Islamic Worldview & Fighting Eurocentricism
SHORTLINK for this page: bit.do/azthf
Some additional relevant materials to this theme are given on page: {Building Self-Confidence]
More Recent Blog Post on IWV: Conflicting WorldViews: Western and Islamic
Post on Islamic WorldView Blog: Re-Learning History
See also: collection of article, published in book format: An Islamic WorldView:
12 Feb 2013: Development: Myths and Truths -- this provides and Islam Centered view of Economic Development while simultaneously debunking the Eurocentric view.
An essential theme of my writings is that there is a background world view which is built into a Western Education. Some essential elements of this European Worldview are that
The whole world was in darkness, until the light of reason first shone in Europe during the Enlightenment which ended the Dark Ages of Europe. Science, Rationality, Democracy, and all good things were first invented in Europe. Over the past three centuries, Europe has made progress of the kind never before seen in the history of mankind. The rest of mankind has no choice but to follow Europe.
Knowledge worth the name is “Scientific Knowledge” and this is an exclusive property of the West. Other types of knowledge are either useless superstitions or of marginal importance. Also, religion has nothing to contribute to the arena governed by scientific knowledge. Thus, it is irrelevant in resolving the key issues which face human beings.
Progress: Europe has made fantastic progress along all dimensions of human existence, evolving to achieve perfection over the course of a few centuries since the Enlightenment. Now the rest of world will follow suit -- History propels us all along the path followed by Europe -- End of History will occur when we all arrive at the goal already reached by Europe.
A lot of my writings are devoting to combating these false ideas, and providing sensible alternatives. Some of the key essays related to this theme are listed below. The first three are rather long essays, while the remaining are short one page newspaper articles.
“An Islamic Worldview: An Essential Component of an Islamic Education,” Lahore Journal of Policy Studies Vol. 1 No. 1, p95-106, June 2007.
In contrast to the European worldview, Islam asserts that the best of times was the time of the Prophet Mohammad. S.A.W. The message of God is embodied in the Quran and was translated into a living reality in the lives of our Prophet and his companions. The knowledge of Islam, the greatest Gift of God to mankind, transformed ignorant, backwards and barbaric Arabs into world leaders, and launched a civilization that dominated the world for a thousand years. It was the light of this civilization, in the form of the culture, universities and textbook of Al-Andalus, Islamic Spain, which ended the dark ages of Europe and launched the European Enlightenment.
The European and Islamic worldviews are dramatically opposed to each other in many different dimensions. Today, the dominance of the Eurocentric worldview has indoctrinated Muslims into accepting many un-Islamic beliefs. Understanding and absorbing the Islamic worldview is a necessary antidote. This essay discusses key elements of the Islamic Worldview, and how these elements conflict with beliefs which are automatically built into a western education
“European Transition to Secular Thought: Lessons for Muslims,” to appear in Insights, Da’wah Academy [EHL4M attached below]
Countering Three Myths Fostered by a Western Education -- appeared in the Intellect.
Europeans have argued that the Dark Ages of Europe were ended because of the emergence of rational thought and science. In fact the Enlightenment of Europe occurred due to the influence of Islamic Spain. This essay described the key historical events which led Europe to reject religion and develop a secular worldview, which is the anti-thesis of the Islamic worldview. There are three main events which are discussed in this article. These are (1) the corruption of the Church, which led to (2) emergence of Protestants and formation of sects. Finally (3) violent warfare among opposing sects led to general disenchantment with religion and emergence of a secular outlook on life. All of these events provide important lessons for Muslims who would like to preserve Islam and Islamic societies today.
Muslim contributions to Science: [Historical Mis-Facts, attached below]:
This is an essay (not by myself) which just lists the inventions made be Muslims and how they have been wrongly attributed to Europeans. This “theft of history” has led to misconceptions among some Muslims that all good things were invented by the West, and that the Muslims have never done anything worthwhile in history. This leads to an inferiority complex which prevents us from thinking and acting courageously, and having confidence in our religion and traditions and ancestors where needed. Another similar source for Muslim contributions to science is available in Arab Science: A Journey of Innovation by the Qatar Foundation: http://www.grouporigin.com/clients/qatarfoundation/introduction.htm
“The Dark Side of the Enlightenment Project.”
This short article shows that rejection of religion has led to severe problems in the West. This is contrary to the dominant view that projects only the bright side of European progress.
The Dark Side of the Enlightenment Project
published in Turkish Daily News, Monday, Nov 26, 2007
published in the Jakarta Post on Wednesday, Oct 15,2008 -- with a lively discussion attached.
published in The News, (Pakistan) on Monday, May 12, 2008
“Failures of Modernization Theories.”
The idea that we need to modernize and Westernize the Islamic world in order to progress is firmly planted in the minds of Muslim leaders and political parties all over the Islamic world. This essay shows that such attemps have been complete failures and it is time to for new ways to progress.
Failures of Modernization Theories.
published in Pakistaniaat: A Journal for Pakistan Studies Vol 1, No 2. 2009
11/11/2008: Jakarta Post with title: From the Rubble of Modernization: Choosing our own pathways to progress
published Friday, Nov. 30, 2007: Turkish Daily News
Thursday June 5, 2008: The News:
Built into our educational system is the idea that Muslims were ignorant barbarians and the Europeans came and colonized us in order to bring us the benefits of their science and technology as well as good governance, education, and civilization. This essay shows that exactly the opposite is true. Colonization destroyed functioning systems and was meant only to loot the wealth of the colonies. This was successfully accomplished leading to a rich Europe and a “poor” underdeveloped world.
This essay describes briefly how Europeans abandoned their religion of Christianity and developed a secular worldview. It also describes how much damage to both Europe and the world has resulted because abandonment of religion has also led to a substantial decline in morality in the West.
Friday, December 19, 2008. Jakarta Post: Social Movements: Lessons from European History
published in The News (Pakistan) on Friday, Oct 24, 2008, with title: Not Just Europe
One of the key elements in the transiton to secular thought is the abandonment of higher goals and the pursuit of worldly pleasures, primary among them being wealth. This essay describes how the pursuit of wealth, which was initially considered as evil in Europe, was turned into a desirable and good quality. It also documents some of the harm to Humanity that has resulted from this change.
published in The News (Pakistan) on Thursday, February 12, 2009