AL RISALA FORUM INTERNATIONAL
A MOVEMENT FOR REVIVAL OF ISLAMIC THOUGHT
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Western Civilization and Islam
Maulana Wahiduddin Khan
According to Sahih al-Bukhari the Prophet of Islam (PBUH) once
observed: God will strengthen this religion through the wicked
as well as the good. This hadith is of great significance so
far as the art of thinking is concerned. It points to the error
of dichotomous thinking, the tendency to see everything in
terms of black and white. It implies that while people may fall
into one of two categories-the good or the bad. They may also
fall into a third category, i.e. that of potential supporters
of Islam. That is, an individual may fall into the category of
the good, yet still possess a third quality, i.e., that of
enjoying a position to support the believers, in one way or
another.
The outcome of the treaty was born in an age when the history
of the world was already be of Hudaibiyya provides a practical
example of the success of broader thinking in the early history
of Islam. Apparently the Prophet’s opponents were not
pro-Islam. Therefore, the Muslims in general, because of the
limitations in their thinking, mistakenly categorized them as
enemies of Islam. But thanks to his divine wisdom, the Prophet
did not fall into the error of regarding them as such. For he
knew that a third possibility also existed. It was the latent
potential of Da’wah. Therefore, the Prophet decided to open a
door which had been closed to Da’wah by entering into a peace
treaty with his opponents. Consequently, the possibilities of
Da’wah activism began taking shape and within a short period of
two years the entire history of Islam was transformed.
To my way of thinking, the case of Western Civilization and
Islam exactly parallels that of the Hudaibiyya situation in
modern times. Muslims have once again fallen prey to
limitations of dichotomous thinking in these matters. Since
Western Civilization does not appear to them to be friendly to
Islam, they trend to regard it as an enemy of Islam. Matters
have so escalated that a section of Islamic thinkers have even
taken to calling Western Civilization a manifestation of
Dajjal.
If we could extricate ourselves from this rigid pattern of
thought we would find that western civilization, was neither
friendly nor hostile to Islam, but rather-in the words of
hadith-a potential supporter of Islam.
Today, we are once again in need of divine wisdom adopted on
the eve of Hudaibiyya. If we could but think in the same way as
the Prophet did on that occasion, history would certainly
repeat itself. Out of unfavorable circumstances, favorable
possibilities would emerge, and by being able to exploit these
possibilities, we would be able to build a new history of
Islam.
Led by their political and economic interests, the upholders of
Western Civilization follow many policies which are detrimental
to the collective good of Muslims. This is an indisputable
fact. In reality yet this has nothing to do with any enmity
towards Islam. It is simply due to the imperatives of economic
competition. The affairs of this world being based on the
principle of competition, such events have always taken place
and will continue to do so in the near and distant future. So
what we must do is accept these things as a part of nature and
turn our full attention to seeking out alternative
possibilities in order to exploit them for our own purposes.
Such possibilities do exist for us inspite of all the
apparently adverse circumstances in which we strive to
perpetuate our Islamic heritage.
The hadith which mentions Dajjal appearing close to the time of
Doomsday is doubtless correct, but certainly it does not apply
to modern western civilization.
There is another hadith which would more correctly apply to the
case of Western civilization. In this the Prophet has made the
prediction that close on Doomsday, the message of Islam will
enter every hut or mansion.
The truth is that Western civilization has emerged as a
supporting factor in the divine scheme of Idkhal-e-Kalimah (the
communication of the word of God to all human beings).
The hadith pertaining to Dajjal has thus no direct bearing
whatsoever on Western Civilization.
For this prediction to be fulfilled many contributory factors
were required-factors which had never hitherto existed. It is
Western civilization alone which has provided for the first
time in human history all those means and resources which were
necessary for the realization of this process of
Idkhal-e-kalimah (global communication of the divine message).
In this way, according to the words of hadith, the case of
Western civilization is one neither of friendliness nor of
hostility. It falls rather into a third category-that of
supportiveness.
Here I would like to mention in brief a few examples of this
supportive nature to serve as a practical explanation of this
matter.
-
The first and foremost requirement for the performance of
the mission of Idkhal-e-kalimah is the provision of a system of
global communication. It is an acknowledged fact that the
cultural revolution of the west is the first event in human
history to have placed at our disposal such a worldwide system
of communication-a prerequisite for the realization of Islamic
goals. -
The second requirement essential to facilitating this task
was complete religious freedom. In the absence of religious
freedom, successful communication of the desired nature had
never been possible. Now Western Civilization has brought into
being an era in which for the first time in human history
freedom of religion has come to be accepted as a sacred human
right. This is one of its greatest gifts to humanity. -
In order to spread the word of God on a universal scale, an
unlimited amount of wealth was required. It is through Western
civilization that the Muslim nations have been able, albeit
indirectly, to secure this wealth. For it was people from the
West who first discovered the wealth of petrol abounding in
Muslim countries. It was again these very people who, by
ushering in the modern machine age, gave petrol the status of a
precious commodity. This wealth thus acquired has enabled the
Muslims of today to spread their campaign throughout the entire
world, regardless of the cost. -
Another very important supporting factor pertains to the
principle of free enquiry developed by the west. This principle
of free enquiry was extended by them even to religion. Sacred
texts for the first time in human history were scrutinized in
the light of the ‘higher criticism’ as a result of which all
religious scriptures, with the exception of the Qur’an, lost
their claim to historicality. The Qur’an then stood quite alone
as a historically established scripture. In this way, the
intellectual revolution brought about by western civilization
gave Islam a monopoly-as the only authentic representative of
Religion. -
Then again it was this Western Civilization which, by
scientifically unraveling nature’s secrets, testified to the
veracity of the Qur’an. Hence the credit for offering a
scientific explanation of the following verse must go to
Western Civilization."We will show them our signs in the universe, and in
their ownselves, until it becomes manifest to them that this is
the truth (41:53).
It is thanks to the bearers of Western Civilization that a
great number of new facts concerning the world of nature have
been discovered. These facts serve to prove the authenticity of
Islam on scientific bases.
For the reasons mentioned above, I am certain that Western
Civilization cannot be regarded as a manifestation of Dajjal,
as is claimed by extremists. On the contrary, in terms of its
unlimited possibilities, it offers a God-sent support for
Islam.
It has produced all the means and resources essential to the
successful carrying out of Islamic Da’wah, all over the world.
This mission can be properly performed only by exploiting all
the possibilities offered by modern times.
This process has already been set in motion. Today hundreds and
thousands of people are accepting Islam each day, having found
it to be a religion in perfect harmony with nature.
After the peace settlement at Hudaibiyya the chapter Al-Fath
was revealed in which it was said: “that it may be a sign for
the believers, and that He may guide you to a straight path”
(48:20).
That is to say, the symbolism of this event should prevent
believers from falling a prey to the narrowness of dichotomous
thinking in such matters. Rather they must strive to find a
third option. This is the Hudaibiyya principle which should be
adopted in our relations vis-a-vis western civilization. Only
then will God’s good tidings of granting a clear victory become
a reality.