My 76 years old elder brother expressed his disappointment after viewing some events connected to the so called Muslim Heritage Week in Toronto. He complained why the Muslims find pleasure in the past only while disregarding the importance of the contemporary times in which they live. This tendency to seek happiness in the bygone days is a dramatic turn in the Muslim psyche. This is ridiculous that non Arab Muslims disregard their own culture by shamelessly embracing pagan Arab cultures.
While discussing the contemporary mindset of the some ultra zealous Islamic ideologists with a friend of mine who is a very energetic supporter of this growing platform, I lamented them for their fatal attraction to the pre medieval ages when Islam was used to discipline the pagan Arabs. Many people really get angry when I proclaim that by accepting a foreign faith one should not succumb to the culture of that faith because faith is basically a spirit not a culture. When Islam was shipped to the non Arab cultures the missionaries made it a package deal that the culture associated with Islam, which is a wholesome Arab culture, was also an integral part of this new faith. This worked because they made a vicious brew of faith and fear. The ultra reactionary Wahabi brand of Islam is vicious because the ideology imposes the Arab tribal culture rooted in the early middle ages which does not fit into other cultures. This so called Islamic renaissance which I call degeneration in word and spirit is a cumulative consequence of a Muslim failure to accept the competitive and complex 21st century. The sharia laws are nothing but a brew of conservative Islam and tribal laws which is totally out of tune with the contemporary times. The tendency to turn the wheel of time in the name of faith is sign of clear failure to face the realities of our times. This scourge of Islamic extremism which has blackened the face of the general Muslims can't be stopped unless the Muslims do not come out from the hallucination of the past.
A vast number of Muslims gave in to this frustration and ignorance and are looking for some guidance in the dark alleys of the 7th century Arabian culture rather than their own tumultuous times. They are more prone to abreast the bygone days by making more mosques, appreciating hijab, niqab and showing stupid approval for the movements like Taliban. This degeneration of spirit is driving the entire Muslim world into an abyss and creating further gap between the present and future thereby putting the posterity in an uncharted world. This plague of ignorance is so deafening that no logic works here, no pragmatic sense can make inroads. A pervasive culture of fear reigns supreme and a sense of utter resignation have taken control of the entire Muslim psyche. The different Muslim nations around the world have been held in captivity and they are gradually giving in to the architects of the fear mongers who are not ready to see reason and realities. This failure to report to the reason and the blind conviction that this dangerous tendency to hug the past will bring emancipation from the present morass is ominous. For me its outrageous to see that many Muslims who live in the west and made it their home actively subscribe to this degenerating ideology .They actively promote these ideas which emboldens the disruptive forces of Islam around the world. Islam as a faith has already lost its credibility and attractions in the non Muslim world and this should be a wake up call for any enlightened person of the faith to restore its respect by acting judiciously and reasonably. It's matter of great shame that living in the western nations enjoying their fruits of prosperity and freedom one would like to harm them. This must be considered as an act of treachery, dishonesty and above all irreligious.
Akbar Hussain
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