7. SOCIAL STRUGGLE
A New Civilisation
The European nations, which had socialised and had come into contact with Islam and Muslims (due to their Crusades in the East, and their proximity to the Arabs of Andalus in the West), not only benefited from this in terms of a heightened awareness, cohesion, and political unification; but also in terms of a great intellectual awakening, acquiring numerous sciences and branches of knowledge. A scientific and cultural Renaissance, vast in scope, made its appearance, and the Church with all the strength at its command rose to combat this strange phenomenon. It subjected their scholars and intellectuals to the most horrific punishments: the courts of The Inquisition waged war upon them and aroused the wrath of the people against them. But this accomplished nothing, its teachings could not stand up in front of scientific realities and discoveries. The scientific Renaissance emerged victorious, and the state thereby awoke and it too fought the Church until it completely delivered European society from Church authority. Its men were driven into the shrine and the cloister, the Pope was confined to the Vatican, and the work of the clergy was limited and their efforts were confined. Christianity remained in Europe, but only to serve as a historical heirloom. It was an instrument for educating the simple minded and naive among the masses, and a mechanism for conquest, colonisation, and the suppression of political aspirations. The domain of science stretched out before Europe, and the scope of invention and discovery broadened. The machine doubled production and industrialised life. All this preceded hand in hand with the rise of the strong state, whose authority reached out across many lands and regions. The world eagerly welcomed the European nations and chose them as it’s sustainers. Wealth poured out from it in every direction. It was only natural then, that European life and culture should be based on excluding religion from all aspects of social life, especially the state, the law court, and the school; with a predominant materialistic outlook becoming the criterion for everything. As a result, the make-up of this civilisation became purely materialistic, demolishing what the revealed religions had advocated and utterly contradicting the principle of uniting the spiritual and the material which Islam had laid as the foundation of it’s civilisation. Among the most important traits of European civilisation are the following:
1) Apostasy, doubt in Allah, denial of the soul, disregard as to reward or punishment in the world to come, and an obsession to limit themselves to only that which is material and tangible:
‘They know something external of the life of this world, but of the world to come they are heedless ‘
(Surat-ar-Rum (30), ayah 7)
2) Lust, unseemly dedication to pleasure, new ways of self indulgence, uncontrolled freedom of the lower instincts and bodily desires, the equipment of women with every technique of seduction and incitement, and the drowning into wicked practices which shatter both mind and body, destroying the integrity of the family and threatening the happiness of the home:
‘Those who disbelieve take their enjoyment and eat as cattle eat, and the Fire is their dwelling place.’
(Surat-Muhammad (47), ayah 12)
3) Individual greed, for every man wants any thing good only for himself; Greed also exists in the social strata, for each strata wants to gain the upper hand over the other and seeks to secure profits for itself. Finally there is greed on a national level, for each nation is prejudiced towards its own nationality, while looking down on all others, and trying to engulf those who are weaker.
4) Usury, granting it legal recognition, regarding it as a principle of general transactions, and making it a general practice among nations and individuals.
These purely materialistic traits of European society have corrupted the spirit, devalued morality, and made them sluggish in the war against crime, all this and the problems have multiplied, destructive ideologies have made their appearance, devastating and damning revolutions have burst forth, economic, social, and political institutions no longer stand on firm foundations. Nations have been torn apart by sects and parties, while greed and hatred have driven people to cut each others’ throats. This modern civilisation has substantiated its complete impotence in securing peace, tranquility and safety within society. It has failed to grant happiness to man, despite all the doors of science, knowledge, wealth and opulence it has left open for them, and despite the power and authority it enjoys throughout the earth, and even though it has not been in existence for so much as a century.
Source: IslamBasics by Hassan Al-Banna
Comments
John Doe
23/3/2019Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.
John Doe
23/3/2019Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.
John Doe
23/3/2019Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.