Written by Dr. Tijani Boulaouali
Translated by Salah Chig
What Muslims publish on social media platforms summarizes the state of the Islamic Ummah, with no need for specialized research centers, field studies, or periodic reports. A glance at the posts and comments of just a small sample of those with Arab and Islamic names, both men and women, can reveal to the normal reader, let alone a specialist, the state of moral, behavioral, social, and identity crisis in which many Muslims are floundering in our current era. Concerning the political, economic, and scientific crisis in most Islamic countries, there’s no need to raise it here, as we believe it’s a logical and realistic reflection of the moral, social, and cognitive crisis. Since most of the development strategies adopted in Muslim countries are imported from foreign, non-Muslim contexts, there will be no development or change in the current era. Therefore, the modernization attempts that have taken place since the metaphorical liberation of Arab and Islamic countries have not exceeded what is formal, “objective,” and negatively interactive.
As far as our humble perspective is concerned, development should find an internal readiness and ability to harness the achievements and gains of other civilizations for the benefit of the Self, just as our ancestors did in the past. But today, the equation is reversed, because we harness our wealth and resources for the benefit of Others. The Western, Russian, and Chinese other are the biggest beneficiaries from the transfer of their industrial, developmental, and technological models, and we are left with only the crumbs that are worth nothing compared to what is spent on importing medical, pharmaceutical, digital, and armament equipment, and much more.
Prior to examining the current economic underdevelopment and political regression of Muslims, it is necessary to acknowledge their moral and social backwardness, which serves as the root cause of all difficulties and plagues. This phenomenon poses a significant threat to the future of Muslims, both at the state and individual level, as it exhibits multiple negative indicators.
For the integrity of our assumptions, it is crucial, here, to mention two tangible and lived examples. The first one is the collective genocide targeting our brothers in Palestine for about one year, while most Arab and Islamic countries are completely absent and silent. In contrast, we find countries distant from us in terms of religion, culture, history, and geography are deeply shocked by the ongoing events and have loudly condemned them through political positions, media declarations, and even legal proceedings against the perpetrators.
Assuming that there is a political and ideological difference between Islamic countries and the resistance leaders in Palestine, what is the fault of the innocent, free people? Don’t they deserve at least an official condemnation of the horrific killing they’re enduring? Don’t they deserve urgent and firm intervention with allied friends? Therefore, it undoubtedly means that the Arab and Islamic Ummah is witnessing a holistic moral degradation, before we talk about the political and military fall, with which the values of chivalry, rejection of injustice, generosity, courage, and forbearance that we learned from pre-Islamic Arabic poetry as children in school have fallen. And with it also fell the noble morals of brotherhood, dignity, equality, and justice that mark our religion.
The second example is the Olympic Games currently being held in Paris, to which thousands of Arabs and Muslims have gathered as athletes and fans. This is happening during a critical historical and political period for the Islamic world, while one of its enclaves is being uprooted as the last stronghold defending our great Prophet’s night journey, peace be upon him. It would have been more fitting for Muslims to boycott this event to symbolically demonstrate their complete rejection of the mistreatment their fellow Muslims are enduring. However, unfortunately! The indifference towards this issue was evident as if the individuals involved were completely detached from us in terms of blood or religious connections.
Even if we assume (as some might interpret) that the Olympics are a significant opportunity for Muslims to mark their presence through sports, as a Prophetic recommendation, and that Muslim attendees could positively influence others with their high morals and distinct customs (as happened during the last World Cup in Qatar), and even promote their cause through raising flags, slogans, chants, marginal discussions, and so on. But unfortunately, none of that happened, because many Arabs and Muslims were swept away by the mirage of nationalism, ethnicity, and abhorrent tribalism at the expense of the religious brotherhood that unites them. This was evident in the conduct of numerous individuals, characterized by the presence of verbal aggression, reciprocal insults, the resurgence of tribal conflicts, and the exacerbation of political tensions until social media platforms became a public space for airing our shameful and unsavory secrets incessantly.
Doesn’t this indicate that contemporary Islamic communities are experiencing an unprecedented and widespread decline in moral values? Is it possible to attribute our political, economic, scientific, and technological regression to an unparalleled decline in morality? Do these consecutive events and disasters serve as a divine warning, indicating the divergence we have wandered towards? If we do not awaken from our profound slumber in time, there is a high likelihood of experiencing a devastating downfall.
And the Almighty God spoke the truth when He said in His Holy Book: “So each one of them We seized in his sin; of them were those against whom We sent a violent sandstorm, and of them were those whom a roaring blast overtook, and of them were those whom We caused the earth to swallow up, and of them were those whom We drowned.” [Al-Ankabut: 40]
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