Islam the anti escape By Rameez Iqbal

Islam the anti escape

By Rameez Iqbal

Al-Jazeerah, November 23, 2004

It has become a fashion these days for our so called intellectuals to copy the polemics and rhetoric of western authors. Of course they do it for the "enlightenment" of the poor "ignorant" masses of the Muslim world who (in their opinion) are living in the middle ages. Armed with glittering and hopeful slogans of progress and modernization these Martin Luthers of Islam in most cases are completely ignorant of the spirit of Islam. Pick up any English daily or a "progressive" magazine and you will know who I am talking about. For them the most important issues of the Muslim world are the "usual suspects" democracy and freedom of expression.

A typical article written by these "democrazies" starts with the ritualistic condemnation of American imperialism, after which they quickly move on to describes the mistakes and failures of Muslim Ummah. How the economical, political and social stagnancy has left us lingering in the Middle Ages and how fundamentalists are trying to hold us in that time. And if the writer has a background in Islamic history add to this list the cliché "Ghazali killed the sciences".

Although nothing related to Islam escapes their criticism but they are most interested in vilifying traditional Islamic schools (Madaris) and religious scholars ('Ulama). According to them the religious schooling system is backward and full of flaws and religious scholars are full of corruption and hypocrisy. 1 They also argue that the values promoted by these religious schools are derivatives of Arab-Islamic culture which is geographically and culturally alien to most Muslim lands. Furthermore it sinks the minds of their students in the "darkness of wars, myths, habits and values of pre-medieval ages." 2 Now instead of refuting their claims let us for a moment look into their ideals, Their values system i.e. democracy and freedom of expression is borrowed from the west whose values and social system are more remote to the Muslim world than the so called Arab-Islamic culture, as for their leaders one has only to look at the Watergate scandal or Cheney's involvement with Halliburton. 3

Another argument which is commonly used to marginalize Islam is the "Escape Theory" according to which the insecurity, poverty and frustration is drawing the Muslim youth to Islamic fundamentalism which offers an escape from these bitter realities of life. As a result we are seeing this surge in "Islamic fundamentalism, the hysteria of which has destroyed a vast generation of youth from Muslim backgrounds. The terrorism, barbarity and bloodshed that have come out of this fanaticism are the product of a stagnated society and a rotting system" 4 According to this theory all the Islamic political/resistance movements, be they in Kashmir, Iraq, Afghanistan or Palestine are the result of a "rotting system" which is a product of Muslim society itself. One has to be blind to not see the absurdity of this idea. It is true that most Muslim countries are being ruled by dictators and have corrupt establishments, and they suffer from many social ills but does this justify the oppression they are facing from imperialistic advances of powerful countries. Yes Saddam was a bad guy but does this justify the destruction of Iraq as a country and a nation? I agree that there are many problems with the Ummah today, surely there are people who use Islam as an escape, but these people have no understanding of the spirit of Islam. Islam is their escape in the same way a person who has problems with his family prefers to read books all day instead of facing his problem, in this case would you put the blame on books? Let us look on the other side to see what is being offered to us; the western way of life? The materialistic and selfish lifestyle where your self (Nafs) is your God, the artificial world of television cable and soap operas, the blind race for accumulation wealth. Now I ask you, where does all this lead to? Is this not the real escape? Escape from the responsibilities of being a Human, escape from the "real" realities of life.

Islam is not the escape it is the anti escape, unlike other escapes it is not just a diversion that feels good, it focuses your attention towards the real goal of life and teaches you what really matters. It is the path to truth (Haqq) and nothing less. As for these "democrazies" and their analysis of the state of Ummah I want to say what Ali (R.A) said to Khawarij: "The sentence is right but what (they think) it means is wrong."

1. Islam and America... Friends or Foes? by Lal Khan. The News 20th November 2004.

2. Ibid.

3. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/2119981.stm

4. Islam and America... Friends or Foes? by Lal Khan. The News 20th November 2004.

Earth, a planet hungry for peace

Apartheid Wall


The Israeli Land-Grab Apartheid Wall built inside the Palestinian territories, here separating Abu Dis from occupied East Jerusalem. (IPC, 7/4/04).

The Israeli apartheid (security) wall around Palestinian population centers in the West Bank, like a Python. (Alquds,10/25/03).

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