WESTERN AGENDA
False Propaganda
PRESENT-DAY Muslim scholars and intellectuals generally think that the West has a certain agenda vis-a-vis the ‘Islamic world’, and that it is pursuing that agenda with full force. To cite just one example to illustrate this point, consider a comment by one of the Muslim speakers in a conference on the theme, ‘Is Islam a Threat to the West?’ At this conference, he commented that many Muslim intellectuals stress that while Muslims would like to benefit from the positive things the West has to offer, they do not want to accept its negative things. In response to this statement, some Westerners amongst the conference participants said that the West was not willing to permit Muslims to benefit from its technology, culture and civilizations on these conditions. They were of the opinion that all of these came as a complete package, which Muslims had to either fully accept or fully reject. They did not have the option to pick and choose as they pleased.
The comments of the Muslims are a product of lack of awareness of the modern age. In this regard, the modern mindset is what is reflected in this adage about America: ‘The business of America is business.’ The fact of the matter is that the present age is an age of commercialisation. This age was ushered in through modern industrialisation. In this age, almost everything is purchasable if one can pay the price for it. One can buy anything, from a needle to an aeroplane. Without paying the price one cannot get anything at all. There is no ‘Western agenda’ in this matter. As far as the West is concerned, its only concern is to promote its business to the rest of the world.
The notion of an ‘western agenda’ is the product of the Muslim mind. Present-day Muslims have been able to gain nothing positive from it at all. This reflects a miserable intellectual bankruptcy on their part.
Muslims are unaware of the above fact and have acquired only one thing from this unawareness—baseless hatred for the West. Present-day Muslims have been able to gain nothing positive from it at all. This reflects a miserable intellectual bankruptcy on their part.
This bankruptcy of Muslim scholars is ancient. Muslim scholars viewed European colonialism in exactly the same negative manner, and got unnecessarily stuck in a culture of hatred and violence which they promoted. The fact is that the European communities that spread across Asia and Africa were essentially in search of markets for their products. The other things that came along with them were an additional or secondary aspect of colonialism, and not an essential part of it.
Muslims have had to face a deadly consequence of their shocking lack of awareness of the West. For one thing, because of their negative mindset, they were unable to learn anything from Western culture. Another massive damage that they suffered was their failure to convey the true peaceful message of Islam to the people of the world as a result of their wrongly branding Western peoples as ‘enemies’.
Discover your unique quality
Success is not a gift. It is the result of your own
striving. If you want to be a super achiever, first
of all you have to recognize your own capabilities.
Everyone is born with some unique quality, and
success depends upon discovering it and then
utilizing it with sound planning.