DR. JAVED JAMIL analyses the oft-repeated demand for the “reform” of Islam and suggests to the West that it is modernism and not Islam that needs reformation, and that Islam will be always there to guide them if they so wish.
The call for the “reform” of Islam is not new. Time and again, the activists of different modern ideologies, for whom “reform” means nothing but vulnerability to exploitation by the economic and political forces ruling the world, have been demanding “reformation” of Islam. The demand emanates from their aversion to Islam because of its insistence on religious morality, which threatens the “Commercial Morality” preached by modern theories.
Defining Economic Fundamentalism, I had written in my book The Devil of Economic Fundamentalism:
“The think-tank of the world of economic fundamentalism has taken innumerable steps to strengthen their hold. They have sacrificed the goddess of justice before the eyes of the Statue of Liberty. They have transformed through political manoeuvres the state into their estate. They have incessantly and relentlessly been trying to organise a grand farewell for religion. They have captivated the people’s imagination through the media. They have got the attire of society redesigned so that it looks gorgeous and inviting to their eyes. They have industrialised sex, in which they have discovered the hen that always lays golden eggs. They have relocated the entire educational set-up on the Wall Street. They have monopolised the tree of economy whose fruits and shadows are only theirs; others can only admire its beauty from a safe distance. They have taken science and technology as their mistresses who are always keen to offer their glorious best to them. They have nipped all the challenges in the buds by masterminding popular movements. They have lynched the ‘civilization’, which has been given a new incarnation; and now Bohemians are called civilized. Last but not the least, they have been busy colonising the good earth in the name of globalisation.”
Continuing with the unveiling of these forces of economics, which want “reformation” of Islam to advance their concepts of commercial morality, I wrote the following in my book, Qur’ānic Paradigms of Sciences & Society (First Vol: Health)
“The above definitions clearly demonstrate the impact of the economic fundamentalism, which have been stressing the inclusion of “socially and economically productive life” without insisting the adoption of a health protective socio-economic system. Economic fundamentalism relies on the promotion of individualism and the negation of family and society. In their view it is individuals that form society rather than that society comprises individuals. Market forces advocate the importance of absolute individual freedom, and strongly resent any suggestion that the demands of society in general and the demands of family in particular must guide individual choices. It is therefore necessary to restrict the definition of health to an individualistic notion. If “social well-being” is talked of, it means how an individual acts within society and not how society protects the individual. This definition is thus a passive proposition where the onus to maintain health falls on the shoulders of individuals themselves; family and society are not largely responsible to protect the health. If society comes into action, it is invariably when a particular programme has the blessings of the market forces. If some hue and cry is raised by certain quarters to correct the ecology and environment, these are diplomatically tackled. Some of these demands have in fact the blessings of the big industries in order to fail the small-scale industries. And whatever the force behind these demands, environment to them just means air and water free of pollution; it has nothing to do with social practices and systems that are dangerous for health, unless they have a scope for commercial use at a larger level. We will discuss later how and why only secondary preventive measures are advocated and primary preventive measures ignored.”
The latest weapon in the armoury of the champions of the “Reform” has been Islam’s supposed role in the creation of terrorists. The truth on the other hand is that no part of history has witnessed as much violence as the last century, and the overwhelming portion of this violence is the direct result of the ideology of Westernism and the Western designs of perpetuating their hegemony over the world.
It is through Commercial Monopoly that the West first seeks to monopolise economy and then through economy it seeks to monopolise power. The rise of an ideology which threatens their hegemony is unacceptable to them. Islam threatens their concepts of “freedom of choice” and “personal freedom”, which emanate from the desire to industrialise every single human weakness to the hilt. It is therefore necessary for them to call for such “reforms” in Islam which reduce it from a comprehensive system covering every single aspect of individuals and organised existence to a set of beliefs and rituals. This alone, they believe, will ensure their sustained hegemony on earth. In order to advance their plan, they have manufactured new terminologies, which pit “Moderate” Islam against “radical” Islam.
The greatest truth of the modern times is that it is almost the total radicalisation of West and Westernism rather than that of Islam which has become the biggest foe of peace in every dimension of individual and organised human existence in recent times.
Radicalisation of West is visible in every single institution, every single practice and every single war or civil war the world has been witnessing in the last century. The West believes that its set of political, social and economic ideologies, or what I call Westernism, is the only correct ideology for the world, and it alone has the right to define various concepts and parameters, and it alone has the right to endeavour through all possible ways, for the propagation and implementation of its ideology. Of course, they have made the world believe, even against their inner beliefs, that religion, individually or collectively, has no role to play in the modern “civilized” world. If the proponents of any other ideology, religious or non-religious, challenge the concepts of Westernism and try to prove the superiority of their ideas, they are described as “uncivilized”, “radicalised” and “extremist” forces.
The most notable form of radicalisation of West is its theory of violence and its involvement in violent conflicts. It is working on a well-planned categorisation of violence to suit its political and economic ends. Instead of reacting on the basis of the magnitude of violence, its reaction is based on the political considerations. Any violence, which is linked or can be made to appear linked to religion, especially Islam, is worthy of highest condemnation, but any violence, which is related to the effects of West’s ideological or political positions is either not talked about or becomes “collateral damage”.
In recent years, Western role has been prominently there in all the conflicts in the Middle East. But again, it can be seen that their weapons go to the side, which toes their lines, and against those which have refused to surrender to their diktats. And always, the media would blame the loss of lives on the forces that are not pro-West.
It is clear that radical Western ideologies and radical Western powers have disturbed the whole equilibrium and harmony in society. They first commercialise problems and then they commercialise solutions. And they think they alone have the right to invade and bombard countries, they alone have the right to decide all the major policies of the world; they alone have the right to decide the course the countries want to pursue and they alone have the right to teach lessons to others. The West thinks that West alone knows what is best; and West alone knows how to act or react. What else can be a more extreme form of radicalisation? All other forms of Radicalisation in the current world including “Radical” Islam are the product, direct or indirect, of Western radicalism. If the world is to be saved from chaos and devastation, the only solution is to abandon all forms of radicalisation. And before asking others, the West being the leader will have to abandon it, not in parts but in totality. Others will automatically fall in line.
In short, what needs reform is not Islam but the modern ideologies based on the supremacy of economics. They need to learn from Islam how they need to reform their concepts, programmes and policies. They must learn from Islam that it is the survival of life and the quality of life and not the economics, which are supreme. They must learn from Islam that the true economy lies in the generation of wealth without commercialisation of any harmful practices and addictions, through policies that lead to equitable distribution of wealth among all the denizens of the world and welfare programmes to cover the needy, destitute and other deprived sections. They must know from Islam that “Peace” does not mean mere absence of conflicts but is a dynamic and positive concept meaning peaceful existence of individuals (physical, mental, spiritual), family and society. And they have to learn that monopolisation of power is the very opposite of humanism. Merely promoting human weaknesses in the name of “Human Rights” will not help.
The real peace will prevail when there are no crimes, no wars and civil wars and no diseases caused directly by human actions. These are all areas where modern theories have abysmally failed with huge crime rates, huge involvement in destructive wars and civil wars and massive loss of life due to practices like alcohol, smoking, gambling and free sex. The sooner they reform themselves the better it will be for them and the whole world. Islam will always be there to guide them if they so wish.
[The writer is India based thinker and writer with over a dozen books including his latest, “Qur’anic Paradigms of Sciences & Society” (First Vol: Health), “Islam Means Peace” and “Rediscovering the Universe”. He can be contacted at [email protected].]