The Muslims' Predicament in the 21st Century by A.R.
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Among all Muslim nations throughout the ages, the Muslims of the 21st century are alive in one of the most challenging and devastating eras ever to have occurred. The infrastructures of our nations are in ruins, civil war threatens every Islamic nation on the planet, foreign countries have covertly and overtly invaded every single one of our countries, economic, scientific, and medical boycotts by the West have caused crises in many places, and on top of this poverty, illiteracy, and epidemics are rampant especially in Muslim nations. It is stated by a Western professor (Gideon Polya) that in the last century the Western nations and their allies have murdered through direct and indirect measures 'at least' 1 billion of the Muslim inhabitants on the planet, there are only 1.7 billion alive today; so this is the elimination of 40% of the Muslims born in this century. Many Westerners refuse to accept such powerful estimates, but it becomes clear once we tally the amount of civilian deaths from foreign action against mostly defenseless Muslim states, many of which do not even have a stable government and are plagued by civil war. In the last century, while carrying out these inexcusable atrocities, we heard much of world peace and harmony from their mouths. Now these same 'pacifists' and good-natured civilized nations are carrying out barbaric deeds against innocent civilians whose only crime is to be born in the wrong race, civilization, or to be following the wrong religion. It is interesting because they attribute these same aspects to their 'invisible all-seeing' enemies, while these characteristics are a much more fitting self critique of their own actions. In a democracy, individuals have the right to know why they are detained and for what cause are they subjected to inhumane torture. Individuals also have the right to petition for the impeachment of leaders who do not serve their interests. In a democracy, every citizen, no matter what his view is, has the right to explain his view, but in modern reality even peaceful Muslims are treated like villains in the political realm. This is a psychic disorder of the greatest scale recorded in human history, societies around the world in countries such as US, Israel, India, Russia, Serbia, Croatia, Greece, Greek Cyprus, France, Germany, England, Spain, Canada, China, Philippines, Thailand, Japan, etc. These countries have developed, on a national scale, an irrational and extreme hatred of everything related to Islam and Muslims. The consequence of this is outright prejudice in economics, murder carried out against innocent Muslim nations, detaining of religious Muslims on the fabricated threat they pose to society,and on the forced assimilation and alienation of Islamic communities in these countries. This is the major undeniable attack against Muslims' way of life being carried out with the complicity of all major world and regional bodies.
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The question arises, what exactly are we, in the Muslim countries and communities around the world, doing to prevent this from happening? Absolutely nothing, as a matter of fact we are making matters worse. Muslim communities in the West are solely concerned with individual accumulation of capital, without regard to the concerns of Muslims in other parts of the world or poor Muslim families in their own communities, even to the extent of some voting for re-election of Bush in 2004 to fatten their wallets with the blood of their brethren.
Unfortunately, nationalism and feelings of ethnic superiority have afflicted large numbers of people in the Arab countries in particular, but also in Turkey, Iran, Bangladesh, etc. The result of this is the maltreatment and persecution of numerous Muslim ethnic minority groups in these countries and the lack of interest in the decimation of indigenous Muslim people in other parts of the world. As one can imagine, this does not promote brotherhood among those nations which remain who wish to further Pan-Islamic unity around the world. In the most obscene, vile, and anti-Islamic behavior in the entire world, the Gulf Arabs have instigated laws which enslave poor immigrant Muslims from other parts of the world (particularly Pakistanis, Indians, Bengalis, Africans,and Iranians) and have forced them to build their country. Coupled with the spread of a 20th century radical Wahabi ideology in the Arab world which does not recognize nor respect difference of beliefs among other Muslims or the Sufi tehreek, this is alarming. This movement is mainly responsible in the new enslavement of fellow Muslims and a method used to deny rights and respect to fellow Muslims by declaring their belief systems incompatible with their doctrines, hence contrary to Islam (as if they are the sole jurists with the sole right over Islamic law). This strict and narrow mindset has resulted in untold suffering to Muslims and Muslim causes throughout the world. Fortunately, these radical ideas afflict only a tiny fraction of the Muslims of the world. Another problem with Islamic unity in the Arab world is the rise of Pan-Arabism. Whereas Pan-Mussulman (South Asian Muslims), Pan-Irani, and Pan-Turkish movements favor the Pan-Islamic movement and have Islamic dimensions in culture, Pan-Arabism has largely excluded Non-Arabic Muslim states from a greater friendship with many Arab nations. This results in a status designated to many Non-Arab Muslims of a second class of Muslims, lower than the Arabs. Along with the negative and even hostile treatment of Non-Arab Muslims in many Arab countries, this results in tremendous friction between many Muslims. It is important to note that this does not apply to all Arabic countries, only those mainly in Arabic peninsula and some countries outside it. Another important note to make is the discrimination of Arabs to other Arabs. Gulf Arabs, especially upper class, largely consider Egyptians, Berbers, Maghribi Arabs, and Sudanese to be lower in status to them. Though racism is seen in many parts of the Islamic world, usually to a minor extent isolated to wealthy and lighter skinned people (inheritance from European colonialism), racism in the Arabic peninsula is unique in that it is a revival of a Pre-Islamic viewpoint which the Prophet Muhammad (s) was opposed to. Its emergence in Islamic societies as a cultural norm may succeed through a large part by the rise of the Wahabi movement. Thus, it is important to realize the causes of disunity between Non-Arab and Arabs Muslims in light of this. Islamic unity should be the main goal, not Pan-Arabism to the exclusion of this important tenet of Islam.
Turkey's nationalistic feelings are the result of anger at the Arab revolt which was instigated and supported by the Europeans to undermine the Islamic Ottoman Empire. Changing of the Turkish alphabet to a Eastern European based system from an Arabic system may be seen as one response to this Arab revolt, which in fact resulted in direct colonial rule of almost all Muslim countries by European powers afterwards. Turkey's leaders adopted European ways as they felt these were the most effective methods to counter the relentless and vicious attacks against their homelands from Europe. By and large, these modern reforms were effective in preserving the territorial integrity of modern Turkey. We must ask, though, at what cost was the Ottoman Empire abolished, because for the friends of the Turks in North Africa, Egypt, Turkestan, and India, this resulted in the unstoppable destruction and devastation from the European invaders for nearly 200 years. Turkey, today, is at best nominally connected to the Muslim Middle East and prefers relations with Pan-Islamic and Pan-Turkish, Pakistan and Turkestani nations respectively. On the other hand, Iran's position is quite unique in the fact that its royal dynasty, the Pahlevis, radically modernized and coped with the European threat by allying with them. The Shahs of Iran were, in many cases, accomplices of the Europeans and even recognized themselves of a common superior white race. The continued support of their leaders to Europe and the West, resulted eventually in an Islamic revolution whose goals were on a purely egalitarian and Pan-Islamic doctrine. Modern Iran has been plagued by corruption and self-interest of a few leaders to the detriment of the lower classes of the country. Though, to the credit of the Iranian people, they have shown tremendous sacrifice to fellow Muslims in Afghanistan and Pakistan in the time of crises. Regardless, Iran is still one Islamic country which was never conquered by the Europeans and its people show tremendous independence of thought compared to other nations which are riddled with post-colonial systems.
One of these countries which benefited from the colonial system to achieve freedom is Pakistan. In a response to the growth of radical Hindu elements in India before partition, the Muslims of India demanded a separate homeland from the British, where they would be secure from the increasing riots and massacres carried out against them. By presenting their cause constitutionally and with logical reasoning, Indian Muslims achieved independence without a war. During the partition, Hindu and Sikh mobs carried out horrendous massacres of defenseless and destitute Muslims who were traveling to Pakistan, this resulted in, at the very least, 1 million murders. The British instigated these riots and even spurred the wars to follow as a punishment to the Pakistanis in wishing for freedom from the British. The treachery and deceit of the Europeans was hence made aware to the Indian Muslims as soon as they had achieved freedom from them. Pakistan, following independence, quickly became the site of a plural and accepting Muslim society for foreign students who wished to learn Islamic doctrines and ideas, and also a destination for Muslim refugees who came from India, China, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan to escape persecution and war. Despite the pressures from the Arab world, Afghanistan's civil wars, India's aggression and invasions, and Western nations' selfish interests in the region, Pakistan has remained one of the most Pan-Islamic and helpful of all Muslim nations particularly to those who have faced devastation such as Kosovars, Bosnians, Chechen, Somalis, and Afghanis. Pakistan's role as a unifying factor in the Muslim world and representative of 25% of the total Muslim population of the world (South Asians) is undeniable. The past and current plagues of Western intervention and pressure in internal policies have devastated the country, nevertheless, Pakistan can become the most dominant leader of the Non-Arab Islamic nations which comprise 80% of Muslims on the planet. Pakistan, Turkey, and Iran (the three largest, most influental Non-Arab Muslim nations) have ethnic, linguistic ties to each other that go back centuries (even before the advent of Islam) and a vast majority of the people of these nations follow the Sufi tehreek, along with most Africans, Southeast Asians, Turkestanis, and North Africans. Pakistan's strong relations to Turkey and its increasing friendship with Iran are no secret. Pakistan's championing the rights of the Kashmiris, Indian Muslims, Turkestanis in China, Turkestani nations in Central Asia, and Afghanis is also well-known. Without the cooperation of other Islamic nations, Pakistan has stood by the doctrine of Islamic unity and as a society has advocated the accepting of the pluralistic Islam of the Prophet Muhammad (s) and his followers. For the last 60 years since independence and even to this modern day, Pakistan and the Muslims of India have emerged as the leading source of scholars of Islamic wisdom, who have spread throughout the world to enjoin fellow Muslims to forgo destructive nationalism and band together to stand tall.
Slowly Muslims are waking up, and the tides of losses are turning. It is becoming increasingly difficult to bring terror and death upon the sheep-like Muslims of the past who are now becoming like lions with honor and prestige and a sense of responsibility to all humanity. It is time to put an end to this century of bloodshed, and to teach our enemies, inside and outside, to respect our people and learn to live in peace with us.
The goal of Islam is peace and justice, if one does not abide by these two (as you cannot have one without the other) they are not worthy of being called a fellow Muslim. Those who persecute Muslims are not part of our communities, even if they may call themselves Muslims. It is mainly us, not the West nor any other community, who have dealt our civilization the worst damage (though we have been wronged many times in the past and present by others). Our lack of unity is the cause of most of our suffering. So, it is now up to us to make our own future, upon our own efforts.
Note: I recognize that I have left out the great nations of Southeast Asia (Indonesia, Malaysia, Mindanao), Africa (Nigeria, Sudan, Ghana, Mali etc.), the North Africa (Morocco, Algeria, Libya, Tunisia, Mauritania), Azerbaijan; as well as many Muslim communities throughout the world in South Africa, France, Tatars of Russia, Thailand, etc. The reasons for this concern my genuine lack of information of these nations. If there are any discrepancies in this article, please let the organization know. Our email address may be found in the Contact Info section of the Website.