Pakistan’s Ideological Problems Are A Microcosm Of The Crisis Of The Islamic Civilization
By Javid Husain
November 4,
2020
Pakistan’s
current political and ideological problems are a microcosm of the crisis of the
Islamic civilization in which forces of ignorance, backwardness, extremism and
authoritarianism are pitted against the ideals of enlightenment, progress,
tolerance and democracy.
Islam gave
a revolutionary message of human brotherhood, social equality and justice, rule
of law, moderation, quest for knowledge, and human advancement. As long as
Muslims adhered to these principles in practice, they expanded the frontiers of
knowledge and achieved unprecedented progress in all walks of human life. The
decline of the Islamic civilization over the past few centuries was the direct
result of the divergence between true Islamic teachings and the actual conduct
of Muslims.
The causes
of the crisis of the Islamic civilization can be traced to the general
stagnation of intellectual thought marked by the absence of critical enquiry
and creativity, lack of development of political institutions to make them
accountable to the people, and a decadent culture steeped in superstitions,
fatalism and absence of dynamism. On the other hand, the 15th century saw the
gradual rise of the West European nations awakened by the Renaissance, animated
by the desire for exploration and discovery, and later strengthened by the
growth of sciences and the onset of the Industrial Revolution. These qualities
enabled the West European nations to conquer and colonize not only the Americas
but also large parts of Africa and Asia. Consequently, by the end of the 19th
century most of the world was under the direct or indirect rule of the West.
From
Morocco to Indonesia, Muslim kingdoms and societies collapsed in the face of
the onslaught of the expansionist European nations despite lonely efforts here
and there to stem the tidal wave of Western imperialism. Although many of these
Muslim countries were able to regain independence in some form or the other
after World War II, they still remain under the political, military, economic,
scientific, technological and cultural domination of the West.
The
challenges posed by modernity are intellectual, political, economic,
scientific, technological and cultural. In the intellectual field, modernity
demands freedom of thought and inquiry so as to allow the questioning of
received wisdom and dogma and judge their utility and efficacy in the light of
new developments. Stagnation of thought, which prevents progressive thinking,
is a sure recipe for keeping a nation backward in the human race for progress
and prosperity. In Iqbal’s view, the most important cause for the decline of the
Muslims was their abdication of the principle of Ijtihad.
After
Khilafat-e-Rashida, Islamic political thought failed to develop in accordance
with the real Islamic teachings which enjoined the management of state affairs
in consultation with the people. Instead, monarchies and hereditary rule took
hold in the Muslim world like in the rest of the world. The modern Western
political thought by way of contrast moved ahead by developing the institution
of representative democracy in which the people periodically elected their
representatives to rule over them, thus involving them indirectly in the
management of state affairs and ensuring peaceful succession of power on a
periodic basis.
A cursory
glance at the Muslim world which is mostly ruled by monarchies, dictatorships
or authoritarian governments in various forms, shows that the Muslim world is
still struggling intellectually to resolve the issues of consultation with the
people, and peaceful and orderly succession of power in the management of state
affairs.
There was a
time a few centuries ago when Muslim scholars and scientists were at the
frontiers of human knowledge. Sadly, as Muslims ignored Islamic injunctions
regarding the quest for knowledge, they gradually lost their lead over other
nations in this field. Western nations by focusing on the acquisition of
knowledge, especially the development of sciences, industry and technology,
forged ahead leaving Muslims far behind. Unfortunately, with the passage of
time the gap between the advanced nations and the Muslim countries in
scientific, technological and economic development is widening.
Actually,
there are no contradictions between the basic principles of Islam and the
demands of modernity. Muslims simply need to practise what Islam teaches by
imbibing the qualities of dynamism and struggle, equipping themselves with the
latest advances in science and technology, promoting freedom of expression and
thought, encouraging creativity, developing democratic political institutions
with a focus on human development and welfare, and accelerating economic
development.
Pakistan’s
repeated crises are the logical result of the abdication of Islam’s true
teachings by our leaders and people at large. Consequently, what we have is a
repressive, exploitative and undemocratic system of governance. Whereas Islam,
by emphasizing the principle of consultation in governance, supports a
democratic form of government, Pakistan’s history is replete with instances of
either military dictatorships or authoritarian governments in various shapes.
The current hybrid system is just a continuation of that practice in new
clothing. Instead of social and economic justice, we have economic inequalities
and social repression of the weak.
Islam
enjoins rule of law but in Pakistan the people are at the mercy of the whims of
the rulers who are swayed more by their vested interests rather than the
welfare of the people at large. Despite claims to the contrary by the present
PTI government, the country continues to suffer from the neglect of the
education sector, sciences and technology in particular.
The
national expenditure on education slightly declined from 2.4 percent of GDP in
2017-18 to 2.3 percent in 2018-19, and may have declined further in the last
financial year. This is a recipe for disaster in the modern knowledge-based
world in which progressive nations are spending much higher sums on education
to equip their citizens with the necessary know-how to deal with the challenges
of modernity. All of these shortcomings have the potential to pull us down
instead of propelling us forward.
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Javid Husain
is a retired ambassador and president of the Lahore Council for World
Affairs.
Original Headline: Islam, modernity and
Pakistan
Source: The News, Pakistan
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