pinnacle of perplexity, being a
leader of the rationalism he unified God and universe and made it a
singularity denying sovereignty of God.
Lehbnitz (1716) and Locke (1704) believed in God but they were
bent towards Naturalism6.
Copernicus, Kepler, Galileo and Newton were believers of God
however they were in search of finding out the forces which were
managing the affairs of universe leaving aside the divine concept of
universe.
This act of leaving aside the divine concept was the first step towards
atheism and naturalism. The philosophers of 17th century could not
discriminate Divine Authority from naturalism; they thought that both can go
along side by side. In 18th century it was apparent that a model of thinking
reasoning and logic which does not focus on existence of God and tries to
explore the universe, will ultimately lead human being towards impiety.
During this century, scholars like John Toland, David Hartley, Joseph
Priestely, Voltaire, La Mattric, Holbach, Cabanis, Montisque, Rousseau and
many others like them rose, these were Liberals7 who either openly denied
the existence of God or restricted God to a constitutional monarch who once
after putting universe into motion had gone into seclusion. They were firm
believers of only perceptible /corporeal things, and all that which was out of
the field of their comprehension was falsehood, according to them.
 Hume by means of his theories of Empiricism8 and Skepticism9
supported this way of thinking, he further advocated this way of
thinking for judging the strength of probabilities.
Berkeley endeavored to resist the exceeding menace of
materialism but failed.
Hegal tried to promote Idealism10 instead of materialism, he
failed too.
Kant tried to strike a compromise between religion and
naturalism hence adopted an in-between approach by stating that
God, salvation of spirits and freedom of will cannot be comprehended
by us, therefore these cannot be accepted however these can be
believed in, because practical wisdom demands a belief in these
things. Poor Kant failed too.
Loss of direction by logic and rational gave birth to a wrong idea about
God. According to this idea God was / is a creation of our imagination or at
best a secluded/ retired and power less figure, therefore a code of conduct
accepting such a God, pleasing him or fearing him became an outdated
concept. During 19th century materialism gained its peak.

Vogt, Buchner, Czolbe, Comte and others like them, rejected

existence of every thing other than the matter and its characteristics.
Mill promoted Utilitarianism11.

Spencer promoted the idea of philosophical evolution and

formation of the universe and life by itself which was further
strengthened by the research carried out in the fields, of Biology,
Physiology, Geology and Zoology by various people, without an
objective approach.
 These scholars further professed that matter when attains a
certain level of development it transforms into a higher form moreover
development, evolution, movement, thinking and reasoning are all
forms of highly developed matter. They further stated that all human
beings and animals are machines which are following certain physical
regulations. And these machines behave in same manner in which
various components of such machines get organized.
What an absurdity it was that universe came into existence by itself,
life come into existence at its own accord and there is no one to organize
and manage the affairs of the universe.
Darwinian Theory of evolution (1859) is considered as a revolutionary
book in the field of science. He (Darwin) in line with the (then) in vogue way
of logic and reasoning certified that affairs of universe can go on without
existence of God. According to him life from its very basics to the most
developed form does not require a skillful wisdom instead it is an out come
of a mechanical and evolution process which changes it’s form from a reptile
to a human being. (This theory, which claims that life emerged by chance
from inanimate matter, was invalidated by the scientific evidence of clear
"design" in the universe and in living things. The propaganda carried out
today in order to keep the theory of evolution alive is based solely on the
distortion of the scientific facts, biased interpretation, lies and falsehoods
disguised as science).
It was this unsound and void of wisdom, philosophy (Darwinian Theory
of evolution -1859) which further invigorated the Western civilization, where
there was no place of an authoritative and all knowing God, Where there
was no requirement of divine guidance through the Prophets and there was
no concept of good or bad deeds and resurrection. There was no concept of
accountability on the Day of Judgment and an eternal life hereafter. From
study of Western civilization, it can be concluded that life (in there view) is
purposeless it is nothing more than the lowest functions of animal species.
A study of world’s history reveals that, the Greek society, substratum
of Western culture, (before Islam) was based on slavery where the slaves
worked, and the philosophers kept speculating and hypothesizing illogical
theories. During the medieval age, it was Scholasticism12 which held its iron
grip on the mind of Europe. Scholasticism suffered from blind faith, indif-
ference to facts, undue emphasis on verbal subtleties and reasoning on
matters which observation alone could decide. A reaction against such
theories, ideologies and religious teachings, shaped the Western/ Atheist
culture. As it has been stated above that, it was the deep slumber, which the
Muslims went into, gave a rise to the other nations to dominate, the muslims
after getting out of the unfathomable nap, in order to survive in the world,
resorted to accept and adopt Western teachings. Since it was a matter of
survival for the Muslims, therefore the Western civilization with all its
ideologies penetrated the minds of the Muslims. The subjugated Muslims
failed to understand the right from wrong hence could not adopt a way
wherein, remaining within the confines, adaptation of good and rejection of
bad, out of prevailing ideologies, was possible. Such polluted minds could
not analyze the strengths of the Islamic teachings and the basis of the
Muslims society.
It is evident, from above, that most of the ideologies, hostile to the
Islamic world, stem from the atheist culture that took over the Western world
in the nineteenth century. The Western society is void of humanity, fear of
God, righteousness truthfulness, piety, character, chastity and purity on
which the Islamic Society lays its foundations. The basis on which the
Western society has been constituted is entirely contrary to the basis of
Islamic society. The so called moderate Muslims, while attempting to
advocate conciliatory behavior/ ideology to the Muslims, must understand
that,” an Islamic society raised or built on the foundations of Western society
can never become an Islamic society. We have to adopt one out of these
civilizations adopting both of these at the same time will never be possible.
There is no doubt that majority of Muslims believe in the basic teachings of
Islam however they don’t find themselves strong enough to adopt a
complete Islamic way of life because of multifarious fears.
Islam, on the contrary, has nothing to do with fundamentalism,
fanaticism and is clear from the mystifications explained above. The Prophet
of Islam Muhammad (peace be upon him) seems to stand between the
ancient and the modern world. Insofar as the spirit of his revelation is con-
cerned, he belongs to the modern world. In emphasizing nature and history
as the sources of knowledge, the Quran ushers in the modern scientific
world, whose weapons of discovery are observation, experimentation and
generalization. The Quran, instead of priesthood and blind faith in myths,
emphasizes on observation research and rational approach in finding the
facts of creation and its purpose. Over and over again, the Quran appeals to
Tadabbur, Tafakkar and Ta’qqal. It says: Why don’t you deliberate? Why
don’t you think? Why don’t you reason?
There is a definite need that an intellectual struggle to be waged
against rejection of existence/ authority of God, which is not just a force
that tries to ruin people's lives in the hereafter by destroying their religious
beliefs. Rather it also, at the same time, aims to ruin the world, turning it
into a wasteland of chaos and war, and it views Muslims as its most
important target.

Most certainly there is a requirement of Islamic Renaissance wherein

the structure of society is based on the Islamic ideology, wherein there is a
room for accepting all goods and rejecting all the wrongs from the Western
world, science/technology and modern research. There is a requirement
that the Muslims should take an account of their deeds, strengths and
weaknesses and reconstruct the society on the basic ideology of Islam.
Every ideological victory over atheism (and over philosophies, ideologies
and so-called scientific theories such as Darwinism that lie at its
foundations) is also a moral victory which helps oppressed Muslims all
over the world.

The Muslims and the Western philosophers and scientists will find it
extremely revealing that social life, Science, Philosophy and understanding
of the universe has become extremely easy if the foundation of this explore
is laid on the Islamic teachings instead of the rotten theories like theory of
evolution/ rejection of existence of All-knowing Wise and Authoritative God.
Despite material advancement the Western society needs a lot to do to
survive on long term basis. Believing in unseen and accepting the total
authority will make the job very easy for Muslims and West, alike.
The West and the scientist equipped with knowledge may study and
ponder over the 2000 specific science related verses of Quran revealing
facts concerning man, earth and the universe and all that is in between the
stars i.e. the interstellar space containing the building blocks of life and the
existence of extra terrestrial life in the universe besides the invisible creation
parallel to mankind created out of the essence of fire (Jinn). Modern science
facts and laws are in total agreement with the Quranic verses revealed more
than 1400 years ago. The rest of 4666 Quranic verses are about all
conceivable matters including the way of life for mankind besides the
repetition of all Divine Books.
The West, in order to find the facts, must compare science with Quran
in the fields of Eschatology13, Astrophysics14, and Embryology15 etc. Books
titled, The Bible, The Quran and Science, by Dr. Maurice Bucaille, A Chain
of miracles by Harun Yahya and Quran and modern science by Dr. Zakir
Naik, must be explored by all to further clarify the doubts.
Quran reveals knowledge guidance, information and wisdom about
the mysterious universe and its living and non living hidden and invisible
creations The Quran rejects irrationalism, forbids intolerance and abhors
Obscurantism16. It enjoins us: Rabbi, zidni ilmah” (O God, add to my
knowledge). What a prayer in the modern world, when knowledge is
exploding and doubling itself in less than a decade.
Those who want to be acquainted with Islamic teaching must
understand that wisdom of religion has three distinct phases i.e. Faith
(acceptance of religion as an unconditional command without any rationale
understanding), Thought (Rational understanding of the discipline and the
ultimate source of its authority, some times called metaphysics) and
Discovery (direct contact with the ultimate reality and discovery of the
ultimate source within the depth of own consciousness.
A study of basic teachings of Islam and its acceptance /
implementation is the only way for the world to remain a place of peace and
harmony. Islamic teachings/ ideology will not divest any thing from any body,
therefore it must be studied believed and adopted for the survival of the
mankind.
Basic Islamic ideology teaches us that the Divine Authority is God
alone and he has given guidance to the human beings through Prophets
and Books. Failure of a particular fabricated religion to produce that
guidance for the consumption of masses does not necessarily compel
human beings to decline the existence of God and refuse to accept his
guidance.
There may be guidance and a message for you from your creator, but
at a different place, waiting for you to search for it explore it and get the
benefit from it. Acceptance of God and implementation of his guidance will
lead the mankind out of the quagmire in which it is sinking at the moment.

Notes
1: Incarnation. The Christian doctrine that the Son of God was conceived in the
womb of Mary and that Jesus, peace be upon him, is true God and true man.
2: Rationalism.The theory that the exercise of reason, rather than the acceptance
of empiricism, authority, or spiritual revelation, provides the only valid basis for
action or belief and that reason is the prime source of knowledge and of spiritual
truth.
3: Atheism. The doctrine that there is no God or gods.
4: Materialism. The theory that physical matter is the only reality and that
everything, including thought, feeling, mind, and will, can be explained in terms of
matter and physical phenomena.
5. Inquisitions. A tribunal formerly held in the Roman Catholic Church and directed at
the suppression of heresy.
6. Naturalism. The system of thought holding that all phenomena can be explained in
terms of natural causes and laws without attributing moral, spiritual, or supernatural
significance to them.
7. Liberals. Not limited to or by established, traditional, orthodox, or authoritarian
attitudes, views, or dogmas; free from bigotry.
8. Empiricism. The view that experience, especially of the senses, is the only source of
knowledge.
9. Skepticism. The doctrine that absolute knowledge is impossible and that inquiry
must be a process of doubting in order to acquire approximate or relative certainty.
10. Idealism. The theory that the object of external perception, in itself or as
perceived, consists of ideas.
11. Utilitarianism. Theory that all action should be directed toward achieving the
greatest happiness for the greatest number of people.
12. Scholasticism. The dominant Western Christian theological and philosophical
school of the Middle Ages, based on the authority of the Latin Fathers and of Aristotle
and his commentators.
13. Eschatology. A belief or a doctrine concerning the ultimate or final things,
such as death, the destiny of humanity, the Second Coming, or the Last Judgment.
14. Astrophysics. The branch of astronomy that deals with the physics of stellar
phenomena.
15. Embryology. The branch of biology that deals with the formation, early growth,
and development of living organisms.
16. Obscurantism. A style in art and literature characterized by deliberate vagueness or
obliqueness.
BY EHSAN MUGHEES ehsan_mughees@yahoo.com