May 27, 2005
Quantum Note
Winds of Change (II)
Apparently the present era is the darkest in Muslim history. No one is counting, but the number of Muslims being killed around the world on a daily basis is extremely high. What appears in media is only a small percentage of the total number of Muslims being killed in places as far apart as Andijan and Falluja. Death, destruction, and desecration of life and values have become common place all across the Muslim lands. To speak of hope and a bright future in these dark times may seem quixotic, but underneath the present turmoil is the dawn of a new era; the entire Muslim world is, once again, on the move. New winds of change are blowing over the ancient lands and though they are destroying many precious things, they are the harbingers of a new phase of Muslim history.
This vision of hope is grounded in an understanding of the laws of historical change and can be objectively verified. Let us begin with the most obvious facts. Shortly after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, America policy-makers decided that the world had now become the sole property of the United States. This vision of America, which has been articulated by numerous American thinkers and intellectuals, set the course for the emergence of neoconservatives who conceived of the twenty-first century as the American century. Their dream was neither wishful thinking nor empty rhetoric; they worked hard to set the course of the next century and through dedication, careful planning, and constant vigilance, achieved a remarkable degree of success. The key to their success was their control of the Middle East, or so they thought.
Thus, they planned their strategies to achieve control of that vast region which holds the largest proven reserves of black gold flowing through an existing network of pipelines. No doubt, there are other regions of the world which may have more oil and gas than the Middle East, but it is the question of the cost of having that oil. In any case, the main focus of America was the control of the Middle East and by the end of the twentieth century, it had succeeded in penetrating deep into that region through multiple strategies. The single most effective tool used by America to achieve this end was a military dictator gone mad: Saddam Hussein’s ill-planned invasion of Kuwait was a windfall for America and its allies, but that was not enough. The neoconservatives needed something much more dramatic and their moment came in September 2001. One day the world might know the real truth behind 9/11, but as far as the subsequent events are concerned, that truth is of little consideration. Those who utilized that event strategically are now deep in the region they had always considered vital for the realization of their dream of a century dominated by America.
This is how the post-Soviet era brought the self-proclaimed sole superpower of the world to a region inhabited by Muslims. September 11 brought this superpower in direct clash with both Islam and Muslims. Let us note that this encounter is not a clash of civilizations as it has been poorly described by Huntington, because to conceive it as a clash of civilizations is merely to see the outward manifestation of a much deeper clash. What is in direct clash is not the two civilizations of Islam and the West, but rather the two worldviews which have given birth to these two civilizations.
One is a Virgilian worldview, based on the supremacy of human will and ego, the other is rooted in a more ancient and un-Virgilian religious tradition in which the ultimate achievement of the human ego lies in its submission to the Will of the Creator.
The Virgilian construct inspires its adherent to achieve excellence through defiance of all other wills, including the Will of the Creator. It achieves supremacy in this world by conquering nature, by constructing machines and ideas that extend the human power over vast regions of space. Recast in the twenty-first century by the American military power, this Virgilian notion of the supremacy of the human will has now been expressed in a manner that is unprecedented in history: no other nation has ever possessed so much concentration of power. The Virgilian worldview is a man-made construct, based on human reasons and ego. The non-Virgilian worldview is, ultimately, a revealed vision of life and death.
These two worldviews are now in direct and active confrontation; this encounter is not limited to war fronts, it is also present in the realm of ideas and in modes of living. It is this direct clash between the two worldviews that is the most obvious reality of our times and it is in the very nature of this clash wherein lies the hope for a change in the situation of Muslims lies. This may appear to be an unrealistic assessment to many, but history shows that whenever there has been such a direct clash between a man-made worldview and a revealed worldview, it is always the vision of life and the Hereafter based on revelation that wins.
The exact details of this final victory may not be visible for many more years to come, but the initial signs are already there. The greatest military power of the world is now engaged in an unending war with a small group of people and it cannot win this war. There is no doubt that this military now has the ability to reach anywhere on this planet and destroy any place on earth, but such abilities mean nothing when it comes to real issues of survival and victory.
Nations prosper and survive if they are internally strong. The winds of change that are blowing in the Muslim world are rapidly producing that inner strength through a new awareness of Islam in a large number of men and women. Within a generation, this new consciousness will manifest at various levels, producing excellence. It is true that the new Islamic consciousness is still marginal in the Muslim world, but time is in its favor, whereas, time is against its adversary. The internal decay of the Western civilization is rapidly tearing apart its moral, economic, and social fabric. The most potent force in the West is heading toward an internal economic collapse: The day George W. Bush was sworn into office in 2001, the national debt of America was $5.7 trillion, and there was a surplus. Today it has climbed to $7,782,816,546,352.29. That is seven trillion, seven hundred and eighty-two billion, eight hundred and sixteen million, five hundred and forty-six thousand, three hundred and fifty-two dollars, and twenty-nine cents.
(To be continued)
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