Why Are Muslim Nations Backward? (Sneez The Troll Asks Questions About Islam)

i was just wondering about why muslim nation as of today and past 600 years are so unable keep up with the world. They have abundant natural resources. Some of the greatest nations and still are progressing down. No intelectuall developments no dynamics.

sneez

Answer From Rehmat:

First of all – it could not be 600 years – because during that time Muslim Ottoman Empire was the greatest empire of the known human history – extending from Southern France to Greece; from Azerbaijan to Morocco and most of Africa. The empire collapsed after WW I in 1914-18 – thanks to internal treason of Freemasons (mostly Jewish elites – even Gen. Kemal Atta Turk was a Jew) and external treasons of the Arab world, lead by Sharif of Makkah and Lawrence of Arabia.

After living under 200 years of western colonization – all spheres of Muslim society was corrupted by alien Judo-Christian culture – which have left deep political, economical and social evils in the Muslim societies all over the world. I think that reforms are due on the Muslim side in at least the following fields;

1.education and technology 2.human rights 3.women’s emancipation (though they are still better than most of western countries in certain fields) 4.investment of Muslim $$$$ in Muslim countries instead of depositing into western banks – which are funding Israel to kill more innocent Muslims in the Middle East. 5.eradication of sectarian menace 6.modernization of political thought based on Islamic Shari’ah instead of copying western political system which has failed miserably.

Finally, one can deduct by implication that Holy Qur’an insistence on a just government requires an independent judiciary (4:58, 5:8 and 57:25) within any form of State.

Lets not this be a disagreeement but otoman empire was just a begining of an end. I just said 600 from top of my head what i rembered from school and i was trying to imply a long period of time of muslim ummah being without progress in any of the socio-politico-technological and religious thought.

I know that the great scholars and great advancements and cultural influence started to deteriorate 100-200 years after conquest of spain by moors. Which is around 1400 i think. But thats not the point.

Mybe otoman empire was great in its size but not in its substance from what i know. (subject to correction)

Why would such a great empire (which implies a great ppl) would subject itself to such influences? Meaning the AQL of those ppl must have been deteriorating for some time (as a group on global scale). Why would those evils corrupt ppl who posses supposedly the best of books?

What im trying to imply here is that not everyting can be reduced to evils of the west. What went wrong? We do not have any scholars anymore who would "compete" and teach the west the thoughts. We do not have scientists who lead sciecnce. (i realize that those are in part affected by economy, but not in 100%).

sneez

AnswerFrom Rehmat:

Let me narrate a few historical facts without criticizing your school-books.

1. Muslim Ottomans ruled most part of the known world for over 300 year – starting in 16th century. They were the descendents of Mongols who destroyed most of Muslim empires in Arabia and Persia – but later converted to Islam.

2. Muslim Arabs conquered Spain in 711 CE – under the command of Tariq bin Ziyyad. Within three years – they brought 75% of Spain under Muslim rule. Moors from North Africa (present-day Morocco) took over Spain when the Ummayyid Dynasty in Spain became week. However, Muslims ruled Spain from 711 to 1492 CE. Spain during that time was known as the Jewel of Europe – because during that time – Europe was still living in her Dark Age.

3. In 9th century CE, Baghdad’s central library had 500,000 books – while the largest collection of books in Europe was in Vatican Library in Rome – containing only 20,000 of them.

4. There is no shortage of great scientist among the Muslims – if given chance for the research. Two of the celebrated ones who comes to my mind are – Dr. Abdul Salam (a Nobel Prize winner), Dr. Kalam (father of India’s nuclear bomb and the current President of India), Dr. Qadeer Khan (father of Pakistan’s nuclear bomb) and least but not the last Dr. Murad Hofmann (scientist and former NATO director of information, 1983-87). As for engineers and doctors are concerned – you may be surprised to know that the largest immigrant group in those field come from Muslim countries. That’s called brain drain.

Question From Sneez:

Thanx rehmat,

well maybe but the statistics (cia factbook) speeks for itself. All the islamic countries cannot even reach europe in literacy and education. What you gave me are individuals and i do not deny that we have them. On the contrary my point is that we have them and still are backward. As majority seems we seem to be in stagnation.

My question is about current situation which i was trying to compare to the "gloriouse" past. WHy do we have ppl trying to come to US instead of US ppl trying to go to some islamic country for education for example. Thats how it was in spain. Center of the world when muslims ruled it. What happened to muslim ummah going from top of the world to the lowest of the low. (almost).

wasalam sneez

Answer From Rehmat:

Don’t believe everything you watch on CNN, FOX or most of western media. Even in the US – there are 52 million Americans who cannot ‘read or write’. Most of Eastern countries are worse than some of Muslim countries when it comes to education – especially female education. Islamic Iran, Jordan and Egypt has higher education standards than majority of UN’s 187 members.

Only education would not make a nation militarily strong – it’s the will power of its people. How else you think Hezbullah was able to defeat ‘mighty Israel’ in 2000? Or the US was defeated by those ill-equipped and un-educated Vietnamese! Even look at Iran’s neighbors – India (35%)and Pakistan (21%) – both have much lower educated people – but those two countries are already nuclear powers.

What the Muslim nations need the most is – a ‘mutaqi’ and dedicated leadership to steer their countries to the past Muslim glory. However, keep in mind that every civilization has its zenith and fall – that’s the law of Nature. Only Allah Almighty stays Supreme.

I think "nations" is too small of a concept when it comes to Islam. In reality and in the end, Islam does not just rule a nation. It rules the entire universe and all that is. The influence of Islam and the Prophets since Adam has been the highest of high standards. It is those who have changed the books and teachings that are holding everything back. None worse than what the Romans and many others have done to the teachings of Jesus. And Jesus spoke of what the Jews had done to sway off the path of the Prophets and their teachings. And Muhammad spoke of the corruption of the holy books by the people. The Quran is the most uncorrupt and most dangerous to empires whose true rulers are a king, a queen, prime minister, or a president and not Allah. Or the many oligarchies that are in power now. People who are working to defeat Islam for their power, selfishness and bottom lines are keeping the entire world backward and not Muslims. I think these nations that are considered forward are the ones that are backward and are ruining the world. It is not just the technology, but how you use it that is most important. Killing millions of people to get oil and build your technology and wealth is forward?

The Muslim world is today backwards because of the chocies and actions taken by it's predecessors namely the Sunnis. I mean look at the Sunni Muslim world today, nothing to smile of be proud about. It's rampant with weakness to the point were as if the U.S., U.N., or Zionists make a demand of their defacto leaders they do as told. Look at The Kingdom Of Saudia Arabia for example, they allowed the U.S. military to set up shop there while at the same time those same American troops are destroying of Holy Qur'an & putting it in the mouths of dogs at Gitmo. These are the kafir troops that raped Muslim women in Abu Gharib prison as well as fed pork to the inmates there and these interogation tatics are condoned by the U.S. state department through Donald Rumsfield. The weakness we see today of the Muslim world specifically the Sunni Muslim world is due to the fact that their predecessors forsaked the Ahlulbayt(AS) of the Prophet(AS) and in doing so they forsaked the Creed of Islam & steped out of the light of guidance.

The Prophet(SAW) said: "O'People! I have left among you that, so long as you uphold to it, you shall never stray: The Book of Allah(SWT) and my Ahlubayt(AS)." Source: Sahih Al tirmidhi,Vol.2,p.308 Sahih Muslim,Vol.5,p.272

Muslim nations today (Sunni Nations) follow the same governmental process that Abu Bakr & Umar ibn Al Kettab and some other tribes did in the shed of Bani Sadiqa, "which is forcefully imposed government by the sword." No election, no Shura, lol, and not that it was right to begin with, it was'nt, the Prophet(SAW) assigned Imam Ali(AS) to be his sucessor and his Ahlulbayt(AS) to be the guardians and protectors (costodians) of Islam. Instead, those who sought the life of this world, those who had envy and jealousy withen their hearts, the hypocrites followed their own desires. So you get the end result in what we see of the Muslim world today.

WHat is your opinion about the current state of ummah and its cause? Or do you (as i get it from your reply) not think that muslims are backward? Do you think ummah is thriving in "prosperity"?

Why so many born muslims do not feel that islam is the way. They think democracy will do etc.

I think the answer of Brother soldier_of_al_Qaim is essentially where the answer lies; however, I fear that he has misunderstood the answer himself.

It is true that the core problem is that the Muslims - both Shia and Sunnah - have moved away from the true Islam of Muhammad(S); infact, the revival of the true Islam of Muhammad(S) was in the work done by our beloved Imam Khumayni(A), and in the moving forward this Islamic Unity.

To constantly dwell on a historical event that, like it or not, did in all actuallity happen (right or wrong is not the issue here), is to fall into the trap of the Children of Israel; whereby the still feel in their manifest arrogance that they the "Chosen People of Allah".

For us, as Muslims, we have to understand what Islam is, we have move forward with Islam, and stand side by side with out Brothers - be they Sunnah or Shia - ultimately we are all Muslims, and while we might have minor differences (and in truth since they do not take one out of the pale of Islam - without a doubt they are minor), but the essence of Islam:

La ilahi illa Allah - There is No God, except Allah Muhammad Rasul Allah - Muhammad(S) is the Prophet of Allah

Is common for us all. The Quran, the Word of Allah as revealed to His Messenger, Muhammad(S) is the same, the Qibla (direction for prayer) is the same, the Hajj is performed by us all at the same time, and is the ultimate expression of Islamic Unity, in Ramadhan we all fast during the same month throughout the day, etc, etc.

I have seen recently a trend amongst some Shia to focus on the differences, and to consider those who focus on the similarities Sunnah (as was done on ShiaChat not too long ago and is still on-going - see http://www.shiachat.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=55919 and http://www.islamicdigest.net/v61forum/index.php/topic,899.0.html for details of how pathetic things became).

The reason that the Muslims Nations are so "backward", or at least the vast bulk of Muslim Nations are so "backward", is because of the influence exherted upon them by the Amerikkkan Empire and it's immense propoganda and brainwashing aparatii. If the Muslims, instead cling to Allah, they will see that they can rise above the degrading sub-culture that Amerikkka wishes to impose on the people.

The examples for us all to see; are in Islamic Iran and Hizbullah and the Muslim Brotherhood Movement in Egypt in the Islamic Resistance Groups in Occupied Palestine and the Righteous Islamic Resistance in Occupied Iraq. The fact that these groups, Hizbullah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Ikhwaan Muslimeen, Jaysh Imam al-Mahdi(AJ), etc are becoming strong both militarily and political, is testimony to the theory of a Nation within a nation (note my capitalisation, there is a difference between a Nation and a nation).

Sadly, we have also seen, what at one point was a Resistance Movement to the Amerikkkan Sponsered Tikriti Regime, Faylaq al-Badr, become a completely impotent group, with little no credibility left for itself; and even allegations of inciting or being party to sectarian strife are left unanswered, especially since it's "absorbtion" into the so-called "Iraqi National Guard".

The most important task of the Islamic Resistance Movement, regardless of where it might be, in a Muslim country, in a non-Muslim country, in cyberspace, whereever, is that it maintain itself, and since it is an Islamic Resistance Movement, it must abide by the Islamic Concepts in terms of Resistance, meaning; that there are two forms of resistance - one greater than the other. The lesser is that with weaponary and physical resistance to an occupation, the harder and more dangerous resistance is resistance to corruption and deviation when they achieve their objective, which is akin to the Greater Resistance (or Greater Jihad to use direct Islamic Terminology).

Hizbullah, has proven that a group with an active resistance component, can also be a powerful political force, and can resist corruption and incitement from external and internal agents bent on harming the movement, Hamas and Islamic Jihad, as well as the Jaysh Imam al-Mahdi(AJ) with the Leadership of Sayyed Muqtada as-Sadr(HA) can also say this; however with the Jaysh al-Mahdi(AJ), it is important to realise that they are still in the process of a "lesser" resistance (see definition above); however, even during the many truces (all broken by the Amerikkkan Empire and it's Strormtroopers and allies in Occupied Iraq), the Jaysh al-Mahdi(AJ) has worked to help the oppressed people and raise their level, provide them their neccessities - food, water, medical services, security, etc, etc.

It is all well and good for us to blame the Muslims Nations for being backward; but the entire idea of blame is a pointless one. Reason?

In Quran, Allah says: This is because Allah has never changed a favor which He has conferred upon a people until they change their own condition; and because Allah is Hearing, Knowing; (Quran, Surah al-Anfaal, Verse 53)

Another reason; and I am sure that many of our Muslim (especially Shia) brethren (and yes I follow the School of Thought of Imam Ja'far as-Sadiq(A) and am within the social grouping call the Shia, however, I prefer to call myself a Muslim and not a Shia, since my Imam(AJ) has yet to call me his partisan, but that's a secondary discussion) will object to what I say now; another reason for the backwardness of the Muslim Ummah; and I do not belief it is for as long as 600 years; I think our decline started following the destruction and dismantlement of the Ottoman Empire; the Last Caliphate System - regardless of it's corruption and it's numerous crimes; it kept the Muslims within a cohesive system, where they spoke with one voice.

Tell me, the crimes against Islam, the flushing and abuse of the Quran, of the Muslims at the Amerikkkan Concentration Camp in Guantanamo Bay, Occupied Cuba, could they have occoured if the Muslims still had a single voice? The Imperielists have turned us into a bunch of bickering idiots; and the alhamdu lillah; Allah in His infinite mercy, sent us Imam al-Khumayni(A) who knocked us back to reality, and reminded us that we were Muslims and had rights towards each other; regardless of School of Thought; and that we had rights to the oppressed on this World.

I know, both from my studies as well as person experience; that if you make one step towards Allah, he makes many steps towards you, and He is the Best Guide, the Best Ally, the Best Protector, and the Only One with Absolute Power in All the Universes, His Mercy encmpasses ALL things.

We as Muslims have to start working towards Islam, and towards Allah, and place our hope in Allah, and NOT in man-made concepts, and the deceptive empires and "gods" of today, such as "democracy" or "Amerikkka".

One of the biggest sicknesses within the Ummah, and I have seen this recently, being in Tanzania for a few years now, I have seen that so many people idolize the western world, especially, Amerikkka, Canada and England, they seem to think that they are the solution to all their problems, the influence of Amerikkka on my country (Tanzania) is sickening, our children are being harmed by promiscuity, gambling, the family unity is breaking apart at the seams and the basic spirit of humanity whereby he helps his brother/sister up when they have fallen, is concered by many is "dangerous".

There is a rise of a negative racism from the part of the Asian people towards the Africans, and a positive (if you can call it that) racism from the Asian people towards the Amerikkkan and European expatriots. The new "god" for the people is money, and while they rarely admit it with their words, there is a hidden polytheism that is on the rise; I have seen this first hand here in Africa, and I know it exists in abundance in the West from my time over there. People are respected based on the size of their wallet and not their movement towards Allah, if a child wishes to study about Islam, then that child is generally discouraged.

A nation is essentially a massive society which is dependent on the individual; if the individual is gradually moving away from Allah, then as a net-result, the society and ultimately nation will move away from Allah.

I will stop here, as I am sure many people are tired of Shabbir's long and tiring posts; but I will say this; if we examine the situation of the Children of Israel; how Allah delivered them from bondage under Pharaoh, and showed them the many signs that He showed them, how He gave them the Law (Tauraat) and asked them to abide by the Law and not to transgress the boundaries of the Law, and how they infact did exactly that, and Allah essentially turned His Face from them, we would learn much.

We need to be careful that we do not end up like Bani Israel, and are amongst the damned ones.

Bottom line, we need to move towards Allah, individually and that will collectively bring the society and ultimately nation towards Allah, we need to enjoin the Good and forbid the Evil, and we need to rise above petty differences that we have a tendency to dwell on and which do nothing save cause more fitneh and instead work on what we have in common. I am not saying that the Shia has to become a Sunni, or that the Sunni has to become a Shia not at all; we can maintain our autonomies in terms of these areas, however, the common points that we have need to be rallying points that we come together on, as Muslims, not as a "secular" unity as some imbeciles on ShiaChat and elsewhere have been suggesting, we desire an Islamic Unity.

I do agree with you what you said. Im however interested in one level deeper discussion.

Yes ppl deserted the teaching but WHY ? what has cause them to desert ? If the islam nation was so great how come in couple hundred years we conclude they deserted the teaching of islam.

Answer From Rehmat:

Salaam Let us not ignore some of the facts about Islamic Revolution lead by Imam Khomeini (ra).

The Islamic Revolution – no matter where it is established – cannot survive on its local population alone. It needs the support of Muslims of different thoughts as much as its own concept of Islam.

1.The first person who exposed Shah’s tyrant regime outside Iran – was no other than Sayyid Mawdudi – A Sunni descendant of Imam Zain-ul-Abedin (as) – when he wrote an article in his Urdu magazine ‘Tarjaman ul-Qur’an’ in 1956 – exposing his regimes barbaric treatment of Irani Ulemas.

2.The person who wrote and publicized the cause of Islamic Revolution in the West – beginning in 1977 till his death – was Dr. Kalim Siddique, a Sunni academic from Pakistan – living in self-exile in Britain.

3.The most circulated pro-Islamic Iran by-weekly in North American – ‘Crescent International’ was started by brother Owaisi, a Sunni from Hyderabad (India) – living in Toronto (Canada).

4.The first electronic media in support of Imam Khomeini (ra) – ‘Muslimedia’ - was started by brother Zafar Bangash – A sunni Pathan from Toronto, in 1980.

5.The three-day conference under ‘Muslim Parliament of Britain’ in London (UK), in 1986 – was attended by over 200 Sunni delegates with just 25 Shia scholars – who unanimously declared that ‘under the present conditions’ – Imam Khomein (ra) and his future successors will be considered ‘The Leader’ of Muslim Ummah.

6.The largest anti-Islamic Revolution community outside Iran is Shias from Iran – over 200,000 of them – followed by Canada’s 80% of Shias community.

It’s a fact that largest supporters of Islamic Iran (as long as it follows Imam Khomeini’s vision) outside Iran and Iraq – are Sunnis in the West and North America.

Answer from soldier_of_al_Qaim

The current media attacks and false accusations by America and Israel against Islamic Iran is nothing but a manifest their hatred and intentions of removing the Islamic governance of the Islamic Republic and replacing it with one similar to that of the Shah's, "who provided free oil to Israel" until he was dealt with by the Islamic revolution. Bush, Condi Rice, Sharon talk so much about peace in the mideast when they run the most oppressive nations in the world. America for 400 years inslaved black people in America and then after the physical slavery ended the American government imposed "segregation" for example black could only eat,drink,use the restroom, and go to schools that were "for colored only." The American finally did away with this open oppression when their "world image" was threatned to be tarnished. They killed off the most powerful black militant leaders suck as Malcolm X Malik Al Hajj Shabazz who on many occassions exposed America's hyprocricy to the world. Israel practices the very same methods in regard to the Palestinians and continues to this very day and only the Palestinian "Uncle Toms" seek peace with the Zionists Occupation Regiem. "Peace" this is a term the Jews and Americans use very decievingly, peace to them means having mideast dominance by means of Israel while disarming any threat to them at the same time decieving gullible Muslims into recognizing the Zionists State and having them accept it as legitamite, therefore pouring water on the blazing fury of Islamic hatred of the Zionists Enity and re-enforcing puppet governments. May Allah hasten the re-appearance of the Qaim(AS)

First off I must say Ahsantum Shaykh Shabbir(HA) for your very nice post, it was a mere pleasure to read it and a great news item to start the day. 

Quote fuckingjews.jpg (97.88 KB, 419x600 - viewed 7 times.) Dearest brother of soldier_of_al_Qaim(AJ), I do not know if you have named the attached picture as "fuckingjews" or not, however I feel its is not an appreciated name for a file as our righteous Jewish cousins might take offense.

You see my friend, we need to separate between true Judaism and Zionism. A true Jew, which the Qur'an says the following about:

Surely those who believe, and those who are Jews, and the Christians, and the Sabians, whoever believes in Allah and the Last day and does good, they shall have their reward from their Lord, and there is no fear for them, nor shall they grieve. (2:62)

could never be a Zionist. Also check the following site: http://www.inminds.co.uk/jews-against-zionism.html for more information.

Zionism is a rascial political movement with the aim to make a New World Order where Amerikkka and "Israel" are at the top. You don't need to be a jew to be a Zionist, the Amerikkkan Government is a prime example of this.

It might because muslim nations do not follow after the truth of God's Word! Worship of images, use of strange powers, hates, fighting, desire for what another has, angry feelings, attempts to get the better of others, divisions, false teachings, Envy, uncontrolled drinking and feasting, and such things: of which I give you word clearly, even as I did in the past, that they who do such things will have no part in the kingdom of God. Eze 22:18 Son of man, the children of Israel have become like the poorest sort of waste metal to me: they are all silver and brass and tin and iron and lead mixed with waste. De 18:10 Let there not be seen among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter go through the fire, or anyone using secret arts, or a maker of strange sounds, or a reader of signs, or any wonder-worker, 1Sa 15:23 For to go against his orders is like the sin of those who make use of secret arts, and pride is like giving worship to images. Because you have put away from you the word of the Lord, he has put you from your place as king. 1Ch 10:13 So death came to Saul because of the sin which he did against the Lord, that is, because of the word of the Lord which he kept not; and because he went for directions to one who had an evil spirit, 1Ch 10:14 And not to the Lord: for this reason, he put him to death and gave the kingdom to David, the son of Jesse. 2Ch 33:6 More than this, he made his children go through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom; and he made use of secret arts, and signs for reading the future, and unnatural powers, and gave positions to those who had control of spirits and to wonder-workers: he did much evil in the eyes of the Lord, moving him to wrath. Ac 8:9 But there was a certain man named Simon, who in the past had been a wonder-worker and a cause of surprise to the people of Samaria, saying that he himself was a great man: Ac 8:10 To whom they all gave attention, from the smallest to the greatest, saying, This man is that power of God which is named Great. Ac 8:11 And they gave attention to him, because for a long time his wonder-working powers had kept them under his control. Ac 16:16 ¶ And when we were going to the place of prayer, we came across a girl with a spirit which gave knowledge of the future, whose masters made great profit from her power. Ac 16:17 She came after Paul and us, crying out and saying, These men are the servants of the Most High God, who are giving you news of the way of salvation. Ac 16:18 And this she did on a number of days. But Paul was greatly troubled and, turning, said to the spirit, I give you orders in the name of Jesus Christ, to come out of her. And it came out that very hour. Ac 16:19 But when her masters saw that their hope of profit was gone, they took Paul and Silas, pulling them into the market-place before the rulers; 2Co 11:19 For you put up with the foolish gladly, being wise yourselves. Tit 3:10 A man whose opinions are not those of the church, after a first and second protest, is to be kept out of your society; 2Pe 2:1 ¶ But there were false prophets among the people, as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly put forward wrong teachings for your destruction, even turning away from the Lord who gave himself for them; whose destruction will come quickly, and they themselves will be the cause of it.
Answer from Rehmat:
Some historical facts:

Arabic word ‘Yahud (Isra’elites)’ mentioned in the Verse were those people who followed the ‘Law of Moses (Torah)’ – While majority of Jews at the time of the Prophet (pbuh) followed The Old Testament – which had a very little from Torah – as confirmed by Holy Qur’an in other places.

Arabic word ‘Nasarah (Nazarene)’ mentioned in the Verse were the people who followed the teachings of Issa (as) – Injeel. Those Jewish disciples used to call themselves – Nazarene – And they had their own Scriptures (Gospel of St. Barnabas), which has more similarities to Holy Qur’an than the Bible. The ‘Christian’ term was adopted by the Gentile followers of St. Paul a few centuries after the disappearance of prophet Issa (as). Their Holy Book (Bible) was ‘Canonized’ in 325 CE by the pagan emperor of Rome – King (St.) Constantine.

Judaism for many centuries has ceased to exist as a monotheist religion – it has become a ‘race’. Even the Torah Jews believe that ‘one is Jew – if his/her mother was a Jew’.

Answer from Rehmat:

A true diagnosis of the state of the Muslim Ummah can only be based on the Qur’an because all other formulations are either half-truths or simply figments of imagination, bearing no relation to reality. One of the most important aspects of the Qur’anic mode of understanding the state of a society is to examine the state of individual men and women who make up the society. This emphasis on the individual is also the Qur’anic way of building righteous societies. Thus, in order to produce any change in Muslim societies, a change has to occur in the moral, spiritual and material state of the individuals who make up these societies. Therefore, when it is said that the Muslim world is in a state of decay, it actually means that men and women who call themselves Muslims are in a state of decay, and this cannot be but the direct result of their abandoning the two sources of Islam which provide Muslims with their code of living—a code that empowers them as vicegerents of Allah on earth. A true Muslim cannot be in a state of decay, because it is a historically verifiable fact that when they truly followed Islam, Muslims were able to establish flourishing, creative societies.

Therefore, it must be the abandonment of Islam that is the cause of their present sorry state. In addition to abandoning Islam as a way of life, a replacement has also been found: the Western way of life. This displacement that has produced a deep malaise in the Muslim world has resulted in inverted values and changed yardsticks, and has clouded the clear vision provided by Islam to such an extent that the artificial glitter of the West has completely mesmerized an odd assortment of despotic rulers, generals and self-proclaimed kings. They want to emulate the West in everything: lifestyle, ideals and modes of existence and force this way of life on their societies as well. When the masses follow these false models, the disease then spreads to the whole fabric of society.

The most pressing challenge for Muslim intellectuals today is to find ways to stem the tide of rapid westernization of their societies. They need to expose the inadequacy of the Western model and show why and how a life based on Islamic principles is the only solution to the numerous problems afflicting Muslim societies. Having understood that it is the individual members who need to be the focal point of a process of reconstruction, we must now identify the influences that form and shape individual lives in society. In other words, we need to understand what makes an individual a committed and active Muslim.

The most important influences in the life of a child come from the home and school. The early years of education not only produce skills, they also form their worldview and lasting habits. This is why the Qur’an used to be the first and foremost Book studied by every child in the Muslim world. This first impression of the Qur’an used to mould lives. Children also used to learn certain basic pedagogical skills through the Qur’an. In the contemporary age, an increasing number of Muslims do not understand the Qur’an. They fail to recognize that the recitation of the Qur’an is not a passive ‘ibadah but an initiative on the part of a believer that is capable of transforming the entire life of the one who is reciting the ayaat of the Book of Allah, may He be Exalted. It is an active process that simultaneously produces an inner shift in the way we look at the entire spectrum of our earthly existence. This interaction with the Book also used to be a life-long process of transformative learning. And it was this Book that used to produce dynamic leadership in Muslim societies—a leadership at once capable of understanding the complexities of this world and discovering the straight path to the next.

This is no longer the case. Today, the worldview of many contemporary Muslims is not formed by the Qur’an but by secular education, with a smattering of Islam taught in piecemeal fashion. This is the root of all the calamities that have befallen the Muslims. The colonizing powers understood that in order to undermine the Muslim world they had to cut off the roots of the Muslim educational system. They impounded endowments (awqaaf), confiscated properties and destroyed orchards and farms that used to supply material resources for health and educational institutions, and implanted instead their own educational institutions. In time, these implanted caricatures of Western education replaced the entire system of education in the Muslim world, producing Muslims who have been uprooted from their spiritual and intellectual soil. As a result, most Muslims today have a very poor understanding of their deen and its scholarly tradition.

Today, the teaching of Islam and its formidable intellectual tradition have been relegated to a secondary position for the vast majority of Muslims. Secular education can only produce secular Muslims—individuals who keep Islam in one closet and the world in another; for them, the former is merely concerned with the Hereafter. This malaise has spread to such an extent that it is rare to find “educated Muslims” who know anything about the works of scholars like Fakhr al-Din al-Razi, Abu Hamid al-Ghazali, Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziah, and hundreds of other intellectual giants. Further, most so-called educated Muslims consider this vast body of scholarship irrelevant, outdated medieval texts fit for the dustbin. The real tragedy is that they have rendered this judgement without ever opening a single page of this vast corpus of literature that deals with some of the most important issues facing them in their daily lives.

This is the case of the “educated” Muslims; most of those who do not attend secular educational institutions suffer from another disease. They attend madaris where the religious content of curricula is limited to a few texts and where no attention is paid to the large body of scholarship that deals with the contemporary world; even medicine, mathematics and natural sciences are not taught in these institutions of “religious learning”. Thus they are unable to produce men and women who can assume leadership roles in society, abandoning the task of state and governance in the hands of secularized Muslims educated and trained in institutions built on the model provided by the West. This has produced a deep chasm in Muslim societies: the vast majority receive secular education while a small minority acquire religious education, and the two remain at odds with each other, creating tension and conflict in society because of their divergent worldviews. There are, of course, exceptions to this: individuals who have acquired knowledge of both worlds through their own initiative, but such exceptions are rare.

In order to lay the foundations of a sustainable Islamic movement, sweeping changes are needed at all levels in Muslim societies, especially in the educational sector. While most Muslims realize this need, there are hardly any institutions devoted to the development of new educational resources, which are built on the Qur’anic worldview, that are capable of nurturing the skills and the training required to understand the contemporary world. In the absence of such curricula, Muslim children continue to serve secularized institutions and Muslim societies continue to move away from the Qur’anic worldview; this automatically produces submission to the West because that is what the educational system covertly infuses in young minds . This is obviously a long-term process; there are no short-cuts to cure the deep malaise of the Ummah. When viewed in the Qur’anic framework of the rise and fall of civilizations, a well-organized initiative to develop new educational resources, and institutions to teach this new curriculum, may well be the shortest way to begin the transformative process that will generate a new kind of Muslim leadership in the next generation—a leadership rooted in the vision of Islam and able to confront, comprehend and tackle the challenges of the 21st century.

Now why does westernization attracts ppl more than islam? Why 1400 years ago it was islam that was the light and today its "westernization" ?

West must have something that attracts ppl more than islam. It cannot be shaitan i suppose since 1400 years age (and hundereds of years after that) it was islam who had the cultural, social and other influence and it was not shaitan.

WHere did muslim ummah go wrong ? or lets ask the other way around, what was it 1400 hundred years ago that made islam so attractive to ppl. PPl from around the world came to study at muslim universities and learn islam on their own, why was it?

The things I learn on the internet...

One sixth of all Americans can't read or write.

Muslims can be as competent in Science and technology as the best of the best... But only when living and working in non-muslim countries. What's up with that?

One would think that the center of the celestial universe, mecca and Saudi Arabia, would be the technological and intellectual marvel of the earth.
Why isn't it?

Who cares if the Baghdad library had half a million books in the 9th century? How many books does it have today? Why did it shrink so dramatically?

I have a theory, but I'm saving most of the details for a book I am writing. I need to learn to read and write arabic first.

In summary, it is the story of how aliens from outer space arrived around the 16th century or so, kidnapped every wise and intelligent muslim and took them to heaven, or somewhere, and replaced them all with a genetically manipulated cross between a camel, a cockroach a dog and a pig.

No one has been able to tell, but secret documents found by the keepers of mecca verify every single claim!
al zarqawi escaped with copies of a few incriminating documents. Everybody is after the sucker!

How many books does it have today?

I'll tell you.

According to noted Islamic scholar Bernard Lewis, since the 8th Century roughly 100,000 books have been translated into Arabic. This is approximately the same number of books that Spain translates into Spanish in one year!.

Furthermore, a best-selling book in Arabic might sell 5,000 copies. Reading books other than the Koran isn't really popular.

noted Islamic scholar Bernard Lewis, since the 8th Century roughly 100,000 books have been translated into Arabic. This is approximately the same number of books that Spain translates into Spanish in one year!

I knew that.
Funny thing is, though, that Rehmat drew a complete blank there and "forgot" to mention that fascinating factoid.

Pass this on to sneez...The Spanish Inquisition

The beginning of the Inquisition is generally credited to the reign of Ferdinand V and Isabella. In truth, it began before that time, and carried on long after Ferdinand and Isabella passed away.Isabella was a devout Catholic and Queen of Spain, how then did the muslims rule?

In the city of Seville, there was an archdeacon named Martinez who continually tried to incite the people to purge themselves of the "dirty" Jewish citizens. After several reproaches by the Spanish Cardinal and the Pope, Martinez finally succeeded. On Ash Wednesday (March 15,1391), Martinez incited his congregation to riot.Once again the Jews are at fault...go figure(/sarcasm)...many Jews purported to be Christians to avoid persecution.

The hierarchy of the Spanish church became concerned with the reports of heresy of some of its new members. Then in 1478, the time came that the "true Christians" had been waiting for. Again, the "new" members were Jews claiming to be Christian.

These passages came from HERE strange there is no mention of Islam or Muslims (that I saw). How did Muslims rule Spain until 1492 if the Inquisition began over 100 years before, and Spain was ruled by Catholics in 1492 and beyond?

A,
It was also the greatest imperial power on Earth for 600 years, except during the 200 years of European colonization.

This dude is kinda hard to follow.

But who colonized whom? Did he ever stop to wonder why they speak Arabic across north Africa, or why Byzantium isn't called Byzantium anymore?

Timing always has a lot to do with it.

Would Rome have ascended to world power if Alexander had lived and set his sights on the West?

Would Islam have made it out of Arabia (westwards) if the Roman empire had not collapsed?

To the latter, I think not.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.