MODERN CIVILIZATION

MODERN CIVILIZATION A Supporter A CCORDING to Hadith: 'God will strengthen Islam through the secular people also.' This Hadith is of great significance so far as the art of thinking is concerned. It points to the error of dichotomous thinking; the tendency to see everything in terms of black and white. It implies that while people may fall into one of two categories—irreligious or religious; they may also fall into a third category, that of potential supporters of Islam. That is, an individual may fall into the category of the irreligious, yet still possess a third quality, that of a position to support the religion in one way or another. The outcome of the treaty of Hudaybiya provides a practical example of the success of broader thinking in the early history of Islam. The Prophet’s opponents were not pro-Islam. Therefore, the Muslims in general, because of the limitations in their thinking, mistakenly categorised them as enemies of Islam. But thanks to his divine wisdom, the Prophet did not fall into the error of regarding them as such. For he knew that a third possibility also existed. It was the latent potential of conveying the message. Therefore, the Prophet decided to open a door which had been closed by entering into a peace treaty with his opponents. Consequently, the possibilities of conveying the message began taking shape and within a short period of two years the entire history of Islam was transformed. Viewed from the above angle the case of modern civilization and Islam parallels that of the Hudaybiya situation in modern times. Muslims have once again fallen prey to limitations of dichotomous thinking in these matters. Since modern civilization does not appear to them to be friendly to Islam, they tend to regard it as an enemy of Islam. If we could extricate ourselves from this rigid pattern of thought we would find that modern civilization, is neither friendly nor hostile to Islam, but rather—in the words of the Hadith—a potential supporter of Islam. Today, we are once again in need of divine wisdom adopted on the eve of Hudaybiya. If we could but think in the same way as the Prophet did on that occasion, history would certainly repeat itself. Out of Modern civilization, is neither friendly nor hostile to Islam, but a potential supporter of Islam.