The main goals of globalization are to work on the decline of national values and policies, weaken beliefs and identities under what is called the "New World Order." This is a totalitarian system imposed by the United States and Western regimes, primarily relying on economic and media aspects to serve their purposes without regard for the interests of others, either by coercion or forced subordination, to create an open society without particularities that is easy to control, especially after global technological changes that have dominated the sources of knowledge.
Two-Identities Struggle
These technological developments have led to the dissolution of boundaries in the process of education after a great materialistic dominance that threatened the structure of families, scattered childhood, and exposed human values to danger by promoting the abandonment of these values and assimilation into the other. These developments have also led, in our Arab and Islamic world, to a struggle between preserving our heritage or transitioning to the New World Order, which entails the crushing of identity and the imposition of Western guardianship, and the absence of governing controls on behavior in the face of the dominance of American and European concepts and culture. They are strong, and we are weak; they are advancing, and we are confined, supported by official regimes that have accepted subordination for a long time, even before the attempts to impose globalization.
Exclusion of Religion from the Lives of Muslims
One of the objectives of globalization, which its proponents are diligently pursuing, is to exclude Islam from influencing various aspects of life and to consider religion a personal matter, contrary to the purposes of Islam, which is considered a comprehensive system that addresses all aspects of life. Islam is a state and a nation, government and people, morality and power, culture and law, material and wealth, etc. This also includes belittling the importance of the Arabic language in favor of imposing other languages, spreading a culture of sexual immorality, encouraging relationships forbidden by Islam, promoting consumer values and means of entertainment. This implies rejecting educational policies that do not align with Western values and culture, in clear and arbitrary impositions that collide with the foundations of Islamic identity, both at individual and community levels. It also reinforces the assault on our religious beliefs that preserve our moral values, posing a prelude to greater dangers threatening the nation’s will and independence.
The Importance of Spiritual Education
Spiritual education is the core of Islamic education. It is based on principles that strengthen the relationship between the servant and Allah and build a religiously disciplined fence that prevents one from falling into sins or engaging in what angers Allah. This serves as psychological protection against subordination and drives towards perfection, benefiting both the individual and society. The spiritual values in Islam are manifested in acts of worship, religious teachings, the elimination of corrupt social diseases, and the encouragement of more values of cooperation and social solidarity. Therefore, the Islamic values that the Muslim youth are raised on govern their behavior, inspire them to work, help them bear responsibility, and enable them to preserve the interests of their religion and homelands, within a psychological framework that derives from it a proper behavioral pattern, making them capable of facing challenges and fulfilling their desired civilizational role. This refinement, which aligns with human nature, can shape a balanced and complete Muslim personality, not swayed by whims in every direction, but one that is steadfast, selfless, sustained in faith, and superior to others through this faith, seeing no truth except what it adheres to, with no excessiveness, arrogance, or submission.
Islam is the Only Alternative
The Islamic methodology, which educates its followers, asserts that Islam has no alternative in matters of social, cultural, and economic conceptions, etc., when compared to other deviant ideologies and doctrines derived from contemporary material civilization and others. Therefore, a Muslim is cautious about the values brought by globalization, which applies to nations that do not observe the limits of Allah and deny His blessings. The Muslim opposes the values of luxury and arrogance, denounces the manifestations of injustice and oppression, and the imposition of opinions by force. If given the opportunity and empowered on earth, a Muslim would prevent all this and obey Allah in what He has commanded, with justice among people, truthfulness, enjoining what is right, and forbidding what is wrong. The Muslim is not deceived by the media influx and the information revolution that has produced destructive phenomena from which societies now suffer greatly, especially affecting children and adolescents. Nor does the Muslim submit to the consumer values brought by globalization, which are dissonant in the Islamic conception and forbidden in its law. In this way, the Muslim views the other negative values brought by globalization as the evil work of Satan or as destructive acts committed by ignorant and unjust human beings.
The Family Has the Greatest Role
While educational institutions are diverse and interconnected, the family bears the greatest responsibility for raising its children on spiritual education, preserving their natural disposition and belief, and strengthening their personalities against the civilizational changes they face. If the family fails, the children will grow up loving desires, drifting towards material culture, becoming confused and disoriented, accompanied by frustration, lost in life’s paths, following every caller, and possibly worshiping Satan – Allah forbid – instead of the Merciful. This is the secret behind the West’s efforts, with all the means at its disposal, to globalize the Muslim family and corrupt it with their deviant values, as it is the last bond of our societies, after they succeeded in destroying many fortresses in previous cultural wars. It is also the last stronghold preventing the deviation of society and has always – and still does – carry the torch of faith, guiding its children to the paths of goodness and righteousness by instilling spiritual values in their souls and raising them as difficult Islamic projects, resistant to subordination or deviation.
A Generation Aware of the Challenges is Required
If spiritual education succeeds, within the family and other educational institutions, and lays the foundation for a Muslim personality immersed in faith and confident in itself, then it remains to outline the broad lines to confront the impacts of globalization by this personality, proud of its religion and aware of what is happening around it. The first of these lines is the establishment of educational institutions, both popular and official, concerned with preparing the youth spiritually and raising their awareness of the dangers of globalization and how to confront it. Also, reforming the media to benefit this youth, guide their compass, and direct them to the paths of guidance and righteousness. Additionally, preparing a generation of trainers or educators who have been qualified for student guidance, to teach the Islamic perspective on the threats to our societies and identities, with globalization being one of these threats, by developing their religious conscience and directing them culturally to equip them to fulfill their duty in reforming themselves first, then inviting others, and protecting their religion and homelands, and instilling a sense of belonging to the nation in their hearts.
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