The Clash of civilization and the Muslims in the 21st century”
Rakib uddin (Bangladesh)
After the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, American political scientist Samuel Huntington introduced a new theory named “Clash of Civilizations.” In this, he explained what the new world would look like. According to him, civilizational or religious identities would shape future conflicts.
If we consider the Bush administration’s invasion of Iraq, oil was their primary focus. Along with the politics of oil, the civilizational conflict also gained significant shape here. Although the Bush administration claimed the attack on Afghanistan was part of the “war on terror,” many Western countries supported it too. But many evaluate Huntington’s theory when examining these conflicts. People in Palestine are deprived of food, shelter, medical treatment, and daily necessities, yet Western countries provide arms to attack Palestinians, impose restrictions even on humanitarian aid, and do not allow sufficient supplies. Because of their religious identity, the Muslim population has suffered thousands of deaths for many years, yet the world remains silent about it.
The Muslim ummah today is surrounded by whirlpool of injustice. Muslims are being massacred everywhere .In a hadith, we learn that when a nation is inflicted with the disease of weakness and lethargy—weakness defined as the love of dunya and the dislike of death—then such problems shall arise.
We have to eradicate the love of dunya and the dislike of death, as they are the foundation of all evil. At this time, the Muslim nation faces many issues due to the lack of unity and consensus. There have formed many groups and factions based on various beliefs, geographical locations, as well as cultural variances, leading to hatred and enmity. The slogan of “divide and rule” has caused a split in the Muslim ummah, and many walls have been erected amongst us. If the entire Muslim ummah comes together with unity and ends such divisions, there is no reason for problems to continue to evade us.
Our indolence is one of the prime reasons for the problems at hand. We prefer laziness over constructive plans and a comfortable lifestyle allowing to stay in our comfort zones rather than motivating us to go out their and achieve attitude. The Muslim youth do not want to work hard and are happy with being sedentary. They have left the spears and arrows and found their passion in music and such like. We have become almost a laughing stock in front of the world. The poison of obscenity and vulgarity has encompassed our generations. Wasteful and unnecessary activities and discussions have left us nowhere.
Those who are empty of the wealth of knowledge and iman are not promised the help of Allah. Only when people adopt a path with concrete direction and focus on pleasing Him will they find success.
Corruption and ill will is one of the major underlying issues. This is found at all levels of the Muslim societies. Today, if our judicial systems, societies, countries, organizations, and each individual become free of the curse of corruption and adopt sincerity, the Muslim world will take a new order. Unless we create a new foundation of justice, our problems will not only remain unresolved but will also grow exponentially.
Another prime reason for the issues faced by the Muslim ummah is the feeling of being inferior as compared to the rest of the world. We become slaves to their way of life and ideologies, unable to set our own boundaries and practice our own ways. We have allowed foreign cultures and religions to take over, our very set ways of Islam. Unless we become confident that our religion provides a wonderful system of life, we will be unable to move on with grace and honour, We have only to blame ourselves here.
The media ,today, plays a very important role in this negative propagation and changing of mindset in the Muslim nation, especially the youth.
The youth are being told that whatever practice of Islam has been presented is backward and not suitable for modern times. It is evident that the role media plays internationally is that of to demean Islam. It propagates obscenity and impermissible acts, making it acceptable.
Our main problem as Muslim nation is that we do not condemn such people who are trying to change Islamic culture under the name of growth and liberation. We have handed over all platforms to such people and stepped back. As Muslim community, we all need to step up and create our own way so that this nation can be given the correct and true perspective of what ideology Islam is really based upon.
Another area which deeply requires our attention is that we do not wish to self-introspect but continue to one rectify others. Only then can we imagine Muslims to unite and become one body. Islam teaches that the ummah is like one body, If one part is in pain then the whole body should feel that pain.The solution to the problems of Muslims ummah requires individual family, social and national level combined efforts.
