The fate of Secularism - Part Two

The fate of Secularism in the Arab and Islamic World

Part 2

Centuries ago, the earlier so called intelligentsia in the Arab and Islamic World, in their initiative to reach inner peace and external cohesion, attempted to complement what for them seemed a necessary missing constituent in the consistence of Islam. In the process they sought the help of an alien doctrine, namely the Greek philosophy, with the aim of melding or at least setting the foundation for peaceful co-existence of two philosophies, namely, Islam as religion and way of life and the Greek philosophy as supporting entity for what they thought to be logical reasoning. Nature of things as always took precedence over wishful thinking. The balance of Power would set the rules and the outcome would be for every one to see and agree to be.

The Bastard they brought forward was at once rejected by the Islamic philosophy as being an illegitimate and criminal manipulation of its own pillars. Here again one can not simply push forward such an argument from the balcony of his own villa and retreat back to the garden for further meditation.  No he needs to get his head and feet on the street and challenge those who would be the followers of exactly the opposite of what he advocates. An undertaking that most probably would call for the greatest kind of sacrifice and self denial. All for the desire of putting forward an idea that seemed for him more of a logical conclusion on the one hand, and so abstract and meaningless for most of those whom he wanted to challenge and provoke on the other hand.

The nobility of the idea, the wishful thinking would have to seize to exist and practicality would have to take precedency.  What would be the ultimate price he is welling to pay for all this, and what would be the ultimate reward from all of this. A question neither for the weak to answer nor for hesitant to ponder. Above all what would all this be for those whom he wants to conquer?

For the sapless and hesitant so called intelligentsia, this was all too much to bear. The struggle was not to be. They disgracefully sat to watch as their idea was set ablaze. The idea that you are not welling to pay the ultimate sacrifice for is one not worth living for. The sun burned off the fog and the masses witnessed the shameful display of cowardice.

The illegitimate jumped the fence, and went to wonder on the land of the infidels where he found his roots to be. Now he is back wearing the tail coat knocking on our doors once again and being received by nowadays so called intelligentsia in our Arab and Islamic world.

History would repeat it self and things will always come back to their own equilibrium state. Need I say more?

Zaki Mubarak

The fate of Secularism

The Fate of Secularism in the Arab and Islamic World

Secularism, as understood in the Arab and Islamic world, being the separation between Islam as a religion and a way of life on the one hand, and politics as an instrument for managing the affairs of life on the other hand, is destined for a miserable failure in wining the minds and hearts of Arabs in particulars and Muslims in general. This conclusion is based neither on sentimental aspirations nor on idiotic understanding of the current international affairs or the balance of power on a global scale. No, it is a statement that derives its correctness from the power imposed by history reasoning on the nature of things. One simply can not ignore the mightiness of such influence by history on the future and fate of a free nation like the Arab and Islamic Nation.

In general, Islam as a philosophy and religion can not be simply ignored when considering the balance of power of past, current and future civilization affairs. The great influence of the Islamic doctrine can not be plainly ignored when we come to the concept of secularism and the potentials for such a weird concept in winning and pushing aside a deep rooted ideology like the Islamic religion in our world.

Ignoring the above historical reality by the so called intelligentsia in our Arab and Islamic worlds is a call for laughter more that an occasion for pondering.

One need to appreciate how any philosophy establishes its roots in the minds and hearts of any free and independent nation, so that he would be able to reach a clear determination of the fate of any new, yet weaker, adversary philosophical system. Here again the seemingly obvious  lack of understanding by the so called intelligentsia in our world to such historical reasoning can be attributed to sheer stupidity or complete surrender to the concept of Western way of thinking.

In all cases the so called intelligentsias in our region are bound for a shocking reality in the times to come. For the ultimate outcomes have been determined by the historical events that successfully planted and secured our Islamic philosophy in the past and would surely influence our nation fate in the future.

No one would elect willingly to choose slavery as a destiny for himself and for his posterity. The human nature would have its own saying on such decisions and conclusions. This can only be more clear and determined in the case for a free nation blessed with an established great philosophy. Here also history tells us that philosophy can not simply give in to another one by peaceful means. The balance of power would always be a determining factor for the ultimate outcome of such necessary conclusions. Wishful thinking, such as that being advocated by the so called intelligentsias takes junior position. Once again they give a good example for being pompous fools.

Having said that I would find it logical to realize that secularism as western concept, derived from the Western philosophy would most probably flourish in the hearts and minds of the western civilization followers. This has its roots in the western history as well.

However, I can not extend this conclusion to the Arab and Islamic world. This simply would be illogical and mindless when we are talking about the fate of secularism in the Islamic philosophy and eventually in the life of Arabs and Muslims. The Islamic school of thought can not and will not simply accept this foreign concept as being one of its own offerings. This will have its own great influence on the thoughts of the Arab and Islamic nation for whom this foreign thing, this concept which is referred to as secularism will always be a bastard that can not be welcomed with open arms.

History also orders us that a deep rooted philosophy like Islam can not be simply defeated by aggregating foreign concepts and wishing for implanting them in the body of such ism. This simply can not be the case. History might ignore this for some time but this will not be for long. Things will always come back to their own equilibrium state.

To be continued…