Westernization and Human Welfare Maryam Jameelah, 1976 Islamic Internet Archives · Archive of Modern Islamic Thought ABOUT THIS EDITION Title: Westernization and Human Welfare Author: Maryam Jameelah Published in: Mohammad Yusuf Khan First published: 1976 Rights: Published with permission of the rights holder; copyright remains with the owner. © Mohammad Yusuf Khan (publisher); free scan at Internet Archive Text quality: Machine-read (not checked): Read from a scan by a machine (OCR) and not yet checked: expect reading errors. Source: https://archive.org/download/al-islam-maryam-jameelah/English_WESTERNIZATION_AND_HUMAN_WELFARE.pdf Archived: 14 October 2026 Web page: https://islamicarchives.org/works/mj-westernization-and-human-welfare/ This file: Made on 3 November 2026 by islamicarchives.org from the archive's text. Corrections: use the Suggest a correction link on the web page. CONTENTS whw 0001 ~esternizAtiQIt And Q(UmAIt~elfore whw 0002 CRfSCfnT PUBliSHinG comPAny whw 0003 ~ ", I, t [^1]i " whw 0004 whw 0005 whw 0006 whw 0007 whw 0008 whw 0009 whw 0010 whw 0011 whw 0012 whw 0013 whw 0014 whw 0015 whw 0016 whw 0017 whw 0018 . Science, apart cfo\h •• whw 0019 whw 0020 whw 0021 whw 0022 whw 0023 whw 0024 whw 0025 ., .... \\ V., whw 0026 • whw 0027 By .860 the extermination of the American Indian as a whw 0028 whw 0029 whw 0030 whw 0031 " , War II, their propaganda campaign against the surviving whw 0032 whw 0033 whw 0034 whw 0035 n, Golll",Btl"," James G. Frazer called this "sympathetic whw 0036 whw 0037 whw 0038 '5 "The need of the hour for Muslims an over the whw 0039 whw 0040 whw 0041 whw 0042 '7 whw 0043 whw 0044 whw 0045 whw 0046 . by every race in every time and locality, it is signifi- whw 0047 whw 0048 4, . psychological pain are inflicted upon its Arab prisoners along the most "modern," "up..to-date".scientific lines. whw 0049 whw 0050 " j whw 0051 whw 0052 whw 0053 whw 0054 whw 0055 whw 0056 " whw 0057 . ....... whw 0058 " whw 0059 whw 0060 " I' whw 0061 whw 0062 whw 0063 whw 0064 whw 0065 whw 0066 whw 0067 whw 0068 whw 0069 . " . was recognized . as eSsential for the emotional health of the indiVidual and the integration of society. All the higher religions, and especially Islam, place great whw 0070 whw 0071 to another; from one city to.another, from one. ~ whw 0072 whw 0073 whw 0074 whw 0075 , . whw 0076 16.AnEdIlCIJtiO.lf11 Pro,NIfI for ".SIUUIlMlUfim Cii:'"'" ill1M whw 0077 whw 0078 . such ~ w·th grossly lleductive .. whw 0079 The "popular song" is not popular at aU. .1 whw 0080 whw 0081 whw 0082 whw 0083 whw 0084 ~ whw 0085 whw 0086 , whw 0087 whw 0088 &, whw 0089 whw 0090 \\ " irreligious and that to be' religious in the 9rthodo~ sense is often a disadvantage .... so that they feel compelled to reject 25.IsratlBttw",.Eolllllld",ut.op. cit:. pP.!Oa-~OJ. i.,.299-309. whw 0091 whw 0092 whw 0093 non-European civilizations wiped out so that, culturally whw 0094 whw 0095 whw 0096 .ace. and crimes committed by fron tier Ameritam against whw 0097 whw 0098 • whw 0099 . and corrup~on are destructive of eVerything which is good, true and beautiful, and thus, everything that makes life wo~th living. We must convjnce the political and intellectual leadership· of the so-called "Third Wor~d.'· that Western civilization is whw 0100 " who avoid a violent death' will succumb tom .. starvation and diSease due to famine and scarcity of . 7, Jsh;.,,,d, Vor.lI. ~ whw 0101 BI·. TilE: S.t .lfE: ;4{'THOR . .. .. ,. \\\\ ....... 1", .... ".1"", \\1 .... u' , ....... ... \< \\\\ •• I y.,,,,.«. l'\>l •• , hI ... h« I. hu .. ,,. C •• "- (f\ .... 7 •• •• ',bo . .... "0\,. 'h • ,. hi ..... 0.. ....... ,.1 Ito".' '." .. l\, ~ whw 0012 ======== 7 authority of the Pope and the Latin language greatly strengthened the cause of secular n~tionalism. In ====================================================================== place of a strong, united Christendom were now a multiplicity of small, weak sects, each -a rival of the other with’ its own narrow, parochial outlook. In ====================================================================== Protestant countries a separate national church was organized under the control ~f the Government until everywhere in Europe, the spiritual power qfreligion became subordinate to the interests of secular politics. ====================================================================== Shortly after the Protestant Reformation, the scholars of the Renaissance discovered the most powerful of all weapons in their arsenal against the Church- ====================================================================== science! Francis Bacon (1561-1625) epitomized the scientific spirit of the modem age in TheNew Atlantis. An· English ship lands upon a utopian island in the ====================================================================== remote Pacific whose chief pride is a great institution devoted to scientific research. The ruieT conducts the travellers through this place saying, “The end of our Foundation is the knowledge of .cause and the secret motions of things and the enlarging the bounds· of the human empire to the effecting of all things possible.” ====================================================================== Descartes (1956-i650) carried on the development of the experimental method where Francis Bacon had begun, completely overthrowing the authority’ of Aristotle ana the medieval sch~lastic philosophers, in order to discover new truth instead of merely provipg what was already known.·’ To Western philOliophen, ====================================================================== like Descartes, nature was nothing Illore than a machine which had no spiritual significance, Aliliving things, including man: were a mere matter of automatic ====================================================== chemical reactions. “Give me the elements,” boasted whw 0013 ======== 8 DescarteS, “and I will construct the universe!” =============================================== Intoxicated by the theory advanced by Newton (1643-1727) tbat the entire universe was regulated by immutable mathematical laws, the protagonists of the so-called “Age of Enlightenment” taught that all beliefs . -contrary to human experience and observation must be discarded. Miracles, prophecy, revelation as well as all religious rites and ceremonies were ridiculed as superstition. Voltaire (1694-1778) said that God created the Univer~e as a watch .. maker assembles a watch, after- J wards having no future concern with it. Hume (i711- 1776) rejected all religious beliefs on the ground ·that they could not be proved either by scientific experi- ment or hl1man reason. He attacked even the deist ================================================= god of Voltaire declaring that we have seen watches made but not worlds. If the universe did have an =========================== author, he may have been an incompetent workman or he may have long since died after completing his work or he may have been a ma]e or female god or a great number of gods. He may have been entirely good or entirely evil or both or neither, probably the last. ====================================================================== Hume [^9]s argument against the existence of the Hereafter ran as follows: We have no ·reason for concluding from a life where rewards and punishments fail to coincide . with human deserts that there will be any subsequent life in which they do. Morality was regarded as a science like mathematics, as indepe~dent from theology as any other branch. of human knowledge. Philosophers such as Dideroit and Rousseau aU agreed that utility and happiness were the sole criterions for ,morality. Man· should seek as much pleasure and happiness as he whw 0014 ======== 9 can in this life without depriving his fellows of their rightful share. Whatever relations give pleasure· to all concerned cannot· but be bene~cial. Consequently they saw no good in the traditional demands for chastity between the sexes. ====================================================================== Having destroyed what they considered the foolish . errors of the past, the aposdes of the Enlightenment believed that reason and science, spread by universal mass education, would usher in a virtual paradise on earth. ====================================================================== Now that man possessed the magic of science, it was within his power to shape his own destiny. Liberty, social and economic equality and universal peace would ‘reign over the entire world~ Ever .. expanding knowledge would forever banish all disease and suffering leading to an indefinite prolongation of human life. The technological and scientific revolutions of the following century’ served to confirm this new faith in the perfectibility of human life on this earth without the aid of any supematul’al power. ====================================================================== Darwin’s (1809-1882) concept of the evolution of //man from lower forms of life introduced an entirely new ====================================================================== scale of ethical· values. ========================= Philosophe!S now conceived of humaIi society in a constant state of flux and change inevitably leading to higher and more complex stages of development. The principle of biological evolution, applied to human society, identified the “modem”, “up-to-date”, “advanced”, and· “progressive” with what was most desirable. Historians came to look upon man as a product as well as a part of nature evolving to his present state from lowly origin, with all his achievements having been painfully acquired in the struggle against a hostile environment. Darwin CQD- ====================================================================== . l whw 0015 ======== to vineed Western pbilOIOphen that man was an animal species like any other-a higher mammal to be sure, but ‘only an animal. Wiiliam James (1842-1910) even questioned the value of retaining the intangible concept of consciousness or Inind at aU, regarding human thought as merely the end result of chemical reactions upon the nervous ‘System produced by external stimuli. Psychologists like Pavlov (1849-1936) sought to delve into the m()tives of human behaviour by studying dogs, monkeys and apes. ====================================================================== . Freud’s (1859-1939) discovery of the compulsive drives of the unconscious Inind originating in ~arly childhood as the source of aU irrational behavior provided ,modem philosophers with yet an additional weapon against, religion. ‘Freud maintained that the small child projected, the ilJ)8ge of his parents who gave him life, protected ‘him from harm and subjected him to discipline, punishment and rewards on to his religiou!J life in adulthood. The concept that religion is purely’man-made and ‘that ethics ar~ relative and not absolute was enthusiastically welcomed by students of history, sociology and anthropology. Thus Ralph Linton, a distinguished American anthropologist, in his study of the cultures of mankind, TheT”,of ====================================================================== Culture (1953), argUed that the ======================= uncomprOmISIng monotheism of Judaism and Islam originated in the rigidly patriarchal family life of the Semitic tribes of Arabia. He writes: ====================================================================== The concept of an an..powerful deity who can only be placated by complete submission and devotion, no matter how unjust His acts may appear, was the direct outgrowth of Semitic family l’ite. Another product of the exagscrated whw 0016 ======== II === super.ego to which it gave rise was the elaborate system ot taboos relating to every aspect of behaviour which were epitomized in the Law of Moses. Such codes of . tabooa provided those who kept them with a sense of security comparable to that of the good child who is. able to remember everything his father told him to do. God is theportrait of the typical Semitic father with his patriarcbaJ, authoritarian qualities abstracted and exaggerated. Freud, not content to deny the divine origin of religion, rejected the idea that religious faith was justified on any grounds. ====================================================================== It seems not to be true that there is a Power in the universe which watches over the well-being of every individual with parental care, bringing all within His fold to a happy ending. On the contrary, the destinies of men are incompatible with any univenal principle of justice. Eathquakes, floods and fires do not distingujab between the good and devout man and the sinner and unbeliever.· Eyen if· we leave inanimate nature out of account and consider Oftly the destinies of individual men in [^10]far as they depend on their relations with othen of their own kind, it is by no means the rule that virtue is rewarded and wickedness~ punished. It often happens that the violent, crafty and unprincipled seize the desirable goods of this world while the pious go away empty. Dark, unfeeling and unloving powen determine human destiny; the concept of Divine j~tice, which, according to religion fUles the world, seems to have no existence. No attempt to minimize the supremaI:)’ of science can alter the fact that it takes into account our dependence on the real, external world whUe religion is only a childish illusion deriving ita strength from the fact that it happens to fall· in with our instinctual desires.-Frnul: GrealThinkersqftil,WestmaWorld,E”9Clo- JlldiaBrillmniea. Materialistic philosophy reached its -climax in its chief protagonist-Karl Marx. ====================================================================== According to Karl whw 0017 ======== 12 Marx, all, aspects of human history, society and culture are the result of economic factors, the individual being ====================================================================== • nothing more than a product of his immediate surroundings and that through a progressive improvement in the material environment, a perfect society will inevitably emerge. _ Marxist dogma is responsible to a very great extent for Western civilization as it is today. It has found as enthusiastic acceptance in ================================================= America as the Soviet Union, the main difference being that while the latter is honest in the pursuit of its goal, the former is subtle and hypocritical. Bertrand Russell develops materialistic philosophy to its furthest extent when he writes: ====================================== That man is the product of causes which had no provision of the end they were aehieving, that his origin, his growth, his hopes and fears, his l~v.es and beliefs a~ . but the outcome of accidental c~llocations of atoms, that no amount of heroism. no intensity of thought and feeling Can preserve the individual life beyond the grave, that all the labour of the ages, all the devotioll, all the inspiration of human genius iare destined for extinction in the vast death of the solar system and that the whole temple of man’s achievement must, inevitably be buried beneath the debris of a universe in ruins-all these things are so nearly certain that no philosophy which rejects them can- hope to stand. Only within the scaffold of these truths, only on the firm foundation ofunyiclding despair, can man’s habilation be safely built. -MakersojtheMotUrnMind, Randall, Columbia Univenity Press, New York 1930. Schopenhauer carried materialistic philosophy to its logical conclusion. For him the essence of life is an aimless, restless activity, an utterly irrational force. =========================================================== whw 0018 ======== 1,5 Since, the basil of aU ‘delire i. need, ·d~ aatf ================================================ _ thus pain, the nature of brute and man alikei(OdginaUy and of its very euence .ubject to pain. If” on,’ tIie,:otIIer hand, it achieVes its objects’ of’daire through too ~ ====================================================================== satisfaction, such void and ennui fi11s the, heart that existence becomes an unbearablelNrderi; , ‘ ThuS life sWings. like a pendulwn from pain to ~ui, from ~n” to.—Plin; Life is a sea full of rO(:ks and wbirlpools whiCh man~voids. with the greatest care and’ solh::itude altb~h, hebo\Yl’ that even with aU his ~ ======================= and skill hesuc~ in’l~tiag through, he comes thus but” the nearer at eY.ery task to th.e human beinl and his couneoth(e .is’ but • .,ther-’ Jhorr- . ====================================================================== greatest, the total inevitable :~ipwreck~ea~. “‘Every dream of the endless ipiritof ni~, The penistent wift.’1O live is -only another neeting ford. whichn&ture carelasly’ sketches ,in ita infinite’ pages, allows toremaia for a time” - ~ . • [^10]short it vanishes into nothing aadthen obli~.to “ .’ make room for othen • ..;;..M,.,s ojIIuMtI_ ~ind.dp.-4t~- ========================================================= “ , :~ ~-“ ~~ After denying any positive’ yalueto religioJis ‘faith,. ======================================================= . === Freud”had to admit tliartdence-is nojlobstitute: ================================================ ‘ Science, apart cfo_h •• ======================= . ‘../.-1L_ =========== .’ === phali.QJlthe real world. hu essentially negative ~teriitiCa .in .. that it ‘)imits ========================================================= itself to tangible materia1ftuth,’ alUi rejecbilJ~:;.some of our follow men who are dissatimed witl ,-_ ‘tBia state of’ atTain and daire somethiqaore’{or theii,’-~tary’ ~ce· of ~d. ~y look for it where ,they can find it, but ~ ==================================================== cannot help thml.-Eaeyelol’tliiIBriIalttJiea, Ope cit. “The present misery of life-:-:hunger, pain, qe~ _- death and strife-accentuatedbyL:~he two World Wa.n,··’· or-perhaps only felt more keenly tha’# -kf~··-hasioften been the theme of the polemic . against God, with the· materialist thinkers,’ inc1udingpoets and “ nov,elists. They have ,challenged His mercy ana asked-the theolo- ====================================================================== whw 0019 ======== ‘4- giannot tb m.alt human reason by the mockery of promised payment for every tear shed in this life, for paper currency without the assuran~e of convertibility into cash on demand is a fraud. At the root of this harangue lies the disbelief in the immortality of life. If we fail ~ow, we fail forever, for there is no ‘ever’ to come after. If we lose this life, we lose all, for this is the.fint and the last cb:i1nce. Hopes and aspirations, dangen and fean, plans.~nd efforts come to an abrupt end the moment death ‘intervenes. With this limited view of life, jt is but natural that our sufferings here .houldcount for so much, and give Us a just grievance against the injustice of “Providence, making us forget that the inequities we resent are mestly of our own making.” ====================================================================== “And the inequities shall. probably never totally vanish. They have come to stay. God holds out no promise to endow every man with the health of a Mohammad Ali (Clay), with the riches of a Rockefeller or ,with the intellectuallsmof a~J1l’and Russell. He ,has as yet announced no scheme of univenal insurance apImtwant and indigence, disease and old age. The Utopian future with perfect facility of body and mind dealt to every individual in fullest measure is a dream. , ThescientUta may promise us that btrore this century draws. to a ,close, every one of us shall be revelling in the coworts of air-conditioned houses and auto. mobiles, not knowing how to penpire under a hot sun o,r shiver on a cold night. The meanest of us shall have work made easy and pleasant and abundantly, paying, and at the same time p~enty of leisure to enjoy ====================================================================== whw 0020 ======== 15 the art and culture of the age. Should such a dream come true; it would be an unlucky day for humanity.” ====================================================================== “We are here to work, to strive, to share the woes and worries of our fellowmen and make our contributions to the betterment of the world, to establish spiritUal peace and not mere bodily ease and to root out tyranny and injustice, jealousy and hatred-a tremendous task and a task that we may perhaps leave unaccomplished. But that does not matter. ~We ar~ more concerned with what we personally gain by the strife in the eyes of God; the rest is the concern of God Himself. It is only in such a world ‘of hope and effort that we should want to live, work and die.”- ====================================================================== “ —S. Ahmad, “Back to God-V,” TtIfMIlltlmullitmal, Karachi,;I April 1111,”1.967. . whw 0021 ======== whw 0022 ======== MODERNIZATION-OUR PANACEA? During.the Lahore Islamic Summit (February 22- 25, 1974) in an interview over Lahore Radio, when the Malaysian President was asked what was the goal or bia government, he replied : to raise the nation’s living standards, economic development and industrialization · to give his people Cia happy modern life.” The Malaysian President is by: rio means unique. All the politicalleadersbip of Asia and Afiica are wholeheart- ====================================================================== After reading a .edly committed to the same ends. ================================================= well-known biography of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the late President Gamal Abdel Nasser commented enthusiastically, “This has been themost important bookin my Ufel”l Almost all the elite of Asia and Africa wonhip the achievements of Ataturk as their supreme ideal. In their eyes, all indigpnous cultures are equated with “‘backwardness” and .~ modernization” is regarded as · the panacea for all political” eeoqomic and social difficulties. ====================================================================== The. most conspicuous characteristic ofcontemporary civilization is its secularity. This irreligiousnesa is · to extreme that even organized religions are gradually becoming secularized. ====================================================================== Instead of providing any” an~dote to the poison, religious leaders in the West condone the transformation of churches and synagOgues / into bingo halls, places to serve a wedding dinner and ====================================================================== gymnasiums for the youth. ========================= So also in the East, •. n. Grqw.u. H. c. ArmIb’cIoI. CapricorJI Boob, New York. 196., ====================================================================== fr.lDt OOWl’. whw 0023 ======== s8 modernist vlema under the patronage of the G0vernment (8J)d often paid by the latter fur compliance), emphasiz~ the necessity of religion “keeping pace with the times.” Secularity is equated with mOdernity and a genuine religious atmosphere with . “medievalism.” Secularism is regarded by aJl those in power, both in the East and West, as the most essential prerequisite for a modern society. ====================================================================== Why is “medieval” one of the most derrogatory word~ in modem English? Why did the intellectual leadership of Europe reject religion so vehemently? The secularity of the European intelligentsia, £rom the Renaissance onwards, was a violent reaction to the atrocities committed in the name of the Church in its futile attempts to suppress heresy. ====================================================================== En1ightened. Europeans were repelled by the narrow-mindedness and intolerance of the Church which aiaumed that the only effective method to deal with non-confOrmists was by force. ====================================================================== In the· 13th c:cntury, heresies bepn to .pring up an over Europe like mushroolDl in a dUD8 heap. How to cIiItiquiIh heretiCi from the devout presented cooaiderable diftlcu1tia but according to popular legend, the problem was IOIved by Arnaud, the papal legate, who told the Crusaders; “Kill everyonel God Will recognize his own I” Although the erus.den did their bat to follow thele iDIItructiom and elttennmated the A1bipD1a, hundreds being IdIled in a lingle day, this IOI’t of wholeale butchery. was plainly impractical and [^10]Saint Dominic, the founder of the Dominican Order, was sent to Franoe to examine priloners and determine their reUgioua bCIidi. Dominic arguecl that one heretic would corrupt others. be allOwed to adhere to his Such • lIIUlahoulcl not ~ ===================================================== f …. doctriDeI AllY more: than a man aftlicted with the plague whw 0024 ======== 19 . === Ihoulcl be allowed to infect otherS. Torture, until the heretic recaDted or died, was the oaly solution. In IIISS a perpetUal board of inquiry was established to inwstipte cues or ===================================================== IUlpCCted heresy. As heresy· was considered the most terrible of all crimes, this board was permitted to we torture as a standard procedure to discover the truth, a custom that was pdually adopted by the secular courts as well. The Church Court became known as the “Inquisition” and was plued under the direct supervision of the Do~nican Order. The InquiRtors were ruthless as they were convinced that they were fighting with the powers of darkness for the prisoner’s 1OUl. For the victim to die unrepentant was a victory for the Devil. One of the most terrible of them was Conrad of Marburg who from IlZlZ7 to I ~33 created a reign of terror in Germany unequalled until the advent of Hider. In IlZ1I7, Pope Gregory IX ordered Conrad to investigate a IeCt in Germany known as the Lucii’erans. This group c:onaidered that everything worldly was evil and as God could not have created evil, it followed that the Devil must have made the world. Almost at once, Conrad had a pat stroke ======================================================= or luck. A twenty year-old girl, who had a quarrel with her family, told Conrad that they were Luciferans. Under torture. the family confcsled and then under the threat of addkional tortures, implicated· others. The accwed were iadultIyarrested and tortua’ed until they named .till others ancIlOOn half the population or Germany was accusi1lg the other half. ‘ In Strasbourg alone, Conrad burned eighty men, women and childrell. In his .fury he spued nobody-not eveD nobles- or prominent Church dignitaries. At last. the Archbiahopl of Cologne, Trews and Mayence appealed to the Pope, writing: . ‘CWhoeYer falls into Conrad’s hands has only thecb.oice betweeD. a ready confession and a denial whtnupon he is apeecIily burned. Every false witness is &eeeptecl but no defenee poantecl. Many devout Catholia have’lutlered themselves tn be burned at the stake rather than c:oa&. under whw 0025 ======== !lO torturetovidous crimes of which they are innocent. Brothers • . 8CCUIe 1mrthert, wives th~ husbands, servants their masters. Man~ live· moaey to their clergy fora(hice on how to ~tect .. tL.——-L - _e. __ !_ ………. “.,…… IS III co.uuuun •••. -_ …. _ .. ;……. ‘’I ., …. __ ======== _ .Qne oCthe blackest stains on the pages of medieval. histoI’y is the witchCraft mania which terrorized ====================================================================== Europe for . c;enturies. In 1418 Pope Innocent VIII iaued lUi famous bull against witc:bcraft, ordcriag the Inquisition to stamp it out at aU costs. James Sprenger was appointed by the Pope … Inquisltor-GeDeral ofGennany. ·He accepted the post eagerly. As did IDOIt men ofhia time, Sprenger considered virtually aU mental abDOl’lll.8lities as being the work of the Devil or of his &genii, the witches. Inbia famOUl bOok, MlIlInu..v1llji£tmIIII,_ Sprenger dacribea literally ewry single type of DeW’OIii and psychosis that we fiDel today in dally psychiatric practice. People sufferiDg from compUlsion neurosis and schUophrenia “typically rebel apiatt authOrity and launched wild attacks ‘against God..” , To Sprenger, such people were clearly wi~hes. He described how the witches hear voices, have visions’ al)d delusions udhow some were actually cured by torture. Hystericalanaesthesiaa and pathologic:al mutism could be cured by “shock treatment” ami the witCba who responded. to Sprenger’s drastic therapies were clearly of these types. ~’s .villi,,”MtI/fotmDII, waa used for centuries after his death .. the definitiVe text on witchcraft and how to ========================================================= secure confessions. AI it provided unsbakab~ grounds for convicting anybody arrested, it waa invaluable to a witch-hunter. This book has probably been responsible for the de&ths of more human beings than any other in . hiatopy. The Inquisitori ·had scriptural authority for their actions. The V., === 2.1MHllltlryttl T~I”‘~, DaDic. P. MUDill,DeU, PublisbiDi Co., New 1964. pp.44-49. whw 0026 ======== ~1 Biblical order: ‘’Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live,” (Exodus 22 : 18) has probably been responsible for the death ofmore persons than any other eight words in history. W.F. Poole in his book, SaUnaWik:1Ieraft. ‘believes that hundreds of thousands of people were ~uted for this “crime” during the 16th and 17th centuries. Witchcraft executions continued into the 18th century.’ The Protestants were no less superstitious and cruel. than the Catholics. Both leaders of the Protestant Reformation-Martin Luther and John Calvin _. were firm believers in the witchcraft tnania. John ====================================================================== Calvin. actually presided over the executions in Geneva of many victims accused of this “crime.” ======================================== In the light of these appalling historical facts, it ==================================================== was only inevitable that more and more intense hatred and rebellion against the clergy was kindled in the hearts of the people and leading intellectuals condemned ======================================================== the Church and by analogy, all religion, as superstition and fanaticism, equating secularism with “enlightenment”. The most vehement, cynical and brilliant of these philosophers was Voltaire, who flourished at the time just bef\ • === whw 0027 ======== 22 oobociy, Watem man set out with extraordinary energy, organization and technology to bring the ====================================================================== domination. Western hiStorians entire world under ~ call this “The Age of Exploration” when it would be far more accurate to label it as the “Age of Imperialism.” The atrocities and genocides committed bad ====================================================================== no parallel in past history 01’ previous civilizations. Unscrupulousness was the rule ; greed for riches and lust for power knew no limits. ====================================================================== In the philosophy of Darwinian collectivism, the. fittest sur· vives. A century ago, an American expansionist wrote in support of the conquest of Mexico: “The Mexican race now see in the fate of the Indian aboriginel their own inmtable destiny.” The survival of the fittest was invoked to justify imperialistic expansion abroad, exploitation of “inferior races” and the ,19th century American notion of “Manifest Destiny.” It provided a paeud~acientific rationale for’ the predatory behaviour of man. At the time Charles Darwin was putting forwa1”d his theory, the European was shouldering “the white man’s burden” in Africa and Asia and was embarking on a vast programme of political domination. By .860 the extermination of the American Indian as a ===================================================== political threat to the whi~e setders was .nearly complete. In the Westem mind today, the Palestinian Arab is the equival~nt of the American Indian. Thotagh racism and imperialism in their nineteenth.century forms have been on the decline since the end of World War II” the mythology that underlies .Darwinian collectivism is still strong. The frontier tradition in the U.S.A. is rooted in the struggle for the survival of the whites and the extennination of the unfit “inferior races.” These notions, though gel ‘rally accepted, do run counter to Jude~Christian moral and religious principles.” 4. CulturalFl1I:torsRelating to1MPalestine p,oblem, A. B. Zablao,’ American Uni\’crsity of Beirut, Novcmber 1967, pp. 2·3 • • === whw 0028 ======== ~3 For five hundred years, between the 15th’ and loth ================================================== centuries, the entire world was plundered for the:. benefit oCWest. It is an irony that the a~ ()f liberal democracy was aiS() the age of imperialism. When Paris was ri0.rin8 with, the revolutionary slogans of liberty, fraternity and equality, the French forces were crushin& the independent states of Africa and South.East Asia. and were harnessing them Under their imperialistic yoke. While Democracy reigned $Upreme in England and America, China and India. were ‘bein& subjupt. ed and enslaved; these countries were ruthlessly enchained and their cultures destl’Oyed m~t inbumanely. The Indian industries were strangled . to death only to give a lease of life to the Lancashire tex.tile industry. China was impoverished only to enrich . Britain. The great Shanghai library was burned to ashes only to quench tlle imperialist thirst for domination. Russia was invaded by Western armies in 1610, 1709, 1812, 1915 and 1941. The peoples of Africa and Asia were subjected to successive waves of imperialist aggtessi()ns in the forms of Western missionaries, tr.lders md . adventurers ever since the 15th century. During this very period, the West colonized America, Australia, New Zealand. South and East Africa and exterminated or subjugated the aborigines. Millions of Africans were enslaved and deported across,the Atlantic in order to serve the European colonizers ()f the America$ as liviD& tools to minister to their Western masters’ greed for wealth. ThrolJihout Asia and Alrica. every endeavour has been made to eliminate the local cultures. In the minds of the ncwgcneration see~ of revolt against their own ciYilization have been meticulously sowed and through the agency of education and the lll3SS-media, an assassination ot their mind and thought has been accomplished. Their ====================================================== culture and Civilization are not tolerated and the system of th~ West has been superinlposcd upon th~m.s. S.Fanatjrjsm. Into/rrtlllrtantilslturi. Kbunbid Abtrtad. ISlamic Pubic • • &ions, LAbOlt., 19S7. whw 0029 ======== · When I entered my adolescence and learned these facts, my first reaction was profound revulsion against, such horrors. I wanted to dissociate and disown mysel1 , from the fivilization responsible for these atrocities. I was overcome with the shame of being Western, of being white. I wished instead that I had be~n bom coloured ====================================================================== and from then on, 1 identified myself emotionally with the oppressed, coloured peoples of Asia and Africa. =================================================== During this mental awakening when I was leanling the truth about the West, if a stranger on the street ===================================================== identified me as English; I felt insulted ,but if another stranger mistook me for a Syrian Arab, I would feel happy and highly complimented. I was not the only American who shared these feelings. At that very time, unknown to me, during his imprisonment, Malcolm-X, while educating himself by intense study of history books from the prison library, was underging the same experience. Writes Malcolm-X (1926-1965) in his brilliant autobiography: Book after book showed me how the white men had brought upon the world’s black, brown, red and yellow peoples every variety of the sufferings of exploitation. I saw since the sixteenth century, the so-called Christian trader white meu began to ply the seas in his lust for Asian and African empires, plunder and power. I read-I saw-how the white man has never gone among the non-white peoples bearing the Cross in the true manner and spirit of Christ’s teachingsmeek, humble and Christ-like. First always, “religiously,” he branded heathen and pagan labels upon ancient non-white cultures and civilizations. The stage thus set, he then turned upon his non:-white victims his weapons of war. Over 115 million African blacks-close to the 1930 popUlation of the’ United States-were murdered or enslaved during the whw 0030 ======== ·lave trade: And I read how, when the slave market was glutted, the cannib~tic white powers of Europe next carved up as their colonies, the richest areas of the black contipent. AM European governments for the next century played a chell game of naked exploitation and’ power fiom Cape Horn to. Cairo. I began first telling my brother prison inmates about the glorious history of the black ,.man-things they never had dreamed. I told them the horrible slavery trade truths that they never knew. I would watch their facea when I told them that because the white man had completely erased the slaves’ past, a Negro in America, can never ‘know his true family name or even what tribe he is descended from-the Mandingos, the Fulah, the Fanti and Aahanti or othen. I told them that some of the black slaves brought to America from Africa spoke Arabic and were Islamic in their religion. A lot of these black convicts still wouldn’t believe it unless they could see that a white man had said it. So often I would read to these brothen selected passages from the white men’s boob. I read the histories of various nations which opened my eyes gradually, then wider and wider, to how the whole world’, white men had indeed acted like Devils, pillaging, raping bleeding and draining the wholeworld:s non-white people. Ten guards and the prison warden couldn’t have tom me out of those books. Not even Elijah Muhammed could have been more eloquent than those books in providing indisputable proof that the collective white man had acted like a Devil in virtually every contact he had with the world’s collective non-white man.’ Only after I studied and finally embraced Islam did I discover, just as did Malcolm-X durin.! the last - year . of his life, that the fault of the white man was ======================================================= \ • === 6.TheAulobiopaphy0/Malcolm-X, with the assistance of Alex Haley, Grove Press, New York, 1965, pp. 176-182. whw 0031 ======== 1.l6 DOt his rat:e but his ideology. It was only after 1 settled in PakiStan and met so many’ westernized Pakistanis that I learned how quickly and easily the brown maD can . become mentally and culturally indistinguishable from the white and just as ready to ====================================================================== commit the same crimes once he has been converted to the white man’s materialistic outlook on life. Where Western man was unable to bring about the genocide of native peoples physically, he resorted ====================================================================== to cultural genocide. Whereas in previous centuriesthe indigenous cultures ,of Asia and Africa were branded as “heathen’t’ “pagan” or “barbarian” after World ================================================= “ === , War II, their propaganda campaign against the surviving ========================================================= remnants scomed them as “backward,” “underdevelop- ed,” and therefore unfit to continue their existence in the drastically changed conditions of ~oth centUfY. Since World War II, cultural genocide has ‘been carried out under the slogans of “economic develop- . ====================================================================== ment and “modernization.” It is argued that ====================================== H only Western culture is “modem”, “up-to-date”, ,and relevant to present-day life while all othen are backward, obsolete and out-dated. The same propaganda is use4against all religions, including even Judaism and Christianity. It is argued that the only ====================================================================== panacea for Asia anel Africa is a thorough-going modern- ization which leaves no trace of the original indigen- ====================================================== ous culture behind. Whenever a more thoughtful individual or group complains that this policy has in ===================================================== no way improved their lot, the only retort is that some traces of “backwardness” still penist and the process of modernization has not been complete. ====================================================================== Is modernization the. panacea fot our difficulties, =================================================== whw 0032 ======== social, economic and political problems? Each thoughtful, educated and intelligent person from Asia and Afiica must ask .himself (or herself) what h~ he ibdivid11ally· or his people collectively to gain from it? A perceptive Pakistani scholar has this to say: ====================================================================== The slave culture is behaviour -intellectual, emotional and social-which makes·a people depend on a foreign cultureple~urable, in fact, respectable in their own eyes. - Throughout history cultural exchanges have occurred. People ha\fe frequently borrowed from other cultures. But the eaential difference between the process of” norm” cultural borrowiDc and slave culture is of attitude. In me slave culture, the merit lies not in the thing borio~ed but in the people and place borrowed from. The slave culture must always remain passive and subordinate to the master culture. It is neVer creative and never innovative. A conquered people might succumb. to the political rule of aliens without going into raptures about it and without accepting the rulers or their culture as superior. TheyJDaY protect their culture by building sacUlI fences arouDd. themselves . and maintain their self-respect, dignity and pride even in defeat as due to unfavourable circumstances or dUe [^10] God’s wrath for the people h”aviog left their virtuous ways. Thus a cultural regeneration may take place among the subject people. The shock of defeat may therefore reinforce the subject culture . rather than weaken it. But the revene also can happen. No tailor or designer of Karachi can start a fashion ‘of dreu even in Pakistan, not to speak of London or Paris.. No .carpenter of Lahore can alter the furniture design of the drawing rooms of Gulberg. It is the other side of th’ tame coin that wealthy Pakistanis should feel socially comfortable only when they Wear their coat and tie in the sweltering heat of Karacm summers or place a bath-tub in their houles when they know they will never use it except for washing clothes. The whw 0033 ======== mothers who beam with pride that their children speak only En~lish is an indirect way of accepting the domination of the master culture. By wearing Western dress, eating Western style, and speaJting Western languages, we not only admit that we have nothing to offer the West but we unwittingly make Western norms the arbiters of our taste and judge our behaviour accordingly. We feel ashamed that our girls cannot exhibit their limbs on the stage or swim with foreign tourists in the sea. We feel apologetic explainin~ why we do not have liquour saloons all over the country. We have accepted the Western view of our own society which has been nurtured over centuries of prejudice and propaganda of Christian missionaries. It is the slave mentality, the same sense of inferiority, the same lack of confidence in. our own cultural heritage that foreign service officials are discouraged from’ appearing in Pakistani national dress, observing abstinence from alcoholic drinks and pork, or acting like Pakistanis. In our parties and dinners, especially at diplomatic functions, our major effort is directed towards eliminating any traces by which we might be mistaken for Pakistanis or Muslims. Homage to our servility to the West continues to be paii:l in the ballroom, the cocktail lounge, the swimming pool, the dinn~r hall and club gatherings. When a Western man ‘:Years his suit, he is never aware of it. He does so out of necessity. The Western man lives as he does because he is not aware of a suitable alternative. When an Oriental wears Western dress, he is doing it to upgrade his social standing. A Pakistani cannot dare wear his native dress to his office or club. Western dress is mandatory for boys’ school uniforms. The Oriental adopts Western culture because it will distinguish him from the natives, establish his social standing as a superior and lltake him superior-looking in his own eyes. In short, it stems from his sense of inadequacy, his lack of confidence and his feeling of inferiority. It is also based upon his contempt for the natives and their culture. A common. excuse offered by westernized Orientals is tha whw 0034 ======== -, === la9 they are objective and their choice of the master culture it made on merits •. In ~any a drawing room, one· learns that the world is growing small and an international culture it forming. In my travela abroad, I looked in vain to find the gracetul Sarli or efficient Slaalwar being adopted by even a small dissident, rebellious group. I looked in vain for a copy of’ DailyJag or even PakistanTi;”es on a news-stand in New York. While Coca-Cola is available anywhere and everywhere in Pakistan, you could not hope to buy a bottle of RoM A/Z4 sherbet anywhere. abroad (except perhaps in some Arabian countries). Most of the so-called “international” cUlture is simply one-way traffic from the weSt. Today our exposure to the rich and powerful Westem culture through radio, television, exchange student programmes and training fellow. ships has created among us a band of youth )Vho DO longer feel’ any respect towards their country, their cultUre, their history or their ~ty. This generation, being reared on an unremitting flow ofWe.tern ideas and influence, is not likely to value, much less defend the ideological frontiers of our society. We have already witneaed in the dismemberment of Pal4stan one tragic example of our neglectingtbit frontier. Today we are every moment experiencing the humiliating spectacle of being dictated to by foreign countries. Our infantile dependence on the West it not confined to technoto. gical advice. The stream of boob, commentaries and . reports emanating from Westel:n sourcea leave us no time to think, write or even feel on our own. The quantity, quaii’Y, pace and frequency of Western thinking and advice tends to inhibit the growth of native talent rooted in native culture and history. We blindly follow the advice given to us by foreipen. ODe day we will be told that what our country needs it agriculture and suddenly the entire secretariat wiD talk of nothing except fertilizers, seeds, m-riee and Mexipak w~t. Next time we wiTJ-be told that our need it Family Planning and suddenly . unlllarried young girls start acidreis— ing august gat~erin81 and Bjv~ clini~ .details .on how the Inter-Uterine Device ihould lle used. ‘l’he third year we whw 0035 ======== 30 will be told that we should attend more to ‘primary educadoa and thechue wiI1s~ aCrah. Like Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. we tend to think tIlat once we borrow Western outward appearances. we will automatically stimulate Western progre:… In his clauic on anthropology. n, Golll”,Btl”,” James G. Frazer called this “sympathetic ========================================================= magic;.” It. is the same kind of lupentition prevalent . in primitive societies that by eatinc the heart of a lion. 0De·c:&Jl From people who borrow their culture. their vat’” their ====================================================================== become lion-hearted. \iew on the world, their dress. manners and artefacts from a civilization in the shaping of which they have no part, it will be futile’ to expect initiative. innovation and cre~tivity. [^7] In all the so-called “developing” ~ountries. of Asia and Africa, we are told that the greatest imperative IS “economic development.” Westempropaganda in the mass-media equates modernization with abundance, affluence and prosperity. ====================================================================== The discontent and restlessness aroused by the mass-media propaganda among the teeming masses of simple poor people who cannot hope to afford Western life-styles, is euphemistically called “the revolution of rising expectations.” During the Pakistani national election in December 1970, the economic issue overshadowed all else. The winning , candidates both promised material prosperity and the abolition of poverty, misery and exploitation. As a result of this debac1e,Pakistan, Bengladesh and India alike are reaping the fruits-acute infiation, runaway prices and chronic shortages of essential articles of daily use which never existed before.· As a result of ====================================================================== • “Slave Culture,” Masib-uz·Zaman, M.uim,,,ws Illlnntlli(Jlf(l/, ~ Karacbi, January 1914, pp. 36-40. whw 0036 ======== worshipping the decf’ptive goddess of material progress, the people are far worse off economically than ever. ====================================================================== What is the pith and substance of the policy of thOle who are called upon to be at the steering wheel of the ship of our state ? In other words, what is the ‘burden of their lOng? It is, we are told, to raise the standard of living of the peoeJet to secure a measure of economic growth which may bring general prosperity within the realm, to prevent the …. ====================================================== growing population of Pakistan from having to court diluter which must inevitably (10 say the prophets of the diama1 science called economics) result from the paucity of available food supplies and the wherewithal of daily life. In other words, the primary emphasis is on the economic prosreII o£ our people. No ideal, I submit, can be narrowef, and in practice, more ‘destructive or all we MuaIima reckon as valu- ============================================================= able in our cultural tradition. Economic pi’OII”eII is not the way to progress for’ he who runs after only material pi’OIperity will never be able to get near it. Chasing economic protperity is like chuing yo~ own shadow. The more you run after it, the more it eludes your grasp. It is like drinking sea-water. The more you drink, the more you are thirsty. That is why the Qpran says: “The earth belongs to the righteous.” And unless you are righteoUl, the ‘!&I1h and all that it contains will never belong to you, I’ [^0]matter what you do. Let us be clear that there are wone Varictia 01 evil than poverty. Had this. not been 10, our, Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings. of Allah be upon him) would not have declared: “Poverty is my pridt..” It is &lie” to assume that the moral law caI’l be fulfiUcd merely through environmental reform. Moral law is a tranacendent law; obedience to it brings about as a necessary result, material progress, but it is wrong to suppose that a direct J)\IftQitof economic growth and progress would nece.arilymake maa ===================================================== moral. On nf) I It is the other way round 1 All this sickly talk about raising tbe living sblndards of the people is enlisting us on the side of tflOie who. hold that whw 0037 ======== material progress is the Law of human evolution. It is not the econ~mic standard by which survival of a people is assured. It is always the moral standard! Only the moral standards can survive. S Is c-modernization” any guarantee for a better, richer, ruller life? Although Pakistan, to take just one ex~mple, is being flooded with Western cultural influences in a constantly accelerating pace to such an extent which would delight Ataturk were he alive new, the standard of living, instead of improving, i! rapidly declining to starvation levels. ====================================================================== In a nutrition surv~y of 1,000 individual factory workers carried out by the Xutrition Department of the Institute of Hygiene and Preventive Medicine in Lahore, it·was (ound that 82 o~ weighed less than 90 % of standard weight. Such underfed. undernourished workers produce less and have a lower capacit}· for work. The lethargy, the lack of initiative and decreased effort so commdn among us are usually attributed to lack of ambition and industry. In reality, the cause in most cases is undernourishm~nt. ~[oreover, malnutrition and illness iLte synon}’mous-one leads to the oth~r. Statistics show that malnutrition directly or indirectly causes more deaths in Pakistan than all other causes combined. The mortality in children of four years and under is about 250 per thousand-50 times that 0” the U.S.A. Thus the economic loss from malnutrition is hidden in the cost of m~dical treatment, hospitalization, limited number of productive years, of decreasing productivity, premature aging and ~arly deaths 1 8. Illamill(lte\lodernW/Jrld, A. K. Brohi, Cbira,b-c-Rab Publications, Karachi, 1968, pp. ‘8.61. 1. “Dal.roti is the Best Substitute ror Animal Proteins,” Dr. Moban\l1laJ Alam,ir. The Pakisun Times, Labore, April 16, 1974. p. 3. . … whw 0038 ======== ‘5 “The need of the hour for Muslims an over the ================================================ world is to devote the~lves wholeheartedly, individual- lyas well as collectively, to reconstruction in every field. ============================================================ After the colonial devastation which not only destroyed the fabric of our pride but also laid us waste and barren ·in every .sphere of life, we must now pick up . and piece ·together whatever is left of our culture and ====================================================================== . civilization. For this purpose we must work together· and pool our resources to ensure and expedite the process of reconstruction. ====================================================================== We must . commuuicate and co-ordinate with each other in frank brotherly ================================================== . fashion and go ahead hand in hand with the major task of spiritual, moral and material revival. ========================================= “There are a number of facton which are holding us back from our priPl&ry duty. The internal and ====================================================================== external ·pressures generated by colomal ‘powen keep the conditions in MUilim countries always in a state of flux and chaos. The resultant disunity a,mong the Muslim nations prepares an excellent’ ground for further interl’erence and even greater chaos. There are those among us who unwittingly fan prey to enemy propaganda and keep harping upon ideas and themes ====================================================================== which only serve to disturb our harmony. There is yet another class of people who has, unfortunately, =================================================== seen nothing better and known nothing beyond what had been placed before them in the dark days of =============================================== foreign domination. Having been cut off from their o~ sources of light and learning, they have beCome blind followen of their entwhile Masten and’ incidental- ====================================================================== ly offer the mOlt determined Opposition to ~y attempts to rehabilitate Islamic civilization. . “Besides these iDherentdisabllities, there are whw 0039 ======== • === powerful extemal inftueaces which sweep out immediately admiaistratioDi and movements which dare .tand up for an Islamicrenaiaance. There are ‘hawb, as it were, always circling overhead in Muslim skies, ready to pounce’ down upon and devour anything ====================================================================== which appears promising for MJUlim unity. This it happening before our eyes. ============================= Poison is beiDg adminis- tered to us to destroy and nothing can be more deadly than the poison deliberately and constantly belng ====================================================================== . introduced by the colonial powen into the body politic or the Muslim world. ==================== “CentUries of political domination by powers, not only profcsing a different philosophy of ====================================================================== lif~ than that presented by Islam but outrageously callous and inimical towards all tliat goes under its spirit have ====================================================================== reduced the Muslims to the deplorable position they now find themselves. Were it not for the absolute, eternal faith of the Q.uran and the exemplary iDspiration from the life of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), we would have completely lost our icientity 10111 ago in the ====================================================================== merciless flood ·of materialism. How we have survived at all as Muslims in the longest and severest onslaught and kept alive the flame of faith in the deadly deluge ====================================================================== cannot be explained in ordinary terms. Durin& the darkest days of our’ history, there have always been ==================================================== devout Muslims (and God willing, they shall always be there to the Last Day) to hold aloft the torch of the Islamic faith high and safe at the cost of their lives. The source of their inspiration is the same as that of our forebearets-the Q.uran and the.Sunnah. ====================================================================== “We cannot afford’ to experiment nor is it at all ================================================= whw 0040 ======== 55 necessary for UI to do 10 in the face of these two dependable sources· granted by Allah in His mercy fOl’. our guidance. Our need ot the hour is to Plit together whatever we have left and not to take it apart. Our lead~rship must not wait until too late to realize that it is not by disorganizing a nation ethically or socially, not by plunging it into moral anarchy that the economic prosperity or political power of that nation can be revived or that one can guard it against foreign domination. The Western powers may feel they can afford to experiment as their national and cultural institutions are powerfully organized. Our religious and cultural life is in very. bad condition, if not all but annihilated. We need to resort to reconstruction and not destruction through airing antagonjstic, unrealistic and impractical views just for the sake of appearing novel and original. We should not be at variance with one another for the sake of variety .. We must ·act as one to ensure the reconstruction of our battered civilization with maximum . speed and with the least interruption or interference from without or within. “10 ====================================================================== • ··RICODStruc:t.iOa or the Muslim lmap.” Y.IIIlitemllllOllfll. learachi, April 7, 1974. pp. 266.273. whw 0041 ======== IS WESTERN CIVILIZATION THE ROUTE ================================= • TO HUMAN WELFARE? =================== Even since President Truman’s “Point Four” programme was promulgated in 1949, the “develop- ment” and “modernization” of the non-European ============================================= world has been proolaimed by political and intellectual leaders as the ultimate goal of policy and the supreme ====================================================== good. Countless books, journals and seminars all over the world have. dealt with the so-called “moderniza- ‘·tion” of this or that country, almost ~thout exception, ========================================================= praising this cultural and social upheaval as in the interests for the “progress” of mankind. All =================================================== traditional values and institutions must, according to this view, b~ willingly sacrificed ‘at the altar of the goddess of “change” and the faster things change, ====================================================================== the better. This dogma ofUProgress” first took shape during the so-called “Age of Englightenment” led by =================================================== Voltaire which considered religion in general and the I I Christian churches in particular, responsible for all the ills of man. Religion Was equated with superstition ======================================================= and mythology, bigotry, fanaticism and tyranny. The world, shorn of religious bigotry, they’ claimed, would henceforth be freed from the evils of persecution, ====================================================================== torture and wars as relics of the barbaric past and all human beings would then live together in a beautiful fratenity. What gave the goddess of Change unchalleng- ed mastery over the world was the theory of mechanical ====================================================== evolutionary progress, first applied to biology by Charles Darwin, to economics by Karl Marx, to whw 0042 ======== ‘7 === sociology by Herbert Spencer and previous to these, to history by Hegel. The dogma of evolutionary progress, which justifies the universal supremacy of Western civilization, rests on the following assumptions:- I. the uncriti~al acceptance of Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution ·that mankind emerged from ====================================================================== very lowly animal origins, that when life first appeared on earth, it was of the simplest and lowliest types which . over the’ -ages evolved into ====================================================================== more and more complex and highly developed creatures at the apex of which stands the human =============================================== race. • that the doctrine of evolu~onary progress is equally valid when applied to human. society which has emerged from the most primitive level· to ever more and more complex and highly developed- cultures at the apex of which stands modem ========================================== We!ltern civilization. • therefore, to defy modern Western civilization is tantamount to defying the Jaw of evolution-to rebel -against Progress, against the very law of ====================================================================== nature itself. The progress from the primitive to ever more highly-advanced .civilizations is not only desirable but an inevitable and immutable ============================================== law of llatUre. Since every change is an improvement along the road to. progress, the newe$t ====================================================================== is always the best and any attempt to defend 9lder or previously established standards means retrogression to a more backward existence. 4. Modern scientific knowledge has rendered all re- ================================================ ligions based on absolute transcendental values and whw 0043 ======== 58 divine revolution absolute. A society whose members regulate all aspects of their lives according to a divinely-revealed law equally valid for all times and all places inevitably results in cultural stagnation and backwardness for once the Truth is known, it cannot be changed and without “change” no “progress” is poSsible. ====================================================================== Contemporary thought assumes· that religion began with animism, succeeded by polytheism and then evolved into ethical monotheism and finally naw, all previous religious beliefs ====================================================================== have ==== been superseded by fCscientific” materialism which regards the endeavour to improve man’s worldly happiness and physical wellbeing as the only valid purpose of life. It is obvious to anyone that this materialistic view of’ life is deadly poison. to all religious beliefs without exception. Naturally, with the prevalence of these ideas everywhere, all religions find themselves on the defensive ~nd their influence over their adherents’ daily lives in rapid retreat. Because for the majority of people, the religious view has been replaced by a purely worldly emphasis, theological arguments against the fallacy of evolutionary progress would take no effect and nobody would listen. ;rhus we are compelled by necessity to argue on theit own tennsand restrict our view to worldly considerations. The question the non-Western world, in its craze to adopt wholesale withol1t discrimination, all things Western as synonymous with “progress”, should stop and ponder: Is Western civilization the route to human welfare? ====================================================================== whw 0044 ======== 59 Typical of the intellcctual1caders adhering to the dogma of evolutionary progress, the late English author, H. G. Wells wrote shortly after the first World War, his OutlineofHistory in which he starts with the creation of the earth and the protozoa and ends with man and then in an extraordinarily interesting and read- ====================================================================== .able style, traces human history from the cave-man through the modern scientific revolution. At the end of the book, dcspiq: the catastrophe of the first World War and the’ eye of the Great Depression, typical of the ====================================================================== 19th century materialistic philosophers, H. G. Wells is optimistic .and predicts for the future, unlimited ===================================================== opportunities for further human development and t>rogress: But if the dangers, confusions, and disas~rs that crowd ·upon ~Il these days arc enonnous beyond the ex’perience of the past, it is because ICience baa brought him such powers as he never had before. And the scientific method of fearless thought. which has given him as yet uncontronable powers, gives him . also the hope of· controlling these poweo:’S. Man is still onlyadolescent. His troubles are not the troubles of senility and exhaustion but of increasing and still undisciplined strength. . When we look at all history as one process, as we have been d0- ing in this book, we see the steadfast upward struggle of life towards vision and control, then we see their true proportions in the hopes and dangers of the present time. As yet. we are hardly in the earliest dawn of human greatnesi. But i!l the beauty of ============================================================== flower and sunset, in the happy and perfect movement of young animals and in the delight of thowands of various l~.pes, we have some lntimations of what life can do for·us andiD. some of the works of plastic and pictorial art, in some· great music, in a few DOble buildings and happy gardens, we have .an intimation of what the human will can do with materi81 . possibilities. We uve dreams, we have at· ptesent undisclp- ~’f..’ whw 0045 ======== 40 lined but ever-increasing power. Can we doubt that presently . our. race will more than realize its boldest imaginations, that it will achieve unity and pe~ce, that . our children will live in a world made more splendid and lovely than any palace or garden that we know, goin3 on from strength to strength in 8q.. ever-widening circle of adventure and achievement? What man has done, the, little triumphs ofhis present state and aU this history we have told, form but the prelude to the things that man has yet to do.[^1] The unprecedented horrors of World War II and its ================================================= catastrophic’ aftermath shattered this optimism by think- ers in the West who have smce thengroWD increasing- =================================================== ly pessimistic and. despairing. However, these recent intellectual developments are ignored in the East and backed by strong vested blterests of the “Great Powers,” ======================================================== its political and intellectual leadership is still gu11ible to the fallacy of “progress”, “development,” and ================================================ “modernization~’ as the panacea for all problems. Is the assumption of man’s collective progress by means of his material accomplishments justified in the objective light of his historical record? Dne of the ob- ======================================================== scure, but significant books which deserves much wider circulation than it now has and convincingly proves the fallacy of this view is TIteHistoryofTorture by Daniel ========================================================== . P. Mannix, one of the most comprehensive, concise’ and gripp~ng studies ever written in a popular style about the record of man’s inhumanity In this work he shows ==================================================== that torture is not the monopoly of the “savages” but rather recent studies in anthropology demonstrate that some of the most “primitive” peoples are also the most ====================================================== I…A ShorlH;SlfI17of,lreWOI’ld, H. G. WeDs. Watts & Co., London, 1929, I’Jl. 30J-~04” whw 0046 ======== peaceful, gentJe and affectionate where war is unknown and unthinkable. Torture as an instrument of punish- ==================================================== ment, coercion and even· in religious rites, has been practiced throughout the world by all of the “highest” ====================================================== and most “developed” civilizations. No student of the history of torture should suppose that cruelty and ruthlessness are relics of bygone eras and are now gradually disappearing. In his introduction to Father ,\ntonio Gallonio’s TortureoftheChristianMartyrs (1591), A. R. Allinson lays, writing in 1893: “It is sometimes said that torturing quite as barbarous would take place again today if it were possible. I honestly and absolutely disbelieve in the possibility of this. Man has changed. The old tigerish Instinct has been conquered and subdued The thoughts of pain and cruelty are abhorrent to all who live in the great centen of Christianity.” Mr. Allinson was completely wrong. The use of torture is a crucial issue in the world today and the techniques e.IPployed have become highly developed. Torture is now more prevalent for coercion and punishment than it has been for almost a thousand yean. In the conclusion of his excellent book, Torquemada (written in 1939) Thomu Hope, after recounting ;the horron of the 16th-Century Spanish ; Inquisition, pointed out that We had now entered an enlightened age. He added that “there Can be no more masshysteria, no more tortures, no mote persecution.” The vast majority of educated people would have agreed with Mr. Hope-yet even as he wrote those lines, Hitler and Himmler were preparing for Dachau[^2]• Although Daniel Mannix proves that the use or ============================================= torture has been almost universal throughout the world . by every race in every time and locality, it is signifi- ========================================================== , 2. n.. Niltory o/Tortll’*. Daniel P. Mannix. rell Publiibinl Co., NO\V Yorkol,.., pp. 9, 22()’22t. . whw 0047 ======== .cant that more than three-quarten of the lIlIl pages of this book, deals with the inhumanity inflicted by Western civilization from Rome,· through medievaltimes to the present. He writes: “Although the Arabs ~nd Turks were famous . amorig the Christian natioDs for their brutality, they do not seem to have invented any startlingly new tortures. “It is aignificant that despite the author’s prejudices again.t Islam and the Muslims, he devotes only a page and a half to tortures inflicted under the sway of Islamic civilization. The ‘record of Islamic history proves that so long as Islamic civilization remained in its prime, mass torture and ‘., cruelty to the inn()cent wa, never given any sanction as an official state institution. Even among the bar .. baric peoples, torture, except the institution of human sacrifice under, the A~tecs for religious puposes, was rarely practic.ed on a very large scale. The victims ot the Melanesian headhunters and cannibals were few indeed compared to the astronomical quantity of humans who perished during the reign of terror in Hitler’s and Stalin;s concentration camps. Nor are these inhuman-· ., ides any longer restricted to totalitarian dictator- .~ips. Torture is today regarded as routine treatmeDt of. poli tical prisoners by almost every government in this “enlightened” age. The American atr()cities in· in Viet-Nam and the inhumanities inflicted on the hapless Palestinians by hrael are o~tstanding examples. The Jews never tire of reminding their listenen of the horrors of Ausckwit( while at the same time, in IsraeJ, in a former British prison at StW.fJj_, they direct one of the most notorious torture camps in the world today where all manner of physical and ====================================================================== whw 0048 ======== 4, . psychological pain are inflicted upon its Arab prisoners along the most “modern,” “up..to-date”.scientific lines. ====================================================================== Independent~ non-ideological, despotisms like that’ of Juan Peron, who ruled unchallenged over Argentina as dictator from 1946 to 1955, have earned an international reputation which is just as black: ====================================================================== Electricity has been the 20th century’s most outstanding con· tribution- to the science of torture. One of its most expert practitioners was Commissioner Lombilla,’ Chief of the Special Section of Police in Argentina under -Juan Peron, While 1 was in Argentina, 1 heard . several descriptions of ru. =============================================================== technique but the most detailed account has been left by Dr.~~ Oaride. DI;.,Caride had had considerable experi- . ence With LombUla’s victims; a number of them who lIurvived , the quationing had gone to the doctor for· treatment. Thedoctor, however, had never’seen LombiUa in action until he was pulled out of bed in the middle of the night by the SPecial Police and ordered to accompany them to the poli~estation, Dr. Caride was .needed to revive a prisoner for additiopai quei-. -tioning. When tbe doctor saw the prisoner, he was faamini’ =========================================================== blood and his eyeballs rolled aimlCIIly back and: forth, He was in a cell six feet by three feet without windoWs. Dr. GUide found that he was also suffering from conc1,lliion, LombUla explained that he had used the “little . machine” on the prisoner. “Pow could he get a concussion from the little machin~?1t the . doctor asked. “ “Oh, aftet: the machine, we pricked him over with eJectrk: needles,” explained LombiUa. “But if you overuse the need· les, the muscles contract. To sonen him up again, we’Vf: been beating him with· nightsticks. The jaws alw!,f’ soften fint [^10]mOst of the blows hit his head. U . Dr. Oaride exaulined the man’s. mouth· and found that the needles had been run through his gums an” tongue. He asked for water . • === whw 0049 ======== “That fellow can’t drink,” Lombilla told him. “We used the ele.tric needles over the mouth of the stomach where it hurts most arid a man can’t swallow or even take an enema for forty-eight hours after that.” “You know more about this than I do,” Dr. Caride said frankly. ‘II can do nothing for this man. Have you any others?” LombiIIa’s other prisoners were in comparatively good shape and the Police Chief showed the doctor around his workshop as if he were very proud of it. , The actual torture chamber was a room without windows and with only one strong light in the center of the ceiling: like a hospital’s operating room. “First we strip a man naked and whip him through the corridors to open his pores,” Lombilla explained. ‘.’Then we strap him to a table under the light and start with the needles. Afterwards we wrap him in w:et clothes to intensify the effect of the current and use the little machine on various parts of his body twisting the wires around his members as tightly as possible. If that doesn’t work, he is taken: off the table and his head is stuck in a bucket of water. He is forced to swallow the water and then beaten over the belly with wooden paddles until he vomits it up again. It works best in icc water because the sudden shock causes him to gasp and swallow more water than he would ordinarily. I learned that trick from President Morinigo’s Police Chief in Paraguay. I was sent to Paraguay to take a course in questioning prisoners from him. He’s a brilliant man who has devoted his ‘ life to ‘this sort of thing. “ As Dr. Caride departed, Lombilla remarked; “I know you won’t say anything because otherwise you’ll be in here yourself. We’ll simply give out a notice to the press that you were hit by a car while crossing the street.” Dr. Caride said nothing until he managed to reach the United States. [^3] 3,Ibid., pp. 194-196. .. whw 0050 ======== Western civilization’s detrimental . effects on human welfare are not restricted to its unprecedented horrors of warfare and the coercive terror of totalitarian regimes. Even in the most liberal, enlightened democracies, the entire organization of society, domi- ====================================================== nated by modern technology, leads to the degradation .of the, human mind and spirit. The eirects of the Industrial Revolution was to reshape the human community .along entirely regimented and mechanistic lines, as much in the democratic West as the communist East. In modern times “alienation” has been used by philosophers, psycholOgilts, and sociologists to refer to an· extraordinary variety of psycho-social disorderS, including the loss of sell anxiety states, anomie, despair, depersonalization, rootlessness, apathy, social disorganization, loneliness, atomization, powerlessness, meaninglessness, ilolatipn, pessimism and loss of beliefs ·or values .. Time was, and it was all time upto [^200] years ago, when the whole of life went forward in the family- ~ . in a circle of loved, familiar faces, known and fonded objects, aU to human size. That time has gone forever. It makes us very different from our ancestors. different chiefly because of the teChnological revolution with its transformation of working conditions, the communities in which men live, the \ whole complex. social order which governs our lives. What \ happened, however, was not just a revolution in techniques and controls but an accompanying change in human penonality or character and it is this revolution which must be understood if we are to determine whether alienation today differs in form and in degl-ee from the. miseries- of which eatlier man complained. With the Renailsanee, emerged the modern individual. as we know him now. The crucial history of the modem d~ription is a change ~ emphasis. which enabled us to think of tho/ “individual” as a kinc:l of ablolute without imJ¥diate refere~ ~ to the …. P of wlUch he w …….. bCr. The ‘’’’’’’’’’- . ,”f’~l ============================================================ “ j === whw 0051 ======== 46 gI-owth of m~hanical power since the 18th century-fint steam, then electricity and now nuclear power, made poaible a great increase in wealth, leisure, comfort, convenience and efficiency. Within the’ range of machine-guided work and within the range of mQdem life [^10]far as it is guided by the machme process, the course· of things is governed mechanically, impenodUy and the resultant discipline is a discipline in the handlingof impersonal facti for mechanical effect. Moat directly affeCted are the men who work with machine.. Unlike the tools ofw~ip which at every’ given moment in the work P~’ remain the servants ‘,,f ,the hand, ~he ======================================================= machines dematu(‘ihat the labourer serve them, that he adjust the natural rhythm of his bod! to their m~ha~f6l~t. =================================================== The clock rather than the CJlgme has become the foundatiOn of the model’hindustrial system, for once we were regulated byliiechanical non-human time, an impenonal .,-“ -new, discipline was imposed on men. Today, our lives are increasingly resulated by machines which let \< standanla of performance and prOlluct, telling us when to start workiug, when to stop, what to d,o and how to do it, and the iDeasure of our submission to me(:hanical controls jI that we are largely unconscious of their influence. But of their influeoce there can be no doubt. For man’slahour to tie treated as a commodity, a brutal opera- \< tion was required-the “freeing” of labour from the traditional bonds of craft, family and community. When labour became a mechanically regulated commodity, man lost part of himself. As Karl Marx put it, “The industrial worker having ~t control over both the conditions of his labour and the fruit of his labour, became alienated from himself. Increasing division of labour, ‘greater mechanization, the growth of giant indus:. trial and financial enterprises” these are the agentl of our economic power and also of individual powerlessness.” For evidence, we need only look at men on the job. They must work but how and for what? For millions of men and women labour in large-scale enterprises where work is monotonous and repetitious and where the whw 0052 ======== decreasing need for skUled workers. and an increasing division of labour place both the· processes and the products of work fat beyond their control. Keen observers of factory life have made it abundantly clear that few workers. arc he.ppy in their jobs; they fe-el trapped and degraded by their working conditions, that they have a powerful desire to escape from the factory and what drives them on is the incessant demands of our consumption economy. But far from escaping, growing numbers of industrial workers and their families are forced to take on additional jobs in order to keep up with the· risfng cost of living. The result has been a serious fall in morale. Continued dissatisfaction multiplies. It is reflected in restriction of 0\ tput, wildcat strikes, outright sabotage and perhaps most common, feelings of detachment from the: entire work process. There is a good deal of chaos in modem labour markets, chao; intrinsic .. ourban-industrial society. Rapid technological change dilutes old skills. makes others obsolete and creates a demand for new ones. A . related decentralization of industry displaces millions, creating the paradox of depressed areas in prosperous economies, recurrent crises such as wars, depressions, recessions, coupled with the acceleration of fad and fashion in consumptio~add a note of un pre die ability to the whole. & the age of automation approaches, promising untold wealth and leisure, the forces separating men from the means and ends of work will inevitably grow stronger. By the perfecti\<>n of the computer, man win become completely alienated &om his world and reduced to nothingness. The kingdom and the power and the glory now belong to the machine. The strategy of planned obsolescence, by which things are inade to wear out quickly and then be replaced,· may stimulate the economy but it can hardly be said to serve hUDUUl needs. In short, working chiefty to consume, consuming to achieve statUs, accumulating things which have no meaning, Waiting on a gigantic scale-these are the conditioJas under which we llive. The result is a wasteland of·junk and or ======================================================== human aspirations. whw 0053 ======== Work h~s de~lined as a central activity. Instead of being cloeely, integrated with work all he was in the past, thl! pursuit ofleisure)’i” has bel:omc a desperate. escape from work which is in~reasirigly , === meaQingless. But leisure has also become meaningless, a pack- \ aged mass activity, its -ftlues provided by the entertainment industry. Work is now increasingly separated from family life ; fathers.disappear during the day leaving children to grow up chiefly with their mothers unless the mothers themselves are at work as increasing numbers of them are. The “nuclear family;’ predominates, that is the small core of two parenti and their childem. High divorce rates in countries such .as. the United States are only th~’most dramatic evidence of the many serious strains to which the new small family is expolCd. Most affected by the breakdown of the extended family or kinship group, however, are the aged. In North AmeriCI& and Western Europe a growing army of the aged finds itself’ increasingly cut off from family life and from meaningful pursuits. A recent American survey shows that the over~ whelming majority of our citizens are opposed to having older persons live with their children. AI these trends con .. tinue. the prolongation of life, early retirement, breakdown of the extended family-the aged become outcaats in a society like ours that places its suprente emphasis upon youth and its energies. Separate housing, eVen separate cities, this is’ the lot of our elderly citizens. In their, twilight world there is only fleeting contact with the GODlDlunity.4 The mechanical modes of production are inimical to man’s welfare in the sense that they render his work me~ningless. In the past, workers, particularly skilled ====================================================================== craftsmen and . artisans, derived intense emotional eatisfaction from their skilled work, entirely apart from the material rewards it brought. Today the industrial worker can be motivated to work only for his wages- ====================================================================== . 4. MM.4.1otI. : Alleoation ill MocIerD Society, edited by Eric aDd Mary JoeepbIon, Dell Publitbin. Co., New York, 1962, pp. lN2 (abrid&ed). ).’ ) whw 0054 ======== that is, money is his sole incentive. The factory worker, as a member of his labour-union demands shorter and shorter hours at more and more pay. In ================================================== fact, the modern factory worker does not wC\nt to work at all; he works only to the extent that he is cOerced by economic necessity. Neither is the factory worker in the ~east interested in the quality of his ====================================================================== work. He wants only the highest wages he can demand with the least exertion. Thus, industrializa- tion, regarded by the political leadership of th~ poor ====================================================== countries as the panace:a for all econGmic problems, creates many more difficulties than it Jolves. ============================================== In contrast, in the pre-industrialized age, the =============================================== traditional man was able to take great pride in his work and derive intense pleasure and satisfaction in a job well-done, quite apart from the ‘material recompense. In traditional Islamic civilization, the absence of mass-produc- “tion and of the factory-system and the corresponding prevalence of individual work for individual use; meant a greater reliance on individual skill and dexterity, on the ability and talent of the individual artisan to plan and execute a piece of work in accordance with the requirements of the highly developed taste of individual customers. The execution of a piece of work, whether it be a shoe, a chair, a waterpipe, a brass tray, a lamp, a camel litter, a basket or an earthernware jug from its, inception to its completion gave the artistan a deep sense of satisfaction and an interest in his work sorely missed by the Western factory worker who for eight solid hours a day is tied to his place’ along the assembly line repeating in endless monotony one single movement, the significance of which in relation to the finished prOduct he is, as a rule, unable to recognize. While in the West, a worker is thus. whw 0055 ======== frequently ‘reduced to a living machine, in the Muslim But, molt of the artisani were ‘actually artists whose esthetic judgment played an important role in their work. ‘ Esthetic enjoyment has been made available to the JIWICIo in the West only in a highly, mechanized, masa-produced and, standardized form. In the West, the products , of viaual and vocal arts. have been regulated to the role of ~ational agents to be enjoyed in the few boon of rest and leisure. During the dally seven to nine bours ·of work~ com· ============================================================ muting to and from work and on the job, any esthetic flavour’ is absent and the twin stars of. efficiency and comfort rule. In ‘traditional Islamic civilizations, an this was vastly dift’crent. ~most every branch of work was pcrmeated with esthetic considerations. A Damascene blade had to be not only sharp ‘and resilient but· also beautiful in form, finish and proportion. The beauty of objects everywhercintruded into or complimented their practicality and, utility. Art was called in to embellish everything. The richer the man, the inore time he spent at the erajoyment and practice of art. Dutit was significant ~at the poor ‘as well-the great masses of simple people-lived a life in which esthetics.played a considerable role. Esthetics were.thus an integral part of e~day life to an extent quite unknown . ~ Western civilization~’ These eplotional satisfactions, . ~mely a man’ ‘taJdng pride, and pleasure in his work, are denied toptodern man. Since the .fae.tory worker will produce only when, coerced, ruthlessness on the part of those in power must fJ-eq uently be resorted to in order to compel the UDwilUng ,\\~orker to increase efficiency :and slackened pr\ whw 0056 ======== “ === production. Was in the Soviet Union during the· industrializatiQn drive under Stalin. Since work is central to the normal man’s life, the effects of mechanization along contemporary lines are disastrous. ====================================================================== It would have been unthhlkable for the traditional c~ftsman or artisan to go on strike for higher wages for work was’ an integral part of his life which gave meaning to his existence. The never .. ending strikes for higher and higher wages for 1e8J, and Jess work Will eventually cripple the entire fabric of motJern society and when angry, bitter, and frustrated factory workers on a large scale refuse to do their wOrk properiy, the whole edifice will collapse. This phenomenon is not . peculiar to our times. In ancient Rome, whose society and culture were as thoroughly secular and materialistic, the s~mething happened. ====================================================================== To encourage indwtry in her various satellite natioils. Rome attempted a policy of unrestricted trade but the R.oman: work· ingman was unable to compete with the cheap forcigrilabor and demanded high tariffs. When the tarifti were passed,· the ============================================================= satellite nations were unable to seU .their· goods fOr money • . To break the’ deadlock, the goVernment waa finaily forced to subsidize the R.oman working class to make up th~ clift’erepce between their “real” wages (the actual·· value ofwbat they were producing) and the wages required to keep uptbeir . relatively_high standard of living • ..1tA a..e.wt,· thousands of’ workmen lived on this .ubSidy .and did nothing whatloeVer, sacri6cing their standar4 of living for a life of eaIC. And the Roman freeman would rather have his dole’ and cir(:us ========================================================= than work for a living.’ • ‘- Boa> ..460”; 10 IN.: The Romaa Oames, DaaiII P. MaDDix, BaUaatlDe Ioob lac., New York,I”‘, pp. 6-1. whw 0057 ======== L The most striking characteristic of modernization is the urbanization of society. To be sure, urbaniza .. ====================================================================== tion is not new. All historie civilizations that we know of depended on the development and prosperity of the city. What.h new is the vast scale in which the urbanization of the world is ‘l:aking place where the ====================================================================== urban population increases much more rapidly than the facilities of the city can accommodate them. This ===================================================== causes incurable restlessness, discontent, festering slums, delinquency and crime with which even, the most efficient police force cannot cope. Modern urbani .. zation is proceeding so quickly that it has completely upset the age-old balance and harmony between city and countryside. The modem city, far more than its ancient predecessor, creates a highly artificial life which entirely excludes the natnral environment from the city-dweller. This exclusion of nature from the daily life of urban man makes for artificial, false, ====================================================================== trivial values and ultimately renders human life hollow and meaningless. Urban culture therefore has produced a highly distinctive type of human b~ng. The city is by definition a conglomeration of strangers and urban .life, like the typical situation of the stranger, a peculiar combination of closeness and distance. People share space, at times even very intimately and crowdedly but they are nevertheless distant from each _ other in their personal lives. They relate to each other in peculiar ways -with “objectivity”, that is, abstractly as types rather than as individuals-and often with mutual suspicion. The alienation “ amidst neighbors exists on the sociological’ level of urbanism as a way of life. The city is above all, a dynamic phenomenon. It contains a large variety of contending groups and forces and it is a situation of continuous change. The rate I~ === . . === . ……. ====== whw 0058 ======== “ === of change is directly proportional to the degree of urbanization. The city is the realm of innovations and rapid transformations of all kinds. :i t is also the realm of fashion, that is, of the quick succession of cultural styles. Urban culture puts a high premium on being “with it” and of knowing what is “in” and what is “out” This absorption with fashion and change in the modem city is principally a consequence of modern ma,s communications. The modern media of mass communication ensure that something .new is rapidly aqd almost univenally transmitted through all or most strata of the urban population as well as from one city to . another and to the countryside. This has the effect of acceler.,ting and standardizing the cycles of C .~Rshion”, innovating ideas and patterns of conduct as well as new commodities and services which are available to everybody. And since most people are exposed to the same media of communication, all diffusible items-and this includes ideas and behaviour as well as material goods~tend toward a high degree of sameness. The advent of non-literary means of mass communication has removed the limited impactor the older means which were dependen!: upon literacy. In underdeveloped societies today, where the large majority of the popUlation is illiterate, radio and film . have become crucially import’ant vehicles of Westetnization and at the same time, of the diffusion of urban culture. Urban culture is characterized by and. indeed’is completely dependent upon the supremacy of D;lodtm technology; The contemporary urbanite. lives every day in a highly complex environment shaped and maintained by modern science. and technology. Urban culture is the culture of modernity. What happens in modern cities is what defines the fate of modernizing societies. Urbanization equals modernization and since modernization meanS in a fundamental way the diffusion and acjaptation of western patterns of society and . culture, urbanization today equals ~vesternization.7 . 7 •. Socktl.,ill ~, Brisittc kpr, Basic Books Inc., Ne.,.. Xork. 1971, .. pp. 168-169, 174. whw 0059 ======== Every government in the “underdeveloped” countries is·frantically trying to modernize, taking America as the model. ====================================================================== Modernization is regarded as the panacea, the magic wand that will abolisll disease, poverty and ignorance and create abetter, richer life for the masses. That· is the propaganda but what is the truth? Is Western civilization conducive to the human welfare in the so-called “Third World”? Here are the results of modern urbanization in India: ====================================================================== Perhaps a glimpse oftJ:le.kinds of people found walking the streets in the cities of . India might be helpful. Picture the children, many of them bone-thin, shoeless, ragged, unwashed, sometimes even unwanted and often given the responsibility of overseeing their younger siblings while their fathers and mothers· are desperately striving to make their way in the new urban society. Thrown into a society which is unreal to them and which they have had .little experience, they often deVelop a kind of amoral stance, fearless except of the police and highly unresponsive to their parents \Y’ho are not only from another generation but also non-urban in experience as compared to their children. Or take a look at the single young people who predominate among migrants to the urban area; they lack ties with with the local society. They are likely to show a pallor from too ~tt1e sleep under too poor conditions. after too hard work at too low pay. They have reached the urban area from countless points of origin after having paid their pittance for a bone-shaking ride on a produce truck. We see them endlessly walking or squatting in a comer, nibbling on their· sparse portions of daily fare. The few aged are sitdngstupefied in the sun, their mouths dripping betel juice through, toothless smiles or snatches of conversation. They are rejects in authority that has been stripped away from them by urban ways. Tl;teir sagging flesh and hollow eyes give clues not only to their present physical condi~ tion but also to the erosion of morale induced by their whw 0060 ======== “ === urban status.S Those adherents of the policy of westernization will insist that this human degradation is the necessary price of a “society in transition.” But if that society must be in a never-ending process of transition because everything must be changing all the time, tliere can be no end to it and thus no solution for the problems it creates. People in the so-called “developing” countries should ask those responsible for their “modernizing;’ if this can be expected to produce any significant improvement 1n their lot within ;the foreseeable future? ====================================================================== . === I’ === One of the thorniest problems ofr~pidly growing urban are~ is ihelter. Like employment short~ges, housing has significant economic, social and political ramifications. The highly visible implications of inadequai~ housing are apparent even to the’ most hardened visitgr FO the newly developing countries. There exists under . these circumstances, a housing deficit of astonishing proportions: doubtless under~ estimated and progressively greater as a result of th( vasdy increased in-migration of population and the overuse of existing housing supply which accele.ratc;s its deterioration and removal from us… ,The deficit is almost unbelievable, further aceen~ted by chronic overcrowding and the low level of repair that characterizes much urban housing and the housing d~truction in residential areas incidental to the building of moderil centrai buaineu districts and government projects •. Furthermore,·, in. almost every country in the world today, it is generally impoai~ to ~terest private enterPrise in supplying housing fOr 1000-incoqle The major responsibilitY for suCh .hoUsing thus people becomes that or the Government which, is already burdened •• U,ba”lzafloltlitNewl” ~/o”iIr, Coolries, .(JeraldartoSe, Princeton Univcnity Press, Ena1ewood Clift’s, New.leney, 1966, PP. 73-74. . whw 0061 ======== with other 4flUcial problems for priority of funds, staff and execution. The rate of growth of the housing shortage is SO great that it seems inCQnceivable that any of the undcrdeve1- 4ped countries can ever hope to catch up with. the deiriand. , The prime evidence of massive housing, deficits in urban India is the huske. These KaeMa, as distinct from Pukka, or makeshift structures seem to appear overnight to become the abode of hundreds of thousands of squatten. Most commonly ~ne-room siZe, they produce very high denSities of population in areas totally lacking in amenities. Municipal officials make futile efforts aimed at their elimination and control, only to see their phoenix-like reappearance. Because of the housing shortage, they are ineradicable and continue to impede. all .efforts towards rational economic development.1I As a result of modern urbanization in places like India, there are millions of people who are absolutely ====================================================================== shelterless but merely sleep on the street pavements wherever they happen to be. In Calcutta, where the problem of housing is most acute, over a million people are homeless. To provide even the lowest-cost housing ====================================================================== for them, it would be necessary to build another city. Since the resources for this are lacking and the ~pula· tion mounts at astronomical rates, this is impossible. ====================================================== Another. problem inseparable from the adoption. of westemcapitalism which frustrates any efforts ================================================ towards raising the common people’s living standards is inflation. Inflation, resulting in the acclerating sharp, rapid, indefinite rise of prices in essential commodities ========================================================= is experienced all over the world today but the greatest burden of of inflation falls on the people in the poor countries where the cost of living is increasing so fast1 ====================================================================== 1. 9.Ibid.• pp. 67-68,125-116. whw 0062 ======== that increase in wages cannot possibly keep pace with ===================================================== \ . the never-ending price-hikes. Therefore· money is. rapidly losing its value and the standard of living in poor countries like Iildia, Pakistan and Bengladesli. ======================================================== is declining to starvation levels. During the decade between 1950-1960, there was,· loud propaganda abqut the benefits of technical assistance and economic. development in the poor countries. as the supreme goal of Government policy, so much ================================================= so that the 1960’s was inaugurated by the United Nations as the “Development Decade.” Implementation of “Development”, which is synonymous with the wholesale adoption of Western culture and values, was expected two decades ago to abolish or at least greatly ameliorate the poverty of the people in the ====================================================================== poor countries. But since 1970 When it became clear, ev~n to its most ardent exponents, that the “Develop- ~. ment Decade” was a total failure, nobody any longer believes that the masses of Asia, Africa and Latin America can expect to attain a level of material welfare comparable to that enjoyed iIi North America: and ====================================================================== Europe in the foreseeable future. The aim to-day of therulers in poor countries is no longer to make any serious attempt to ameliorate poverty but now the best that can. be hoped for is to keep a bad situation from becoming worse. Despite all economic development and technical assistance programmes, the gap between the rich and poor countries is widening. In 1945, the annual income of the average American was 20 times that of the aver- ====================================================================== age citizen of India; by 1960, it was 40 times greater.*’ \GrtatAgel0/Man:TwentiethCentllr)” Joel Colton aDd the Editors or ================================================================= Ufo. Time IDC., 1968, p. 143. . whw 0063 ======== The hope f.)f ameliorating poverty on a mass scale in the “developing” countries becomes stili dimmer in view of social unrest and upheavals faced by the affluent West itself. One of the most acute ~ocial problems faced by the West, which is exported to the East through i’development,” is the disintegration of the family. ====================================================================== The self-sufficiency of the famZ!jP in modern industrialized areas, has decreased both materially and culturally. Not llnly does the family no longer produce the material goodS it needs but it can no longer take care of most of its cultural needs either; both education and entertainment becc,me the domain of specialized agencies outside the family. The members of the family therefore tend to disperse not only during working hours’ but in their leisure time all well. This I dispersion of family energy and orientation is related alsO to women entering the labour force in large numbers. Their status and ~lf-image changes as economic independence be- ,comes a real possibility for them and underminea their ancient subordination to the male. The new independence and status of the woman is all ~pect.of our ideology of uIndividualismu in accordance with which marriage hal become undentood as a locale for indiVidual satisfactions and fulfilment; the related idea that women as ‘well as men have sexual neeck and sexual rights has become an ~portant factor in the steady liberalization of sexual morality and mores. Marriage ~ become basically a civil contract opening the door ever more widely’ to family instability as marked by the steady increase in divorc~ in Western societies. The industrial revolution furthered the process we / have already described of the disintegration of the family by reJDO¥o ing education from its jurisdiction and making it an autonom- ous specialized government institution. As a longer period or ============================================================= life was taken over by education, the family began to 10ie .control over its children. This created a new social reality- “the age of youth” as the peribd between childhood and whw 0064 ======== adulthoodsteadily grew and is still growing. The general notion today is that society (that is, the State) !Duit protect. childhood and a great array of laws and special agencies havesprung up with this function. An unintended consequenceof this “protcction” however, has been the separation of the child from meaningful $Ocial participation. The child’s lif’e as well as the youth’s have become in essence, periods or waiting and anticipation that produce obvious psychological strains •. Generally, the industrial revolution has led to a ftuidity and instability of all family patterns. Criteria for marriage, for sexual practice, for child rearing, for dea~ with older people all have become sqbjected to constant change and consequently to· fashion and uncertainty. The fJUDily, shrunk. in both size and function, has become the “nuclear fatnily” a place above all, else,· for the fulfilment of its younger members. The problem this causes older people and for the grandparent·in particular, further intensified by the lengthening of life expectancy in modern society cannot be diICuIsed here. Western patterns now constitute a world-widetrend. M we have seen, industrialization everywhere tends to disrupt traditional forms of social life. The family patterns or ================================================================ modernizing societies and of advanced industrial societies ate” converging towards Western patterns deSpite differences in. historical background.lo From prehistoric times to the present, the family haa been the foundation of society. No· civilization. can long endure when kinship ties are undermined. Despite many efforts to the contrary, as witnessed in Sparta in ancient times and the Soviet Union aDd Communist China recently, to have the rearing of children take place in State-run institutions, no satisfactory subs~itute for the family has yet been foundr ====================================================================== J O. SoclltllsInClut””, op. cit., pp. IS’-IS9. whw 0065 ======== 60 . The entire brganization of modem civilization is geared ========================================================= to weaken the family structure as far as possible with cat~strophic effects on mental, emotional and ‘spiritual health. The individual, devoid of family ties, respon- ====================================================== sibilities and obligations, cannot form meaningful. enduring human relationships. The result is social disintegration and ultimately, collective suicide •. Contrast the social structures of the contemporary West with the strong family ties prevalent until recently, in ====================================================================== the Muslim East. In the traditional Islamic society the family consisted of as a rule the parents-that is, husband and wife or wives, their’ unmarried daughters, their unmarried and married sons as well as the wives and children of the latter. Sometimes it included also married grandson”! and their wives and children and a few lateral relatives of the oldest male’member of the :amily. All these resided together under one single roof. Thus,. while in modem Western society, the typical family is the nuclear family, in traditional Islamic civilization, the typical family was an extended family, usu~lly including the members of three getierations in the male line. Economically, too, the extended family was the basic unit of the Muslim East. Whether the means of livelihood were derived from agricul- _ tural activities or from other occupations, whether the earners of the family worked jointly or each at his separate work place, the rule was that the earnings were po\<:>led and the expense~ of the household were defrayed from a common purse. The women, if their husbands work land they own on rent, may help in the ~elds; otherwise their place was’ in the home and their main task was to make the meagre earnings of the men go a long way by working hard and economizing tightly,.barbig the household chores Or taking turns in performing them. The achievement of a status of independence and self-determination came as late in the life of a son as of a daughter. He whw 0066 ======== 61 wu married when his father decided and after marriage, he continued to live within the extended family of which his Cather was either the head or a senior member. Age was an asset in ‘the Muslim East and the older one became the smaller the number of memben in the extended family older than himself; and the greater the number younger than he, the more he grew in esteem, the more weight his opinion carried and the freer he was to live accordin~ to his choice. In the Weat, kinship groups larger than the immediate family play at beat a very insignificant role. Grandparents, uncles, , aun~ and cousins will in most cases be practically strangen to one another and a large family group of distan~ relatives will . meet onl} at weddings or funerals. Indiv.iduals in modern Western society usually belong to a considerable number of groups based ~n cultural economic and political interests-’ such as political parties, labour unions, corporations, clubs, etc., and the participation in such groups cuts across family ties and frequently makes for a weakening of them. In the Muslim East, preferred marriage being between cousins, or failing this, between’ more remov.ed relatives, within a few generations all the families in such a village became closely related to one another and came to regard themselves as branches of a single big family group. The individual was a member of larger social unit not in his individual capacity but as a part of his. own family. Participation in la,rge social grolJPS never cut across family ties.ll One of the most obnoxious by-products of the craze for continuous social change is the “Generation Gap.” The pres~nt-day contempt for and rebellion by the younger against the older generation shatters the family to-pieces .. The independence of the younger generation from their parents makes people disinclined .to. waht to bear the trials and hardships of raising childr~’” ====================================================================== 11.-Isr,.’BetJIHnBtu,tIIfdWm, op. cit., PP. 51-55 (AbrlAsed). whw 0067 ======== who are sure to rebel against them and then take off from home as soon as they attain puberty. One of the differences between human beings and animals is that in the former, since prehistoric times to the present in all cultures, a close parent-child relationship continues for life. Among a nimals and birds, the relationship of the young with the parent is completely severed as Soon as the young can take care of themselves. Once the young bird flies away from the nest, it no longer recognizes it parents. The same is becoming true of the’ parent-child relationship in modem Western civilization. ====================================================================== “Youth” is not a universal social reality but a concept created in Western history by specific and largely economic developments. In the world of today, it has emerged as ~ distinct subculture w~th amazing cross-national diffusion composed of young people in the adolescent years between childhood and adulthood who have banded together. The phenomenon, commonly ,called “youth culture”, has been intensively studied in America but much material is, also available about its manifestations in other countries. A number of factors have created this artifi cial phenomenon. Most important, probably, is the length of the educative process in modem industrial societies. During his’ entire adolesence, the individual is economically dependent. In other words, in this period or life, society allows the individual no responsible role. ================================================================== At the same time, however, the individual is both biologically and psychologically an adult; indeed, the age of biological maturation-puberty-has been decreasing over the last half \<:entury. Puberty in both sexes now takes place two to three Years earlier than fifty or sixty yean ago. It can readily be seen that such an unfortunate juxtaposition of social and biological facti will eJtgender great pressures on the individual. The age of youth ,’is above aU, an age of psychological turmoil. whw 0068 ======== i-. , ===== , In an aflluent society, ~ven the economically dependent children have money to spend. Business is aware of this fact; advertising and the mass media generally have taken an interest ill young people, that is, the “youth market.” Idiosyncrate styles of dress, cosmetics, automobiles, drinks and other commodities are advertised as appropriate for youth as are styles of entertainment, entailing consumption of goods or services. The whole phenomenon of youth culture, especially in America and recently, in Western Europe, has the synthetic character inv~nted of airy nothing by the mass media for commercial reasons. Most of the social interaction ofYQung people today takes place in age-:;egregated groups.’ The peer group, the community of thu.o: of the same age, is the focus of the individuai from an early age and the family is ill-equipped to provide a counterfocus., The social and economic bases of these are reinforced by psychological and ideological factors ,and their consequent subjection to shifting fashions in educational philosophy. Also, the parents’ own orientation towards mobility serves to estrange them from their children. The parents’ intention~may be to educate the children to get further ahead but necessarily this directs the children flot to ic\entify with the patterns of the parents and not to aspire to =============================================================== their occupation and position so that many quarrels between parenti. and children ensuc.[^12] The “generation gap”, fostered by the never-ending technological, social and moral upheavals of W~tern civilization, is certainly not condueive to human welfare. The cleavage between generations and the hatred of the young for the old leads to social strife, disintegration and ultimately, collapse. The disloyalty of children to parents is a source of much heartbreak and grief for both the young and the old~ who, devoid of family ties, feel betrayed, isolated~ lonely and lost. ====================================================================== • StJtWIIa ,. ~, OPe cit., pp. 201-203 (…..,…). whw 0069 ======== 64 “\,’ “. . === In traditional civilizations, the importance of filial piety ============================================================ “ . was recognized . as eSsential for the emotional health of the indiVidual and the integration of society. All the higher religions, and especially Islam, place great ====================================================================== emphasis on the necessity to preserve at all cost, the· sanctity offamily life and the ties between the older and . younger generations. The Quran commands ============================================= children when grown to respect their parents and the Holy Prophet Muhammad said that he is }lot one of us (i.e., a Muslim), who’ does not, have affection for his young and respect for the old. This is not precept only but was effectively implemented throughout history in ====================================================================== Islamic civilization. ‘ The conCept of filial piety equally influenced the politeness of the Arab. Respect, especially of the :>ld, was roote.d in die regard that children owe their parents. The Arab belieVed that obedience to his parents was a sacred dutY “and disobedience to them was considered a religious sin. A penon’. failures, misfortunes, and physical aftlictions were often thought to be the results of negl~ting the ,fulfilment of filial obligations. Children, even when grown up and married, manifested’ profound and praiseworthy respect for their parents. The awe felt towards the older members of the family and particular, the father, was revealed by definite outward marks. Children I’OIIe when the father came into a room. They scarcely ever sat, CI’OSled legs, smoked or drank ~n his presence. Nor did they itart a conversation before him or carry on an argument with him. They faced him with humility and utter obedience. Usually they did not take leave in his presence without first asking hit \ permission. The young greeted their parents by kissing their hands. In case either parent lost his temper, the child did not answer back nor did he raise his hand ifbeaten. Other members of the family, according to age, relationship and station in the familial hierarchy, were similarly treated by the whw 0070 ======== young. From filial piety, m~rever, derived, the great deference shown by the young towards those advanced in age.1 The weakening of the family and the destruction of ================================================== f~ly ties by modern Western civilization has led to the degradation of all human relationships. =========================================== Modem man lives in widely descrepant social milieu and in only a few of them does he have human relationships that are of great importance to him; that are with the kind of people who are significant to him; most of his h~man relationships are limited, prap,-matic and oflowemotional intensity. In a peasant community, on the other hand, the individual is highly interested in aimost everyone he contacts in the community; this does not at all mean that he likes everyone which he . rarely does but everyone is “significant” in his own life. People in other words, in traditional cultures, live with and experience each other as totalities. In a modern city, however, the individual relates only to a few people in this way. Most of the people he has to deal with at work, while travelling, in his neighbourhood, he is interested in to only a very limited degree. The individual must play highly divergent roles in various social situations and this inevitably introduces differentiation into his personality. He is as well as acts a different person from moment to moment. Personality is’ a thing variegated, flexible and of utmost importance, prone to change. Sometimes, to be sure, this pluralistic socialization presents the child with problems and conflicts but it teaches him. from an early age that he can and perhaps must be a different person as his situation and environment changes. And of course, unless he learns this, his chances of getting ahead in modem society suffers greatly. A consequence of such a psyche is a permanent crisis. Pre-modern man for better or worse was what he was supposed to be and he knew it. Everyone in the . 1. Th,T,,,,,,,ranutntandClltlract” 01 the ~rabs, Sania Hal1l&dy, Twayne, Publishers, New York, 1960, pp. 76-77. whw 0071 ======== 66 soCiety aroand him confirmed his identity which therefore 1VU . stable. In the modem World, the individual’. image’ of himself becomes ambiguous, tenuous, shifting. He~ply’ can no longer be stJt’e just who he really is. In conc;rete .~., one must constantly be Oft the alert to make lure ,that ,0D.fj\<. always acting in harmony with the socia1~thltate, forever changing. Thus a very high level of de1ibtta~,aware.’ ‘ ness of~ing always “with it” is required in modeni·lOdallife. to another; from one city to.another, from one. ~ ================================================= ‘Momlity,is, as we see here, the highly developedpattenl of movement from one job to another, from one place ofteSidtftcc ============================================================= to’ another. To the modernized individual, movinS .ust not, ======================================================= only hold the promise of material reward and added ~, but in spite of cost and labour, it should be “exciting;’ The chance to meet new friends, the known but as yet untried amenities in the distant city, together with the exhilara~on of leaving behind the frustrations and jealousies of office,eUque and neighbourhood, help make moving more~han tolerable. Modernized men or women have few bonds that cannot be broken at the promise of a “promotion.” They llave been prepared for this from infancy. The insecurity caused by role segmentation is coUlpounded by the fact that most urban relationships are highly anoDyttlous and impersonal and necessarily so. The moden;t city, is a society of strangers who in passing, brush against each other lightly. Most urban social relationships take plac;e ingrcSups’ or situations with which the individual has no deep or abiding ties. Understandably then, urban life is always threatened with anomie-a state of feeling lost, without secure human ties and without stable norms. The city is experienced as above all, a faceless crowd, potentially hostile, generally indifferent. This is the psychological dynamic of modem society.1 This crucial result of modern life is certainly not conducive to human happiness as the mental hospitals, 1. 14.SocietiesinC”an,e, op; cit., pp. 223-226, 262, 267. whw 0072 ======== 61 fined to capacity with deranged patients and the rates of suicide in America and Europe will attest. Lack of permanent human ties and absence of stable standards of conduct· and behaviour are not compatible with ====================================================================== mental health. ‘ What asp~cts of schizophrenia are easy ·to recognize aDd : ‘ important to note so that people without technical training can distinguish it fro~ other disturbances? There are several ~ telltale areas in which untreated schizophrenia can be recognized easily …. The untreated schi~ophrenic acts as if he is entirely selfish and una hie tc love or even be fond of a dog, let alone a human being. The mark of a sound and matur,e personality, is caring for other people, being able to love others. The ROrmai person growing up comes to recognize his owti mortality and imperfection,. One real solution to the stress and other trials of life is the formation of intense emotional relationsh.ips usually with one’s family or friends in which one Comes to’ care as much for others as for one’s self. This brings enrichment of life with ‘warmth, closeness and. mutual good deeds which can be achieved in no ot~er way~ The untreated schizophrenic is hampered in his capacity for forming such close relationships. Attempts to elicit feelings offriendship with the sChizophrenic are met with indifference, contempt or hostility. Dealings, with others are strictly [^011] an even-exchange basis, often times bizarre in nature.1& The quote above, of course, is referring to the =============================================== individual patient. What is significant in present- day life is that schizophrenia is no longer limited to isolated individuals but the entire society has become ====================================================================== contaminated with same malady which ma~ifests itself 15.TheSchizoplvenitU-Yo”rI andMine, prepar~by the Professional C.ommittee of the Schizophrenic Foundation or New Jersey, Pyramid Books, New, York, 1970, pp, 151-1S3 (abrid,ed). . . . \ whw 0073 ======== wherever mopernization and urbanization are taking place. Is Western civilization conducive to human wei .. fare froin an intellectual standpoint? One of its proudest boasts is its system of universal, compulsoryeducation. The question is, what kind of education? In ====================================================================== western-type schools, colleges and universities, on,e finds no love of knowledge for its own sake. Western ==================================================== ~ .~ colleges and universities have become immense degree factories. Students aspire to a degree not for competence in their chosen field but merely for social and economic advantages. In view of this totally materia,listic view, the whole Western system of education is ====================================================================== breaking down. Schools, . colleges and universities have become so corrup~, especially in India and Pakistan, that they have almost ceased to tunction as centres of learning. In a society where money means everything, it can buy a degree, or a bribe to intimidate ====================================================================== the examiners to give a failing .student passing grades. Cheating on examinations is very widespread. Many .. === athletic heroes have gained admission to colleges and universities illegally. This corruption will continue in . education so long as the materialistic outlook prevails. Yet the Western ideals of education continue to be ================================================== blindly copied all “developing” countries as the panacea for illiteracy and ignorance. The roots of the American educational system may be found in Europe during the period of the Protestant Reformation. The then new elite was quick to realize that the process of education moulded the minds of the rising generations and . equally quick to insure that the orientation of thdr educational system was secular in nature. rather than religious. The whw 0074 ======== process of preventing educators from influencing the younger generations to assume moral responsibilities can be traced at least that far back and today the tendency of educational institutions in the West. to educate with’ a strictly secular educational orientation carr be seen in recent American legal decisions to prohibit the teaching or the practice of any religious material in the public schools. From the standpoint of the student, or potential student, this tendency tQrestrict education to a purely materialist orientation is insurmountable within the confines of the educational system. The orientar tion of the educational system towards mere provision of the tools of social adaptability (livelihood seeking) reduces the educational process to essentially a step process. The desired product of American education: (a) must be a “productive citizen.” He must possess the tools, technical and intellectual, to function well as a part of the economic system and make an economical contribution to it. Mod~rn technological society requires highly skilled and literate populations essential to man the machinery required for the, efficient operation of a mechanistic society. This requires’ universal literacy as a prerequisite to learning the technological trades of the society. (b) He must be competitive. He must have the desire and orientation of bettering his peers, of excelling in some aspect of activity. His desire to win and to compete acts as an additional barrier to influence by others. He, is, in short, resistant to.further education once he leaves school. This egocentric attitude is abhorrent to the Islamic ideals of education. (c) He must be ethnocentric in the extreme, regarding all other societies and cultures as in some way inferior by comparison to his own. (d) Social standards of honesty and integrity are nearly nonexistent and in any case, not suited for political functioning as done by American society. Thus the s~hool is an arena for the systematic disentanglement of the individual whw 0075 ======== , . === 70 === from aueh values. This Js accomplisbeclby the eacourapmer1t of those iituations wbere dishonesty oli the part fIl • “ ltudent is the 1l10U ~nt aD.d ofteri the ObIy -way to IOlve problems posed. Nowbere in the curriculum .. any provision made for imparting to ‘the individual any understanding of therulel and laWI by which he DlUiIt’ govern his life. Similarly, nowbere In the curricuhun is any provisioIi maC:le for leading the individual ‘to the realization of human valUei or the orientation towards- religious morality IUcb as is reflected in die Qpran aDd ======================================================== spelled out in clearterml tbere. Indeed, even IUch material as the Bible is forbidden &om classroom we aDd the overaU orientation of the lyltem is [^10]a … tl-reUsioua that the average American clerJyman spends the greater part of his lifetime unable to convince his congregation thaI Allah even exists at a11l Coupled With the fact that the n>le of the Church in America is Itrictly IUpportive of the State and the status-quo, even in its rebellioUi aspects, this absence of any Ipirituality or mot’allellle of va!ues is as much a product of the educationall)’lteDl as anyotber factor of American lociety. Indeed, the emphuM of education on the material aspeCts to the exclusion of the noo-material and its tendency to prevent the indi .. ,vidual from maki”, any moral.judgements whatsoever p1acea an additional bamer between the person and any ===================================================== • gful • ‘tuall!~ spm IIlNnJD we. • (,) JIis god is 1CieDCe. Although he may be hostile to, learning and intellectual endeavour, he nonetheless has a great respect for ‘thole who engage in scientific and technological activity. His science-worship takes many forms. The individual luppor~ his opinions with illformed “lCienti6c” opinion usuaUy from a teIeviIioD commercial or a journalistic report. And his emph” when eftluatiDg and· juclsing is on the measurable, ====================================================================== “rational” Wera:aadon although be is Ulually at a loss to. determine wh_ thiS is. whw 0076 ======== 11 (f) His value system is one of expedience and he beIieveI. that anything goes so long as the guUty QDC does not get caught. His interpersonal relations are essentially dishoDeIt and his sexual expression is demented and . deprav. ed. He can listen on radio or television to accounts or ======================================================= m811 murder’ with one breath, an advertiseoient· for toothpaste with the next and fictional accoun:ts of violent crime and sex~ial licentiousness witli the flextall with . equal non-invOlvement; rn point of fact,. an hour “tcr, the most likely fact he can remember is the increase in volume durinc the cODllnercial.[^1]’ This type of “education” which the “devtlopmg” ============================================== countries are imitating with great zeal, is much ‘WOI’It; thaD illiteracy and complete· ignorance. It is,m fact, not education at all in its true sense but miHducation. Like every other institution of technological society, ====================================================================== education proceeds on a mass, impersonal ~mented manner with the aim narrow~d down to only literacy ================================================== and technical c’mow·how.” While this may serve the economy, it scarcely responds to the qeepest· human DeedS. Contrast this with the system of education prevalent from the 7th to the J9th centuries in the Islamic world: ====================================================================== WbateYer the dift’erenccs may have beeu in the subject matter taught in the Sunni and Shiite schools, the general atmolphere of the madresiah has been the same throughouf the MUIIim world. The transmission of knowledge has always had a highly penonal aspect, in that the student has sought a particular muter rather than an inatitution and has submitte4 IWmelf to that choscn teacher wholeheartedly. The relatioD that has 16.AnEdIlCIJtiO.lf11 Pro,NIfI for “.SIUUIlMlUfim Cii:’”‘” ill1M =============================================================== .’ $HI”‘~n Oh’o .CorrfClkHuJIFtIC#II’l (PriloD). The Islamic l\evi’ . MoWllllDt LUCllvdJe. OhiO, 1972. pp. 6·12. , ‘ , whw 0077 ======== 12 always e~ted between the teacher and the student has been a highly intimate one in which the student reveres the teacher as a father and obeys him even in personal matters not connected with his formal studies. The atmosphere of these schools has b~n very relaxed and informal without there being any great academic or financial pressure upon the student. All religious education has been free; in fact, the student receives his room and board from the religious endowment of the institution in which he studies. Nor has there ever been the strong incentive to receive a diploma ~d then to seek benefit from its social and economic advantages as is prevalent in modern educational institutions. That is why a person may often remain a ItudeDtall his life, mastering one subject after another and going from one teacher to the next. In thisprocesi, the intimate .tact between teacher and ====================================================== student and the many years ot~ing together, often in the same qllattershas much to do. with making possible tbe transmission of the spirit as. well ‘as the letter of the various branches of knowledge which have always ~en instrumental in the. normal functioning 9f blamicsooiety.1 . - .: And what’ofm.oralhealth?”Is modern civilizauonconduclve: t~’’’tl’S morar~lfate ? ====================================================================== “ .. ). ,”‘,’ -,’ “ -;1”.’—;’.:,’ , ‘/” “ “”. - . Many people ··f:aa~·,wondered w&ebce tomes the waves upon ========================================================= WaVes ofmusic;alS1..l1h,that invade,decent homes and set the youngpeople’or..thisge~ratio~>to,imitating the drivel of morons. ‘Monkey’talk, jungle squ~,gr1lnts andsqueaka and gaspl suggestive pt,calMove are ~oufla:ged by a few feverish notes and admitted ‘.into homes where the thing itself, unaided by “canned mUSic” would be stamped out ,in horror. In this miasma of so-called “popular” music which combines weakmindedness with every suggestion of lewdness—Jews. Popular or “Pop” music is a Jewish monopoly. Jazz is a Jewish 1. 17.ScienceandClvUizai”,,,;/’la/IIIII. Seyyed Hossein Nur. The New American Library, New York, 1968, pp.73-74. whw 0078 ======== cnation. The mush, the alush, the sly suggestion, the abandoneclleDlUOUlllaa of sliding ~otes, are all of Jewiah origin. “Let me make a nation’s songs and I care not who makes the laWl”, laid one and in this country the Jews have ‘had a very Jarse hand in making both. Just as the Americanm~tion pk:turc hal fallen under the control of the Jews and their art-destroying commercia1iam, [^10]the buainaa of handling ‘’popular songs” hal become a Yiddish industry. Jews did not create the populauongj they debased it. The public taste like every other taste, craves what it is given mOlt to feed upon. Public tMte is public habit. The public is blind to the source of that upon which it lives and it adjusts itself to the supply. Public taste is railed or lowered as the quality of the pablum improvea or desenerates. In a quarter of a century, given an ============================================================ the avenua of publicity like the movie, popular song, news- …. aad radio-in the meantime ha~ thrown the mantle of contempt over an contractive moral agencies, you can turn ====================================================================== out nearly the kind of public you want. Ittakeajustabouta quarter of a century to do the job. In other daY’ people IaDg but not in a doped fashion nor with . such ~ ======== continuity. They aug because they wished to, not as an uncontrolled habit. The qualitity of the old songs is such that they do not die. T,he popular song of last month-who knows its name? Talented sinaers, tuneful has vanished. The Jew and .the African period being ~ === the eDtranCe of the jungle motif, the so·called “CoDgO StufF,” aaicl other compositions which lWiftly degenerated into a ra~ IIIOIe bestial type than the beuta themselves would arrive at. ; Lyrica disappeared before the numerous “cake-walk” soap that de1upd the public~. Seductive syncopation swamped the baniloAy of the real song. Glamorous youths mutter dirpsin low monotooelj voluptuous f~ w·th grossly lleductive .. ========================== .: ,tW-ea moan .nasal notes no ~ ============================= musician can ~. =============== “Pido actl” were made the’ rage; jazz bands made tJaeir apPearance. Sentiment has been turned into MDIUOUI ‘UfP8Uon; Romance bas been turned into erocacWn; .the~’ musical lilt Iild into ragtime and ragtime has been su~ by jazz . . .- , whw 0079 ======== and croonmg. Song topics became lower and lower until at Jut they reached the dredges of the slimy bottom of the underworld. America does not sing what it likes but what the vaudeville “song-pluggers” popularize by renditions until the flabby minds of the audiences begin to repeat it on the streetl. The fluttering music sheets disclose expressior.s taken directly ~ from the cesspools of modem capitals to be made the daily slang and thoqghtlessly hummed remarks of school The “popular song” is not popular at aU. .1 =========================================== j boys and girls. 1 === There is qo spontaneous popularity. It is artificial popu- Jarity by constant plugging.. It is a mere mechanical drumming on the minds of the public. It is flung at them at every movie; records shriek it forth day. and nignt; dance bands plug it, radios plug it and by sheer dint of repetition and suggestion. the song catches on-until it is replaced by . another. It iethe old game to change the styla. CODItaDtly in order to speed up business and make the people buy. Nothing lasts in the Yiddish game-styles of clothing, moviel or songs; it is alwaya something “new” to ltimulate the flow 01 money from the common man’s pocket into the moron musicmak~’s coffers. Ministers, edu~tors, reformers, parenti, citizens, are astounded at the growth oflOOlCnCII among. the people and rail at the evil results. They see the evil product and they attack the product. Police protest against the technique 01 the kiIliDg of a policeman being shown with careful detail on the 1CI’eeD. Businessmen object to daily leisons in safe.cracldng being given in the pictures. Moralists object to the art of leduction being made the stock-motif no matter what the IUbject. They rail at the young .people who go in for this eroticism and suggestiveness. They deplore the sexual license, the delinquency and infantilism of the younger people. BUT ALL OF THIS HAS A SOURCE! WAynotaUacktlusour,,? When a nation is bathed in sights, sounds and ideas of a certain character, drenched in them and drowned in them by systematic, deliberate, organized intent, the point of attack should be the whw 0080 ======== l· cause and not the effect.18 Henry Ford spoke the truth and was courageous enough to face its consequences. What he said is as true, if.ilot truer, today than when he penned the above lines in 19110. The corruption of the mass-media of ====================================================================== communication and visual education has spread all over the world. There has· been disagreement among the experts of moderni .. zadon· in the developing countries in that some argue that what goes to the masses in new knowledge stimulates development even if comes in· the form of comic books and film songs. Othen hold that what developing countries need most is a leadenhip provided with knowledge and understanding rif the =========================================================== very highest quality.. The truth is, that development requires many things all at once. Metropolitan dailies aspiring to the excellence of The New fork Times, journals of the highett edllcational character are needed for a nation’s progress, but [^10]is a mass press, often in another vernacular and addressed to the level of the new literates and so are popular radio and movies.1!1 ThOse who advocate modernization as the supreme good do their best to spread the filth to the most remote villages until no place remains uncontaminated and th~ is no refuge for those who seek peace, quiet and solitude. Let us look at one of the simplest systems designed to reach into v:lllagesotherwiie completely beyond the dOJIl~in of the modem methods of communications. For such isolated 18.TIlellllernaliolfalJew, Henry Ford I, Christian Nationalist Crusade’ Loa Macles, 1920, pp. “-57, . 19. Moikm/zQlion:TheDynamicsofGrowth, edi~ by Myron Weiner, Voice of American Forum Lectures. Washington D.C., 1966, p. 116,. J:\. whw 0081 ======== 76 villages offtfle road in South Korea, for example, entrepreneurs have found that they can set . up wired loud-speaker systems in these villages chpging only fifteen cents per month to each householder who chooses to rent one. The loud speakers cost about a dollar· and the entrepreneur connects them with a single central battery operated tuner-amplifier and perhaps a tape-recorder, using army wire that costs only about thirty cents per hundred feet. The village is thus provided with music for most of the’ day and with whatever other programmes the national broadcasting system puts on.[^20] What about man’s’ spiritual health. Such a ========================================== thoroughly materialistic culture as Western civilization is an open challenge to the survival of every variety of religious belief without exception. Since the Renaissance, in continuity of the, Greek and· Roman ideal, the quest for happiness, comfort and pleasure is the sole purpose of human life. Secularization, speaking positively, is the spirit of modernity. As attention is turned away from the “other worlds” of the sacred and supernatural, it is turned towards the realities of the empirical universe. Modern science and technology .. .are, of course, the most impressive manifestations of this worldlineas though it is not altogether dear to what extent they are the causes or the effects of this· attitude. History has become the frame qf reference to aU human conduct. To an unparalleled degree, categories such as evolution, development and progress have become the guideposts for both collective’ and individual endeavQurs. Secularization is a process in which religious symbolS, usually against theirwiU, recede from sectors of t~e . society()ver’ which they prewously held sway. Not only have .. tbe insthutionsof theChuch ·W,iibdrawn from education but Christian symbols, values, and beliefs have tended to disappear 20; . Ibid., pp. 113-114. whw 0082 ======== 11 totally or to become irrelevant and meaningless. Secularization affects tM totality of cultura1lif~ and the arts; philcllophy, litera,ture and JIlOIt important, the rise of science, as an autOnomoua, thoroughly secular perspective on the world. AI there is secularization of society and cu1tu1e, to there is secularization of consciousness. Our age is characterized by secularized institutions, by entire societies that can be properly called seculariZed and also by a new secularized man-a type of man who teems to get along very well without religion. The modem West baa produced an increasing number of individuals who look upon the world and their own lives without the benefit of religious interpretation. Originally a Western r phenomenon, secularization is today an inevitable Companion of modernization and therefore appears everywhere bi the ======================================================== world.[^21] In modem civilization, what is supposed to take the place of religion ? ====================================================================== To the degree that work has become rationalized, it has become regulated by inescapable mechanical procedures, to that· degree it has become meaningless and frustrating of penonal fulfilment. The quest for private satisfactions tammany for;ms. On the most obvioUS level it is manifested in consumption for happiness-satisfaction is derived fromtlle ~ion and usc’ of the material goods that are increasingly available to. everybody in afBuent modern societies. -PcnOnaI identity becomes attached to material possessions. This can be quite saqsfying to_ an individual.o long as he can .ucceu- ============================================================= fully maintain a certain level of afBuence. There are also the joys ~f sexual gratification, of intellectual a~d aeathet;ic punuits· and do-it-yourself hobbies. In a pluralistic ~ty, ther.= are many options and many consumer choices ~to whic4 of these private activities, sources of identity ~d ideologies one “ . ·11. Soci,t;1IinChanl’, op; cit., pp. 223, 27S-216- , I . whw 0083 ======== 7a === “prefers .. : • “ • Natural assumptions and convictions about morality, about aesthetics, about politics have profoundly declil1ed. . Generally ‘Speaking, certainties are hard to come by in an age of rapid change, scepticism and uncertail)ty in the realm of ideas. Because of the ~odem communications, the mental horizon of most people has vastly expanded. We know about more and more. We are certain about less and less.21 Has secularization and modernization made religion obsolete so that man no longer feels the need for it? ======= There is no domain in which change and transformation reign with the same supremacy and totality as in that which con·· cerns nature and man’s relationship to it as well as his knowledge of it. Modem science, which has acted as a catalyst ~ during the past Few centuries for change in. so many other fields, is Itself based upon change and impermanence. Were it to become stationary and Immutable, it would ceue to exist in its present form. Today one often hears the claim that all is reJative. But the same people who make such a claiin often bestow an absolute character on th~ domain of the relative itself. Metaphysics which de a1s with permanence cannot become “out of-date” because it is not concerned with any date as such. The permanent elements in the relation between man and the Universe remain as valid now as ever. Only they: must , become known once again after the long period during ~hich the West did not search for permanent elements in change and even soQght to reduce permanence itaelf to chaap and the historical evolutioJl8,ry process. Today man seeks to chanse ================================================================ all his social, political and . even religious institutions with the excuse that nature itself is always changing and therefore must change likewise. In fact, just the reverse holds1 1. 22.Ibid., pp. 279-280. 286. whw 0084 ======== true. Evolution is not the product of natural observation but of a secularized mentality cut off froai every avenue of acceas to the immutable which then began to ICe ita own fleeting - nature ill outward nature.. Man always’ IIeeI in nature the ~ === of his own being and his .cOnception of what he L! ___ JlWIM;IIU. ‘~’ The IUn still riles and acts the’ saJQe way now as it did for ancient and mec:1ieval man who looked upon it as the symbol of the DiviDe Ihtellect. The natural forms of .life still reprodUce thelDlelves with the same regulation and through the same processes as ill older historical periods. Nor has man himself evolved biologically since there h~s been a recorded ·or even an unrecorded tuman history. Today’s man is biologically the same as the .l\en of old who believed in permanence ~d transcendence. If modern man have ceased to so believe, they had better find some other excuse than their own biOlogical or natural evolution. Men who love nature are eaentiaUy in quest for the permanent and nature in fact itlClf gives the lie to those who want to !limit aU Reality to change and becoming. Such philosophies never aro.e among people who livedclosc to nature but have always been the products of sedentary environment where an artifieial atmosphere has enabled man to forget both nature and the per .. manent clementS which she reveals to man. The most important permanent element in man’s relation to dle universe is his existential situation in the hierarchy of univenal existence. Traditional man knew with certainty where he came from, why he lived and where he was going and why. Modern man; however, for the most part, knows neither where be comel from nor what his end. W111 he aad tbeniore, most important of aU, WHY he is livinfl N8’II’fl’tIie. less, like the traditional man, he faces two points whieh· …. - mine the beginning and the cad of IUs terrestrial.. ~ ====================================================================== is born and he dies. This fact. has not chaDpcl one iota Dell’ will it ever dolO. But the oaly dUrereace is that· -..>-..oace certainty has today become doUbt aDd fear.’ .rthe reality ====================================================================== of birth and death remains, and no IUD01lnt of modern ICieace whw 0085 ======== can unravel the mysteries of theae two “eternitiei’” bet~ which stands the flickering m~t of earthly 1ife.2) W~em civilization is not the first materialistic culture in history. In its secularization, it is not atl all unique although because of the weapons of science and teChnology, it ~y be.the most powerful and widespread. The record of history shows that human civilizations h~ve revolved, in a cylindrical pattern . bet .. ween sensuousness and idealism and whenever an extreme is reac~ed by either, there always comes a sharp reaction pulling in the opposite direction. In their revolt against their elders, modem. youth is also revolting against excessive materialism, excessive pre-· occupation with technology and its applicationS. In America, young people by the hundreds are fleeing from their comfortable urbaa homes to eStablish “communes” ====================================================================== 1 in the rural’ countryside where work and craftsmanship ======================================================== [^1],.’ are all done· by hand. They are revolting· above· else ====================================================== ; against the “artificiality” of modem life and seeking an unspoiled environment. closer to nature. Above all, these rebellious youth are seeking transcendental Truth although they unfortunately do not know where to find it. ====================================================================== , Yet the political and intellectualleadetship in the so called under-devel~ped·countries is heedless of these developments in the West and blindly pursues “modern .. iza~OD” as the panacea for all their problems. But we must ask the question: is moderniza~ion in the .best ====================================================================== “Man in tbe Universe: Permanence AmiClat Apparent Chaap,’ Seyycd Hoaein Nasr, Stud.slllComplll’fltive Relflion, ‘MiddleSex (Bnaland) 1968, pp. -253. . whw 0086 ======== &1 interests of the so-called under-developed countries who seem to ignore the fact that most of the misery in the world today stems from “over-development.” ====================================================================== In the case of the so-called “primitive” peoples, the impact of modemization is inseparable from their degradation and often their extinctionr ====================================================================== There is general agreement among anthropologists that the aborigine people migrated to Australia from Southern Asia at least 30,000 years ago. The Tuibanian aborigines, completely killed oft’ after beginning of the European colonization, were thought to have been in AusiraUa even longer than the mainland aborigines. When Captain Cook stepped on Australian soil, the aborigine population was about 30,000 and growing. Along with European colonization came many new discalel to which the indigenous population had no immunity: small·pox, the common cold~ the eye diseases infected by the common fly, venereal diseases and leprosy. Theae diseases coupled with massacres and en-mas” poisoningneatly excluded from the Australian history boob-mercilessly reduced the aborigine population within a short time. From being some of the healthiest people in the world, the black Australians are now one of th.e most undernourished. When the coloniats arrived in’Australia, those who refused to ~t the Bible and. be “civilized,” lOst their lives; others who accepted lost their cultUre and identity. Today, the black Australians can be divided into three ~te- gorieS-tribal blacb, reserve blacks ~d urban blacks. The ======================================================== “ life-style of the tribal blacks, now under great stress, is breaking down as they are unable to find food in the traditional ways and are unable to survive as tribes. The current intensification in the search for and exploitation of AUI~’s mineral resources to meet·the ever-increasing dcsnancb of the technologically advanced metropolitan countries. u,! brought tribal aborigines of the hitherto remote iIlterior in~ clOie ====================================================================== contact with white society. The economically use1iss hinterland , === whw 0087 ======== 82 into whick the aborigines had ‘been forced into by earlier generations of colonists is disappearing ail a result of the new techniques of land utilization and the search for minerals. Reserves differ from stat~ to state: some are state-run, some are mission run. The only difference between the two is that on the mission-run reserves, you have to become a Christian. You are not allowed to worship in the traditional mann”er but still make artefacts in order for them to be sold to tourists. Leaving and entering the reserves is only possible with special permission though how this is enforced varies from state to state, town and county. Of course, some of the reserves are known to be worse than others and if black people “mis_ behave,” they are sent to those particular reserves. Tinned food is the basic diet and only occasionally is there fresh fruit and vegetables. Malnutrition, poverty aDd despair abound. One reserve is said to have one water tap for a hundred people. Black people who live -on rubbish dumps get fresher food than is· available on some reserves. AB regards the urban aborigines, they live in urban slums usually on welfare. They suffer from severe cultural trauma and their family lice is in pieces-the men are often arrested and put into,prilon. Many are alcoholics; this problem is particularly acute among the young women who often sell their bodies for a bottle of beer. Their ill-health is chronic. A recent study on aborigines in Victoria stated … “universally bad ========================================================= teeth, chronic nasal and ear infections, widespread congenital defects, many cases of mental illness and a high percentage of tuberculOlis.” , Thole aborigines who have organized to stand up for their rights protest against the Government’s assimilation policy as morally wrong as concentration of camps, the racism which has infected all strata of Australia’s society and makes life Hell for the aborigines and’ above all, the Government’s UDwilliDgness to allow the aborigiries land rights. This is the key to the aborigines regaining their ethnic and cultural dignity. They are a people with a pasaion for the natural environment and the land and whose culture depends upon whw 0088 ======== &, === the lac:reci areal of triballands.[^24] The process of westernization does not only degrade =================================================== the very primitive people like the Australian aborigines but also the representatives or carriers of traditional highly developed civilizations. He is how the deculturalization of the Yemenite proceeds is modern Israel: ====================================================================== In Yemen, every head of a family was an independent master in his own right. In most CIlSCl, he was an artisan who worked at bome, beginning and ending his working day as he pleased. While working, he could keep an eye on his children and could teach them his trade and what was regarded as even more important, he could impart.to them his knowledge of the Torah and Jewish lore. . He could alIO spend as much time as he wished in the synagogue where he prayed, met his friends, studied with’them and in general spent his hours of leisure in a friendly and congenial atmosphere. In Israel, all of this was completely different. Instead of being their own masten, they were forced to do the bidding of othen. They were regarded by the European Jews [^81]unskilled labourers who must be prepared to work hard and to earn litde. Their life was hard. They had to hurry to wOrk early in the morning, remain far away from bome all day long and run ~r additional new employmen~ in the evening and find “that wJth all this, the paisten earned were not sufficient. Gone ================================================================= were the daya when they could lpend unhurried hours in the synagogue, teach their IOns Torah and artisanship, take their leisurely mcall in the IOOthing company of wife and children. The Pw!equacy of a man’l earningI lOOn forced the wife to BeCk e!hployment aJU1 the only work to be found was domeatic help regarded both by her and her employer [^81]a low-grade occupation. She too waS lifted out of her home” for the duration of the entin: daf, leaving her unaUer cbi1dr~ in the whw 0089 ======== care of the six and seven years olds. Another year or two and the oldest girl too had to go t~ work, to serve in the hoUle of some European lady while the boy was taken out of school and left to fend for himself in the streets. The family was dispersed, paternal and maternal authority broken down and the’ home, mice the proud, safe and sequestered castle of the family, turned into the occasional place for people who were becoming more and more estranged: In ,most places in Israel, the Oriental Jews do not live isolated from the European Jews. The young people especially have frequent occasion to meet and consort with othen of their agegroup from the European communities and they lOOn learn from them what is mos~ attractive for young people to emulate, especially their bearing of greater freedom and independence. Rebellion against parental authority then becomes the order of the day, either openly and defiantly or more frequently, surreptitiously, by keeping up ,appearances at home and finding Compensation in unrestrained behaviour away from parental . supervision. The l?reakdown in paternal authority is in many cases COIll~ pounded by the aubordinatedsocial and economic position which the father finds himself after he settles in a society whose traditional relationship pattema were based on paternal autho- ============================================================== rity and female subordination, and the~ comes in close daily contact with Western people .and Western cultural pattcms, a circumstance which causes grave disturbances in ita equilibrium. The juveniles· of the family who meet European friends of their own age in school or on the streets 10011 recognize that their fatherh as to content himself with an inferior menial occupatioll which does not yield an adequate inCome topt’OYide for the family because he is toO reUgious or too old-tUhiaDed. or simply· not clever enough to make good. We would add that the rather is not sufficiently prepared to take his pIIICC in the westernized and highly competitive urban. society In Inel. With, regatd. to religion, the Yemenitca find themaelvei in peat confusion in Israel. In their home-communities, reIipon WII the lOUd and brwd rOUDdation of everY ac~ty, of eva”)’ pbue =========================================================== whw 0090 ======== \ “ === \ and aspect oflife. Upon their arrival in Israel, they find that most of the leaders of the State are irreligious, are in fact also heads of strong political parties which are either directly antagonistic or at least indifferent to religion. They also learn IOOIl enough that the majority of ‘the people ofIsrael are irreligious and that to be’ religious in the 9rthodo~ sense is often a disadvantage …. so that they feel compelled to reject ====================================================================== much of what they see and find in _Israe1.2S , All of this is nothing but white racism, colonialism and imperialism at work. The arena is world-wide ================================================ • and by mid-twentieth century no people had been left undisturbed and unaffected, but its origins stretch back into the depths of antiquity. The first chapter of white racism was the Aryan invasion of northern India thousands of years_ ago whose fr~k record of colonialism and imperialism is faithfully recorded in the oldest of the Hindu sacred books-the Rig Veda. For the first time in India, the Aryans encountered”a dark race and their reaction-genocide, forcible dispossession of their cherished lands and wealth, and enslavement of the surviv- ing black Dravidians permanently at the lowest level of Hindu society, fit only for the dirtiest menial toil-all of ====================================================================== this has been characteristic behaviour of the white man ever since. In antiquity, this-same work was continued ====================================================== by the Greeks and Romans and after almost a thousand years’interuption, was resumed by the Crusades, then the “Age of Exploration” by the Spanish and Portuguese and finally British, Russian, French ~nd Dutch imperialism spread white domination over the entire ‘WOdd. The Zionist ventures in Palestine arid atFected neigh- 25.IsratlBttw”,.Eolllllld”,ut.op. cit:. pP.!Oa-~OJ. i.,.299-309. ================================================================ ; ‘.’,’. , whw 0091 ======== bouring areas can be seen in the light of history as ==================================================== merely the last chapter. The Israelis h~ve always claimed that if the Arabs would only “sit down and talk,” they would discover the Israelis . to be extremely generous at the negotiating table. Assured “regional partnership” by peace-treaty, Ilrael could indeed afford to be generoUs on luch questions as compensation to refugees, aid for their resettlement and ~kenrepatriation. Arab access to Mediterranean ports, joint desalination projects and Jordan River diversification schemel in the same fashion that one might say the United States has always been generous . to Latin America. Israel might even offer the Arabs her own version of the “Alliance for Progress” and a Jewish “Peace Oorpel” For if there is any vagUely equivalent pattern to Israeli-Arab relations, it is to be found in the history· of the two Americas ; the European colonial and immigrant society in the North which disinherited and destroyed the indigenous Indians. and ita ultimate prey in the South -underdeveloped, largely Indian· stock societies wrecked by colonialism, iladdled with unstable, oppressive military dictatonhips, or at best proud but inevitably impotent nationalist leaderships who responded as well as they could to an unfid&lled continental vision of nationhoo.d based on ooe lansuageand a common white Western cUlture. Unlike nineteenth-ceotury America, Israel cannot hope to become an induatrial power until sbe fint achieves the modern equivalent of empire. And the IOphistication of the Israeli m. ====================================================================== frastructure, the available skills of her overwhelmingly literate labour fOrce and the vast poteDtials of ovelleaS capital are economic:ally irreIevan~ unless·. they are COI\ioined with the opportunity to overwhelm the underdeveloped Arab economies a “regional partnership.” ~ Israeli shortages of low-wage unskilled or semi .. ldlled labour could be filled by the vast labour reservoin in the neighbour- Ing Arab states. Since the June 1967 war, this low-cost labour whw 0092 ======== a1 === shortaae bas already led to the employment of tens of thouaands of the Arabi from Gaza and Arab Jerusalem as farm worken, semiRUled and unskilled factory hands, domestic servants, day labourers on construction and road maintenance crews or in such’terVile occupations as dish washers, waiters in restaurants and cafes, gardeners and hand~n-the nascent emergnce of the classic native proletariat in a typical white colonial state.26 Another conspicuous example of this same white imperialism at work is the fate of the beduin in oil-rich Arabia. ====================================================================== / Here in Southem Arabia tt.e beduin were still unaffected by the economic changes in the 1\ ,rth-&st, but I knew that they could not long escape the consequences. I t seemed to me so tragic that they should become, as a result of circumstances beyond their control, a parasiti u proletariat squatting as “unskilled labour” around the oil-fields in the fly-blown squalor of . shanty towns in some of the most sterile desert in the world •••••• [^27] Thousancls of miles away, half-way round the globe in the frozen Arctic, we find the Eskimos faced with the identical predicament: ====================================================================== Since 1950 the degradation of the Eskimo under the impact or white domination, has followed a clasaic course with the =========================================================== break-up of the family as a social unit. (One Eskmlo woman in four now does not marry but iastead bears children to a number of mea.) , abortions, a growing inc:Iift’erence to gt’QUp interests . and a weakening of leadership. They are increasingly dependent on manufactured gadgets and their whole traditioaal way of life is rapidly falling into diauIe. The young are iIacreMiagly N~ York, .912. Pp. 139-142. =========================== 26. 7TI. Folio/I,rlllillk”” AbcluJIab Schleifer, MonthJylteview ~ ================================================================= • NrIbIa Stwb, WDlrecl n.IIer, B. P. DuUoa & Co.,’ New York, 1959. P. 12. , ‘ . \ whw 0093 ======== 88 at odds with their elden and laCk confidence in themselves. They no longer know what they are and IOJpe of them are likely to quit the land in the near future. celt is the cleverest, those who have done the best at school, who will go away. Our hunting economy, which depends on team effort, will be disrupted and further impoverished. The schools cream off the best of our youth. ‘.As technicians they, will only find work away from our territor~’ in the South which is a foreign country to us Eskimos. Only the least intelligent ones will stay with us. They don’~ learn how to hunt Qr to handle a liayak (native skin boat) in boarding school which also robs them of the opportunity to get practical instruction and experience from their fathers anCl elders in hunting. They won’t be able to make a living from hunting. We Eskimos don’t even own the land on which we have been living for’ centuries. What will life be like when oil and minerals are found beneath our soil. WhOle will it be?” ======================================================= Some Eskimos are leaving their communities and educated Eskimos, scarcely representative of the community’. confwed aspirations, are betraying their origins and seeking rapid assimilation into white society. Drunkenness and tooth-decay are on the increase (few Easkimos do not need false denturel by age 40). They are increasingly subject to eye disorden and their resistance to cold has diminished as a result of consuming unsuitable foods (white flour, white sugar, jams, tea, , .obacco, etc.).1 As a result of the virulent white imperialism of the last century and its present consequences, the face of the earth has been radically transformed, indigenous 1. “The Eskimos-a People that Refuses to Disappear,” Jean Malaurie. Vnelco Cot”iN, January 1975, pp. 16-17. non-European civilizations wiped out so that, culturally ======================================================== speaking, the West has virtually obliterated the East. This is nowhere more striking than in the revolutionized whw 0094 ======== ‘physical appearance of modern cities in Asia and A&ica. In such cities as Cairo, Beirut, Jeddah, Riyadh ====================================================================== and Kuwait, the most brutalized philistine westerniza .. tion of architecture has taken pJace over the last few decades, leaving hardly a trace of the original city land-acape intact. Westernization of architecture is ====================================================================== ,~unchly upheld for “prestige” and .national “statusseeking” purposes and deenled a necessity for “modernization” and “progress.” But how far is this subjection to the god of “progress” beneficial to the people who ===================================================== must live in these places? We know that a glass wall lets in asmuch ·as ten times more heat than a solid brick or adobe wall tour inches thick and that ….. wall 3 by 3 meten exposed to the direct rays of the tropical desert sun lets into the interior 2.000 calories of heat. per hOur, requiring two tons of refrigeration per hour. By shading this glass, using any of the devices available such as the brill.sou#, now mand.toryinall modem buildings, we cut down this amount to one third. which still leaves us with 300 % more heat dlan with the solid four-inch traditional wall. So the architect who builds sllch a solar furnace in Kuwait or’ 1Uyadh~for example, and then brings in a vast refrigeration .. ·P.tant a,ad expensive air-conditioning units to make it habit- ================================================================== able is wmecessarily complicating his problems by insisting on ~ style of architecture entirely unsuited to the indigenous climatic anCtgeographic conditions, not to mention violating the cul~ tUral and spiritual traditions of the people. It is thus hoped that before it is too late, Near Eastern architects will come to realize the intrinsic value of their indigenous . architectual heritage. In so doing they will reap the . rich .. rewards of the accumulated urban experience thatwa. left to . them by their ancestors and will produce successful jDd·endur- .Jns works of art. Let them not suppose thatthis~~on will . ~amper them. When the full power of human. imkgination is whw 0095 ======== backed b>’ the weight of a living Islamic tradition, the·resuJt. ing work of art is much greater than any that an Ntia& caD achie~ when he has no tradition to work in or when he wil. fully abandons his tradition ••. 1 An over the world’ today, contemporary white:… imperialism in its economic and cultural forms, dangles the Golden Prize before the non-white, non-Europeaus, the teeming masses of the “poor” in the “underdeveloped” “Third World.” The Golden Prize is nothing less than total assimilation into the mainstream of I Western culture with its irresistible advantages of education, health, wealth,security,comfort, leisure, entertainments.· .. mobility and unlimited opportunitieafor status-seeking. This Golden Prize . the white.- man dangles ·before thenon~European, has produced in every indigenous society, an elite of native collaboraton who for the sake of quick profits ignore’ the long .. range welfare of their people. ====================================================================== In occupied Palestine there are also Arabs to be found who share neither the geDel’a1 discontent nor the wiD to resist, .nea.. Many of Jerusalem’s very poor umkiDed labourers, passively. frequently unemployed in Jordanian times, have foWtd .. f’actory or s.ervice jobs with Israeli employees at wages far a~·· what· . was ever possible in the past. ·A few oftbele workenrest con:” tent unlC$! directly threatened. by waves of land expr\<>priatioftl and sudden evictions ..•.. “2 ============================= . .. === I t is this same phenomenon which explains the mass-migrations of the educated and the uneducated, ====================================================================== 1. 29. F;omMad/lIDto Metropolis. Heritaae and Change in the· Noar-Butcm City, edited by L. Carl Brown, The Darwin Press, Princeton. New Jersey, 1973. pp. 331-333. 2. 30.Tile Fa/IofJerusalem, op. Cit., p. 11. whw 0096 ======== 9’ _ the “killed and unskilled labour from East to West; the JaJ’IMC&Ie migration of Pakistanis to England . and CUaada~, the North AfHcans to France and the Turb to, Weat OeJmany-all seeking the “Golden Prize.” Some or them actually obtain what they were seekin, aDd if sufficiently educated, light-skinned and know- Jed&eableiu Euglish arid English ways, do enter the Jdgb-ltatus professions and at least for their children and grandchildren, gain the prize of acceptance into ~ the Establishment and total assimilation into Western . lodety and culture-but the overwhelming majority, filling the slum areas of every large city to overflowing, do Dot. They simply remain as the proleteriat-a Dever-failing sUPllly of cheap labour and imprisoned in a’status of perfil anent inferiority. ====================================================================== Most Americans who live outside the ghettos or urban slu m enclaves, knew so little of what is happening inside them that they were surpr~d and shocked when .l’ecent racial coo8icts ripped their cities apart; when anti-Semitism affected an election in New Jersey, when Mexican-Americans became aountain guerillas in Mexico, when Indians of the Pacific .. Northwest went to jail rather than give up their rights to fish. White Americans are surprised and shocked because they live in a mythical country. I n this mythical America, the c:oDditions of Negroes, Indians and Spanish-speaking Americ:ans ~ assumed to be gradually but inevitably improving .ace. and crimes committed by fron tier Ameritam against ======================================================== as court decisions, governmental efforts and education brtak down the barriers of discrimination, and prejudice. The the aboriPW Indians are described by’t1;leaD as -recrettable but neceuary-or part of another era-aa4. the reservation .,… through which tbe governmen! m.. .. ~ards of the ====================================================================== an attempt to redJ’ell tbewmnp. The wholesale r~ ================================================ whw 0097 ======== theft of ladd from Mexico during the Mexican War with the resulting degradation of the Spanish-spCaking peoples is h~d to. be aQother lamentable but necesllU’y episode in the country’s need to expand. The myth takes in the gradual m~ment of Negroes ‘toward equality. Negro slavery is acknowledged as a moral wrong and prejudice against Negroes linked with overt discrimination is too. But in this mythical America, the country is slowly coming to accept Negroes and other non-whites and non-Europeans as equals. Did Dot President Johnson himself to put the U.S.A. on record asdeclaring: “We shall overcome …. “31 . BU,t the fact is, despite all propaganda to the· contraty, that they have NOT “overcome,”nor will ================================================ they ever “overcome,” unless and until the white European and his disciples in the East, change their way of life, their value-system and transform their whole mental outlook. The record of history proves that Islam was the =============================================== greatest civilizing force that ever existed and that the civilizing of backward peoples was accomplished with- ===================================================== out genocide, reserves which are little better th~ concentration camps, forced assimilation policies and the degrading dehumanization which has . inevitably accompanied Westernization everywhere. In steaming .up the Nile, I saw little in the first [^200]miles to alter my views about the savagery of these tribes. Fetishism, cannibalism a~ the liquour trade flourished together. But as I left the low-lying coastal region and found myself near the southern boundary of what is called the central Sudan, J observed an ever-increasing improvement in the appearance and the character of the native. Cannibalism, idolatry and . • Problems of American Society Series: R~tsm, Gerald Leinwan.d Pocket Books. New York, M.arch 1972, pp. 114-115 .. whw 0098 ======== the liquour trade disappeared, clothes became more \1Oltuninous and decent, cleanliness the rule while their outward dignified bearing ,till frier heralded a moral regeneration. ============================================================ In Central Sudan, among the tribes converted to Islam, I found myaelf in a wen-governed empire, teeming with a busy populace of keen traden, expert manufacturers of cloth, braaI work and leather, a’ people, in fact, who have made in .a very short time,. enormous advances towar.civilization. Islam does not demand race-suicide as an accompaniment of converaion. I t does not .stipulate revolutionary changes iii ============================================================= social life nor does it destroy clan, tribal or communal authority. Between the converter and the converted, there is no abyas. Both are ec..’…. not merely in theory but in ========================================================= actual practice before Goc&. Conversion for the primitive does not mean a break with hiainteresu, his family and social life. No one can faU to be impressed with the carriage, the dignity of the. Mrican Muslim, the whole bearing of which _ugats pride and self-respect and which seem to tell the westerner: We are different, thou and I but we are mm.32 The great attraction which up until’” now has appeared to be irresistible, of Western civilization to the. non-European world lay in its intense, organized propaganda by all the mass-media of communication that it is the one and only route to human progress,. that it is the only hope to improve the human con- ====================================================================== dition. This same propaganda in the press, radio, television and cinema, contemptuously dismisses ail other civilizations and cultur~ as “backward,” “retro- -grasive” or obsolete. It is the duty of all those who uphold their religious traditions to reveal \Y.estern ====================================================================== civilizatiolf in its true coloun. Its ugly degradaU.6n, • :lit PNoc/II”,,11.tIm. Tboaas William Arnold. Sbailch Muhammad AIInf. Labore. 11M. pp. 339. ~.,.. . • • === whw 0099 ======== . and corrup~on are destructive of eVerything which is good, true and beautiful, and thus, everything that makes life wo~th living. We must convjnce the political and intellectual leadership· of the so-called “Third Wor~d.’· that Western civilization is ====================================================================== retrogressive -not progressive and detrimental to human welfa!”e in aU its aspects-physicallYt economically politically, culturally, intellectually, ====================================================================== mentally~ morally and spirit~ly. Once the leadership . of the sO’”Called “developing” countries can be convinced that modem trends are not working ill their best interests, the craze for W~temiza.tion will die of its own accord. ====================================================================== All the fQrces of contemporary civilization are destructive and negative. ====================================================================== Ultimately Western civili- . zation will become so overwhelmed by its own corruption and decadence that its machinery aDd institutions will be unable to continue to function. The Watergate Scanda.l (1973) has already permanently and irrever-· I sibly disgraced a Government based on secUlar ====================================================================== humanism showing that gross immorality prevails from the highest levels of the State. ====================================================================== The AbeFortas Scandal of 1969 showed that even the judges ·on the U.S. Supreme Court would not hesitate to commit· crimes and resort· to fraud whenever expediency dictated. ====================================================================== A federal Commission says ofticial political COITuptioa ia “. ============================================================= serious impediment to· the task of reclucing cr.imiaaIity. iD· America” . In the last of six reports, the National ActviIory ============================================================= CoJDlllission on Criminal Justice, Standardl and Goak aaid : “The existence of corruption breeds Nrther crime by providing for the American citizen a model of ofBciallawltasnell whw 0100 ======== “ === that undermines any acceptable rule oflaw.”u If the President and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court are foUnd guilty of crimes, how caD ====================================================================== ordinary citizens be expected to respect and obey the ,law of the land? Hence the fallacy of secular demo- ==================================================== cracy and politics divorced from’religion and morality . . Ifpreaent trends continue unchecked, ultimately such a Government will be unable to enforce law, order and justice. In this way, all the political,’ economic,. educational, scientific and social institutions of Western ====================================================================== civilization throughout the world must eventually break down.4S they are beginning already to do. This will mean catastrophe. Anarchy, violence and lawlessness will prevail and many millions will die. ThOle who avoid a violent death’ will succumb tom .. starvation and diSease due to famine and scarcity of . ====================================================================== health services. In many ways, these conditions will be comparable to 5th-century Europe after the destruction of Rome. If we are to avert a new Dark Age in the next ============================================= century, the non-Western world must reject Westemi- . . zatiOD . as detrimental to its welfare and to combat the diaastrous corruption of this materialistic way of . ufe, they must uphold their religious inheritance based ====================================================================== . on the Ablolute, Transcenden~1 ideal. n. “0IiIial Political CorruptioD Impedea W=educ:iN’QiaWaIit, in =============================================================== 7, Jsh;.,,,d, Vor.lI. ~ ======================= “u,,/IMSIfIH,’If/#IrtIWIM.,Ie.Nftll NO. 211-, No~21. 197), p. I. ..!-., ====== . • whw 0101 ======== BI·. TilE: S.t .lfE: ;4{‘THOR ============================= . .. .. ======= I . “ …. .” T.\l •• , hI … h« I. hu .. ,,. C •• “- (f_ =============================================================== …. 7 •• •• ‘,bo . …. “0\,. ‘h • ,. hi ….. 0.. ……. ,.1 Ito”.’ ============================================================ ..~ ‘.” .. l\ . • hi ……. tho \1~,hm \\om •• r …… ================================== 7.00 II. ( .. ,…,-.”U 1It’’’ttfI ‘h., … “ ……… , ,- ============================================= … === J.\