Islamic world at decisive point in history: Will it take the path of Emirates or Turkey? – Firstpost
Posted: September 7, 2020 at 3:51 am
Islam was going through its golden era of philosophical exploration and scientific discoveries. In front of it were two roads. One of enlightenment, modernity, innovation and peaceful co-existence. The other of orthodoxy, insularity and violent impulses.
The year 1095 was perhaps the most important one in the life of Islam since 610, the year Prophet Muhammad is believed to have had his first revelation.
Islam was going through its golden era of philosophical exploration and scientific discoveries. In front of it were two roads. One of enlightenment, modernity, innovation and peaceful co-existence. The other of orthodoxy, insularity and violent impulses.
It chose the path of darkness and could never recover.
It was in 1095 that Abu Hamid Al Ghazali an otherwise outstanding thinker, jurist and mystic published his book Tahafut al-Falasifa and launched a visceral attack on philosophy and openness of learning. He played on the faiths worst instincts to discredit falsafa, attack the stellar work of scholars such as Al Farabi and Ibn Sina, and declare them kafir or infidel.
Even while the world rediscovered the wisdom of the Greeks, Romans and even ancient Indians through the work of the likes of Ibn Rushd, Ghazali had dimmed out that light from the Islamic world for centuries to come.
In 2020, the Islamic world has once again reached a forked road in history. The United Arab Emirates has taken a revolutionary step to embrace Israel, the only non-Muslim nation in the middle of the Arab world. Last week, the momentous first flight between the two countries landed in Abu Dhabi.
Saudi Arabia, which was cosying up to Israel in the last couple of years and even secretly allying on strategic and military issues, gave permission for the flight. Bahrain followed with an overflight clearance.
Israeli and Omani foreign ministers have already spoken on the phone, and Oman could be the next Arab nation to normalise relations with the Jewish state.
Sudan ended 30 years of Islamic law by separating the state from religion. Coincidentally or not, it is one of the countries actively considering normalising relations with Israel.
Years of siding with Palestine and holding Israel as the pariah is slowly, unexpectedly ending. Hostilities unleashed by the Muslim world again Israel to deny its right to exist has made the Middle East the most disturbed and violent place in the world, obviated the scope of solving things bilaterally, egged on the entire Ummah to wallow in victimhood over a local problem, and motivated scores of Islamist terrorist groups worldwide to butcher the innocent in the name of avenging Palestine.
The fact that tiny Israel has been the target of a cabal of over a dozen powerful nations and a victim of relentless waves of terror attacks has constantly been underplayed.
While the new geopolitical changes in the Middle East has wide-ranging positive implications in the Islamic world and the promise of openness last held out in the time of Ibn Rushd, Ibn Sina and Al Farabi, there is a troubled road lurking alongside in the form of Turkey.
Tayyip Erdogan could do what Al Ghazali did in 1095: lead Islam down the dark road. He has meticulously dismantled Mustafa Kemal Ataturks secular legacy and dreams of being the modern-day Caliph of the Muslim world. It is easier dreamt than done, with more than half the Arab world having a very different plan.
But Erdogan has managed to pull in a few wretches like Pakistan to do his bidding and try to form a block. The examples he sets to the Islamic world is grabbing the Hagia Sophia church and converting it into a mosque, running a hub at home to revive the failed Kashmir separatism and hosting troublesome elements, bombing Tazidis and Kurds already tormented by ISIS, and following a brutally regressive track on freedom of speech.
The Islamic world is at a very crucial juncture again. Whether it takes the road to Ankara or Dubai will decide whether it loses another shining opportunity to lift itself from the morass of bigotry and orthodoxy.
Find latest and upcoming tech gadgets online on Tech2 Gadgets. Get technology news, gadgets reviews & ratings. Popular gadgets including laptop, tablet and mobile specifications, features, prices, comparison.
Read the original:
Islamic world at decisive point in history: Will it take the path of Emirates or Turkey? - Firstpost
- A few words of enlightenment | Letters To The Editor | ncnewsonline.com - New Castle News - December 5th, 2020
- 'Finding the Heart Sutra': Alex Kerr finds humor at the heart of wisdom and enlightenment - The Japan Times - December 5th, 2020
- The enlightenment of Guru Nanak, and a glimpse into his global Udasis - The Indian Express - December 5th, 2020
- slowthai, punk prophet of Britain's austerity generation, is on a strange trip to enlightenment - Document Journal - December 5th, 2020
- How cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad mark a return to the propaganda of the Middle Ages - Middle East Eye - December 5th, 2020
- You Go Girl!: The Commercialisation of Feminism - Mediummagazine - December 5th, 2020
- Conservatism and Liberalism: Two Books on the Great Divide - The Wall Street Journal - December 5th, 2020
- Introduction to The New York Times' 1619 Project and the Racialist Falsification of History - WSWS - December 5th, 2020
- The Composting Costumier talks The Planet - A Lament with Garin Nugroho | Columns - Aussie Theatre - December 5th, 2020
- Why Is It Important to Remember What Came Before? > News > USC Dornsife - USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences - December 5th, 2020
- The Not So Negative Dialectics of Post-Secondary Education - The Bullet - Socialist Project - December 5th, 2020
- We say America is a 'Christian nation.' Here's what that would look like if we really meant it | Opinion - Pennsylvania Capital-Star - December 5th, 2020
- Ball: The garden at the end of the tunnel - Amarillo.com - December 5th, 2020
- Interview with Lisa Williams, founder of the Edinburgh Caribbean Association and creator of its Black History Walking Tours - bellacaledonia.org.uk - December 5th, 2020
- Off the Grid: Maladaptive coping and quarantine pie - The Spokesman-Review - November 27th, 2020
- Critical Care Products Market Enlightenment on Future Scenario by 2027 - The Market Feed - November 27th, 2020
- MY FAVOURITE THINGS: Amazed at the amount of home-grown talent in Sheffield - Sheffield Telegraph - November 27th, 2020
- New book about change and transformation follows woman's journey to find herself - GlobeNewswire - November 27th, 2020
- The Old Guy: Remembering a beloved Staten Island restaurant that did not survive 2020 - SILive.com - November 27th, 2020
- The Crown's learning disability storyline highlights painful lack of progress - The Guardian - November 27th, 2020
- Trump's war with America itself | Opinion | washtimesherald.com - Washington Times Herald - November 27th, 2020
- Many exalted western values rooted in Christian tradition - The Irish Times - November 27th, 2020
- Explore the Enlightenment with Ayn Rand Scholars - New Ideal - October 30th, 2020
- Time's Monster by Priya Satia review living in the past - The Guardian - October 30th, 2020
- How to Be a Luminary - Torah Insights - Parshah - Chabad.org - October 30th, 2020
- The politicisation of civilisations and ideologies: Macron, Charlie Hebdo and blasphemy in France - Middle East Monitor - October 30th, 2020
- Apollo 13: The Dark Side of the Moon review survival and enlightenment - The Guardian - October 14th, 2020
- Does the world still need the West? - Al Jazeera English - October 14th, 2020
- Jess Keiser explores the Enlightened psyche, "nervous fictions" in new book - Tufts Daily - October 14th, 2020
- Alejandro Jodorowsky Reflects on 'The Incal,' 40 Years Later - Hollywood Reporter - October 14th, 2020
- Ethnic studies teach Latino kids to hate the US. It is dangerous for Arizona - The Arizona Republic - October 14th, 2020
- 'Biden or Trump?' is a question that signifies the age of decay - GlobalComment.com - October 14th, 2020
- The New Enlightenment, and what it means for us - The Daily Princetonian - September 24th, 2020
- Tantra: Enlightenment to Revolution review, British Museum: this serious-minded show proves it's time we stopped tittering - Telegraph.co.uk - September 24th, 2020
- Car Buying is Changing and All It Took Was a Pandemic: The Enlightenment - Car and Driver - September 24th, 2020
- 'Electric Jesus' will take you on a metal-fueled journey towards enlightenment - Document Journal - September 24th, 2020
- Yom Kippur in recovery | The Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle - thejewishchronicle.net - September 24th, 2020
- Phil Jackson Sent Lakers Governor Jeanie Buss A Photo Of Him In A Team Sweatshirt To Cheer Her Up - Sports Illustrated - September 24th, 2020
- PLU French professor receives a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities - The Suburban Times - September 24th, 2020
- Bodh Gayas Mahabodhi temple to reopen from September 21 with restrictions - Hindustan Times - September 24th, 2020
- CULTURE Autumn 2020 exhibitions at the Uffizi and Palazzo Pitti - The Florentine - September 24th, 2020
- Interview: I like to be reminded that literature has the power and mystery of a dragon, says Australian-Iranian... - Hindustan Times - September 13th, 2020
- Akwa Ibom to partner royal fathers on COVID-19 protocol enlightenment and enforcemen - Daily Sun - September 13th, 2020
- Karen Burnham Reviews Short Fiction: Clarkesworld, Lightspeed, and Tor.com - Locus Online - September 13th, 2020
- This isnt the time to forget Benjamin Franklin - Grand Island Independent - September 13th, 2020
- Joe Rogan's 'Inner Voice' Hack Could Be The Secret To True Workout Zen - DMARGE - September 13th, 2020
- Prop 13: Taxes and the Importance of an Open Mind - LA Progressive - September 13th, 2020
- Meera Sodha's vegan recipe for Shaoxing and soy braised tofu with pak choi - The Guardian - September 13th, 2020
- Pakistan sees its face in the mirror and doesnt like what it sees - The Indian Express - September 13th, 2020
- When Monuments Fall | by Kenan Malik - The New York Review of Books - September 13th, 2020
- 17-year-old junior hockey player hopes his coming out will inspire others - CBC.ca - September 13th, 2020
- In the beginning...the important things - The Hillsdale Daily News - September 13th, 2020
- FRSC partners Health Foundation on drivers certification The Sun Nigeria - Daily Sun - September 13th, 2020
- LIVING HISTORY: Keeper of the Books at library of the ages - The Courier - September 13th, 2020
- The Revolution Is Upon Us - Heritage.org - September 8th, 2020
- Author Introduces a New Age of Consciousness Through Reincarnation - Marketscreener.com - September 8th, 2020
- What Movies To Expect This Fall - NPR - September 8th, 2020
- Hajj 2020.. The ticket to board Hajj 2021 flight - The Nigerian Voice - September 8th, 2020
- Q&A: Jeff Okudah, on how reading sparked a 'Quest of Enlightenment' - The Athletic - September 7th, 2020
- Terence Corcoran: You are not you, and other truths of the new world - Financial Post - September 7th, 2020
- Hercules, Marvel Boy Bi-Sexual In Guardians of the Galaxy - Cosmic Book News - September 7th, 2020
- Forrest Hubbard Jr.'s newly released "Dreydens" is a riveting novel of a trio of curious individuals on a quest to unveil their world's... - September 7th, 2020
- Mathews: Meditating on Prop 13 with the Tibetan buddhists in Howard Jarvis' house - The Bakersfield Californian - September 7th, 2020
- Lilian Visinoni: Young And Ready to Save the Earth - THISDAY Newspapers - September 7th, 2020
- Antiheroes and the 'American' Experience in Jim Jarmusch's Dead Man - Varsity Online - September 7th, 2020
- An Interview With Kosovo's Prime Minister and Other Top Weekend Reads - Foreign Policy - September 7th, 2020
- The role of desire in the religious life - Monroe Evening News - September 7th, 2020
- Guardians of the Galaxy #6 Review (2020) - Cosmic Book News - September 7th, 2020
- Toronto's Bata Shoe Museum Explores Footwear in the Age of Enlightenment in New 18th Century Exhibition - PRNewswire - August 16th, 2020
- Enlightenment and its discontents - Frontline - August 16th, 2020
- The Bata Shoe Museums Latest Exhibit Focuses on 18th Century Footwears Influence in the Age of Enlightenment - Footwear News - August 16th, 2020
- How This Technology Sales Leader Is Guiding Teachers Toward Instructional Enlightenment - Forbes - August 16th, 2020
- The 'woke' will lead us to enlightenment and more letters to the editors - Chattanooga Times Free Press - August 16th, 2020
- Freemasons: Behind the veil of secrecy - Livescience.com - August 16th, 2020
- 2 BR 0 2 B and the current situation of the world - newagebd.net - August 16th, 2020
- Nepal, India in war of words over Buddhas origins - The Hindu - August 16th, 2020
- Following and learning mumbo-jumbo - The News International - August 16th, 2020
- Top 10 books about the Grand Tour - The Guardian - August 16th, 2020
- Review: "Culture and the Death of God" - NBC2 News - August 16th, 2020
- Faust Announces September 4th Grand Opening of the Faust Haus - wineindustryadvisor.com - August 16th, 2020