Al‑Mujtama Magazine posed seven questions to leading writers and scholars concerning our contemporary problems. Sheikh Muhammad al‑Ghazali graciously responded to these questions. The magazine is pleased to present the questions and answers in a series, beginning with his response to the first question:

The First Question:

 Does the Current Stage Inspire Optimism?

“Does the current stage in the Islamic world herald good and inspire optimism? Or is it, on the contrary, barren of any hope?”

The Islamic world today is passing through a bleak period in its long history—a period in which it has lost its unity, forgotten its mission, and succumbed to a great slumber that has caused it to tumble to the rear of the human caravan, weak in awareness and movement, coveting the enemy and grieving over the friend. This is a deplorable condition, impossible to accept or to expect any good to emerge from it.

The Real Poverty of the Muslim Nation

I have said in a book of mine—yet to be published—what I believe to be a sufficient answer to this question:

The true poverty of the great Islamic nation lies in this strange paralysis of ambition and talent, in this deep backwardness in the fields of production and excellence, alongside a base attachment to desires and an evident greed for worldly gain.

Weak nations describe their adversaries as hating life and its pleasures, but strong nations attain what they desire through their own means. As for weak nations, they pant after others, clinging to their vehicles like hitchhikers, or trailing behind their masters like beggars.

The Meaning of True Revival

True revival is the removal of these ailments and the eradication of their germs, the ability of the nation to suffice with its own labor and production, to be guided by its faith and virtues, and to rise above worldly possessions—taking from them in measure, and turning away from them whenever it wills.

It pains me to declare that Muslim peoples, even to this day, have not yet begun a genuine renaissance. The signs of progress we see or hear of are more an extension of the activity of the great powers of the world than they are the aspiration of the lagging nations to advance.

The Influence of the West and East

The Crusading West fabricates various peoples to serve its purposes, providing them with much material aid and little of its civilizational progress. The Communist East competes with it in this field, seeking to benefit from its mistakes or inherit its spoils when it withdraws from a place.

The educated classes are scattered: some prefer the Western model in thought and behavior, others have been captivated by Marxism and have been dyed, outwardly and inwardly, with its tendencies.

As for those who cling to Islamic beliefs and virtues and wish to build the great society upon the foundations of the Muhammadan revelation, they are but a faint minority among the people—not without direction, but unfortunate in circumstance.

Why the Renaissance Has Not Yet Begun

For this reason I have said: Muslim peoples have not yet begun a true renaissance—one that extends their history, highlights their identity, nurtures their roots, and affirms their features. It is a mistake to imagine that I forbid benefiting from the experiences and knowledge of others.

How could I, when those others advanced only by borrowing from our ethics, thought, morals, awareness, and experience? The state of the Rightly Guided Caliphate borrowed in building the Islamic system from the legacies of Rome and Persia without shame.

And when I eat foreign foods that I need, the body that grows is my body, and the strength that flows through its limbs is my strength.

The Measure of True Renaissance

What matters to me is that I remain myself, with my distinct features and essential qualities. What matters is that I remain, and that within me remain all the principles I represent, which are bound to me and I to them—for they are my mission in life and my function on earth.

This is the measure of renaissance, the sign of its truth or falsehood. So, are there in the Islamic world genuine revivals that make Islam their direction and the noble Messenger their model?

We are here most keen to ensure that the new construction rises upon those foundations.

Imported Progress Must Serve Islamic Foundations

And if we import from abroad the fruits of industrial progress and benefit from the goods of others in the horizons of public life, let it be within a firm framework of our laws and rituals.

For the latest machines are worthless if managed by a ruined heart, and the deadliest weapons are worthless if wielded by a soul estranged from God, obsessed with desires.

The building of souls and consciences precedes the building of factories and armies. And this building can only be achieved in accordance with the teachings of Islam.