Reactionary and Progressive Between Islam and Its Opponents (4–4)

  Closing the National Council for Scientific Research

Is it a sign of scientific backwardness in a believing group that the arrest of some of its members once led to the closure of the National Council for Scientific Research in Cairo?  There, they formed the majority of those dedicated to atomic research, only to be replaced by strangers who revived activity in the council after most of its members had been pure-hearted and ablution-washed.

Accusations of Reactionism in a “Liberated” Regime

One day my eyes fell upon a newspaper loyal to the so-called “liberated Arab regime.” It carried a picture of a young man accused of reactionism and conspiracy. He was one of those engaged in atomic research and a member of the National Council for Scientific Research.

What did I see?

A young man calling to God with insight, considering allegiance to either of the warring camps a new apostasy, for allegiance to other than God is impermissible in his creed. I saw in the gleam of his eyes a yearning for a bright future of pure Islam, untainted. He called to knowledge, understanding, goodness, and love. He was among the believers who performed prayer in the shade of the laboratory or conducted scientific experiments under the shadow of the prayer niche.

Marks of Tyranny on His Face

His face carried the unmistakable imprint of a so called “progressive” society’s oppression and a tyrant’s brutality—scars seared into his skin, dried blood across his brow, and veins swelling around his eyes with the raw language of terror. Every mark exposed the hypocrisy of those who claimed to champion liberation and progress, yet unleashed only cruel repression and ideological decay.

The Defeated as Makers of Modern Reactionism

The truth is that those labeled as “defeated” are, in fact, the real architects of dark reactionism—its most devoted defenders and its loudest voices across the Arab world and beyond. Reactionism takes many forms. The exploitation of women through markets of nudity and modern‑day servitude on beaches and in beauty pageants is reactionism. The brazen promotion of public sexual behavior under moonlight or daylight is reactionism. The repugnant revival of racial hierarchies that divide humanity into white masters and Black slaves is a sever reactionism.  In addition, the brutal violence of assassinating opponents in the shadows or dragging them through the streets of Arab capitals simply for dissenting or rejecting so‑called “leftist progressive” doctrines.

Global Faces of Reactionism: From Siberia to America

What image of reactionism is more hideous than exterminating millions of believers or dissenters in Siberia’s deserts in the name of protecting a revolution supposedly born from the people and believed in by them? What image of reactionism is more miserable than the treatment in “America”—the land of alleged democracy and progress—where blacks are equated with dogs, and dogs receive better treatment, care, and compassion? What of the annihilation of the Native American people, the original owners of America, who now melt away inside camps and restricted areas resembling concentration camps?

Weapons of Mass Destruction and the Illusion of Progress

What of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima, turning human life full of hopes and dreams into lumps of flesh, rivers of blood, and heaps of ash—is this progress? What of the deadly gas that creeps into the air of unsuspecting humans, choking them without pity or mercy—is this genuine progress, O claimants of progress? What of the microbial weapons prepared by man to ambush his fellow man—is there anything more reactionary than this? Reactionism of intellectual terrorism, scientific crime, and minds still astray, knowing nothing but blood to water hatreds and soothe rancor?

Political Terror from McCarthyism to Stalinism

The Western world knew McCarthyism in its ugliest forms of terror and persecution, and the Eastern world knew Stalinism as another form of terrifying political repression. Progressive terrorism and liberatory torture methods then moved into the Arab world, making “advocates of Islam” victims of the alliance of East and West against Islam. Sons of the homeland, faithful and original in thought, rejecting alien ideologies, became fields for experiments at the highest level of terrorism produced by tyrannical minds hostile to all values of piety, mercy, and human good.

Islamic Governance and the Application of Shariah

Today, “advocates of Islam” have not yet assumed authority or reached seats of responsibility and governance to have their actions judged in various aspects. All that would occur, if Islam were destined to rule again—and it is a necessary destiny prepared by God and worked for by believers—is that they would implement Islam’s pure opinion and apply its rulings, which are clear, without ambiguity or concealment.

Bilal and Umar: A Model of Justice and Debate

Bilal the Abyssinian once stood in strong opposition to a view of the Commander of the Faithful, ‘Umar, regarding the fate of the lands of Iraq. Bilal believed the land should be divided among the conquering army, rightful owners of the spoils. ‘Umar disagreed, fearing that the fighters would turn to farming and enjoying its fruits, abandoning the mission of carrying the call to people, and that the land would be inherited by their descendants, leaving neither army nor treasury with resources.

Yet ‘Umar did not harm Bilal, though he had power, influence, and authority. He continued to say after every prayer: “O God, suffice me against Bilal.” Until he encountered the verse: {So that it will not be a perpetual distribution among the rich among you.}[Al-Hashr 59:7]

He supported his view with it, strengthened his argument, and prevailed over Bilal by the verse, not by influence. His victory was granted by the ruling of the Sariah, not by the edge of the sword, the multitude of soldiers, or the force of power. The ruling of the Sariah was binding upon ‘Umar as it was upon Bilal, upon the caliph as upon the subjects.

Scenes of Dialogue and Justice in Umar’s Life

It is natural that we read from time to time luminous lines from the life of ‘Umar, spoken to a Bedouin who opposed him in opinion and contradicted him in judgment. The heated discussion would end with a calm statement and lofty dialogue that branded Islam’s defeated opponents with the ugliest images of backwardness and the worst meanings of reactionism:

• “By God, if we saw crookedness in you, we would straighten it with the edge of our swords.”

• “Praise be to God who placed in the nation of Muhammad those who would correct the crookedness of ‘Umar.”

The Myth of Returning to the Age of the Camel

The imagined fear and pretended concern about returning to the age of the camel, the tent, and the water-skin is a base and rejected thought of the “defeated,” who confuse ignorance or servitude with the concepts of “science,” “civilization,” and “culture.” Islam commands its followers to learn as long as life pulses in their veins, urging them to increase in knowledge with every sunrise.

Science, Technology, and the Danger of Dissolving into Foreign Ideologies

Who can claim rejection of science and its achievements, or of civilization and its fruits in factories and laboratories? No human rejects replacing the camel with a car, the car with a plane, the plane with a rocket, the water-skin with a refrigerator, or the worn wooden ladder with an elevator. But acceptance of what the factory produces and satisfaction with what civilization offers is one thing, while dissolving into deviant thought and melting into imported, hostile creeds is another.

The True Essence of Civilization

Civilization is not about outward signs of urban progress or the development of life’s tools and means. It is about man’s perception of what surrounds him, his reflection upon what occurs, and the ways of living, features of life, and patterns of behavior that emerge from that perception and reflection.

American Modernity and Racial Practices

Thus we may call the American man “civilized” because he rides airplanes, uses elevators, watches television, uses telephones, and lives in houses filled with luxury. Yet we do not call him “cultured,” for he still treats people of color in ways Islam forbids for any creature with a soul—let alone man, whom God honored above all creation: • {And We have certainly honored the children of Adam.} [Al-Isra 17:70]

A Mentality Built on Extermination and Arrogance

The mentality that still writes on its doors “Not for dogs and blacks,” that exterminates Native Americans, that expels millions of Palestinians, that annihilated millions in Hiroshima, that exterminated millions in Siberia, and that reaped victory in World War II with the hydrogen bomb alongside American imperialism—such a mentality cannot be called cultured, nor such thought progressive. It is thought that believes only in annihilation, crushing, and dragging in dark, hateful atmospheres. Elegance of dress, grace of step, or polish of speech does not change that.

Alienation from Heritage and Mockery of Islamic Identity

Yet those estranged from themselves, detached from their history, denying their nation’s heritage, who mock advocates of Islam with the “age of the camel and the tent,” forget that in the age of the camel we had dignity. In the shade of the tent we had existence, and with the water-skin we had honor unmatched today by those who replaced the camel with Cadillacs, the tent with palaces, and the water-skin with bottles of wine of every color and taste.

The Alliance of Right and Left in Spreading Reactionism

Do you see how the “black right” and the “malicious left” cooperate to raise the banner of reactionism, backwardness, and decline in the world of values, morals, and spirit—even if they reach the moon and spend all the wealth of the earth on conquering Mars?

True Humanity and the Conquest of the Self

The sound human being and the tormented humanity demand of the conquerors of the moon and Mars that they conquer the depths of their own selves, expelling from them all meanings of aggression, manifestations of hatred, and seeds of reactionism, so that they may be worthy of the full meaning of the word “human.”

 Published in Al-Mujtam, Issue (16), 26 Rabi‘ al-Thani 1390 AH / 20 June 1970, p. 8.