"But why has Islam become so ineffective?
Why does it not (and did
not for a great length of time) function properly? Is it possible, after all,
that the ideas and ideals of Islam are in some respects defective and therefore,
not attractive enough for all times? Has it yet a mission to fulfil or is it a spent
force? Has it really something unique to offer – something for which there is
perhaps no equivalent in any other ideology – or is this only and illusion
produced by our love of traditional forms? In short,is it a mere reactionary
sentiment? Is the original message of the Quran still vital and relevant enough,
to satisfy our spiritual longings and to shape our outlook on life – or is it
out of tune with what science and experience have since taught us? Does Islam
offer solutions for all the pressing social and economic problems of our time –
or was its programme time-bound, that is, adaptable only to the social and
economic conditions at the time of its birth and not really relevant to the
needs and problems of present-day life? To put it bluntly: Is Islam really a
practical proposition for our present – or mere traditional ballast? These are
most pertinent questions. They roll like thunder under the surface of modern
Muslim life and perturb the minds of many people who have minds worth speaking
of. They are often being raised by non-Muslim critics of Islam and by not a few
Muslims who are sickened by the spectacle of cultural and social decline, so
evident in the Muslim world of today. No creative strength; a confusing chaos
of views as to what is and what is not “Islamic”; the absence of all genuine –
that is, practically asserted – pride in our own culture; the mounting, mostly unconscious
imitation of Western social aims and forms by Muslims; the sterile
conventionalism of out ‘ulama’, who
have nothing to offer but formulas and pious admonitions. In the face of all
this, one might well ask, “On what grounds, then, do you claim that Islam is a ‘practical
proposition’?” One might argue that the decay of this civilisation of ours – a civilisation
admittedly based on Islam – shows that this basis was, in reality, not
practical enough to ensure our society’s positive, continuous development
forever….
Indeed, our critics do argue on precisely these lines. They tell us,
condescendingly enough, that the principles of Islam “might” have been all
right a thousand or fourteen hundred years ago, when human society was less
complicated and human needs simpler, but that “our time demands a more
up-to-date ideology”. Whatever stimulus, they say, the teachings of the Arabian
Prophet may have given to culture in past centuries has now resolved itself
into a play with old formulas; not accidentally so – but because, in the
opinion of those critics, Islam was the manmade product of a particular time
and a particular environment. In the meantime, so the argument goes, humankind
has acquired new experiences and new needs. And as the old teaching were
relevant only to social and intellectual conditions which have now become
obsolete, it is only natural that modern Muslims are gradually abandoning them
and are beginning to turn for cultural inspiration to the more vital, more
up-to-date civilisation of the West. In other words, our critics assert that
Muslim civilisation has decayed because Islam itself has proved inadequate for
the requirements of the present age.
Seeing that Muslim civilisation has indeed decayed, and that Muslim
society is indeed rapidly losing all vestiges of its one-time Islamic colour,
the above argument contains a most serious challenge to everybody who believes
that, in spite of the present Muslim degeneration, Islam is much more than a
mere passing phase in the history of mankind. It will do us no good to evade
this challenge by simply saying that: “Muslim society has decayed because
Muslims have ceased to live in accordance to the spirit of Islam”. True as this
statement may be, it does not fully explain our problem; it does not even touch
upon its core. For, if the teachings of Islam are all that we claim to be,
there must be some valid reason why the Muslims have ceased to live in
accordance with the spirit of Islam. “Well, what is the reason?” asks the
unfriendly critic. And here our conventional Muslim, having no convincing
explanation to give, remains entirely mute – while his opponent merely shrugs
his shoulders and says, “Apparently because the spirit of Islam was inadequate to
the demands of progress....”
Now what do you say? Shall we, you and I, follow the example of our mute
friend and remain equally speechless in the face of what amounts to a thorough
condemnation of Islam, and thereby, indirectly, give the right to the critics
who maintain that Islam was nothing but the product of a particular time and
environment and is, therefore, “out of date”?
We cannot do that. We believe – we know – that the message of Islam is
God’s Own Message to humankind valid not only for a particular time, but for
all times – otherwise I would not have written these pages and you would have
no reason to read them. This being so, neither you nor I are prepared to admit
for a moment that the spirit of Islam could be inadequate to the real needs of
this or any time. We are – on the contrary – convinced that the Islamic
teachings offer everything that man needs spiritually and socially, whatever
stage of development. But, on the other hand, we are faced with the iron fact
that the spirit of Islam is not being – and has not been for a good centuries –
translated into practice by the many millions of people professing the Islamic
faith. It is not reasonable to suppose that all those millions could have voluntarily
forgone all the manifold advantages, which, according to our claim, Islam
places before man. Why, then, did they forgo these advantages?
If we wish to see Islam in practice once again, we must supply an answer
– a really satisfactory answer – to this riddle.
Muhammad Asad
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