Westernization and Human Welfare

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   • MAR)7AM )AMEElAfl . 1”
2. 2 ~esternizAtiQIt
3. 3 And Q(UmAIt~elfore
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5. 5 CRfSCfnT PUBliSHinG comPAny
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    • THE PHILOSOPHICAL SOURCES OF
    • WESTERN MATE~IALISM T~ society of ancient Gree~e was the earliest in
    • was the first truly secular society. Its philosophy was
    • The naked human body, both male and female, was the dominant theme of Greek aflt which· sculptors arid .
    • took place in vast elaborate stadiums, each capable of seating thousands of spectators. It was customary for
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    • the mouth of his teacher, Socrates:(469-399 B.C.), he a~tempted to expound the utopia of the most ideal
    • .revealed in the light of reason to be the best … These
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    • others~if the Bock is to be tiptop. And none must know
    • worship of force. The intense idealism of the Greeks
    • skepticism. Thus the Roman philosopher, Maximus of
    • useless to ask of Him what He has resolved to do. If one
    • quoted from rluPortahl,Voltair” Viking Press, New
    • In the thousand .. year interval between the fall of ‘ .. the Roman Empire and the rise of the Renaissance, the
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    • this period:, popularly known as “The Middle AgQ,’.’ “
    • own. It had no features whatever in common either
    • exists today. In fact, the civilization of the Middle
    • The Renaissance coincided with the rejection of
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    • more preoccupied with the inferiority of Italy’s politi-
    • with neighbouring Spain and France. As a result of
    • most influential book ever written on the techniques of
    • power-ThePrince.
    • have done great things have had little regard for sood
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    • or princes and those who have been able to imitate
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    • authority of the Pope and the Latin language greatly strengthened the cause of secular n~tionalism. In
    • multiplicity of small, weak sects, each -a rival of the other with’ its own narrow, parochial outlook. In
    • everywhere in Europe, the spiritual power qfreligion became subordinate to the interests of secular politics.
    • scholars of the Renaissance discovered the most powerful of all weapons in their arsenal against the Church-
    • spirit of the modem age in TheNew Atlantis. An· English ship lands upon a utopian island in the
    • 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.”
    • 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,
    • things, including man: were a mere matter of automatic
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    • DescarteS, “and I will construct the universe!”
    • ment or hl1man reason. He attacked even the deist
    • If the universe did have an
    • 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.
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    • 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-
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    • 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
    • (1953), argUed that the
    • monotheism of Judaism and Islam originated in the rigidly patriarchal family life of the Semitic tribes of Arabia. He writes:
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    • II
    • Freud, not content to deny the divine origin of religion, rejected the idea that religious faith was justified on any grounds.
    • Materialistic philosophy reached its -climax in its chief protagonist-Karl Marx.
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    • Marx, all, aspects of human history, society and culture are the result of economic factors, the individual being
    • today. It has found as enthusiastic acceptance in
    • to its furthest extent when he writes:
    • an aimless, restless activity, an utterly irrational force.
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    • Since, the basil of aU ‘delire i. need, ·d~ aatf
    • and of its very euence .ubject to pain. If” on,’ tIie,:otIIer hand, it achieVes its objects’ of’daire through too ~
    • that even with aU his ~
    • through, he comes thus but” the nearer at eY.ery task to th.e human beinl and his couneoth(e .is’ but • .,ther-’ Jhorr- .
    • make room for othen • ..;;..M,.,s ojIIuMtI_ ~ind.dp.-4t~-
    • After denying any positive’ yalueto religioJis ‘faith,.
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    • Freud”had to admit tliartdence-is nojlobstitute:
25. 25 Science, apart cfo\h ••
    • . ‘../.-1L_
    • hu essentially negative ~teriitiCa .in .. that it ‘)imits
    • of ~d. ~y look for it where ,they can find it, but ~
    • “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-
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    • ‘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
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    • 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.”-
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    • 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.,
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    • 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.
    • be allOwed to adhere to his Such • lIIUlahoulcl not ~
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    • board of inquiry was established to inwstipte cues or
    • made the world. Almost at once, Conrad had a pat stroke
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    • _ .Qne oCthe blackest stains on the pages of medieval. histoI’y is the witchCraft mania which terrorized
    • his death .. the definitiVe text on witchcraft and how to
34. 34 V.,
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    • cruel. than the Catholics. Both leaders of the Protestant Reformation-Martin Luther and John Calvin _. were firm believers in the witchcraft tnania. John
    • of many victims accused of this “crime.”
    • In the light of these appalling historical facts, it
    • hearts of the people and leading intellectuals condemned
    • flourished at the time just bef\<?re the French Revolu-
    • as “The Age of Enlightenment.”
    • But soon it grew
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    • 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.
38. 38 By .860 the extermination of the American Indian as a
    • • •
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    • For five hundred years, between the 15th’ and loth
    • ot their mind and thought has been accomplished. Their
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    • was overcome with the shame of being Western, of being white. I wished instead that I had be~n bom coloured
    • the oppressed, coloured peoples of Asia and Africa.
    • the truth about the West, if a stranger on the street
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    • year . of his life, that the fault of the white man was
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    • 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
    • Where Western man was unable to bring about the genocide of native peoples physically, he resorted
    • as “heathen’t’ “pagan” or “barbarian” after World
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44. 44 , War II, their propaganda campaign against the surviving
    • 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- .
    • and “modernization.” It is argued that
    • 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
    • ization which leaves no trace of the original indigen-
    • individual or group complains that this policy has in
    • traces of “backwardness” still penist and the process of modernization has not been complete.
    • Is modernization the. panacea fot our difficulties,
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    • 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:
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    • -,
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49. 49 n, Golll",Btl"," James G. Frazer called this "sympathetic
    • primitive societies that by eatinc the heart of a lion. 0De·c:&Jl From people who borrow their culture. their vat’” their
    • 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
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    • worshipping the decf’ptive goddess of material progress, the people are far worse off economically than ever.
    • general prosperity within the realm, to prevent the ….
    • practice, more ‘destructive or all we MuaIima reckon as valu-
    • economic growth and progress would nece.arilymake maa
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    • 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.
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53. 53 '5 "The need of the hour for Muslims an over the
    • lyas well as collectively, to reconstruction in every field.
    • 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
    • and pool our resources to ensure and expedite the process of reconstruction.
    • and co-ordinate with each other in frank brotherly
    • 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
    • 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
    • yet another class of people who has, unfortunately,
    • had been placed before them in the dark days of
    • o~ sources of light and learning, they have beCome blind followen of their entwhile Masten and’ incidental-
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    • .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
    • it happening before our eyes.
    • tered to us to destroy and nothing can be more deadly than the poison deliberately and constantly belng
    • or the Muslim world.
    • “CentUries of political domination by powers, not only profcsing a different philosophy of
    • than that presented by Islam but outrageously callous and inimical towards all tliat goes under its spirit have
    • 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
    • at all as Muslims in the longest and severest onslaught and kept alive the flame of faith in the deadly deluge
    • darkest days of our’ history, there have always been
    • 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
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    • 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
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    • IS WESTERN CIVILIZATION THE ROUTE
    • • TO HUMAN WELFARE?
    • ment” and “modernization” of the non-European
    • leaders as the ultimate goal of policy and the supreme
    • ‘·tion” of this or that country, almost ~thout exception,
    • in the interests for the “progress” of mankind. All
    • to this view, b~ willingly sacrificed ‘at the altar of the goddess of “change” and the faster things change,
    • during the so-called “Age of Englightenment” led by
    • the ills of man. Religion Was equated with superstition
    • world, shorn of religious bigotry, they’ claimed, would henceforth be freed from the evils of persecution,
    • ed mastery over the world was the theory of mechanical
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    • uncriti~al acceptance of Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution ·that mankind emerged from
    • appeared on earth, it was of the simplest and lowliest types which . over the’ -ages evolved into
    • creatures at the apex of which stands the human
    • cultures at the apex of which stands modem
    • tantamount to defying the Jaw of evolution-to rebel -against Progress, against the very law of
    • only desirable but an inevitable and immutable
    • Since every change is an improvement along the road to. progress, the newe$t
    • Modern scientific knowledge has rendered all re-
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    • 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?
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    • 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-
    • 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
    • is optimistic .and predicts for the future, unlimited
    • in the earliest dawn of human greatnesi. But i!l the beauty of
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    • The unprecedented horrors of World War II and its
    • ers in the West who have smce thengroWD increasing-
    • backed by strong vested blterests of the “Great Powers,”
    • to the fallacy of “progress”, “development,” and
    • objective light of his historical record? Dne of the ob-
    • the fallacy of this view is TIteHistoryofTorture by Daniel
    • the record of man’s inhumanity In this work he shows
    • some of the most “primitive” peoples are also the most
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    • and unthinkable. Torture as an instrument of punish-
    • practiced throughout the world by all of the “highest”
    • Although Daniel Mannix proves that the use or
63. 63 . by every race in every time and locality, it is signifi-
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    • .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
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66. 66 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:
    • While 1 was in Argentina, 1 heard . several descriptions of ru.
    • -tioning. When tbe doctor saw the prisoner, he was faamini’
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    • democracies, the entire organization of society, domi-
    • to the …. P of wlUch he w …….. bCr. The ‘’’’’’’’’’- . ,”f’~l
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    • in the work P~’ remain the servants ‘,,f ,the hand, ~he
    • the natural rhythm of his bod! to their m~ha~f6l~t.
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    • which we llive. The result is a wasteland of·junk and or
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    • 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
    • the material rewards it brought. Today the industrial worker can be motivated to work only for his wages-
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    • shorter and shorter hours at more and more pay. In
    • 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
    • tion, regarded by the political leadership of th~ poor
    • creates many more difficulties than it Jolves.
    • In contrast, in the pre-industrialized age, the
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    • leisure. During the dally seven to nine bours ·of work~ com·
    • 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\<it~ction. An outstanding example’ of coercion used as a whip to increasen~tional.·
    • , s.”,.. Eiut_W.II: A Study in Humaa Rolatioas. RcIpUeI 5. I ••
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    • 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.
    • and demanded high tariffs. When the tarifti were passed,· the
    • the Roman freeman would rather have his dole’ and cir(:us
77. 77 whw 0057 p. L
    • The most striking characteristic of modernization is the urbanization of society. To be sure, urbaniza ..
    • 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
    • the facilities of the city can accommodate them. This
    • the city-dweller. This exclusion of nature from the daily life of urban man makes for artificial, false,
    • I~
    • . .
78. 78 . .......
79. 79 whw 0058
80. 80 "
81. 81 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:
82. 82 whw 0060
83. 83 "
    • 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?
84. 84 I'
85. 85 whw 0061
    • As a result of modern urbanization in places like India, there are millions of people who are absolutely
    • 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
    • tion mounts at astronomical rates, this is impossible.
    • of westemcapitalism which frustrates any efforts
    • rapid, indefinite rise of prices in essential commodities
    • burden of of inflation falls on the people in the poor countries where the cost of living is increasing so fast
86. 86 whw 0062
    • that increase in wages cannot possibly keep pace with
    • in poor countries like Iildia, Pakistan and Bengladesli.
    • as the supreme goal of Government policy, so much
    • expected two decades ago to abolish or at least greatly ameliorate the poverty of the people in the
    • America can expect to attain a level of material welfare comparable to that enjoyed iIi North America: and
    • poor countries is widening. In 1945, the annual income of the average American was 20 times that of the aver-
    • \GrtatAgel0/Man:TwentiethCentllr)” Joel Colton aDd the Editors or
87. 87 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.
    • ous specialized government institution. As a longer period or
88. 88 whw 0064
    • disrupt traditional forms of social life. The family patterns or
    • 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
89. 89 whw 0065 p. 60
    • . The entire brganization of modem civilization is geared
    • health. The individual, devoid of family ties, respon-
    • 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
90. 90 whw 0066 p. 61
    • 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~’”
91. 91 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.
    • period or life, society allows the individual no responsible role.
92. 92 whw 0068
    • i-. ,
    • ic\entify with the patterns of the parents and not to aspire to
    • 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.
93. 93 whw 0069 p. 64
94. 94 .
    • In traditional civilizations, the importance of filial piety
95. 95 " . 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
    • and . younger generations. The Quran commands
    • 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
96. 96 whw 0070
    • The weakening of the family and the destruction of
    • the degradation of all human relationships.
97. 97 whw 0071 p. 66
98. 98 to another; from one city to.another, from one. ~
    • movement from one job to another, from one place ofteSidtftcc
    • another. To the modernized individual, movinS .ust not,
99. 99 whw 0072 p. 61
    • 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
    • The quote above, of course, is referring to the
    • day life is that schizophrenia is no longer limited to isolated individuals but the entire society has become
100. 100 whw 0073
     • fare froin an intellectual standpoint? One of its proudest boasts is its system of universal, compulsoryeducation. The question is, what kind of education? In
     • finds no love of knowledge for its own sake. Western
     • In view of this totally materia,listic view, the whole Western system of education is
     • centres of learning. In a society where money means everything, it can buy a degree, or a bribe to intimidate
     • Yet the Western ideals of education continue to be
101. 101 whw 0074
102. 102 whw 0075
103. 103 , .
     • 70
     • religious morality IUcb as is reflected in die Qpran aDd
     • p1acea an additional bamer between the person and any
     • commercial or a journalistic report. And his emph” when eftluatiDg and· juclsing is on the measurable,
104. 104 whw 0076 p. 11
     • ed. He can listen on radio or television to accounts or
     • This type of “education” which the “devtlopmg”
     • 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,
     • manner with the aim narrow~d down to only literacy
     • 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:
105. 105 16.AnEdIlCIJtiO.lf11 Pro,NIfI for ".SIUUIlMlUfim Cii:'"'" ill1M
106. 106 whw 0077 p. 12
     • In thisprocesi, the intimate .tact between teacher and
     • And what’ofm.oralhealth?”Is modern civilizauonconduclve: t~’’’tl’S morar~lfate ?
     • Many people ··f:aa~·,wondered w&ebce tomes the waves upon
107. 107 whw 0078
     • improvea or desenerates. In a quarter of a century, given an
     • …. aad radio-in the meantime ha~ thrown the mantle of contempt over an contractive moral agencies, you can turn
108. 108 . such ~
109. 109 w·th grossly lleductive ..
     • ,tW-ea moan .nasal notes no ~
     • musician can ~.
110. 110 whw 0079
111. 111 The "popular song" is not popular at aU. .1
     • 1
112. 112 whw 0080
     • true, if.ilot truer, today than when he penned the above lines in 19110. The corruption of the mass-media of
     • leadenhip provided with knowledge and understanding rif the
113. 113 whw 0081 p. 76
     • What about man’s’ spiritual health. Such a
114. 114 whw 0082 p. 11
     • of modernization and therefore appears everywhere bi the
     • In modem civilization, what is supposed to take the place of religion ?
     • be quite saqsfying to_ an individual.o long as he can .ucceu-
115. 115 whw 0083
     • 7a
     • for it?
     • the historical evolutioJl8,ry process. Today man seeks to chanse
116. 116 whw 0084
117. 117 ~
     • less, like the traditional man, he faces two points whieh· …. - mine the beginning and the cad of IUs terrestrial.. ~
     • it ever dolO. But the oaly dUrereace is that· -..>-..oace certainty has today become doUbt aDd fear.’ .rthe reality
118. 118 whw 0085
     • 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
     • 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
119. 119 whw 0086
     • 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
     • gorieS-tribal blacb, reserve blacks ~d urban blacks. The
     • 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
120. 120 ,
121. 121 whw 0087 p. 82
     • study on aborigines in Victoria stated … “universally bad
122. 122 whw 0088
123. 123 &,
     • The process of westernization does not only degrade
     • but also the representatives or carriers of traditional highly developed civilizations. He is how the deculturalization of the Yemenite proceeds is modern Israel:
     • “that wJth all this, the paisten earned were not sufficient. Gone
124. 124 whw 0089
     • traditional relationship pattema were based on paternal autho-
     • the lOUd and brwd rOUDdation of everY ac~ty, of eva”)’ pbue
125. 125 whw 0090
126. 126 \\ "
127. 127 irreligious and that to be' religious in the 9rthodo~ sense is often a disadvantage .... so that they feel compelled to reject
     • and imperialism at work. The arena is world-wide
     • ing black Dravidians permanently at the lowest level of Hindu society, fit only for the dirtiest menial toil-all of
     • ever since. In antiquity, this-same work was continued
128. 128 25.IsratlBttw",.Eolllllld",ut.op. cit:. pP.!Oa-~OJ. i.,.299-309.
129. 129 whw 0091
     • bouring areas can be seen in the light of history as
     • become an induatrial power until sbe fint achieves the modern equivalent of empire. And the IOphistication of the Israeli m.
130. 130 whw 0092
     • a1
     • Another conspicuous example of this same white imperialism at work is the fate of the beduin in oil-rich Arabia.
     • Thousancls of miles away, half-way round the globe in the frozen Arctic, we find the Eskimos faced with the identical predicament:
     • or white domination, has followed a clasaic course with the
     • N~ York, .912. Pp. 139-142.
     • 26. 7TI. Folio/I,rlllillk”” AbcluJIab Schleifer, MonthJylteview ~
131. 131 whw 0093 p. 88
     • minerals are found beneath our soil. WhOle will it be?”
132. 132 non-European civilizations wiped out so that, culturally
133. 133 whw 0094
     • ‘physical appearance of modern cities in Asia and A&ica. In such cities as Cairo, Beirut, Jeddah, Riyadh
     • decades, leaving hardly a trace of the original city land-acape intact. Westernization of architecture is
     • to the god of “progress” beneficial to the people who
     • .. ·P.tant a,ad expensive air-conditioning units to make it habit-
134. 134 whw 0095
     • 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.
     • and sudden evictions ..•.. “
     • I t is this same phenomenon which explains the mass-migrations of the educated and the uneducated,
135. 135 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.
136. 136 .ace. and crimes committed by fron tier Ameritam against
     • 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~
137. 137 whw 0097
     • contraty, that they have NOT “overcome,”nor will
     • The record of history proves that Islam was the
     • civilizing of backward peoples was accomplished with-
138. 138 whw 0098
     • dignified bearing ,till frier heralded a moral regeneration.
     • converaion. I t does not .stipulate revolutionary changes iii
     • is no abyas. Both are ec..’…. not merely in theory but in
     • 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-
     • -grasive” or obsolete. It is the duty of all those who uphold their religious traditions to reveal \Y.estern
139. 139 •
140. 140 whw 0099
141. 141 . 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 “.
     • America” . In the last of six reports, the National ActviIory
142. 142 whw 0100
143. 143 "
     • If the President and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court are foUnd guilty of crimes, how caD
     • ,law of the land? Hence the fallacy of secular demo-
     • In this way, all the political,’ economic,. educational, scientific and social institutions of Western
144. 144 who avoid a violent death' will succumb tom .. starvation and diSease due to famine and scarcity of .
     • If we are to avert a new Dark Age in the next
     • . 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
     • n. “0IiIial Political CorruptioD Impedea W=educ:iN’QiaWaIit, in
145. 145 7, Jsh;.,,,d, Vor.lI. ~
     • ..!-.,
146. 146 whw 0101
147. 147 BI·. TilE: S.t .lfE: ;4{'THOR
148. 148 . .. ..
     • 1. ‘\ ….. ‘.”.Ii””.!HI \tumu ,.tlro..
149. 149 ,. \\\\ ....... 1", .... ".1"", \\1 .... u' , .......
150. 150 ...
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154. 154 . • hi ....... tho \\1~,hm \\\\om •• r ......
155. 155 II. ( .. ,...,-."U 1It'''ttfI 'h., ... " ......... , ,-
156. 156 ...
     • 11 1’’’0’’’’’’.’’’’. or II .. · II …. , I”” ‘M~’
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158. 158 s.
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