PART ONE
A General View of World Security Conditions in Today’s World
I think no one can dispute that the world today is suffering a severe security and stability crisis. I also think no one disagrees that the confusion of concepts, the distortion of reasoning standards, and the decline of values and morality are, together, a basic cause of the state of terror that besets the human race.
This is the general picture of the current security situation in the world. There are several other pictures which contribute to the composition of the overall view of world security. They include the following.
· As it continues its procession today, humanity suffers a serious setback in its cultural progress. It is, unfortunately, moving backward from light to darkness, after the ages it has spent along the routes leading from darkness to light. That movement was initiated, led, and reaffirmed by all prophets, messengers, and reformers throughout the history of mankind. Its foundations, values, and controls are consolidated in the Glorious Qur'an, the last divine book that encompasses all the teachings and preaching of former prophets and messengers. God says,
We sent down the Book to you, setting forth the truth, confirming the Books before it and superseding them (Al-Maidah V: 48).
The method of that movement is supported, and its details are defined, by the pure guidance of Prophet Muhammad, son of Abdullah – blessings and peace be upon him – being the prophet who complemented and completed the messages revealed before him. He says:
I am sent on my mission in order to complement high ethical standards.[1]
The setback could only be the result of abnormal factors and causes, damaging the mechanism of the compass that guides human cultural progress, causing it to deviate from its natural, positive course, with devastating omens. This calls for a joint international effort to restore the normal functions of the compass used in the affective procession of the human race, an effort guided by divine instruction and whose features are defined by the mission of prophets and messengers. Such an effort is needed for humanity to resume its progress from darkness to light. In this regards, it is my conviction that mankind today badly needs moral courage of the type Prophet Jonah, peace be upon him, possessed to carry us, as it carried him through God’s benevolence, from darkness to light when he pleaded:
Glory be to You; I have been one of the unjust (Al-Anbiya XXI: 87-88).
· The world today is in a state of general anger. There is a feeling of anger at the level of individuals, at the level of groups, at the level of communities, and at the level of entire states. There is a feeling of anger in the East, in the West, in the North, and in the South. Everybody is angered, and each has his own justification for that feeling. Moreover, each has his own method and his own approach to cope with the cause of his anger. Some people are wise and skillful; others, intelligent and subtle. Some are courteous and patient; others, foolish and treacherous. Some are ready for sacrifice and reckless; others lie in waiting and are devious. All of them, however, are resolute in striving to put an end to this state of anger. They are determined to eliminate its causes, whether social or cultural, political or economic, individual or collective, masculine or feminine, civic or military, regional or international. Yes, truly, everybody is angered and, at the same time, feels rebellious, one way or another, against the causes of his anger. Everybody behaves in his own way and deals with the situation as suggested to him by his upbringing and education.
· In most countries of the world there is a lot of bloodshed, due to the militarization of human relations and its byproducts of conflicts, wars, destruction, and environmental pollution in all its land, air, and marine forms. The excess in manufacturing myriad types of the war machine and various forms of the weapons of mass destruction – nuclear, chemical, and biological – is done at the expense of the special needs of nations that are vital for their life and security, at the expense of the regional and international culture of security and peace, and even at the expense of food, health, and social security.
· Another thing that is noticeable in the general picture of the world security is a state of stagnation, a condition of apathy towards the future. Liberal capitalism, the most influential factor in decision-making at the international level, is today in a state of confusion and recession. It has been caught in the trap of its hunger for dominating the present, getting soiled in the process. It has turned its back to the future. Meanwhile, Muslims and others, in their desire for self-fortification or self-defense, have, at best, squeezed themselves in a corner. As for the future, there is no one to lament it, no one interested to get ready for it or provide for its requirements and prepare for its new elements. Thus, human societies and generations face an indiscernible future that can have many surprises and that is preceded by overwhelming, most likely ominous, predictions.
· Within the general picture of world security, the situation in most Arab and Muslim societies, as everybody officially and unofficially declares, pleases no none other than antagonists and foes, with threats, dangers, and bad omens besieging these societies from all sides, with the exception of the few that are spared by the Lord. The majority of countries and of generations suffer from anxiety over both the present and the future. In general, the Islamic nation is in an ambiguous situation; it is suffering internally more than externally. It is suffering the pains of difficult labor and childbirth, and rational people and thinkers can readily discern the factors and causes of this situation.
· On the security front, the world is facing a dangerous situation, which threatens the world order, with all the gaps it has. There are international bodies that are endeavoring to weaken the current world order to promote their own polarizing version and their enterprise. That enterprise strives to establish one state in the world that dictates what to do and what not to do to other world communities, which turn into satellites or entities subordinate to its authority and submissive to its dominance. There are even some international economic bodies and centers pressing towards creating a world condition, rather than order, in which they hold the reins of power and their giant financial institutions control international affairs and world communities. The amphibian sharks of those institutions, roaming wild on land, in the sea, and in air, bring all world communities under the umbrella of globalization. Globalization has gone astray; it has deviated from its noble purposes and substantial advantages, after it has been steered into a course that caters for the greed and monopoly of world financial powers, which seek to dominate world economy at the expense of the common interests of international communities.
· On the other hand, the world faces a cultural and ideological flood. Today, satellite television stations and the internet are flooding the earth and the new generations on it with a torrent of visions and ideas. A non-ending surge of questions seeks answers and solutions to intricate puzzles which pervade the lives of individuals and institutions and affect their personal and social affairs, their affective feelings, their interests, and their fate. Thus, their stability and security, as well as their dignity and the essence of their being, are threatened.
Parallel to this is a great outpouring of solutions and studies by people seeking to answer those questions and to deal with the current, unsettling world situation. In fairness and objectivity, there are positive and constructive propositions, and bright ideas and insights. They are, however, scattered and disseminated within a flood of horrific, petty knowledge. In other words, there are bright cultural rays, but they are dispelled within a stark darkness of cheap cultural frivolity. They need someone to get out of them a well-defined intellectual vision, or, in other words, to weave their scattered threads into an edifying intellectual picture that contributes to the restoration of decent human life.
Meanwhile, the wise men and sages of the world unanimously agree that oppression and unbalanced standards of justice are the deep root of all the evils afflicting the world, the threats it is facing, and all the corruption and depravation it suffers in almost all aspects of life: social, cultural, and environmental.
Corruption has emerged on land and in the sea, due to what their hands have wrought, to give them a taste of some of the things they have done, so that they may draw back (Al-Noor XXX: 41).
Indeed humanity today is in an adversity! Why? The Lord of Creation, the Most Sublime, provides the answer:
Whoever forsakes My message will live a life of adversity, and We will raise him on the Day of Resurrection as a blind person (Taha XX: 124).
But what does forsaking God’s message mean?
In general and for all nations, forsaking God’s message means deviation from the paths of reason, wisdom, and insight in managing life affairs. It is also the rejection or ignoring of the instructions of prophets, messengers, and reformers in human communities. The Glorious Qur'an reminds Christians and Jews how important it is to base their lives on God’s values, as they have received them through the Divine Books that God, the Most Glorious and Sublime, revealed to his the prophets, blessings and peace be upon them, such as the Torah, the Gospel, and others:
If they would observe the Torah and the Gospel and what has been revealed to them by their Lord, they would be given abundance from above and from beneath. A group of them are on the right course, and many of them follow an evil course (Al-Maidah V: 66).
“People of the Book, you achieve nothing until you observe the Torah and the Gospel and what has been revealed to you by your Lord” (Al-Maidah V: 68).
Former U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt indicated, in an address to his nation, the importance of following the right course in the lives of nations. He said, “It is not what we have that will make us a great nation; it is the way in which we use it.”
Muslims believe that forsaking the Glorious Qur'an and the divine immortal guidance it contains is the root of every form of forsaking God’s message and the source of every deviation from the walks of rationality and success in life.
The Messenger said, “Lord, my people have forsaken this Qur'an” (Al-Furqaan XXV: 30).
Undoubtedly, forsaking the Glorious Qur'an and its guidance is forsaking God’s message and a rejection of the message of Islam and its purposes. As I understand it, forsaking God’s message has two dimensions:
1. an affective, value-based, moral dimension, and
2. a secular, material, constructional dimension.
To put it in more specific and clearer words, the condition of forsaking the message of God, the Most Glorious, may affect worship in both its forms:
1. spiritual worship, and
2. constructional worship.
Generally speaking, forsaking God’s message is forsaking the rational and successful ways of constructiveness on earth, and departure from God’s purpose and His guidance to humanity for establishing sound living and realizing the human dignity.
From His Book (Partners ... not Guardians) Part One
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To the Nation’s leaders - To the Nation’s scholars and intellectuals - To leaders of the world |
All Rights Reserved For The Author Prof. Dr. Hamid Al-Rifaie