2. Material Roots of Western Civilization

The book “Islam at Crossroads” by Muhammad Asad deals with the fall of the Muslim world. It laments the imitation of the West which is in its spirit (materialistic) diametrically opposite to the Islamic spirit (spiritual and harmony between subtle and mundane). It argues that the imitation of the West can only be at the cost of Islam, the two being incompatible. It discusses the attitude the Muslims must adopt towards the West. It further argues that the practical aspect of the spirit of Islam lies in the Sunnah of the Prophet, which has been shunned for the visible impossibility of implementing its seemingly trivial aspects in life, the weakening of these foundations has weakened the cultural structure. It argues that adherence to Sunnah and the conscious acknowledgment of that exercise will bring the Ummah out of its lethargy.

The Book can be divided into the following parts:

1. Islamic Foundations are Moral in Nature [Click to Open]
2. The Spirit of the West is Practical Utility and Dynamic Expansion alone [Click to Open]
3. Historical Experiences [Click to Open]
4. Western Education and its Imitation [Click to Open]
5. Westernization is the reason for the onslaught on Hadith and Sunnah [Click to Open]
6. Sunnah and its Spirit [Click to Open]
7. Conclusion [Click to Open]

Below is a summary of the second section “The Spirit of the West”

1. West is not Christian but Roman
   1. Christian says earthly life is bad business. West adores life as “glutton adores food”. “He devours it, but has no respect for it”.
   2. West: My kingdom is of this world alone. Christian: My kingdom is not of this world. Islam: “Our Lord, give us good in this world and the good in the hereafter”. (2:201)
   3. For the West the deity is Comfort represented through his Will to Power. This conception in the west is not Christian but Roman.
   4. Roman is Different from Islamic
      1. Romans took 1000 years to reach full extent and political maturity. Islam took a 100 years.
      2. Downfall of Romans took a 100 years.
         1. Byzantine empire was not Roman in its social and political organization
         2. Islamic  Empire took a 1000 years with slow decay
            1. Inner strength and social soundness of Islamic world helped.
         3. Chinese can’t be compared as well, for they lived secluded.
            1. Islamic Empire was at crossroads of every civilization.
            2. Near and Middle East was the volcanic center of conflict. Its end is a spectacle of Islam. This spectacle was possible because of the social structure found on the principles of Islam.
      3. Islam didn’t have a privileged nation, Roman justice was for Romans alone.
      4. Roman endeavors purely materialistic, they knew no religion. Out of this grew Western Civilization.
   5. Western is Roman
      1. Old Rome was utterly utilitarian and anti-religious.
      2. West may not deny God but has no need, hence no space, for him.
      3. Religion is at best a social convention in the West.
      4. West and Roman both concentrate on things of Practical Importance.
   6. Christianity is based on transcendental ethics, West is not.
      1. For the West what can be “definitely known” can be known by means of experiment and calculation. Transcendental ethics and Moral postulates cannot be known with those methods. Hence, concentrate on what “can be known” without letter what cannot be known hamper the “progress”. Hence Christian conception is incompatible with Western conception because it is Irreligious in its very conception.
      2. Christianity holds Nature in contempt.
2. Aim: Discovery of potentialities of life without attributing to this life a moral reality of its own.
   1. Purpose of Life is a Question the Western man has given up upon [1]. To see core driving forces of West and Islam Asad tried to establish the attitude towards the metaphysical mysteries of life (Purpose of Life). In the earlier section he argues for approaches I) Giving up on such questions and ii) Way or Religion. The way of religion is that of Islam and giving up is of the West.
   2. Aim here is to see what forms life can assume with ultimate mastership over nature.
      1. In claiming mastership over nature it is in agreement with Islam, however Islam emphasises the qualitative aspect of it.
   3. That human nature is undergoing progressive change and improvement and hence the values we have achieved are the best. Islam considers spiritual possibilities as static, definitely laid down in human nature.
      1. The fundamental mistake here is to consider increase in material knowledge as identical with spiritual well being. Islam argues that soul isn’t a biological quantity.
   4. Islam denies the possibility of a spiritual improvement of people as a whole through their collective achievements. Such development is individualistic.
      1. This Spiritual Individualism is counter balanced by society centric laws where least possible obstacles for individual’s spiritual development exist.
      2. This religious attitude is only possible if a deity is accepted, and the existence of transcendental moral law is accepted. For the West the deity is Comfort represented through his Will to Power. This conception in the west is not Christian but Roman.
   5. European Renaissance let to Europe’s return to Roman heritage.
      1. To a large extent due to the impulses from Arabs.
      2. The best of Hellenistic Thought was revived and improved upon by Arabs.
         1. This revived Hellenistic culture caused difficulties to Muslims but acted as an immense stimulus to Europe.
      3. Islamic influence of Europe came first through the crusades in the East and universities of Muslim Spain in the West and later through growing commercial relations.
      4. Scientific age wasn’t inaugurated in the cities of Christian Europe but in Damascus, Baghdad, Cairo, Cordova, Nishapur and Samarqand.
      5. Rejuvenating currents from the Muslim world enabled the best minds of Europe fight Church hegemony. Instead of reforming, Christianity was proven to be beyond repair. It was driven into defense.
      6. Christian thought which would explain away indefensible religious conceptions could not stand the thorough enquiry and were finally thrown overboard by the French Revolution.
      7. A Spiritual Civilization did begin to arise, however it was limited to few individuals, the masses couldn’t find way to religious orientation of life.
         1. Jesus’ sonship was taken literally by masses.
         2. Led to anthropomorphism of God. Perpetuated by innumerable paintings created lasting impressions on European Mind.
         3. This was left unchallenged in the Middle Ages.
         4. This was unacceptable to the Modern European mind.
         5. Not knowing any other idea of God, they began to reject God and with it religion.
      8. All this was accompanied by Industrial Revolution.
         1. Material progress was as if magic. This took place in the absence of religion.
         2. Subconscious fear of old ways and hence antagonism of religion, the only religion conception of life they knew.
      9. Europe became champion of everything anti-religious. It returned to its old Roman Heritage.
   6. West’s anti-religious attitude
      1. Why?
         1. Heritage of Roman Civilization which is utterly materialistic.
         2. Revolting nature of man against the Christian world-contempt and suppression of natural desires and legitimate endeavors of man.
         3. Concept of God and Theology that is revolting to human reason.
      2. These led to adjustment of doctrines as society and intellectual conditions changed.
      3. Christianity hence resigned to background and its position taken by Fascist, Capitalist or a Bolshevic. An average Occidental is “materialist”.
      4. New Religion of the West:
         1. God: Material progress, worship it.
         2. Temples: Factories, cinemas, chemical laboratories.
         3. Priests: Bankers, film stars etc.
      5. Result of craving for more power:
         1. Hostile groups armed to teeth determine to destroy each other if interests clash.
         2. Morality confined to practical utility.
         3. Good or bad is determined by material success.
      6. Transformation on social front:
         1. New virtues: Patriotism, technical efficiency.
         2. Discarded virtues: filial love, sexual fidelity.
            1. Reason of loss: Do not confer a tangible or material benefit.
         3. Result: Importance of collective organization over familial bonds.
         4. Result: Son’s behavior towards father doesn’t matter if he behaves within the general decency limits. Father loses authority, son loses respect. Family goes!
      7. Fundamental tendency in both Capitalism and Communism is to surrender spiritual individuality of individual and his ethics to a purely material requirements of a collective machinery called “Society”, in which individual is but a cog in a wheel.
3. Conclusion:
   1. West’s considerations are purely materialistic, and ethics are considered if they further material progress.
      1. A civilization of this kind must be poison for any culture based on religious values.
      2. Islam’s first and foremost objective is the moral progress of man and therefore ethical considerations overrule the purely utilitarian ones.
      3. Hence, moral basis of West is incompatible with Islam.
      4. To imitate West in spirit will be a fatal blow to the very existence of Islam as a theocratic polity and a practical religion.

[1] To see the core driving forces of West and Islam Asad first tries to establish the attitude towards the metaphysical mysteries of life (Purpose of Life). Two approaches can be used: I) Giving upon such questions and ii) Way or Religion. The way of religion is that of Islam and giving up is of the West.

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