Islam is the Solution
Khalid Baig wrote the following editorial for IMPACT magazine, which is as refreshing as it was seven years ago, when it was written (Septembe, 2001).The term ‘Third World’ was coined after the Second World War refering to the nation states that were emerging from the former colonies. These countries were not part of the two geopolitical blocs of associated interests. The ‘Third’ then meant the third camp.
The world order established by the ‘First world’ in the post colonial period was just as imperialist and exploitative as the one that preceded it. It engineered a net transfer of wealth, at increasing rate, from the poor countries to the rich, making the poor nation states even poorer. In 1820 the estimate of disparity of wealth in the world were about 3:1. By 1950 the ratio had changed to 35:1 and by 1992 it had reached 72:1.
Today the disparity ratio between the richest and poorest countries is even wider. Ironically, their exploits have earned the exploiters ‘respectability’ and the exploited a disdain. The term ‘Third World’ has come to signify a disparaging third class – third rate.
Armies of ‘experts’ have convinced everyone that the real problem of the exploited countries is that they’re too ‘traditional’, and their salvation lies in aping the ‘progressive’ ways of the West. This is the essence of the theory that seeks to move societies from the ‘traditional’ to the ‘modern’.
Not surprisingly, all the Muslim countries are classified in the ‘Third World’ category. Generations of educated Muslims have grown up convinced that progress must mean modernization which in turn equates with westernization.
Therefore, for every problem they face, they have turned to the ‘First World’ for answers, guidance, and help. They see their own societies as delinquency to adherence to religion and traditions. Most ruling elites in the Muslim world belong to to this school of thought.
It’s about time that we invite them to shed hypocrisy and take an objective look at their own societies. They could discover – contrary to their thinking – that the good in their societies comes from Islam and bad from hypocrisy and difiance of Islam.
Islam doesn’t promote materialistic notions of life tat result in nobody having time for others; what Islam teaches is is the value of every moment of our life as providing the opportunity to earn the rewards in the Hereafter. It does require Muslims to be punctual and not waste time. And it delivers.
In the vast Muslim world ther is one enterprise that is extraordinary in its punctuality and discipline. In the big cities or the remotest village, the “Adhan” is called without fail, five times a day, every day, and people join the congregational prayers at the proper times. Nothing keeps them from their sacred duty.
This adherence to time keeping is not regulated by governments or financed by big businesses. When most people are in the comfort of their beds, there is a “Muezin” in every neighbourhood who give the wake-up call to remind everyone – “Assalatu khairum minan nawm (Prayer is better than sleep)”. Here is a glimpse of the power of Islam.
Just imagine a situation when not just a “Muezin” and a small congregation, but the entire population becomes responsive to to their duty. Their sense of responsiblity will be beyond the formal prayers and covers all aspects of life.
Equally fascinating is the unparalleled power of Islam in in shunning social evils that are consuming the world. Despite their problems, Muslim lands, even now, shine as islands of virtue in a deep dark ocean of vice.
Consider alcoholism. In the United States alone, the economic cost of alcoholism and drug abuse are estimated at US$250 billion per year. The social and moral costs are an additional burden on the society. There indeed was an attempt to try and solve the problem. In 1917, Congress passed the 18th Amendment (ratified in 1920), prohibiting alcohol. This was after a century of graee-root efforts, which included thousands of groups for prohibition and abstinence pledges in churchesThe legislature allocated US$5 million for enforcement of prohibition to turn USA into a liquor-free society. The cost rocketed to an estimated US$300 million a few years later. Organized crime stepped in and 13 year later prohibition was repealed by Volstead Act in 1933.
By contrast, Islam banned alcohol 14 centuries ago- among people whose love for alcohol is well known. In three simple steps, only over a few years, alcohol was banished – from Muslim life. Today, despite small areas of infraction – a map of the dry world coincides with the map of the Muslim world.
A similar astounding event surrounding the cultivation of the poppy took place in Afghanistan recently. A single command of the country’s Emir achieved what hundreds of experts and millions of dollars could not. In Taliban ruled Afghanistan the cultvation of opium has come to a total stop (thanks to US occupation, it’s back – 4,000 tons of poppy was produced for world’s US$600 billion drug market, run mostly by Jews – in 2006).
Where else but in a Muslim country, Saudi Arabia, can one find gold and jewellery stores without armed guards, closed doors, and eaborate security systems?
The exploitation of women in the form of prostitution is a major crime committed by the ‘First World’ against humanity and morality (according to Amnesty International 2006 report – more than 50,000 new women are added per year to US prostitution industry and 3,000-5,000 White Christian women are sold for sex-slavery in Israel). Whether it’s legal or illegal, whether there are marked red-light areas or not, it flourishes where the ‘First World’ has its way (even for their peace-keeping forces in foreign countries). In ever area visited by their armies, they have left these centres of filth. Again, the notable exception is the Muslim world.
Yet this world used to be a dark place, having forgotten or distorted previous prophets’ teachings, before the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), brought the light. He brought back the message of “Tawheed”, universal brotherhood (Ummah), compassion, mercy, equality, justice, God-consciousness, and morality.
With the Muslims defaulting in their observance of Islam, the darkness has started to increased again, dividing the world into first, second, and third worlds. There is lot of arrogance and ignorance in these ranks, but the beacon of Islam is there to illuminate the way – once again – if only we grasp it. If we were to look in the right places, we will find the answers. Islam is the solution.
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