Intellectual and Social Colonialism is More Dangerous Than Geographical Colonialism

Cultural Heritage

The greatest concern of colonialism was to create a new generation in every country it entered, a generation that would internalize the foreign civilization, accept the intrusive presence, and reject its authentic past. This past was the lens through which they saw the world and the foundation upon which they thought, and the core of this authentic past was Islam.

Molding a Compliant Generation

Colonialism sought to mold the children of the Muslim East into a pliable generation, as soft in its hands as dough in a baker's. A generation that would follow its path, obey its commands, and willingly submit to it, echoing what one Egyptian minister once said about the relationship between Egypt and Britain: "It's a Catholic marriage, no divorce!"

The Hybrid Identity: Eastern Face, Western Mind

Colonialism worked to create an Eastern generation in face and blood, but Western in taste and thought. A generation that would carry an Arab-Islamic name on their birth certificate or passport, but a purely European or American mind in their heads! It desired the day when it would not have to appear on the scene itself or through its direct representatives, but would leave its role to "national" or "patriotic" figures who would perform the same task and follow the same path – the path of destruction without an axe, and killing without firing a bullet! This was, in truth, the most dangerous thing colonialism did in our lands and the most profound impact it left in our homelands.

Muslims Destroying Muslim Identity

Colonialism sought to have Arabs, specifically Muslims, carry out its role in destroying the nation's moral entity and its spiritual, ethical, and intellectual foundations. As one missionary said, "A tree is only cut down by one of its own." Colonialism succeeded, and its desires were realized through those it created and molded in its own image – these slaves who wielded pens and directed private thought and public opinion.

The Catastrophe of the "Hybrid" Elite

The lands of Islam came to know this "hybrid" type of their children, whom the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, described fourteen centuries ago as "callers at the gates of Hell; whoever responds to them will be thrown into it." When asked, "O Messenger of Allah, describe them to us," he replied, "They are from our own skin and speak our own tongues" (1).

This is truly the catastrophe: the catastrophe of those who want to strip the nation of its religion, yet are not English, French, Russian, or American. Rather, they are "from our own skin and speak our own tongues"! These Westernized nationalistic patriots from our own kind are, in reality, more dangerous than their masters, teachers, and creators, the overt colonialists.

The Insidious Danger of Internal Agents

Colonialism, despite its immense power and formidable resources, including the missionaries, orientalists, and those like them whom it employs from its own people, poses less of a threat than these slaves who masquerade as rebellious "freethinkers"—these foreigners to their own people who appear as zealous patriots.

Whatever emanates from colonialism through its missionaries and orientalists remains of little danger and weak impact, unless these slaves notice it and falsely present it as a national product that they own and create, when in reality they are merely "carriers" of this foreign product.

Deceiving the People with "National" Products

Our people naturally shun anything that comes from the enemy of their religion and homeland, once they realize and understand it. This is because they have learned from their religion, history, and experiences that the enemy harbors no good for them and desires no strength or elevation for them: "Neither those who disbelieve from the People of the Scripture nor the polytheists wish that any good should be sent down to you from your Lord." (Al-Baqarah: 105)

However, our people are deceived by the intrusive ideas emanating from their enemy when they come through their own children, in whom they have placed good faith. They accept this imported thought if it sheds its Western hat and attire, dons Eastern dress, and speaks with an Arabic tongue.

Colonialism's Ultimate Success: Self-Perpetuation

This is all that colonialism ever wanted and strived for since it occupied the lands of Islam: to depart itself, leaving behind those who would carry its ideas and adopt its traditions and civilization from among the people of the land themselves. There is no doubt that it is now content and pleased with the outcome of what it has done and the harvest of what it has sown over many long years. It is delighted with its disciples whom it has "translated" into completely Western versions, making them foreign copies wrapped in an Eastern Arabic cover.

Colonialism, in its two forms – old and new – and with its two armies – missionaries and orientalists – and its two factions – capitalist and socialist – no longer needs to translate its books into our Islamic East, now that it has "translated this group" of its own people: this "modern," "liberal," "progressive" group!

The Colonizer Rests Easy

Indeed, colonialism sleeps soundly after having "translated these individuals" and left them to lead the caravan of education, culture, literature, and art along the path it charted and towards the goal it desired. And why shouldn't it sleep with a peaceful mind and happy dreams, when these "great" writers, literati, "doctors," and mentors have become its eloquent tongue, its depicting pen for what it loves, and even its executing hand for what it desires and craves?!

Propagandizing the "Intellectual Idols"

What increased the danger of these slaves was that colonialism, with its material and moral capabilities, its hidden and overt means, and its formidable propaganda machinery, managed to elevate their status, make their voices heard, open all doors for them, pave every path, and remove every obstacle in their way. This allowed them to emerge, dominate, and seize the reins of power in the lands of Islam, especially the reins of culture, thought, guidance, and influence in all fields of science, literature, and arts.

The powerful and capable colonialism managed to create massive propaganda for these individuals, surrounding them with a halo of veneration, awe, and sanctity. It inflated them, making them appear grand and magnified in the eyes of observers, turning a cat into a camel and a grain into a dome, as the popular proverb says. It bestowed upon them titles of liberation and renewal, and epithets of pioneering and leadership, deceiving many who were impressed by these strange, moving, speaking puppets, without noticing the hidden fingers or concealed batteries that made them move!

Indeed, persistent, well-studied, and planned propaganda managed to find its way into the hearts of many good and sincere people in our kind nations. They believed what was spread and echoed what was said about the genius of these liberal modernizers! They believed that under the dome lay a sheikh to whom journeys were made, and blessings sought at his hands—blessings of knowledge, literature, art, and high culture!

The Reality of the "Innovators"

The truth is, if one probes their depths and examines what they possess, one will find no originality, no innovation, and nothing of real value that warrants all this fuss, all this exaggeration, and all this glorification and sanctification. Rather, it is illusions and whims that turn inert stones into gods worshipped besides Allah, to whom vows and sacrifices are offered. In the same manner, "intellectual idols" were created in our lands, and their custodians were paid, corrupt priests.

The Day of Reckoning

The day our lands reclaim their identity and are liberated from the remnants of intellectual and social colonialism, and the history of thought within them is rewritten; men who were raised to the summit will fall to the bottom. You will see great men—very great men—become utterly insignificant. Those supposed giants will turn into midgets. The nation will see them for what they truly are: good tools in the hands of proselytization and orientalism, i.e., in the hands of colonialism. It will see those who claimed—or were claimed for them—to be innovators were nothing but imitators of the colonial West, exactly like one sandal following another. And their "new" was nothing but Europe's old.

And the nation will see that those who claimed—or were claimed for them—to be free thinkers were nothing but enslaved serfs to Western civilization, bowing at its feet and prostrating devoutly to all its emanating values, ideas, concepts, and traditions, without scrutiny or discernment of "its good and its bad, its sweet and its bitter, what is loved and what is hated, what is praised and what is blameworthy." And the freedom of thought they claimed was nothing but rebellion against their own religion and heritage, and the rejection and contempt for everything that their civilization was independent with, or that their nation was distinguished by.

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Source: "Enemies of the Islamic Solution" by His Eminence Sheikh.

(1) From the Hadith of Hudhayfah ibn al-Yaman, narrated by Al-Bukhari and Muslim. It begins: People used to ask the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, about good, and I used to ask him about evil for fear that it might overtake me. I said, "O Messenger of Allah, we were in a state of ignorance and evil, and then Allah brought us this good [meaning Islam]. Is there any evil after this good?" He said, "Yes." I said, "And is there any good after that evil?" He said, "Yes, and it will have some smoke in it" (meaning it is good that is not pure or clear). I said, "What is its smoke?" He said, "People who guide by other than my guidance, and follow other than my Sunnah. You will recognize some of them and reject others." I said, "Is there any evil after this good?" He said, "Yes, callers at the gates of Hell; whoever responds to them will be thrown into it." I said, "Describe them to us." He said, "They are from our own skin..." and so on, the rest of the Hadith.