By Shahnawaz Farooqui
Charles Pierre Baudelaire, a French poet whose work exhibits mastery in the handling of rhyme and rhythm and is based on observations of real life, has termed the world a “Forest of Symbols”. One has to admit that Baudelaire is right.
The world is a forest of symbols but in the case of the Muslim world, it is a forest of symbols of mental slavery of the West for the past 200 years.
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan has talked about one of these symbols that the English education system symbolises our subjugated mindset. He said the British had introduced the English language and their education system to produce “Black Englishmen”. He also believed that this education system has widened the gulf between society and religion. He was of the view that sexual offences have surged due to excessive use of cellphones for viewing explicit content easily available on the internet.
The prime minister said the young generation was moving towards destruction in the absence of proper training. So parents should pay attention to the education and training of the young generation. He said children need to be familiar with the life of the holy prophet (peace be upon him) so they could learn that our holy prophet (peace be upon him) was the greatest man of human history.
Whatever we may call it a Muslim world or an Islamic world, but in fact, this so-called Muslim world is nothing but a replica of the West. We are copying the West in every aspect. The problem is not that our education system is Westernised or we speak foreign languages such as English, French or Italian but the real issue is that the Muslim world has been trapped in the chains of West slavery.
Name anything that we haven’t borrowed from the West? Our desires and wishes are Westernised. Even our dreams are Westernised.
The life of people and nations revolves around their ontology and it leaves lasting and visible impacts on any civilisation. The ontology of Muslims is that God is One, He’s our Creator, He is our Master and He is our Provider. We have been sent to this world from Him. We are here in this world because of Him and we will finally return to Him.
The Western world has altogether changed the ontology of millions of people in the Muslim world. There are around 30 to 40 million people out of a total of 1.8 billion in the Muslim world who have been drawn towards atheism. They do not even believe in the existence of God. They have become completely secular or liberal.
Unfortunately, the majority of the Muslim world leaders is secular or liberal in terms of their beliefs and they are secularising their societies rapidly under the influence of the West.
Under Western thoughts on ontology, the matter has replaced the concept of god to great extent.
Millions of people in Muslim countries have been turned the matter into their god and they worship it. They believe there is no creator, no almighty and no provider or sustainer. No one sent humans on earth and there is no one to whom they would return.
This is no coincidence. Most of the constitutions of the countries in the Muslim world are secular. Though the constitution of Pakistan is Islamic, the secular ruling class has transformed into a prison cell for Islam. This ruling class does not pave the for Islam to play its role in the affairs of the state. We are following a Riba-based (usury) economy while on the other hand, Quran clearly warns that Riba is a war against Allah and his prophet (peace be upon him). Our ruling class has turned a blind eye to these fundamentals of Islamic thought. The Riba-based economy of the West is more important for the rulers. This is not the case only in Pakistan. The situation is the same in all Muslim countries.
The West has changed our concept of ontology and produced millions of people who take God as nothing more than a perception.
This is the reason why no signs are found in the lives of millions of Muslims if they believe in One God, they love God and also fear Him.
The concept of the human being is an integral part of Islam and Islamic civilisation. According to this concept of human, man is “Abd” (servant of God) and he spends his life according to God’s order.
A believer surrenders his opinion whether at personal, individual, ancestral or community level before God’s command. The definite truth for him is what God and His prophet (peace be upon him) have said.
The West has also invaded this very concept of human beings among Muslims. There are people in Muslim societies who believe that man is sovereign and self-sufficient which means he does not need any divine guidance. The man from the West does not believe in soul or spirit. To him, a man is only a body made of flesh. Millions of secular and liberal people from the Muslim world are convinced of this concept of human beings.
Then comes the concept of knowledge in Islam and Islamic civilisation. This concept explains revelation as the highest and purest form of knowledge. Revelation is not a man-made thing. Revelation is the injunction of God and as God is All-knowing so there cannot be any defect in His knowledge. On the contrary, the modern West does not acknowledge revelation. The West’s concept of knowledge revolves around physical sciences. Modern science follows two principles ie scientific observation and scientific experiment. Whatever is proved by scientific observation and experiment would be taken as the truth.
Now the difficulty is that the existence of God cannot be proved through any scientific observation, experiment or laboratory test. Also, Judgment Day cannot be proved by science. The existence of heaven and hell also cannot be proved through scientific experiments. The existence of angels is also beyond the scope of science. So science repudiates religion as a whole.
Unfortunately, millions of people in the Muslim world have faith in modern science rather than religion. They accept only whatever is proved by science. The concept of revelation is irrelevant to knowledge in their view and there is no need for it in this modern world. The core of Iqbal’s poetry exhibits a revolt against the West. In his lifetime, Maulana Maududi confronted the West. But now we don’t have a powerful voice in any other part of the Muslim world to face the West. The Islamic movements are now no longer useful even in their collective efforts against the West. So, Westernisation is spreading in Muslim countries at a fast pace.
