Ideal Versus Practical

acceptance is what is called ‘secularism’. When this political ideology emerged, numerous Muslim leaders who projected themselves as pro-Islam rejected it. They claimed that secularism was opposed to Islam, rather they went to the extent of saying that it was an ideological rebellion against religion. On the basis of this thinking of theirs, they translated secularism to mean irreligiousness or anti-religiousness, although such a translation was definitely not correct. Presently, in almost all Muslim countries, people who have received Western-style education are in power. Now, these people were supporters of a secular system of government. On account of this, so-called pro-Islam elements unleashed an ideological as well as physical war against them. As a result, in every Muslim country, Muslims got divided into two rival camps— the secular camp, and the ‘Islamist’ camp—and began fighting each other. In this completely useless war, Muslims had to face enormous losses, the likes of which they had perhaps never experienced before in the entire annals of Muslim history. The fact of the matter is that secularism is not some religious belief. Secularism does not mean irreligiousness or anti-religiousness. Rather, secularism is the adoption of a neutral policy with regard to religion. It is a practical policy. Its purpose is