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No one studying the Ummah will have difficulty in discerning the present
backwardness of its culture, its political degradation, and its human suffering,
regardless of its human and material resources and in spite of its values and
principles. Such Is the very heart of the Ummah's crisis. It is inevitable that
such a backward and aimless existence should be of major concern to the spirit
of the Muslim Ummah which has always represented the conscience of a pioneering
and constructive people. It is therefore only natural that the Ummah seeks to
reform, renew, and revive itself.
In order to deal with the Ummah's structural shortcomings and to fulfill the
conditions necessary for their successful treatment, we must understand the root
causes of those shortcomings. In truth, the Ummah's present infirmity and
backwardness have become so pronounced that its very existence is threatened by
the challenge of Western civilization to its way of life, thought, and
institutions. what is called for is a comprehensive and deeply analytical
examination of every facet of the Ummah, for only such an analysis will allow us
to trace the path which has brought, and continues to bring, the Ummah to the
depths to which It has fallen.
The Ummah has been in decline for several centuries. All of it, save a few
remote geographical regions, came under the sway of European imperial power.
Perhaps even more painful is the fact that, even today, the Ummah continues to
represent spheres of influence. The entire world vies for supremacy over its
strategically valuable territory, important markets for foreign industry, raw
materials, and cheap unskilled labor. And this is happening at a time when the
Ummah is unable to feed itself and remains in dire need of industry as well as a
scientific and technological base, technical experience, advanced institutions
of technology, and all the elements of Independent power.
The reasons for the Ummah's decline go far back into history. Not all of the
factors are readily apparent, for many nations at the outset of their decline
enjoyed the great wealth and ease earned by their previous progress and
development. This was also true of the Ummah, for, in its early stages, wealth,
centers of learning, personal fortunes, and public works were abundant. Yet the
signs of coming decline were clear in the ebb of the Ummah's territorial
expansion, the spread of corruption, the change from an offensive to a defensive
posture, and the losses that it sustained at Baghdad, Jerusalem, Cordoba, and
other places.
It Is quite important, if we hope to come to an understanding of our decline,
to distinguish between what caused the malady and what its symptoms and
complications were. The historical spread of heretical sects and doctrines is
nothing new to the Ummah. This phenomenon began with the saba'iyah, isma'iliyah,
nusayriyah, Druze, and others. Today, we are beset with continuing heresy in the
form of the baha'iyah, ahmadiyah, qadianiyah, and nationalists.
These movements are clearly symptomatic of maladies that took root during the
early years of the Ummah, when the Muslims were challenged by the Roman and
Persian empires and were compelled. in order to meet those challenges, to give a
measure of civil and military power to desert Arab tribes who had only recently
embraced Islam. Since their tribal mentality had not been totally transformed by the teachings of Islam, they soon began to cause great upheaval and
eventually brought down the government of the third khalifah, 'Utman ibn 'Affan,
when they attacked Madinah, the capital of the prophetic state. This event led
to the creation of states with distinctly tribalistic and ethnic leanings,
states that were essentially a mixture of Islamic and pre-Islamic teachings and
heritages.
When we ponder the depths to which the Ummah has plummeted, the seriousness
of the threat it faces, and the extent of the crisis from which it suffers, we
begin to understand the gravity of its situation and the urgency of the efforts
required to rescue it from further decline and suffering. Even though these
negative developments are tangible and objective matters upon which all sincere
and reasonable people can agree, there is no agreement on, or any degree of
clear vision of either a solution or the means to a solution. An even worse
complication is the spread of ethnocentrism, nationalism, atheism, anarchy, and
permissiveness. Some of those who claim to be reformers are in fact the Ummah's
enemies, for they promote these foreign ideologies by all the means at their
disposal. They often claim that these ideologies are signs of a healthy society,
or that they constitute starting-points for progress and reform.
What we need to determine, first of all, is the true starting-point for
dealing with the crisis. Perhaps we should first define the starting-points and
alternatives that are available to the Ummah. These may be classified into three
main categories:
- The Imitative Foreign Solution: This is often called 'the foreign
solution" and entails borrowing solutions which spring, in essence, from
the cultural (secular and materialist) experience of the contemporary West. This
may take the form of individualism, totalitarianism, secularism, atheism,
capitalism, or Marxism.
- The Imitative Historical Solution: This implies relying on solutions
derived from the Islamic historical experience, regardless of considerations of
relevance in terms of time and place.
- The Islamic Asalah [The meaning of asalah is not to he confused with "fundamentalism".
It is rather a more comprehensive term which denotes the innovative application
of original Islamic principles to changing circumstances. (Trans.)]
Solution: This is the approach which seeks to apply
relevant solutions, derived from authentic Islamic sources, to the Ummah's
problems.
In the Ummah's quest for the recovery of its vitality, there are four
prerequisites:
- specification of a sound approach;
- unswerving faith in
that approach;
- resolve to do all that is necessary for the attainment of its
goals; and
- provision of all the practical means required to ensure its
success.
We might begin promoting the correct approach by taking it directly to the
people and explaining to the Ummah's writers, thinkers, and leaders what we
believe to be its most important aspects. In this way, they may come to share
our conviction that our approach is the best one.
Perhaps the most effective method of promoting our solution would be to lay
bare the weaknesses of the faulty approaches by explaining why they are unsound
and then presenting the correct solution and the reasons why it should be
adopted. This is the method used In this book, for while the Ummah is under
attack, so to speak, by cultural invaders who seek to confuse it and make it
lose its way, it Is imperative that the Ummah understand the reasons why the
solutions proposed by others will not work. In this way, the Ummah will be
better able to discern for itself the most suitable solution and then proceed to
bring it about.
The historical approach traditionally has been the Ummah's choice. However,
this approach inherently disregards temporal, local, and ummatic considerations.
In recent times, it has failed repeatedly to meet the challenges of modern life
and the forces inimical to the survival of the Ummah and its thought. Had
traditional solutions remained effective there would be no crisis today, no downfall, and no impending
disaster. Moreover, there is no point in making excuses for the inefficacy of
this approach. if there were extenuating factors, then the fact remains that the
traditional approach failed to take them into consideration. In any event, it
failed to deal with the problem in its totality.
The main drawback of the traditional approach is that since it begins with
the pious assumption of its own infallibility, it is totally intolerant of all
parties, approaches, and circumstances that do not agree with it. An approach
that demands even its detractors' cooperation is clearly impractical. Rather, it
is symptomatic of the Ummah's problem itself. Essentially, the approach that has
dominated the Ummah's thought for so long is little more than a stubborn
insistence on maintaining the facade of Islam's golden age. The traditional
approach ignores the realities of history and material development. Therefore it
has consistently failed, despite the Ummah's faith in Islam. This also explains
why the fuqaha' stopped short of dealing with modem transactions (mu 'amalat),
restricting themselves in-stead to the regulation of religious ritual and
personal circumstances.
An example of how the traditional approach may lead to an absurd extreme is
the pronouncement made by one of this century's most prominent Muslim reformers,
who nevertheless misinterpreted the connection between the social and political
systems at the time of the khulafa'. His opinion, based on the traditional
approach, was that the Ummah could only be reformed by what he termed a 'Just
dictatorship." This, as any student of political science knows, is a
contradiction in terms. That 'dictatorship' and 'justice' are mutually
contradictory, or in no way compatible, is a recurrent theme in the Book of
Allah:
..but man transgresses all bounds, in that he looks upon himself as
self-sufficient (96:6-7),
..and consult with them in affairs [of moment]
(3:159),
..who conduct their affairs by mutual consultation
(42:38).
The isolation of Islam's intellectual leadership from its political
leadership dates back to the confrontation between the first khulafa' and the
various ethnicities and tribal groups. This was the upheaval which ended in
conflict between the old-line leadership like al Husayn ibn 'Ali, 'Abd Allah ibn
al Zubayr, Muhammad al Nafs al Zakiyah, Zayd ibn 'Ali, and others who advocated
an Islamic polity along the lines of the first Islamic state at Madinah, and the
emergent political leadership that established dynasties on the basis of
ethnocentrism and tribal loyalties. when the first group was defeated
politically by the second, its members, along with the scholars, withdrew from
public life. As time passed, the isolation of Muslim intellectuals from the
challenges of public life became more pronounced. The result was the growth of a
school of thought that was isolationist and protectionist (in that they feared
the Shari 'ah might be tampered with by unscrupulous rulers and those who served
them). Those who ascribed to this school of thought paralyzed the progress of
Islamic society and culture by referring almost exclusively in their writings to
the events of the early years of Islam (the lifetime of the Prophet and the
thirty years that followed his death). In this way, they left the political and
social leadership of the Ummah to those who were intellectually and politically
incompetent.
Owing to this withdrawal, the Ummah fell prey to despotism, poverty, and
social and political decline. Indeed, from the times of the Mongol invasions and
the Crusades, this has been the fate of the Ummah. In more recent times, it fell
beneath the sway of foreign colonial powers and was exposed to the dangers of
blindly imitating a foreign civilization, either of its own volition or under
duress. In every case, however, imitation led to greater and more widespread
infirmity and decline. Thus the cultural, economic, and technological gaps
widened between North and South, between the advanced industrialized nations and the underdeveloped nations of the Third World, many of which are Muslim.
The lessons to be learned from this are that the traditional approach has
been of no avail and that dreams of times past are useless against the
relentless movement of life in time and place and in thought. In short, the
obvious results of this approach have inevitably been backwardness, weakness,
and decline.
This is the other approach that has found currency in the Muslim world.
Historically, it was first adopted over two centuries ago, when the Turkish
'Uthmaniyah empire was confronted by the military might of Europe. Under Salim
III, the 'Uthmaniyah empire began a policy of imitating Europe, thinking that
this was the way to renew their declining power.
Thus the cycle of emptiness and loss of vision began on the millstone of
imitation, as the attempt was made to import foreign technical knowledge and
experience. The Turkish state began by establishing its first modern engineering
college and followed that with a military academy for training officers along
Western lines. So determined were the 'Uthmaniyah sultans to carry out their
plans, and to regain their power and status, that they actually slaughtered
their own traditional military corps, the Janissaries, in their barracks when
they resisted plans to "modernize" the army.
However, neither the plan to imitate the West nor the method chosen to effect
it was successful in restoring the power to the 'Uthmaniyah sultanate, in facing
up to the challenges confronting their empire, or in transferring knowledge to
the Ummah. Rather, the retreat of the 'Uthmaniyah sultanate continued without a
halt before the onslaught of Western military might. Their solution to this
unexpected turn of events was to increase their efforts to imitate the West by
sending droves of students to Europe, a policy which led to further
Westernization. This, in turn, brought a new dimension to imitation: the
perception on the part of the Turks that political and social reform would have to be carried
out along Western lines. otherwise, their reasoning went9 they would not have
the kind of atmosphere conducive to the academic, administrative, and military
reform so urgently needed for the reconstruction of their empire.
This kind of thinking resulted in many liberal political and social reforms,
reforms that were crowned in the latter half of the nineteenth century by what
became to be known as Midhat Pasha's constitution. It is a widely known
historical fact that this attempt at reform was no more successful than those
that had preceded it. Thus, Sultan 'Abd al Hamid II was encouraged to personally
administer the entire state in a last hopeless attempt to rescue the historical
model of the Islamic system of state and society.
This reform movement, based on the principle of foreign imitation, progressed
and added a new and clearly European dimension: the importance of nationalism as
a motive in building a nation. Among the Turks, the leaders of the reform
movement that adopted the foreign approach emphasized the importance of
nationalism. To give meaning to their assertions, they created
"Turanian" nationalism. This was an essentially pan-Turkish
nationalism that encompassed all speakers of Turkish in western and central
Asia. The modernist reform movement began its rise to power in Turkey at the end
of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth, when, under the
name of the Union and Progress Party, it challenged the ~ sultanate, overthrew
Sultan 'Abd al Hamid II, and took the reins of power. This attempt at reform,
however, ended when these Turks, in their final war, were subjected to a defeat
worse than any they had suffered under 'Uthmaniyah rule: the occupation of the
heart of Anatolia by the Greeks, whom they had long considered to be their
lowliest subjects.
In spite of all this travail, however, attempts at foreign inspired reform
continued unabated, and in a more comprehensive fashion, until the 'Uthmaniyah
sultanate was brought to an end at the hands of the founder of the modem Turkish republic, General Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, and his military
clique. This group carded foreign imitation to its furthest extremes, for its
leaders instituted comprehensive and overall changes in accordance with European
patterns, abolished the role of Islam and Islamic culture in society, endorsed
the European concept of secularism, and ensured, in no uncertain terms, the
separation of Islam from the affairs and organization of the state as well as
from all aspects of society. In addition, they abolished all Islamic laws and
'Uthmaniyah institutions and replaced them with the legal code of the European
country they believed to be the most advanced: Switzerland. In order to nullity
the effects of Islamic culture on future generations, the Arabic script was
abolished and replaced with the Latin alphabet. The common people were forced to
adopt European dress, women were required to discard the hijab, and even Islamic
rituals like the call to prayer were required to be performed in Turkish.
Before Ataturk's rule ended, the government had adopted many concepts dealing
with state intervention in administering and making policy for the country's
major social and economic institutions. In particular, the state took control of
the country's most important financial and economic institutions, such as banks
and insurance companies. However, these developments did not improve Turkey's
condition. Rather, its decline continued unabated, even though it passed through
all the stages of the foreign imitation solution: the importation of science and
technology; the organization of a modem army; the modernization of its civil
administration; the espousal of liberal concepts; the transmission of Western
culture; the enactment of political and constitutional reforms; the adoption of
nationalism, ethnicity, and secularism; the establishment of European laws and
institutions; and state control of all important social, economic, and financial
institutions.
Still, all that this imitation accomplished was the further weakening of the
Turkish state and its eventual complete domination by the Western powers.
General Ismet Inonu,
Ataturk's successor and longtime comrade, was forced, as a result of the failure
of these policies and of the pressure exerted by the Western powers, to abolish
one-party rule in the country (i.e., the Republican party) and to return to a
new round of liberal political reform. As a result, new elections were held and
the opposition Democratic Party, under Adnan Menderes, took over.
In spite of the seriousness with which they were undertaken, none of these
attempts was successful in rescuing Turkey or in restoring it to its former
power and status. On the contrary, the deterioration was so complete that, in
1960, Menderes was hanged in the first of a series of military coups that would
eventually lead to dictatorship and repression. Thus Turkey remains, as much
today as ever before, the "Sick Man of Europe." In fact, Turkey is
worse than sick. It is the perennial Western camp follower who has no hope of
ever improving its lot in life.
If we look closely at the Egyptian experience from the time of Muhammad 'Alt,
from the outset of the nineteenth century AC/thirteenth century AH until the
present time, and if we look at the experiences of Islamic countries in Arabia,
Asia, and Africa, we will find nothing new to add to the experience of Turkey
and its painful results. Over the centuries, the Islamic world has remained,
owing to its adherence to the principle of imitating whatever is foreign, a sick
and fractured entity. And it remains so during a time when the civilizational
gulf separating it from the developed nations continues to increase.
The reasons for the failure of this approach are easy to understand. Nations,
as living human aggregates, are far more complex than individuals in their
composition and in the amount of energy it takes to motivate them either to
overcome obstacles or to be constructive. Each nation, then, in the same way
that it has its own motivations, psychology, and history, has its own
composition in terms of its values, beliefs, and concepts. Unless these are
understood correctly, it is next to impossible to deal with a nation in a way
that will inspire it to realize all of its hidden potential for progress.
What motivates one human being may not motivate another. The same is true of
nations since each nation works on the basis of its own incentives and
priorities. It is therefore a major mistake to ignore a nation's incentives and
priorities and rush headlong after a blind imitation of plans for production and
reform without a proper under-standing of what distinguishes that nation from
other nations. Unless this way of understanding nations is adopted, the future
of the Ummah will be no better than the long centuries of importation and
imitation.
Among the simplest and most readily understandable examples of what was
mentioned above is the effect that the uniquely Western institution of banking
has had on the Ummah. When it first appeared in the West, banking served to
answer the economic and commercial requirements of Western society. This
imported institution, however, had a distinctly negative effect on the
foundations of the Muslim Ummah. Instead of assisting in the Ummah's development
and economic reconstruction, it paved the way for further foreign influence. The
main reason for this negative effect may be attributed to differences in beliefs
and values. Indeed, Western-style banking succeeded in creating divisions and
generating even more conflict, as well as draining the Ummah's strength, curbing
its motivation, extinguishing its enthusiasm, and facilitating the foreign
domination of its resources instead of acting as an aid to progress and economic
development.
To a great extent, the reason Western-style banking failed in Islamic
societies, despite its supposed success in the West, is that it is an
application of methods that are essentially foreign to Islamic economic Systems
and values. It presented both the individual Muslim and the Muslim Ummah with an
extremely difficult choice: wealth and economic prosperity in this world on the
basis of usurious transactions which would ultimately spell damnation in the
afterlife, or toil9 backwardness, and poverty in this world if the teachings and
values of Islam were followed.
What the Muslim conscience seeks is to make the best of life in this world
and thus earn blessings, rewards, and ultimate bliss in the next world. There is
no scope in that conscience for the acceptance of dualism or contradiction as to
what is good and right in this world and what is good and right in the next.
Islamic banking in the Islamic world today is a partial attempt to present an
Islamic solution or alternative which gives hope to the desire to realize
contemporary Islamic requirements, including financial and economic services, in
a way that harmonizes with the Muslim's personality. thought, and heart.
The imported foreign solution is, to use a metaphor, a theatrical solution
which turns the Ummah into a passive spectator in a drama that is mere
play-acting and only a shadow of reality. The most that the audience can do
during a performance is to applaud or show its displeasure in accordance with
the twists of the plot and what it evokes. This does not mean, however, that the
Ummah has any significant role to play in what takes place on the stage between
the actors representing the political and social leadership. This may explain
why every time one of these plays ends, or a leader falls from power, or a role
is finished, the Ummah merely shakes it off and goes about its business as if
nothing had happened. Before long, it will move on to witness another play,
another distraction, another leadership, and another round of the latest trends
in imitative historical and foreign solutions.
The difference between the thought of advanced nations, their leadership, and
their institutions on their own territory, and the thought of backward nations,
their leadership. and their institutions is immediately obvious: those of the
advanced nations are real, for they spring directly from the being or essence,
the values, the personalities. and the requirements of those nations. These are
the components of thought, policies, and teachings that make the leadership and
the nation one team working for progress and the purposeful betterment of the
life of the nation.
This basic insight presents us with a sound explanation of what we might term
the "comedy of politics and politicians" in the Islamic world and, on
a larger scale, in the Third World in general. It explains the differences in
the nature of politics, government, and administration in the developed nations.
It also explains how these reflect the relationships of interaction and
performance that represent a society, a process, and a movement springing from
reality, dealing with and influencing it, and being influenced by that same
reality.
What is required of us is that we understand the intellectual and cultural
dimensions of the imported foreign solutions. if we can accomplish this, then we
will not waste any more time on imitation and parody, and therefore spare
ourselves and the rest of the Ummah more suffering and pain. It is certainly
neither fair nor Just that the Ummah continue to be led by the political and
intellectual leadership, be they nationalist, secularist, Marxist, or whatever,
who have failed it so badly over the centuries. Why should they be allowed to
direct the Ummah along the same useless path?
Serious and mature Muslim intellectuals and leaders must commit themselves to
the one path that is truly open to them, regardless of how difficult it might at
first appear to be. They must make certain that the solution they seek
originates in their religion, their homeland, and their history, and that they
use it to steadfastly confront the challenges of the present. if this is not
done, the bitter failures suffered by the Islamic world over the past several
centuries will pale in comparison with the new problems that it will have to
face.
Of course, Muslim leaders and intellectuals, with all their different
leanings and preferences, as well as the entire Muslim Ummah can continue to
dream of salvation, progress, honor, or power. However, if they do not change
their present ways, means, and methods of thinking, in the end they can only
expect that their lot will be a harvest even more bitter than those they have
experienced in the past. The Ummah's intellectual and social leadership must
search for an authentic Islamic alternative solution, strive to discern its elements
from deep within the thought, culture, practices and institutions of the Ummah,
and then relate it to the actual circumstances of its people.
The Ummah has also attempted to apply the imitative approach. However, this
solution ignores, in a completely haphazard fashion, the elements of time and
place in the structure of the Ummah and its historical progression. In the last
few centuries, this approach has represented continual reversals for the Ummah
as regards the challenges put forward by contemporary life and the forces
inimical to the Muslim mind and its thought. Clearly, this solution has failed
to rescue the Ummah, for the circumstances of the Ummah have continued to
deteriorate rapidly, its enemies have gained a great deal from its crisis, and
it continues to be beset by innumerable problems. if this approach had been
successful, the excuse that certain unforeseen obstacles prevented the
realization of the desired results would never be accepted. Obviously a solution
is only as good as its results and, unless it takes the unexpected into
consideration, it will not be satisfactory, for the unexpected is an integral
part of the problem.
The imitative historical solution greatly oversimplifies matters by
attempting to establish the soundness of its own principles and the inadequacy
of all others. In fact, it is a solution that requires, as a condition for its
success, the cooperation of its opponents. Were they to place obstacles in its
way. it would not be able to solve anything. This in itself represents a part of
the problem that needs to be solved.
Essentially. the imitative historical solution that has captured and held the
imagination of so many Muslims for so long is little more than a stubborn
insistence on a return to Islam's golden age. It does not take into account any
change, whether material or contextual. This explains why this 'tlslamic1'
approach to delivering the Ummah from its tribulations has consistently failed,
even though the Ummah Is Islamic In its beliefs and has been so throughout its history. This
further explains why the scope of traditional madhhab-based fiqh was confined to
the sphere of ritual worship and personal law.
Perhaps the example which most embodies the fallacies inherent In this
solution Is that of Sayyid Jamal al Din al Afghani. Although he was one of the
greatest and most sagacious of all recent Islamic reformers, he nevertheless
misinterpreted the relationship between the social and the political systems at
the time of the early khulafa' and deduced his Infamous conclusion that the
leadership needed by the Ummah was a "just dictatorship."
Obviously, dictatorship and justice are at opposite ends of the political and
administrative scale. And, furthermore, this was clearly enunciated in one of
the first Qur'anic revelations:
.. but man transgresses all bounds, in that he looks
upon himself as self-sufficient (96:6-7).
In attempting to understand the phenomena of the imitative historical
approach, we should first come to terms with how the approach developed through
the history of the Ummah. The origins of the approach go back to the division
between the Ummah's intellectual and political leadership: the last days of the
early Khulafa', which were characterized by a power struggle between the
leadership of the state and those ethnocentric and tribalistic desert Arabs who
supported the movements toward apostasy and repeated political refractoriness.
Finally, this conflict escalated Into an open confrontation between the leaders
of the state at Madinah who represented the general politics of Islam (I.e.,
people such as al Husayn ibn 'Ali, 'Abd Allah ibn al Zubayr, Muhammad Dhu al
Nafs al Zakiyah, Zayd ibn 'Ali, and others) and the political leadership of the
ruling dynasties.
This confrontation ended in the defeat of the Intellectual and religious
leadership, a development which engendered their withdrawal from politics and
their assumption of a new role: an intellectual and religious opposition. Their isolation continued
to increase and9 over the centuries, left an indelible mark on the nature of
Islamic thought and the concerns of Islamic thinkers. As the scholars fell into
the trap of looking at problems from a narrow perspective and interpreting the
texts of revelation from a purely lexical point of view, schools of taqlid came
into existence. In the scholars' defense, it is likely that their desire to
protect and preserve the Shari'ah from any tampering on the part of the
unqualified and unscrupulous contributed to the overly conservative approach
they adopted. Still, the natural result was that as time went on Islamic thought
became distinctly retrospective, lost in faint recollections of times past and
the adoration of sacred relics.
As a result of this development, the intellectual roots of the Ummah's social
and political leadership shrivelled up and died. when the leadership finally and
completely lost its hold, the Ummah succumbed to blind imitation and
intellectual stagnation, particularly the religious scholars who no longer had
any practical political or social role to play. Repression, tyranny, and
subjugation took hold of the Ummah as the political and social leadership lost
the intellectual base from which to derive the solutions needed for the Ummah's
development, and its alternatives and replacements.
On one side, the Ummah was enveloped in imitative and stagnant thought and,
on the other, by despotism and political autocracy. This is a fairly accurate
picture of the Ummah's history and the reason why, after the Mongol invasions
and the Crusades, the Ummah fell prey to Western imperialism and remains today
under foreign domination.
The important thing here is that the Ummah's decline, the failure of its
institutions, and its inability to think beyond the limits of historical
imitation led to an even greater danger: the perception that the solution to its
problems was to be found in an imitative foreign approach. However, the results
of that imitative approach were to hasten the fall of the Ummah and to leave it
weaker than ever before. By following this path, the Ummah was soon beset with what
scholars call an increasing civilizational (economic and technological) gulf
between the North and the South, or between the advanced and industrialized
nations and those of the underdeveloped Third World, many of which are Muslim.
Among the most important lessons to be learned from the failure of this approach
Is that backward-oriented dreams are unnatural and contrary to the laws of
motion that govern life, time, space, thought, and possibility. Moreover,
insisting on this type of thought and approach when it comes to reform entails
insistence on the results of the approach: backwardness, decline, and defeat in
the face of a barrage of foreign ideas.
The Ummah must find a new path to tread, and the intellectual and political
leadership must make a serious attempt to find ways and means of reform. But
what is this new way? And what is this new approach? What is at its core? What
are its characteristics? How can it be tested so that we may know that it will
be better than what preceded it, and that it will succeed where the others
failed?
In order to answer these questions, we first have to understand this
phenomenon. How did it begin? How, when, and why did the decline first set in?
How did the situation degenerate? Surely an understanding of the malady itself,
its beginnings and its symptoms, and then its progress as it infected the corpus
of Islam and its history is an essential prerequisite to understanding the cure
and its attributes. By means of such an understanding, we may determine the kind
of effort required for reform, the priorities of such an effort, and the plans
for its implementation.
As its name indicates, this is at approach based on Islam in terms of its
objectives, beliefs, values, and ideas. This is because the Ummah for which
growth, positive action, and reform are intended is Islamic in its beliefs,
values, and intellectual and psychological makeup. Thus there is no way to motivate it if this basic truth about Its personality,
hidden strengths, and motives Is ignored.
Clearly, It is not enough to state categorically that Islam is the essence of
the approach and the solution, because Islam constitutes a part of both the
imitative historical approach and the contemporary Islamic asalah approach. It
is therefore essential that the distinguishing features of the latter be
defined.
These features may be sought in the contemporary aspect and the integrity of
the proposed Islamic approach. This means that the solution will be derived from
Islamic beliefs, values, and Inclinations as they reflect on the Amah's
contemporary circumstances and its standing issues. It also means understanding
what those circumstances require as regards time and place In relation to
Islam's heritage and experience in its earliest age on the one hand, and in
terms of the significance of quantitative and qualitative change in human life
on the other. This differs from the imitative solutions in that the solution
based on contemporary Islamic asalah comes as an enunciation of the Ummah's
needs, and as an answer based on the values, concepts, and objectives of Islam,
to the challenges confronting it. In this way, the Ummah and its potentials are
placed in a position of leadership, and through its values and objectives the
Ummah may best direct the future of humanity.
Our understanding of "contemporary asalah" or dealing with
contemporary circumstances from the starting-point of the Ummah's Islamic
character, means, to begin with, "comprehensiveness." This, In turn,
means understanding the theories and applications of the early period of Islam
with all their dimensions of time and place. This also entails a thorough
understanding of Islam's objectives and higher purposes and the proper
relationship between them. This is what is to serve as the foundation for all
ummatic interaction with contemporary life and society, so that the Ummah may
assume a position of leadership as regards other civilizations.
Contemporary asalah implies ability, technical experience, and sound
methodology. It also means an academic and intellectual approach based on
knowledge of the laws of nature and experience. The experience referred to here
is that which springs from real issues, problems, and possibilities as viewed
from the perspective of Islamic thought, principles, purposes, values, and
teachings. By means of a methodology based on academic and practical
comprehensiveness, it should be possible to make the desired intellectual and
civilizational transition from pastoral, agricultural, and simple trading
societies to the world of automation, communication and unending movement, one
which is characterized by change in its potentialities and capabilities, its
wealth and production, and in the requirements and responsibilities of
individuals, groups, and political, social, and economic systems. In this way
the challenges, dangers, and opportunities from which the world has begun both
to benefit and suffer can be met.
There is therefore no escaping the need to think about overall and
comprehensive approaches or of following the movements and social dealings of
human groupings. This, above all, means that there must be a complete
understanding of and concentration on, the higher purposes of the Shari'ah and
on its general principles, values, and fundamental teachings. These must become
the starting point for contemporary Islamic social thought and for the
arrangement of its institutions, organizations, and the regulations that direct
and guide its movement. if these goals are realized, Islamic society will remain
distinguished by justice, shura, solidarity, brotherhood, and all the other
values held dear by Islam.
In order to achieve the goal of contemporary Islamic asalah the methodology
of research in Islamic studies must be restructured so that it proceeds from
experience derived from practical situations related to Islam and its higher
purposes, values, and societal and civilizational precepts. what this entails is
the reunification of the two branches of education on all levels: the spiritual,
with its stress on values, and the technical, with its stress on application.
Attention also must be paid to Islamic approaches and philosophy in every
branch of learning, particularly the humanities and the social sciences.
In the final analysis, contemporary Islamic asalah will lead to a reordering
of priorities and a restructuring of methodology and thought so that the means
for sound Islamic education will be provided. Moreover, a reconstruction of
institutions, organizations4 social systems. and political institutions will
also take place, so that complementarity and sound progression will propel
society towards a constructive reorganization on the basis of Islamic values and
purposes.
The approach taken by contemporary Islamic asalah must include two factors if
it is to have an effective role in the leadership and reform of human
civilization. Based on the study of historical civilizational change, these
factors are: the impetus of a positive religious outlook and preeminence in
effective thought.
In the early days of Islam this came about through the pure Islamic 'aqidah
(creed) and the supremacy of Islamic thought. Such a combination gave rise to
many remarkable accomplishments in the first generation of Muslims: the severing
of the pagan Arab trade routes, military and diplomatic genius at the battles of
Khandaq and Hudaybiyah. the conquest of Makkah, the amazing crossing of the
Syrian desert prior to the decisive battle with the Byzantines at Yarmuk, the
genius in maintaining the various diwans, framing policies. establishing
organizations, building mosques as schools and training centers, and the
dissemination of knowledge and scientific lore. Ml of this speaks eloquently of
the Ummah's cultural superiority at that early stage of its history when it was
surrounded by corrupt and failing civilizations and barbarian Bedouins.
The same was true of the European Renaissance, for it was driven by a
positive new religious outlook (the Protestant reformation) dedicated to an
effective Christian worldview aimed at erasing the superstition and ignorance of
the Middle Ages. This, combined with the reform of European thought, which until
that time had been shackled by literal interpretations of fabulous tales derived from biblical sources,
proved to be a potent mixture. what had happened in the early days of Islam, the
Joining together of a constructive religious outlook and effective and superior
thought, also happened in Europe and resulted in a similar development: the
founding of a new civilization, that of Renaissance Europe. The approach of
contemporary asalah is based on these two factors as well.
Thus, emphasizing religious reform to the exclusion of sound methodology will
not benefit the contemporary Islamic movement Moreover, Westernized secularists
will not succeed if they are only concerned with the issue of thought and its
brilliant achievements. Rather, both elements must be combined, and the two
camps must unite to bring about the needed elements for Khilafah and the
establishment of a new civilization.
The process of bringing the religious and the secular elements together is,
from the Islamic point of view, a restoration of the link between reason and
revelation, or between the role of the mind in appreciating (comprehending and
interpreting) revelation and guiding the mind by means of the revelation's
objectives, its comprehensive and universal outlook, and its living and
civilizational values. Thus, the Joining of the two wings in the pursuit of
reform is an intellectual process in its methodology and style. In other words,
the crisis faced by the Ummah at the present time is one of thought.
It is only natural, then, that the call to the proper approach, the
explanation of what that approach and its priorities should be, and the plans
for its implementation should be made by the Ummah's intellectuals, writers, and
concerned social and political leaders. These people must strive to clarify the
picture, to make the Ummah aware of the problem, and to plant the seeds of
reform so that these may grow and eventually bear fruit. It may sometimes seem
that the road is a winding one. This, however, is the case in every beginning
and new undertaking. Although the beginning may be difficult, people have never
chosen paths simply for the ease of passage these may afford them. On the contrary, paths are chosen for the reason that they lead to those
objectives for which people set out on the road in the first place.
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