03 January 2011 By Moez Mobeen "The Muslim world needs to
realize that colonialism is the real enemy and if they
are to arrest the decline prevalent in their lands
they need to viciously target every aspect of the
colonialist presence whether it be the agent rulers,
democracy and the rejection of the biased
international order which has imposed destructive wars
and economic stagnation over their lands." It has almost been two centuries
since the Muslim World engaged itself in the debate
about revival which was stimulated by the rise of
European Liberalism and the decline in the power and
influence of the once mighty ottoman caliphate. It is
both ironic and encouraging that the debate continues;
ironic because the Muslim World still finds itself in
decline and in an abysmal state, encouraging because
they haven't given up on changing their state of
affairs. Although the debate about revival
within the Muslim World took many ideological turns in
the course of these two centuries, exploring new
ideas, testing new notions, looking for new solutions,
it was from its very start to the present day,
influenced from outside the Muslim World. Infact it
was not until liberalism took hold in Europe,
radically changing its outlook and political
institutions, and the rapid industrialization which
strengthened the European Powers of the day both
economically and politically, resulting in European
expansion around the globe that the Muslim World start
to feel its weakness and the need for internal
strength. It was the first time in many
centuries that the Muslims had an ideological rival, a
group of nations challenging their political and
military might based on an intellectual challenge to
their way of life. The Muslim World was confronted
with a civilization which was organized on the basis
of a very different political idea, the separation of
state and religion, one at complete odds with their
own creed and it was the first time that they
witnessed a civilization against whom they can compare
their own affairs and calibrate their intellectual,
political and economic strength. The rise of European
liberalism coincided with a period in Muslim history
when the Muslim World was headed by the Ottoman
Caliphs; Turks who were extremely skilled fighters and
masters of the arts of politics, but who were the
weakest in the history of Islam with regards to
intellectual strength. Under them the Muslim World had
gone in a state of intellectual lethargy after the
height of intellectual strength which was witnessed
under the Abbasi Caliphs, who being Arabs were well
versed in the solutions presented by the Arabic
Prophet and the Arabic Quran. Infact it was in the
time of the Abbasi Caliphs that the Muslim World
successfully faced off the challenge presented by the
adherents of Greek philosophy and the intellectual
threat presented by the rationalists, or as they are
called in history. It was also under the Abbasi
Caliphs that the Muslim thinkers engaged in the
discussion much similar to the one presented by
American philosopher Francis Fukuyama in his famous
article "The End of History" in which he proclaimed
the eternal triumph of liberalism after the defeat of
Soviet Union and the end of the intellectual quest for
the perfect political model for humanity. Many
centuries earlier, Muslim jurists were debating
whether they had answered every question posed by
humanity and whether it was time to close the doors of
ijtihad. Just as Francis Fukuyama learned
a decade later about the limits of liberalism, with
the launch of the war on terror which was an explicit
admission by the West of its failure to convince the
Muslim World of Western ideals and thus a resort to
force to control the affairs of the Muslim World, the
Muslims under the Ottoman caliphs found out the cost
of the intellectual lethargy which had engulfed the
Muslim World when they found themselves unprepared for
the challenge posed by European liberalism by the end
of eighteenth century. It was the start of the internal
debate within the Muslim World regarding revival which
was stimulated by the progress of European powers
especially the success of the French revolution. This
marked the start of the discussion within the Muslim
World about decline and how to avoid it and what was
the process which would lead them out of it. It also
marked the start of the protracted process of Western
colonialism which lies at the heart of the problem
faced by the Muslim World as the decline of the Muslim
World has its roots in the rise of Western liberalism
which dislodged the Islamic caliphate from the
international theatre, which was until before the
advent of Western liberalism the sole manager and
greatest power at the international stage till the end
of the eighteenth century. Western colonialism within
the Muslim world can be divided in to three phases
over the course of the last two centuries: Soft Colonialism:
An era stretching from the end of eighteenth century
till the destruction of the Islamic Caliphate on 3rd
March 1924. The colonialists exploited the
intellectual weakness of the Muslim World realizing
that their material and scientific progress has
impressed many amongst the Muslims especially the
educated class and led an intellectual struggle within
the Muslim World forcing her to reform her political
institutions in tune with Western political
institutions. This phase could also be called cultural
colonialism in which the colonialists prepared Western
trained and cultured Muslim elite who would become her
ideological agents and spread Western ideals like
democracy, freedom, feminism, nationalism, sovereignty
of the human mind and the need to separate religion
and state. The aim of the colonialists was to
internally weaken the ottoman caliphate so that it can
be disintegrated and eventually destroyed. The
cultural bombardment of ideas from Western
civilization was coupled with the ever increasing
political pressure which the colonial states like
Britain and France brought upon the ottoman caliphate
pushing it for political reform and granting autonomy
to its provinces which were later to be separated and
majority of which were to become colonies of the
European Powers. During this phase the Ottoman
caliphate saw much of its territory being lost in the
Balkan regions, Africa, Middle East and the
subcontinent. Classical Colonialism:
This is the era of physical and direct occupation of
Muslim lands by Western colonialists. This occupation
started towards the end of eighteenth century and
throughout the nineteenth century till it reached its
pinnacle after the destruction of the ottoman
caliphate at the hands of the allies in the First
World War on 3rd March 1924. It marked the start of an
era of complete domination of Muslim lands by Western
Powers when the whole of Muslim land came under the
physical control of the colonialists. Apart from
plundering the resources of the colonies the Western
powers used this era to inculcate in the Muslim mind
the Western political thought through the education
curriculum and establishment of political forces
advocating the reorganization of the Muslim societies
based on the separation of state and religion. It was
also the era in which the colonialists oversaw the
consolidation of Westphalian ideal of national
sovereignty in Muslim lands. This was the beginning of
the introduction of democracy in Muslim lands, a
system imposed by the occupying forces on their
subjects. It is no wonder then after the end of
physical occupation by the colonialists on Muslim
lands these areas inherited the boundaries drawn by
the colonialists as agreed between them in the
Sykes-Picot agreement and the Treaty of Sevres as well
as the constitutions made for them by the
colonialists. Neo-Colonialism:
After the Second World War the European Powers were
significantly weakened and could not physically
control their colonies. Also the rise in power and
influence of the US and Soviet Union meant influence
on Muslim lands had new and strong competitors. The
colonialists withdrew from Muslim lands and designed
the architecture for neo colonialism by
institutionalizing what we today know as the
international community and international law.
International organizations like the IMF, World Bank,
United Nations and Commonwealth were formed and their
governing structures were designed in a a manner that
these institutions were controlled and dominated by
the great powers. The Veto wielding Security Council
members, the unwritten law that the head of the World
Bank would always be an American and that of IMF
always a European, the US being the only country to
have a super majority in the governing board of the
IMF giving it an effective veto, are some examples of
how the newly setup international community was
designed to serve the colonial powers. Moreover the
efficiency and lethargy of these organizations with
regards to different global issues speak volumes about
these being tools of colonial powers. The quickness
with which the United Nations acted to establish the
Israeli State and the delay in the resolution of the
Palestinian issue, United Nations mandating the attack
on Iraq at the time of first Gulf War and the invasion
of Afghanistan while delaying the resolution of the
Kashmir dispute, the partition of East Taimur from
Indonesia on the one hand and failure to stop the
genocide of Muslims in Bosnia and Kosovo in former
Yugoslavia on the other, the provision of Civil
Nuclear Deal to India while its refusal to Iran are
examples of the inherent bias of the international
institutions towards Western colonialists. However
what served as the pillars of neo-colonialism in
Muslim lands, apart from the so called "international
community" were two of the major tools which the West
nurtured during the era of soft colonialism and
classical colonialism; pliant puppet rulers and
Western systems (mainly democracy). It was to this hard fact that the
Wikileaks pointed out, as a rude reminder to Muslim
masses that although the era of classical colonialism
may be over but colonialism persists in Muslim lands
in a new shape; agent rulers, western systems and the
holy than thou international architecture governing
the relations between states. The Muslim world needs
to realize that colonialism is the real enemy and if
they are to arrest the decline prevalent in their
lands they need to viciously target every aspect of
the colonialist presence whether it be the agent
rulers, democracy and the rejection of the biased
international order which has imposed destructive wars
and economic stagnation over their lands. It is by
returning to re-establishing the ideological Islamic
state and resurrecting the institution of the
caliphate that they have any hope of ending their
abysmal state of affairs. That is the lesson of
history for them. Comments 💬 التعليقات |