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Let's talk about: ISLAM ... |
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Europe Between Technology and Spiritualism
By Dr. M. Sa'id Ramadan al-Buti
Dar Al-Fiker , 2000
... Though I'm quite sure of the aggressive attitude, hidden and open alike, of the West against Muslims in their own countries, I'm also quite certain that a new emergence for Islam will loom large in the western part of the world itself.
The source of this hope, however, doesn't come from human efforts being exerted by Muslims nor from a pioneering civilized Islamic lever enjoyed by them in the Muslim countries, the case, as is well-known, is quite different. This hope comes from the fact that the Western World, for quite sometime now, has frozen from its predestined mounting progress achieved as from the Renaissance and it is now going round and round in circles, it is moving but in the vicious circle.
By the world progress, I do not mean that of science and technology or military and agriculture. I actually mean human progress in general which is meant to be the target of all sorts of progress. In this sense, all the scientific achievements, military power and economic movements are considered as harmonious combining parts for one wholeness. i.e., human life with its constituents and requirements.
Nonetheless, those combining parts have, sometime ago, disintegrated from their wholeness. They are, figuratively speaking, a sort of tributaries of pure water that is meant to pure our from different directions into reclaimed cultivated land so as to make it bloom with greenery, goodness and crops. Yet this pure water has been diverted from that thirsty land and instead leaked into different valleys and depths, and consequently wasted.
Architecture is skyrocketing, scientific inventions are increasing, military power is more destructive, political shrewdness is continuously glittering. Nevertheless, the Western man, who is supposed to be the major concern and the beneficiary of all those activities and energies has been, for so long, standing before what seems like closed doors beyond the reach of his aspirations.
Metaphorically speaking, this man is ruminating his feeling of alienation from the monotonous life he is leading and subsequently expressing this feeling in different ways and bizarre behavior. He tries by all means to get fuel for his compassion and thirsty soul our of pleasure and luxury means available to him, yet he only comes across the juice that would sustain his sturdy body and overstuffed tummy as if he were no more than a mass of flesh, bones and blood. He tries to search at home where he grew up for a source for his passions and peace of mind, but he only find this in a luxurious suite in a hotel where he can relax and sleep and drown his worry and tiredness.
As for the family or the ties between husband and wife or parents and children, they are almost a history or rolled up memories that could be talked about historians and conveyed generation after generation.
Through indulging himself in pleasure and whims, the Western Man tries to grope the happiness and the peace of mind he is yearning for... yet, he only gets suffocating distress and blue depression. It is, therefore, happiness made by a glass of wine not felt truly deep in their hearts.
Considering the value of Man in the West, it's looked at through a mere mechanical standard - indeed, people in the West are living under the reign of the machine and are moving accordingly. under this reality, they have become as spare parts or elements that can be replaced within a tremendous machine, i.e., the State!
To put that Man, in question, in the perspective of political conflicts, he is considered no more than a mathematical figure or a fraction of a unit divided by millions whereby the value of this fraction or figure is seen only through the material objectives that are furiously competed for.
This is the Western man, He is living as a prisoner in his glittering devious civilization and no matter how long it takes him to look and investigate for an outlet. He can only find the real way out by resorting to the mirror that would acquire him with his own identity and then guide him to Islam; that is the only trunk that would bridge the gap of distance generated among all the divine religious faith.
Thus Islam gives Man back his prestige and human sanctity. It will show Man the brighter side of life both in, short and long terms, reunite family, spread a happy atmosphere at home and satisfy the heart's needs and yearning for emotions and spiritual desires.
In the light of the above mentioned facts, the new anticipated emergence of Islam will take place in the West, and first from the West. But the Western man will not take on to Islam so as to exploit it as those who master the art of manipulation in the same way as the Romans converted to Christianity in the past or Jews (of Solanik) to Islam at the end of the Ottoman Caliphate.
This Western resort to Islam will not, however, be sought for more colonial expansion, economic greediness or as a wish to sort out social problems. It's actually motivated by the search for the lost identity or forlorn emotions.
In other words, this inclination to Islam is like a man who comes back home to his family after a long time of seclusion and desertion.
But the question lying here is: What is the magic factor that would help transfer the West from the extreme libertinism to the extreme commitment and discipline? The answer is simply Love and only Love. The source of this love, however, will be as a result of the Westerners' disappointment with what is thought to be the secret of happiness from the pleasures of life and their feeling of the satisfactory ecstasy which will unexpectedly overwhelm their hearts at the first sincere turning to God.
To set an example, the thirsty man who has been afflicted with mirage after mirage and pushed by his fatal thirst to face up deceit after deceit, and then ended up a a compassionate hand that offered him cold water. This man would undoubtedly adore this hand and its owner. Similarly, those people in the West, who completed their arduous journey to the prayer niche of worship of the Almighty God, where they got to know who they really are, and tasted the ecstasy of turning to God and being close to Him after a long time of deviation. Their relationship with God will be as similar as that one between the thirsty helpless man and the warm hand that helped him our and satisfied his thirst.
Likewise, this man has been going through from one startling experience to another and moving about freely from drinking to drug traps to perversion without any hope of somebody coming across to be there for him, ease his worries or take care of him. And, sooner does he see God through the eye of insight and feel Him in his heart, then he hears God saying: "Allah is indeed your protector" (Srat al-Maidah: 5/55). And, once submitting to the rupture of this divine speech, he will hear God saying: "This is because Allah is the Lord of those who believe and the unbelievers have no Lord" (Muhammad: 47/11). And, just before he wakes up from the intoxication of this heavenly speech, he will have another message from God saying: "Allah is the Lord of those who believe and takes them out of the darkness into light, but those who do not believe their guardians are false gods who take them out of light to darkness" (Baqarah: 2/257).
This call will undoubtedly attract those who get it and elevate them to the highest degree of friendliness and love with Caller. Hence, this love will grow and grow the farther the person gets away from those bitter days and the deeper and closer s/he makes approaches to God and practice his/her servitude to Him.
I got to know one of those people who converted to Islam; an American Guy who is a university teacher in USA. I came across him at one of the Islamic conferences in Riyadh in Saudi Arabia. We had then the change to go to Mecca to perform "Umrah". He was the most devout person among us in worshipping God. He attached himself closely to the Ancient House" (Al Ka'abah) and remained so like a frightened lost baby that had found his mother and hugged her hard so that he wound not lose her again. When completed the Umrah rituals, every one of us cut few hairs (as a sign of completion and submission to God). Whereas that guy chose to have all his hair shaved off though he had nice golden hair.
The question that must come to mind is: Through which way the West will pass its material life onto a life of Faith that would release them from the misery of frustration onto happiness?
The answer is that today there is a blocked way and collapsed bridge. However, there has been persistent mental efforts in progress for sometime now to break the dam and repair the bridge. I'd like to brief you about the story of this broken bridge and the mental efforts that are rapidly piling up to sort the bridge out and stretch it forth.
The West was and is still dealing with science and only science. Hence, everything else s invaluable. There is nothing wrong with that as it is an intelligent attitude compatible with God's commandment in the Qur'an. The problem then lies in the Western interpretations (understanding) of the word "Science" and the confinement of it within material limits. Therefore, the Western terminology for the word "Science" is the sensible (physical) experiment conducted after a process of observation upon which a conclusion is made.
Thus, the movement of science has been directed to a more material (physical) efforts than internal intellectual activities.
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