Dr Shamlan Yousef Al Essa
Violence and terrorism are now widely prevalent in the Arab world. What are the reasons behind this?
The recently published book, The Fall of the Islamic World, by German-Egyptian writer Hamed Abdel-Samad, has led to protests by some, while others believe that he is right about the rigidity of the Islamic world.
The book was released in Germany and a summary was published on social media. We will address the main ideas of the book related to education and the importance of cultural tolerance.
During an interview with the book’s author, Deutsche Welle TV station asked some questions that I will convey to you as published on social media. The station posed the following question:
“Your book reveals a perspective on many problems of the Islamic world, which has stopped being creative and has become a burden to the world. What is the main issue that Muslims need to address in order to begin solving these issues and move forward?
The answer is, to cleanse minds of the poison of hatred, particularly of the West, and reform the educational system to make it a tool for the future, rather than a device in the hands of those in power to strengthen loyalty to the leader.
The current education system incites hate by secluding the self from others, while real education teaches students how to think and take decisions on their own instead of imitating others.
However, educational reform means ending dictatorship, which is not in the interest of the ruler, who only wants people to live under his rule, not think. If people start thinking, they will question the legitimacy and eligibility of the ruler to lead the country.
In a question to the author about Islam’s growth in the past and its positive influence on world civilization, he said that period was between the eighth and eleventh centuries, when the Muslim world flourished because of its openness and cooperation with other civilizations.
Most of the early Muslim scholars were not Arabs but Muslims of Persian, Christian or Jewish origins. This means a new, hybrid civilization was created because of interactions between different societies.
Nowadays, we look at the West as disbelievers so we don’t want to have any relations with them; we prefer to isolate ourselves.
The Islamic nation has lost its ability to take advantage of modern science and deal flexibly with current challenges; it has cut itself off from the rest of the world. This is the last stage in the downfall of any civilization, because it has lost its purity and the ability to pull itself together.
What Abdel-Samad has written in his book is true. It is a part of the Arab enlightenment movement that has emerged recently, calling for separation of religion from politics and emphasising the importance of a democratic civil state based on a constitution and laws. Such a state will drive away tribal, sectarian, national and regional fanaticism.
I disagree with the author only because he has focused too much on Arab regimes while addressing the issues of Muslims.
Otherwise, the general problem in the Arab world has to do with too many political parties, and the Arab-Muslim community rejects change and modernisation through education and cultural openness.
The author is a researcher and political analyst
