CRISIS IN THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE WEST AND
THE MODERN MUSLIM WORLD
by Fr.
Eliseo R. Mercado, Jr., OMI
Professor – San Beda University – Graduate
School of Laws
Notre Dame University – Graduate School of Laws
Senior Policy Adviser of the Institute for
Autonomy & Governance
There is a fundamental
malaise in the modern Muslim World. Muslims sense that something has gone wrong
with Islamic history. The root of this
malaise stems from an awareness that something is awry between the religion
that God has appointed and the historical development of the world he controls.
Beginning in the 18th century,
Muslim society began its serious decline.
There was a disintegration of military and political power. There was enfeeblement of commercial and
political power. Intellectual effort
stagnated. An effete decadence infected
art. Religious vitality ebbed. The writing of the great masters elicited
commentaries rather than enthusiasm, and the classical systems were used to
delimit the road that one must travel rather than provide the impetus for one's
journey.
In brief, the Muslim World
once gloried on its grip on the world and history from the fall of
Constantinople in 1453 seemed to have lost the capacity to order its life
effectively by the beginning of the 18th century. Worst, the degeneration of the Muslim World
coincided with the exuberance of the West..
At about this time, Western Civilization was launching forth on the greatest
upsurge of expansive energy that human history has ever seen. Vitality, skills,
wealth and power vastly accumulated.
With them, the West began not only to shape its own life but also the
life of the entire world including the Muslim World.
During the 19th century, the
Western pressure and domination increased.
The Dutch in Indonesia; The British in the subcontinent of India and
Malaya; Russia in Central Asia; and the British and the French in North Africa
and Middle East. All at once, the
western powers ruled Muslim society in full formality. While the Ottoman Empire retained political
sovereignty up to the end of World War I, it was independent without being
free. Apart from the matter of political
control, Muslim society, once forceful, dynamic and alert, was, everywhere in
drooping spirit, and subject both in initiative and delivery to forces outside
Islam.
It is with the contemporary
manifestation of this problem and crisis that is paramount in the understanding
of the modern phenomena like Islamic revivalism, activism or modern aggressive
Islamic movements like Muslim Brotherhood, Jemaah Islamiyya, al-Qaeda and ISIS.
The first Islamic movements in
the modern period were protests against the internal deterioration. It was a call to stop the decadence in Muslim
society by summoning back the believers and the community to the first purity
and order of Islam. One of the earliest
of those movements was the Wahhabiyah in 18th century Arabia. It was puritanical, vigorous and simple. Its message was straightforward: A return to
Islam during the Medinan period. It
rejected the corruption and laxity of the contemporary decline. It also rejected the accommodations and
cultural richness of the Islamic empires
- the Ummayads, the Abbasids and the Ottomans.
The Wahhabis insisted on the
Shari'a, the Hanbalite version stripped of all innovations developed through
the intervening centuries. Obey the
pristine law - fully, strictly and singly
- is Islam; all else is superfluous.
This interpretation of Islam is strictly and seriously to be
implemented.
The second Islamic movement
that dominated the scene was the Pan Islamic movement of Jamalud-din Afghani
(1839-97). It was an Islamic revival
movement that sought to reawaken the Muslims' consciousness of how they had
once been mighty, but now is weak. This
recalling of erstwhile Muslim grandeur incited the Muslims to discard
resignation in favor of plunging into the task of creating the kind of Islamic
world that ought to be. The Qur’an
verse: "Verily, God does not change the condition of people until they
change their own condition" (S 13:11)
had become the inspiration for the Muslim resolve to take into their own hands
the refurbishing of the Muslim world and its earthly history.
Indeed this call to action was
the transition from a non-responsible quietude to a self-directing determination. The Pan Islamic Movement believed that
Islamic history should once again march forward in full truth and full
splendor.
The bitterness of the Muslim
disillusionment of the West has gone very deep.
The West is perceived to work against them. It is accused to engage on a deliberate vast
enterprise to disrupt Islam. Apart even
from military and political domination, Western power has other manners of
imposing its weight. The most pervasive
is the economics.
The Muslims perceive that the
West has been bearing down upon the Muslim World with what appears to be saying
in effect: "give up those
antiquated ways, those superstitions, those inhibitions; be modern with us, be
prosperous, and be sophisticated.
Emancipate your women, your societies and yourselves!”
Many Muslims do succumb or see
their children succumb. The west
continues to seduce them from their traditional loyalties. The reaction to
perceived western attack is very visible, in the activist movements, chiefly
the Ihwan al Muslimun (The Muslim
Brotherhood). This activism represents
in contemporary times the new determination to sweep aside the degeneration and
stagnancy in the Muslim world. It
aspires to get back to a basis for Muslim society. It is a vision, and a go forward in
transforming the Muslims to become operative force at work in modern times.
Unfortunately for the
adherents of this activist movement the re-affirmation of Islam has become an
outlet for emotion. It has become the
expression of the hatred, frustration, vanity and at times destructive frenzy
of a people who for long have been the victims of poverty, impotence and
fear. The vehemence and hatred in their
literature point more to a group of people who have lost their way, whose
heritage has proven unequal to the challenges of modernity. The Pakistan counterpart of Ihwan is the
Jama'at group.
The common recurrent themes in
these Islamic revival movements are the following:
1.
Modernization is seen as a westernization and
secularization;
2.
The sense that existing political, economic and
social systems have failed;
3.
The disenchantment with and at times a rejection
of the west; and
4.
The conviction that Islam provides a
self-sufficient blueprint for state and society.
The contemporary Islamic
revival movements have common grounds.
The key components of their program are:
1.
Islam is the answer;
2.
A return to the Qur'an and the Sunnah
(traditions) of the prophet;
3.
The community is to be governed by the Shari’a
(Islamic Law); and
4.
All who resist, Muslims and non-Muslims alike,
are enemies of God.
By way of conclusion…
I conclude
this presentation by recognizing that the wounds of centuries of colonialism
are, indeed, very deep and closely familiar to individuals, peoples and
communities. The conquests, subjugations
and colonialism brought trauma and pains that continue to exercise tyranny over
the spirit of the peoples. Notwithstanding the independence that came after
World War II, the politics and economics of former colonies continue to be
dominated by the west and the relations between and among peoples are, largely,
shrouded in mutual suspicion and mistrust.
I wonder if
this is what the martyred President of Egypt Anwar Sadat expressed at the
Knesset during his historic visit of the Holy City of Jerusalem.
“… Yet, there remains
another wall. This wall continues and
constitutes a psychological barrier between us, a barrier of suspicion, a
barrier of rejection, a barrier of fear, of deception, a barrier of
hallucination without any action, deeds or decision. A barrier of distorted and eroded interpretation
of every event and statement. It is this official statement as constituting 70%
of the whole process. Today, through my visit to you, I ask why don’t we
stretch out our hands with faith and sincerity so that together we might
destroy this barrier?”
The power and economic
relations have to give birth to a new partnership between the west and the
Muslim that heals and empowers. New Politics and fair economics would shape
that meaningful relationship and partnership. Our common humanity and concern
for the survival of the planet, as well as, our religious traditions have the
power to transform conflictual relationships to common enterprise that saves
and nurtures not only our common humanity but also the planet earth.
Before I end this presentation allow me
tell yet another story - a parable of the Little Salt Doll taken from a Zen
Buddhist tradition.
“There is a wonderful
story about a little salt doll. The doll
had the urge to discover the world and went on a journey, experiencing all
kinds of new places and adventures. Then one day she came to the edge of the
sea and was quite astounded by the restless surging mass of water. “What are
you?” she cried. “Touch me and you will find out,” answered the sea. So the little salt doll stuck her toe in, and
had a truly lovely sensation. But when she withdrew her foot, alas, her toe has
disappeared. “What have you done to me”? she cried. “You have given something
of yourself in order to understand,” the sea replied.”
“The little salt doll
decided that if she really wanted to know the sea, she would have to give more
of herself. So next she stuck her whole foot, and everything up to her ankle
disappeared. Surprisingly, in an explicable way, she felt very good about it.
So she continued going further and further into the sea, losing more and more
of herself, all the while understanding the sea more deeply. As a wave broke over the last bit of her, the
salt doll was able to cry out, “Now I know what the sea is. It is I.”
There are only three
kinds of people who are capable of the act akin to the doll salt. First, the people of faith second the people
of art and last but not the least are the people “touched” by God (a euphemism
for fanatics and the crazy). But in a
real sense, building and creating new humanity and civilizations are like the
sea. And to really know and understand
it fully there is the need to give ourselves like the little Salt Doll.
Paradoxically, religion provides that élan and passion to let go and lose all –
the self-expenditure required that others might live and live to the full.
Selected Bibliography
(for the present section)
1. Abu-Nimer,
Muhammed. Reconciliation, Justice and Coexistence: Theory and Practice. Lanham,
MO: Lexington Books, 2001.
2. Banton, M.
(ed.). Anthropological Approaches to the Study of Religion. NY 1966.
3. Barazangi,
Nimat et al. (eds.). Islamic Identity and the Struggle for Justice.
Gainesville, Fla. U. Press of Florida 1993.
4. Berger,
Peter. The Sacred Canopy: Elements of a Sociological Theory of Religion. NY:
Doubleday 1967.
5. Biggar, Nigel
(ed.). Burying the Past: Making Peace and Doing Justice after Civil Conflict.
Washington DC: Georgetown University Press, 2000.
6. Colletta, Nat
J. and Michelle L. Cullen. Violent
Conflict and the Transformation of Social Capital: Lessons from Cambodia, Rwanda, Guatemala,
& Somalia. Conflict Prevention Series 2000, Washington DC. World Bank.
7. Connor,
Walter. Ethno-nationalism: The Quest for Understanding. Princeton: PUP 1994.
8. Gellner, E. Postmodernism, Reason and Religion. London: Rutledge, 1992.
9. Hampson, F.O.
Nurturing Peace: Why Peace Settlements Succeed or Fail. Washington DC: USIP
Press 1996.
10. Hange, Roy.
Curtains of Fire: Religious Identity and Emerging Conflicts. MCC Web page.
11. Harowitz,
Donald. Ethnic Groups in Conflict. Berkeley: UCP 1985.
12. Hefner, R. W.
The politics of Multiculturalism:
Pluralism and Citizenship in Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia.
Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2001.
13. Hefner, R.
W., & Horvatich, P. Islam in an
era of Nation-States: politics and religious renewal in Muslim Southeast Asia.
Honolulu, Hawaii: University of Hawaii Press, 1997.
14. Hewstone, M
& Brown, R (eds.). Contact and Conflict in Intergroup Encounters. Oxford
& NY: Basil Blackwell 1986.
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August 13, 2019
