Civilizational Challenge and Survival of Human Civilization
By Dr. Basheer A Khan
Garden Grove , CA
God had made one human Civilization, but those who wanted to play gods and run their writ created differences and made different civilizations out of it (Ch 2 V213). They cleverly schemed to pit one against the other under their crafted theory of Clash of Civilizations.
The canny leaders on either side of this fight consolidated their leadership by generating fear of one civilization against the others so that they could usurp control over the resources of their countries while the people were engaged in this clash. This age-old drama has now reached such a tragic stage that the actors are unaware of how to end the tragedy that they have created on the world stage into a comedy. They are teething themselves with arms and enacting more draconian laws to ensure their hold on power in the name of national interest and international peace. As one watches the 24 hours news channels, the play-writers and directors of this drama seem to be hell-bent upon seeing this drama end into the tragedy which they have envisaged.
Drawing his lessons from history Abraham Lincoln has forewarned us that a civilization is lost not by the power of its enemies but by its own inherent weakness. When the weakness referred to in this statement eats away the vitals of the society and consequently destroys its unity, the power wielded by the ruling class and lethal arms are not enough to stop its destruction from a little push from the adversaries. Defeat of mighty the Soviet Union at the hands of hapless Afghans is the most recent testimony to this fact.
A new civilization is built upon the rubbles of the past one. This is God’s way of correcting the weakness of civilizations so that we understand from the lessons of the past and correct ourselves to become that one human civilization which He had envisaged for mankind. Those who do not believe in God know it as a natural correction. But those canny few who want to accrue all benefits of the world for themselves over the suffering of a larger mass of people make sure that we forget the lessons of history and never use them to correct our direction. When we don’t respect the lessons of history we are condemned to repeat them.
America is the most recent in the chain of these civilizations. It was founded on the wealth of experience of the past civilizations by the brightest people of their time who had an in-depth knowledge of science, religion and humanities. But those who bequeathed this nation are ignoring their experience and their instructions, and are taking this new experiment in civilization away from the sprit on which it was founded. Every group of immigrants who came to this land to benefit from it is using it to advance the agenda of the group to which it belongs, coating it as the national interest. This is the actual problem which the United States of America faces. The maze that these competing interests have created is beyond the comprehension of any public servant to steer national interest through it, and some of them being the agents of these groups, national interest is lost to the opinions of “experts” who are advancing the interest of the groups that pay them to serve its agenda. When public servants depend on the financial and media support from these groups for their survival in politics then truth is sacrificed with impunity at the altar of necessity.
Muslims being the last amongst the group of immigrants coming to this land are less resourceful to build a niche for themselves in this club. Some of the groups who are ahead in this race see a threat to their position in the well-educated Muslims migrating to the US from the destabilized Muslim nations, and are tarnishing their image day in and day out in order to keep their own position secure and even advance it. It is heartening to see that there are lots of people both in the echelons of power and amongst the masses who see this game and are supportive of Muslims. Sometime back when a senator in a public hearing suggested restricting the doors of army recruitment upon Muslims to limit damage to it by the alleged crime of people like army psychiatrist Maj. Nidal, the chairman protested the move and applauded the services of Muslims in US army.
In this context the Indian experience of Babri Masjid narrated by Professor Nazeer Ahmed in his article “What is at Stake in Proposed ICC in Lower Manhattan ?” (Pakistan Link, Sept 3, 2010) makes an informative and insightful reading for anyone who is seeking a way out of the dangerous confusion that affronts us. While the genuine grassroots leaders are removed from public arena, others are chosen, trained and imposed on them to advance the seemingly Muslim agenda to create a backlash among the non-Muslims. The radicals then jump in to take advantage of this situation to gain power. Professor Nazeer Ahmed’s suggestion to meet this “civilizational challenge” which Muslims face and make it into a “civilizational opportunity” is noteworthy. Qur’an being the book of perpetual guidance has clear instructions to Muslims about their role in every situation and the consequences of neglecting it. The example of Joseph ( Yusuf AS) and the Children of Israel is particularly appropriate for Muslims living in the West to follow.
The Egyptian Civilization was a civilization of idol worshippers and Pharaoh was their king who claimed that he was the greatest god. Out of His infinite love and mercy for all people Allah sends Joseph to Egypt. He allows Satan to develop enmity between Joseph and his brothers so that Joseph could reach Egypt and guide Pharaoh and save his people from the consequences of the impending famine in his country (Ch12 V 1-50). As Joseph (pbuh) was devout, Allah put the love of Joseph into the heart of Pharaoh and lets him into his inner circle to solve the problem of famine. Later, Joseph brings his father and all of his brothers to Egypt.
Allah swt wanted this family of His Prophets to guide the Egyptians towards a life of God consciousness and piety, but unfortunately the progeny of these prophets became indulgent in the ways of the Egyptians. As a result the children of the prophets who were brought to Egypt as rulers by Allah swt became the slaves of the Egyptians in a matter of few centuries. There were rich Korahs (Kharoon) amongst them who had amassed a lot of wealth from the system. This wealth did not benefit their Hebrew brethren most of whom lived a life of misery. Moses (pbuh) was sent to liberate them. It is an irony that when Moses liberated these suffering people and took them to Sinai they had so much gold jewelry that they were finding it hard to wear it in the heat of the desert. They gave it to Samari to make them the idol which they worshiped while Moses was away on Mount Sinai to receive the Tablets (Ch 20 V 87-91). Only if Hebrew rich had used this wealth properly instead of amassing it, they would not have suffered this fate. This story of the Children of Israel, which is mentioned in many places in the Qur’an, is not to chastise children of Israel but to caution the Muslims to avoid the pitfalls into which Children of Israel fell by ignoring the responsibility of their mission. It is unfortunate that Muslims instead of using these stories for their guidance are falling into the same pit and yet decry the Jews.
Like the children of Israel, Muslims also have been uprooted from their lands and are dispersed all over the world. Some of them came here to receive education and settled here. With His infinite knowledge of all times, past, present, and future, the Omniscient God brought these Muslims to Europe and America not to make them live a luxurious life away from their troubled lands, but to give a spiritual and moral direction to the materialistic lifestyle in their adopted lands which is destined to fall under its own weight without this counterbalance. Through the interaction between the Western Civilization and Muslims, God seems to be intending to synthesize that ultimate and Universal Civilization which is based upon the universal values of social equality, equal opportunity, human fraternity, scientific temperament, spiritual development, and moral correctness.
Those who want to keep God and morality out of the public place and individual lives, and act gods through flawed laws and corrupt bureaucracy are averse to this plan of God. Such people are plenty and powerful both in the West and in the Muslim countries. They want to make this plan of God to synthesize this Universal Civilization fail in America and Europe. They have involved America and Europe in multiple wars and outsourced their capacity of industrial production and service jobs to create huge unemployment and associated problems in order to force their agenda on US and Europe through such machination. Unfortunately, this divisive element is insidious in religious garb or is being portrayed in one giving the rabid secular forces an opportunity to marginalize the role of religion in societies and replace it with their brand of rabid secularism. The first and the foremost challenge in converting this civilizational challenge into a civilizational opportunity is to expose these insidious elements and make them ineffective in deciding the destiny of the emerging Universal Civilization.
Our societies must be active in recognizing and apprehending mischief makers in their midst who are financed and armed by those who have planned this chaos in the world for decades. Few Muslims who have a confrontational attitude should be made to understand that they are hurting the interest of Islam and Muslims by their demeanor. Those Muslims who are conforming to the demands of rabid secularists and abandon their moral and religious responsibility should know that they are misguiding those for whose guidance God had sent them to this land in the most tempestuous time in its history.
Muslims need to work like catalysts to end discord and bring about harmony and love between people. Like Joseph who steered Egypt out of its worst famine in his time, Muslims should work with all sincerity to solve the problems which their land of adoption faces. If we ignore this responsibility and try to become Korahs of this land our fate will be no different from the Korah of Moses time (Ch. 28 V 76-82). If we ignore our responsibility to people of this land and continue to live a life of self-indulgence our plight will be like that of the Children of Israel in Egypt with a difference that no Moses (Pbuh) will be sent by God to rescue us. Ethnic cleansing in Bosnia should be an alarm to awaken those amongst us who live a life of dream and fond hopes. May Allah give us the wisdom to understand reality and save us from this plight. Amen.
