The term "secularism" has historical roots tracing back to Europe’s religious wars in the 17th century and the emergence of the modern nation-state, where power shifted to civil governance, away from the dominance of the Church.

The late scholar Dr. Abdelwahab Elmessiri distinguishes in his encyclopedia "Partial and Comprehensive Secularism" between two approaches to understanding secularism. One confines it to the separation of religion from politics and economics, meaning the separation of religion from the state. This type of secularism does not oppose religious and moral principles but prefers not to involve them in worldly matters subject to experimentation.

Then there is comprehensive secularism, which rigorously seeks to neutralize the relationship between religion and values in all aspects of life. It sees materialism as the sole means of interpreting the world and places it at the center of existence. This perspective emerged alongside the development of secularism itself, the rise of nation-states, European colonialism, increased production, and the erosion of intermediary institutions like the family. It was fueled by utilitarianism devoid of values, rampant consumerism, and phenomena like postmodernism, transnational corporations, sexual deviance, the nuclear family, and the misuse of science in medicine and research.

Secular states, along with their educational, entertainment, and media institutions, have infiltrated human consciousness, dreams, and behavior, undermining what remains of religious or even human ethics.

When Socialism and Liberalism Converged

Elmessiri points to the convergence of Western philosophies in their materialistic essence, regardless of surface differences. The Soviet Union, deeply rooted in comprehensive communism, hastened to adopt liberal values and American consumer goods with fervor after its collapse. On the other hand, the United States, which once allowed religious freedom and Protestant missionary work, became deeply entrenched in secularism and atheism due to the expansion of industrialization and urbanization. The commodification of everything—even humanity—became an American hallmark, exported globally as "Americanization." Symbols like McDonald's, Pepsi, hamburgers, sexualized advertisements, war films, the American lifestyle, and art focused on mundane realities rather than ideals became the most dominant worldwide. This was despite their embedded racism, particularly against the Third World, Arabs, and Muslims.

Globalization has dismembered the world—quite literally—through its colonial expansion and the emergence of Westernized elites in the Third World, ruling through oppression with Western (democratic secular) support. Alternatively, phenomena like Nazism and Zionism dismantled the human spirit, whether it was the Polish and Russian Jews in Europe or Palestinians in the Arab East. It is impossible to separate the history of secularism from the history of modern Western colonialism.

The Nazi and Zionist Models

Modern secularism manifests as the disappearance of values and the sacred from human life, glorifying only commodities and materialism. This led to the digitization of everything, as Elmessiri puts it. He draws a parallel between how European Jews were once treated as disposable objects and deported eastward via "transfer," and how today’s Zionists, backed by America, expel and exterminate Palestinians.

Elmessiri compares Nazi concentration camps and gas chambers to the oppression, extermination, and arrests Palestinians face today at the hands of contemporary Zionist Nazis. These acts are carried out by cold bureaucrats who believe such systematic steps are necessary for the security of “Israel,” the offspring of Western colonialism. For them, it’s a rational matter, devoid of emotions or even historical acknowledgment, as they erase history itself, adhering to Darwinian survival-of-the-fittest logic.

In his renowned book "Modernity and the Holocaust", Polish-English sociologist Zygmunt Bauman links modernity with the collapse of values. With increasing moral relativism and the erosion of religious absolutes, humanity has become fixated on the body, devoid of standards or principles, focusing instead on pragmatic rationalization concerned only with processes, not ends. This is reminiscent of the Nazis, who used "euthanasia" to kill the mentally ill and disabled before advancing to gas chambers for Jews, seeing both as unproductive classes.

Some have linked Turkey’s secular forces during Erbakan’s rule to this trend, as they militarily overthrew the public’s choice of a moderate Islamic party—Welfare Party—turning secular forces into the biggest opponents of democracy. This became a form of fascist secularism until the scales tipped toward moderation later.

Elmessiri highlights the influence of Western pragmatism on Arab political elites over past decades. The Palestinian cause, once centered on land stolen from its people and handed to Jews through massacres and destruction, gradually transformed into reclaiming the 1967 borders. Concessions continued, shifting the discourse post-Camp David agreements toward economic rather than pan-Arab issues. The ultimate hope has now become merely halting the killing of innocents or curbing settlement expansion.

Looking at “Israel,” it becomes clear that it is merely a practical application of Western imperialism, which has historically exterminated millions and plundered resources in Africa and Latin America for its benefit. Zionism, as a secular Darwinian movement, commodified Jews and Palestinians to serve its ends, much like it did in Vietnam, Bosnia, Chechnya, and other operations led by American intelligence.

Secularism from Within

Secularism has never upheld dreams of peace, justice, or equality as it claims. The French Revolution marked an era of sacred violence, Napoleon’s armies wrought destruction and death in Eastern lands, the British Empire looted and enslaved nations, and the Bolshevik Revolution gave rise to Stalin in Russia. Thus, secular regimes around the world share a similar trajectory.

In his encyclopedia, Elmessiri dedicates sections to the grim models produced by secularism. These include:

• The Singaporean hero, reduced to a production machine in a market driven by consumption.
• The Thai hero, turned into a marketable sexual commodity.
• The Zionist hero, characterized by brute materialistic force devoid of any value, who decides on the annihilation of others in camps.

Colonialism, with its "transfer" ideology, created human beings devoid of loyalty to culture or place. It relocated surplus populations to serve its interests, such as Chinese to Malaysia, Jews to Palestine, and even Jews to Argentina. This logic of uprooting extended to human identity itself.

The idea of transition and instability has evolved to encompass even human genders, with men transforming into women and vice versa. Advocacy now supports free choice in partnerships, allowing same-sex marriages, plunging humanity into a quagmire of deviation from any values or natural instincts.

Thus, comprehensive secularism has dehumanized people, treating them as raw materials, cheap labor, and guaranteed markets for the benefit of the superior and more dominant races in its biased colonial view. It has encouraged the division of the world into small nation-states, fueled conflicts to maintain its dominance, and simultaneously elevated consumption rates. Through Americanization, it eradicated cultural distinctiveness, celebrated immediate gratification of desires outside traditional frameworks, and denied the sanctity of humanity while idolizing materialism.

Our duty is to confront secularism with a comprehensive project that expresses our open, civilized, and authentic Arab-Islamic identity, instilling it in future generations.

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The idea of evolution has dominated Western civilization, to the extent that people cannot fathom anything in life without viewing it through the lens of evolution. This concept has extended to encompass every aspect of their lives.

The Reason Behind the Dominance of the Idea of Evolution in Western Civilization

The reason Westerners have embraced the idea of evolution is due to the stagnation and rigidity that dominated life during the Middle Ages in Europe. They suffered greatly from stagnation in all aspects of life, whether political, economic, or social. Everything during that period of rigidity was merely a continuation of what came before, without acceptance of development or renewal. This concept was derived from the church and remained in place until the clash with the church, which represented rigidity in all aspects of life. The culmination was the sidelining of religion from life and from various systems. Religion was only allowed to exist in individuals' consciences or places of worship, while public life was subjected to the law of evolution, with no room for religion whatsoever.

Western Statements Rejecting the Idea of Stability

Western civilization bases its foundation on the idea of constant evolution and change through the statements of Western philosophers and thinkers who were keen on denying anything stable, to the extent of glorifying everything that is variable and evolving. One of the earliest to announce the idea of evolution in Western culture was the English researcher Charles Darwin, who published his book “On the Origin of Species” (1859), causing a significant stir. The church rejected it outright, as the book revolves around the hypothesis of life's evolution in organic beings, advancing from lower to higher forms. Darwin posited that species that can adapt to the natural environment, withstand sudden disasters, and ascend the ladder of advancement deserve to survive and thrive, while species that fail to do so, the weaker ones, perish.

Darwin explained his doctrine: “I am fully convinced that species are not immutable; but that those belonging to what are called the same genera are lineal descendants of some other.” ⁽¹⁾ He established a materialistic and atheistic theory ⁽²⁾ with perpetual evolution as its core theme.

Then Bertrand Russell came forward, advocating for abandoning all that is stable and embracing evolution and change in everything. He stated: “There is no end to human affairs, no fixed perfection, no ultimate wisdom. Whatever wisdom we achieve is minimal compared to what can be attained. Any belief we hold, no matter how important we consider it, is not eternal. If we imagine it contains eternal truth, the future will mock us.” ⁽³⁾ Thus, Western statements race to reject any stability in life, whether in religion, principle, or law.

The Impact of the Dominance of the Idea of Evolution on Western Civilization

At the dawn of the modern era, Western individuals could not tolerate the idea of stability in anything, as the concept of evolution governed everything. People freed themselves from all constraints. Muhammad Qutb depicted this situation, saying: “Nothing is stable at all—not religion, morals, traditions, values, ideas, truths, information, lifestyle, societal structure, individual entity, individual-community relations, individual-state relations, men's feelings, women's feelings, life goals. Stability should be fought by every means of warfare. Everything must be forcibly evolved if it does not evolve on its own. Nothing should remain stable at all.” ⁽⁴⁾

They deny stability in anything, viewing it as a theoretical concept to be abandoned. The call to abandon fundamental commitments spread, urging individuals to move with societal changes, knowing no constants. Practicality must prevail. They considered the laws of motion, growth, and evolution to be human behavioral habits, denying any real destiny or necessity, only apparent regularity. ⁽⁵⁾

According to them, the world is not subject to any form of determinism—there are no laws governing the movement of the world, life phenomena, or society. The goal is to deny any necessity with laws that serve as a foundation for people's actions and guide them in changing their reality. They only recognize the material world within the scope of subjective experience. There is no knowledge except what humans perceive, no stability except for the present mental state. Here, individuals choose based on what they see as reality.

Observing this state of overwhelming materialism resulting from evolution in everything reveals that it does not align with the true nature of humanity, which needs stability as much as it needs evolution. Clinging solely to stability leads to stagnation, while holding onto evolution alone leads to deviation. Both are rejected. The correct approach is to combine both without allowing one to dominate the other. Stability should be evident in the existence of humans, who remain humans from birth to death, without evolving from animals. This human must have stable values and beliefs that do not change. Evolution and change should be in the means and tools that help improve life and elevate it for the benefit of humanity.

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(1) “On the Origin of Species” by Charles Darwin, translated by Ismail Mazhar, p. 122.

(2) “History of Modern Philosophy” by Youssef Karam, p. 354.

(3) “Portraits from Memory - Mind and Matter” by Bertrand Russell, p. 256.

(4) “Evolution and Stability in Human Life” by Muhammad Qutb, p. 29.

(5) “History of Philosophy in America” by Peter Kaze, p. 82.

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Our children today, even those who are committed to their faith, face significant struggles and unprecedented societal contradictions. They are caught between the values imparted within the family circle and what they encounter outside this safe environment in the streets, schools, clubs, and universities. The conflict arises between religious education and general education, leading to an internal struggle when the nature of life forces these children to interact naturally with a society vastly different from the one they grew up in, causing psychological anxiety and a sense of alienation.

Many households of preachers find themselves puzzled by the insistence of their children on taking crooked paths after their initial uprightness. They are distressed by their children's neglect of acts of worship after being diligent in performing them. Parents keep questioning what went wrong. They believe that merely having their children with them in the same house is enough to make them replicas of themselves without adequately equipping them to face the contradictions they encounter once they leave the family home and are forced to mix with a society where concepts have become confused and Islamic values have been lost.

Foundations of Muslim Youth Identity

Identity is formed by the general culture surrounding a person, starting from the parents to the family, society, and the nation. The extent to which culture influences an individual, and the degree to which they draw their ethics, behavior, and beliefs from it, determines the depth of their identity, knowledge, awareness, and answers to existential identity questions like: Who am I? Why am I here? What is my destiny?

The first foundation of a Muslim youth's identity is the belief in the creation of humans by the hand of Allah, as affirmed by His words: “And [mention, O Muhammad], when your Lord said to the angels, ‘I will create a human being out of clay from an altered black mud. And when I have proportioned him and breathed into him of My [created] soul, then fall down to him in prostration.’” (Al-Hijr: 28-29) Furthermore, they believe that humans are honored creations of Allah, as He says, “And We have certainly honored the children of Adam and carried them on the land and sea and provided for them of the good things and preferred them over much of what We have created, with [definite] preference.” (Al-Isra: 70) They also believe that Allah appointed humans as His successor on earth, as stated: “And [mention, O Muhammad], when your Lord said to the angels, ‘Indeed, I will make upon the earth a successive authority.’” (Al-Baqarah: 30)

From all these beliefs, they also believe in the purpose for which Allah created humans, which is to worship Him, as He says, “And I did not create the jinn and mankind except to worship Me.” (Adh-Dhariyat: 56) Thus, the identity of Muslim youth is formed around the Islamic concept of human creation and the belief in the purpose for which they were created, which is to worship Allah.

Then where did all the problems of faith, represented by the phenomenon of atheism spreading in educational environments, come from? Among those who grew up in religiously conservative settings, what drove these youths to seek other identities than the one originally present, leading some of them astray during a critical stage of their lives?

Manifestations of Ideological Conflict

The entire global civilization may be experiencing an existential struggle. Western civilization has provided all its material capabilities and has tried with all its soft power to impose its identity and culture on the entire world through the globalization project, using its tools that it still exclusively controls and there is no equivalent power to stand against it, such as the Internet, social media, Hollywood products, directed literature, the capitalist economy, and other means and products of Western civilization.

On the other side, there is the East with its history and divine identity, where a nation holds an identity, culture, and one of the greatest civilizations that ever existed on earth from the beginning of creation until the Day of Judgment. Despite this, the nation has weakened, abandoned its identity, and every space it gave up was filled with intellectual emptiness, losing its leadership and status, becoming an entity without identity. This echoes the words of the Commander of the Faithful, Umar ibn Al-Khattab: “We are a people whom Allah has honored with Islam; should we seek honor through anything else, Allah will disgrace us.” Among the youth, manifestations of internal conflict have emerged, including:

1. The shift from a culture of production, work, effort, and excellence to a culture of consumption and excessive buying of Western products regardless of necessity.
2. The rush of women and some men towards cosmetic products and surgeries, spending extravagantly on them.
3. Increased family problems and poor treatment of parents, opposing them merely for the sake of being contemporary, and sometimes criticizing their thinking as backward and regressive.
4. The emergence of Western ideological currents within the Muslim community that have quickly infiltrated and found an alarmingly high level of acceptance, such as atheistic thought, gender mixing, and the appearance of so-called homosexuality.

Reasons for the Spread of Westernization

Amidst these intellectual tragedies faced by the Ummah, we ask: How did such influences manage to infiltrate such a heavenly society? The truth is that the Ummah has faced several severe shocks due to the weakness of the Ottoman Caliphate, the wars it fought, the fall of the Caliphate, the Sykes-Picot Agreement, and other factors, including:

1. The siege of globalization with its tools targeting the youth and women of the Ummah, who are responsible for raising the next generation and changing any negative reality.
2. The weakness of educational curricula within institutions, focusing solely on the scientific aspect.
3. The strength of Western media and its affiliates in influencing young people and offering them temptations.
4. The absence of family involvement due to the family itself falling into the traps of globalization.

Restoring Islamic Identity

The process of restoring the Ummah's original identity relies on the strong will of concerned parents, educators, preachers, and educational and religious institutions, as well as the collective will of the Muslim community to save itself from further moral and doctrinal decline.

This begins with what the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) started, which is deep and focused upbringing to prepare a new generation with a pure creed. The steps to the solution begin with:

   1- Family Awareness:

The family is the primary source from which a young person draws their identity and culture. Preparing families and young people about to marry comprehensively is the first step in restoring the family's role in raising the next generation. The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said, “A woman may be married for four reasons, for her property, her rank, her beauty and her religion; so get the one who is religious and prosper.” (Narrated by Al-Bukhari and Muslim).

   2- Restoring the School's Role in the Educational Process:

What the school instills in early childhood can be more influential than the family. This is a call for wealthy individuals to invest in education by establishing Islamic schools that focus on moral building, in addition to various scientific subjects, so that public schools in Arab countries return to paying attention to values and morals again.

   3- Restoring the Role of the Mosque:

In Islam, the mosque has a fundamental role in managing all aspects of life. In the early days of the Muslim community, prayers were performed in mosques, the affairs of the community were managed, war and conquest decisions were made, and learning sessions were held. Parents must connect their children to the mosque. Preachers should develop themselves and their messages according to contemporary needs and the needs of the youth and the Ummah. Mosque lessons should cover beliefs, worship, morals, and behavior, offering models to imitate in an easy and appealing manner. The beauty of Islam should be highlighted, such as its order, cleanliness, strength, heroism, and glory.

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