CHAPTER SIX — Modern Possibilities

Western nations. They even espoused the cause of nationalism (Jamaluddin Afghani’s slogan was ‘Egypt for Egyptians’) thus erecting a wall of reactionary nationalism between Muslims and other communities. There were, of course, a few who did think of Dawah work, but their resorting to polemical opposition to other communities only aroused greater hatred in the latter’s hearts, and led to a further distancing of Islam from the western world. There were other indications, too, in that age, of there being fresh opportunities to take up the call of Islam. For example, great scholars in the West, like Mohd Asad and Abdul Karim Jarmanus, etc., either accepted Islam or, like George Bernard Shaw (l 856-1 950) openly acknowledged its superiority. There were also enthusiasts like Lord Lothian (1882-1940) who publicly urged Muslims to start the Islamic call, considering that there were greater possibilities of conversion to Islam at that time than there had ever been before in the world. But none of the above mentioned factors served as eyeopeners to the Muslims, and they continued to consider sacrifices at the altar of politics to be the peak of Islamic perfection. In spite of all their oft-repeated errors, there still exist innumerable possibilities for the propagation of God’s religion. The latest such indication is the conversion to Islam of the President of Gabon in 1973, of Bucase, the President of Central Africa, in 1976, and of Watok, the Raja of Sarawak, in 1977. These events show us that at what point and in what measure, we need to recommence our endeavours to change the situation. It is a historical fact that leadership in thought can be claimed only by one who is prepared to pay for it in material terms. That is why intellectual leadership has always trailed in the wake of material leadership. If world leadership in thought remained in the hands of the Muslims from the 8th to the 16th century, it was because their political supremacy and trading strengths enabled them to pay its price. During that period, knowledge meant Muslim knowledge. Alvaro, the Bishop of Cordova, lamented the fact that Spain’s Christian Muzarabes had forgotten their Christian tongue, Latin, because, generally speaking, the younger generation of Christian