Answer
Wa Alaykum Assalam,
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Please find part one of the answer to your question below. Find the second and final part at the link here.
Difficult Times
It is a fact that we are passing through a difficult period in our history. But we cannot avoid our responsibilities just by blaming the world and the times.
We need to examine and analyze the problems we are facing as to how they came to be, what forces act against us, and most importantly what role we ourselves have played in the past and are still playing in precipitating the present situation.
It is usual for some Muslims to blame outside forces for all the ill fortunes of the Muslim world; but this certainly is a negative way of looking at things, as long as we do not do what we can to stop the internal bleeding in our societies.
While it is true that the world powers and the current international system hold much blame, Muslims themselves have miserably failed to be in charge of their own affairs.
It is true that Muslim countries had to reckon with imperialist interventions and the consequent problems.
First there was a sense of the dispossession of the natural resources in our countries, and then the deep wounds we sustained in our national consciousness.
In the vacuum created by the newly attained political independence, opportunists or extremists came to the fore to take advantage of the grievances of the ordinary people to advance their political goals. And what did the “civilized world” do in this situation?
They betrayed the values and principles they swear by: They entered into secret deals with the new dictators to advance their own political and financial interests.
Change Our Conditions
Being the largest polluters of the world, they destroyed the natural environment through excessive industrial exploitation; and being the biggest producers of the weapons of mass destruction, they tricked the poor countries into buying them, by inciting conflicts among them.
They run an economic system that favors the rich and keeps the poor at the bottom. They use international law to secure their own interests without regard for others. Some justify discrimination and racism against Muslims in the name of fighting religious extremism. The list goes on… [i]
But what about the Muslims?
Just like the powerful countries of the world, Muslims have betrayed their own tradition. They have allowed injustice, inequality, poverty, extremism, and terrorism to fester in their midst.
They have failed to address legitimate grievances in morally sensible and rationally effective ways.
Instead of working to resolve their problems with wisdom and patience, they have resorted to intolerance, fanaticism, and violence. The result is the spread of such extremist groups as al Qaida, ISIS, and Boko Haram […] [ii]
In view of the foregoing we need to think as to how we can regain self-esteem. Allah Almighty says in the Noble Quran what means:
{[…] God will not change the condition of a people until they change what is in themselves […]} (Quran 13:11)
Please continue reading part 2 here.
References:
[i] Ibrahim Kalin: Crisis in the Muslim World
[ii] Ibid
(From Ask About Islam archives)
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