Posted on 07/06/2002 3:05:54 PM PDT by swarthyguy
A basic problem confronting the Muslim world today is how to come to grips with modernity and the modern world. Indeed, Muslims have not had much role to play in its making and shaping. Muslim intellectuals, however, point out that the Arab-Islamic civilisation not only preserved and revived the intellectual-philosophical traditions of Greece, but also made important, original contributions to that strand of free thought and passed it on to the Europeans.
During the middle age, Ibn Sina and Ibn Rushd were two outstanding Muslims whose writings became authoritative works in medicine and rational philosophy. That legacy kindled the rebirth of knowledge in Europe. However, the Arab-Islamic civilisation never recovered from the ravages wrought by the Mongol invasion of Baghdad in 1258, followed by the expulsion of Muslims from Spain at the end of the 15th century. Instead the European colonial intervention induced a negative state of mind in the Arab and Muslim worlds notwithstanding various attempts by individual thinkers, reformers and rulers to learn from the science and philosophy that had accompanied colonialism.
The most important change needed by the Muslim world today is a shift away from a holistic paradigm of cognising, analysing and changing the material world if it is to participate actively in shaping a future that could help get the Muslim societies out of their current depressed and dismal state. While remaining faithful to the spiritual message of Islam, the vision and courage to separate revelation from the mundane matters is necessary. There is no evidence that the growth of democracy, science and human rights were particularly favoured by the Christian faith. On the contrary, the religious establishments in Europe showed considerable resistance to emancipatory modernity.
Islam’s role as a resource for attaining salvation and inspiration for piety, good moral conduct and social solidarity should continue to be observed in letter and spirit, but only at the level of the individual, and as a voluntaristic pursuit. On the whole, society needs to be equipped with liberal, rationalist education which can facilitate the emergence and sustenance of a culture of intellectual scepticism.
Consequently, while one has a right to believe in a personal version of religious truth, one should be willing to concede that there is no way of proving that others are wrong. Intellectual scepticism should thus allow for the acceptance of a range of dissenting and non-conformist beliefs since these are concerned with metaphysical matters whose ultimate truth can never be demonstrated but can only be accepted as an article of faith. This means that the particularistic sphere of the religion will have to be separated from the universalistic sphere of citizenship. In particular, the state must be completely neutral on matters of religious truths and allow science freely to flourish.
It would be necessary to recognise that different types of truths should be cultivated in separate spheres. Matters dealing with the physical and social world need to be dealt with on a flexible, empirical basis. It means that laws and rules that apply to society should be retained only on the basis of their usefulness and effectiveness. Thus, for example, it would be necessary to compare the Muslim laws of inheritance with modern developments in the field and freely decide which one is most useful for creating a democratic society of equal men and women.
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk of Turkey has already laid the foundations of a modern state. He separated dogmatic Islam from the legal and constitutional basis of the state. Although Turkey has not graduated to a full democracy it has been able to attain greater equality of women and thus laid the foundations of egalitarianism in a substantial sense. Rather than looking upon human history as having gone astray from the time of the Prophet and his pious successors - as seems to be the implicit assumption from which all arguments about remaining faithful to a pristine past emanate - it would be fruitful to consider that golden period as a source of inspiration for adopting a proactive and flexible attitude towards the present and future. This means that we have to accept and internalise an evolutionary conception of nature, human history. Unless it is presumed that mankind has arrived at the end of time, there is no reason to despair simply because in the last few hundred years Europe or the West provided leadership to social and political transformation. The future can be seen as uncharted and therefore open to contributions from all cultures and societies.
It is in the area of social and political ethics that the rich Islamic heritage will need to be utilised creatively. The Quranic message is replete with truly universal statements in favour of a common origin of humankind, kindness and mercy towards those in need irrespective of their religious affiliations, and a concern for justice for all. No religious tradition has emphasised the idea of welfare as strongly as Islam and it is in this field that considerable research has to be done so that Muslims can relate to the modern world of pluralism, increasing mobility, global communication and so on in a positive and pro-active manner.
Rather than applying the ‘laws’ given in the Quran the reform strategy should be to derive ethical principles behind those laws. Indeed, such an undertaking would furnish rich results if an open-ended approach were followed.
Also, the relationship with the West needs to be redefined. Rather than approach the West as an undifferentiated threat, one needs to distinguish between those forces which represent economic and military hegemony and domination and those which have historically represented the counterpoint movement for equal rights, economic justice, a fair distribution of resources, anti-militarism, opposition to the arms industry, a green environmental technology and so on. In other words, Muslims need to connect with those who stand for an internationalist worldview.
This strategy should be extended to seeking cooperation with the rest of the world too. The archaic division of the world into Muslims and non-Muslims would not be very helpful. Indeed the Muslim world would find its own ways of cooperating with one another, but it need not mean hostility towards non-Muslims. In short, universal humanism would have to be recognized as superior to all outlooks which divide humanity into exclusive groups.
The author is an associate professor of Political Science at Stockholm University. He has authored two books and written extensively for various newspapers and journals
Stop blowing money on drilling sharia law into kids, and give them the tools to think and reason for themselves, and they'll gravitate to freedom and democracy.
People flow to freedom, once the restrictions are lifted. History shows this to be true.
...one needs to distinguish between those forces which represent economic and military hegemony and domination and those which have historically represented the counterpoint movement for equal rights, economic justice, a fair distribution of resources, anti-militarism, opposition to the arms industry, a green environmental technology and so on. In other words, Muslims need to connect with those who stand for an internationalist worldview.
Sounds like the Left is asking the terrorists to join them...
Islam needs to solve it's literacy problem first.True. Trade more with Musharraf. Schooling is very expensive business.
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk of Turkey has already laid the foundations of a modern state. He separated dogmatic Islam from the legal and constitutional basis of the state. Although Turkey has not graduated to a full democracy it has been able to attain greater equality of women and thus laid the foundations of egalitarianism in a substantial sense.Show me one "full democracy," and I'll shut up. 80,000 elected public officials don't count of course. Gotto give the country away to terrorists to be a real democracy.
Along with its truly universal statements to kill infidels.
First Islam did not preserve classical Greek learning. Classical Greek learning was preserved by the (Greek-speaking) Roman Empire whose capital had been moved to New Rome (Constantinople) by St. Constantine Isapostolos, and which fell in 1453 to Turkish Muslims, not 476 with the retirement of the last Western Augustus as Westerner generally imagine. Islam took this heritage from the southern provinces of the Empire which it conquerored. Although the early Rennaisance was triggered by Westerners coming in contact with the Muslims, it almost immediately turned to the Empire for more accurate texts. The later Rennaisance got most of its impetus from Greeks fleeing the Turkish conquest.
Second, he overlooks the fact that Islam was constructed in deliberate opposition to Christianity just as the Church was formulating the modern notion of person on which modern democracy depends. Even secularists generally accept the notion of person first fully worked out by the Holy Ecumenical Councils in response to the christological controversies: each person (hypostasis) being equally a representative of the single human nature (ousia) made in the image and likeness of God. Although secular humanism removes God, it retains a remnant of the exalted position Christian theological anthropology gave to Man, by making Man the measure of all things (replacing the Uncreated prototype with the created image--indeed in some variants denying the existence of the Uncreated prototype--but still leaving Man, and each individual man equally as the pinnacle of the material universe).
Islam cannot accept this high anthropology: "Allah has no image," and "Allah has no son" are two of its central dictums. This opposition to the very underpinnings of democracy is amplified by the fact that the fundamental structure of Islam is contrary to egalitarianism--"righteous" Muslims are given leave to oppress non-Muslims in varying degrees.
European colonial intervention induced a negative state of mind in the Arab and Muslim worldsThe "negative state of mind" is the fault of the Europeans? Nonsense. Hostility and aggression are part and parcel of Islam.
Europeans could just as easily blame their "colonial intervention" on a "negative state of mind" brought on by the Islamic assaults on Europe that gave the Muslims Spain.
No religious tradition has emphasised the idea of welfare as strongly as IslamIs the fact that a "religious tradition" is the breeding grounds for staggering poverty and oppression now being used as proof of its emphasis on welfare??? Clinton could have learned a thing or two about spin from these people.
Based on the Koran, I don't think that tolerance and getting along with infidels is what Allah wants.
If you can't follow the muslim religion, then get out.
As I remember in the Christian New Testament there is a statement that goes something like this. "I would rather you be hot or cold because if you are lukewarm I will vomit you out of my mouth."
Gods don't like slackers. This author is a slacker.
This author seems to think religion is seperate from a persons life and should be kept in the garage when following it is inconvenient. And that somehow, religion should make this world a better place for you. Apparently he is not a true believer and will lead muslims into heresy. - Tom
That is undoubtedly true. But what have you done for us lately.
I guess we could just rave about the contributions to civilization made by the Etruscans, or the Vikings, or the Ming Dynasty as well. But that was then; this is now.
Muslims are in a pickle though.
If they recognize Islam to be the hogwash that it is, they'd better not say so. Their "fellow Muslims" will kill them if they do.
The 1460's that is!
I was raised in the Roman Church but can't help feeling that Islam has done as much for the Arabs as Catholicism has for South America.
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