It is clear that our Muslim societies are no longer new to secularism, as it has become a powerful current in each of the Muslim countries. It is also worth noting that secularism collided from the very first moment it infiltrated our societies with the components of our collective consciousness and general sentiment, which means it is at odds with some of the foundations and perceptions that were regarded as axioms firmly rooted in the consciousness and collective mind of the nation concerning key aspects of Islamic teachings and essence. What is the essence of secularism? How did it enter our countries? What are its manifestations in our arenas? What are its implications? How did it clash with what were established religious truths before its emergence? And what is the way to dismantle its repercussions?
The Essence of Secularism
The main idea of secularism revolves around the relationship between religion and the worldly realm in general, that is, all religions, or religion as an idea on one hand, and various worldly activities on the other. The secular vision in this context is summarized as viewing religion as merely a set of high spiritual and human values such as honesty, integrity, and purity of intentions, along with religious rituals and practices. It asserts that it does not possess any theory or system of political and economic principles that can lead public life at the level of the concept of state or nation, and it should also not interfere in various other worldly activities such as sciences, literature, arts, and sports, due to its nature. This understanding extends deeply into the details of daily life, where proponents of this view believe that absolute freedom in clothing and food should be the true essence of any religion.
How Secularism Infiltrated Our Muslim Societies
It is well-known that secularism is a purely Western phenomenon that has infiltrated our Muslim countries for many decades, taking root in their soils. The West has worked to promote its secular ideology in various ways; however, it could not penetrate the fabric of our societies except through a group of its own children. Those who champion its cause from among our ranks can be categorized into two groups based on their motivations, drives, and objectives in this context:
Adopting Secularism from an Objective Perspective!
1- There is a group that has embraced secularism, promoted it, and carried its banner in our countries, from an objective perspective, stemming from their influence by the political-religious dialectic that emerged in Europe at the beginning of its modern renaissance. This has quickly transformed into a broad and intense conflict, encompassing even the social, scientific, and intellectual foundations of those societies regarding the nature of religion and its role in society and the state. The outcomes there led to fundamental transformations considered a liberating revolution on the religious, political, social, and intellectual levels.
This radical controversy, or revolution, erupted against the backdrop of what Western societies endured during their dark ages from the tyranny of the Church and its clergy, who imposed their will on all aspects of life. They even issued theories in pure scientific fields at the behest of the priests, and anyone who opposed these theories was accused of heresy and disbelief.
The Italian Scientist Galileo Galilei
When the Italian scientist Galileo adhered to the theory that posits the sun's centrality and the earth's rotation around it, the prevailing religious authority condemned him to imprisonment and other harsh penalties, including house arrest, because his theory contradicted what they claimed was established in the Bible. Naturally, this environment produced political systems draped in religious garb, where the ruler was viewed as the shadow of God on earth, governing the people and the land by divine mandate; accordingly, there was no contesting his rule, as it was merely a reflection of God's will!
Europe ended this difficult phase of its history by completely marginalizing religion and removing it from any spheres of influence within its societies and states. As a result, these societies were automatically molded into a purely secular yet unified form. The secret lies in this last word, "unified," as Europe has not witnessed any form of societal division between the religious and the secular or worldly since that time.
Adoption of the separation between religion and worldly matters
Then it happened that a group among us adopted this theory of separating religion from worldly affairs, captivated by the conditions that Europe reached in its relationship with religion. In addition, another major factor encouraged them to embrace a secular perspective: they connected the tremendous material and scientific progress experienced by Europe within the framework of its secular societies, on one hand, and the deteriorating living conditions of Muslims, on the other. This comparison is undoubtedly flawed, as Islam does not recognize a priestly authority based on divine mandate, and our Islamic communities have never witnessed the kind of overreach that those known in Western literature as “clergymen” exercised. Furthermore, our Muslim ancestors recorded their glories across various fields—scientific, political, intellectual, social, and economic—while adhering to their religious teachings in all matters, big and small, as the sole governing reference.
Thus, it would have been more prudent for them to seek the true reasons that led to the decline of Muslims thereafter, which gave rise to their continued descent into the present day.
Awestruck by the Scientific and Material Progress of the West
This group primarily includes those awestruck by the scientific and material progress of Western countries, whose philosophies, ideas, and orientations represent a dazzling inspirational model for most of them. They are influenced by this culture across various fields in our countries, particularly those disciplines that originated largely in the West, at least in their current form, and have been transferred to our societies with all their implications. These fields maintain a close connection with their original source, drawing inspiration from it, relaying every innovation, and following it in every detail. Additionally, a small percentage of serious intellectuals who have diligently researched this perspective have arrived at this understanding, purifying religion from entering what they see as worldly arenas rife with human conflicts and baseness. Moreover, it is inappropriate to conflate what is constant—namely, religion—with what is variable—namely, the world.
Adopting secularism from a subjective standpoint.
As for the second group, its members have adopted the secular discourse from a subjective psychological standpoint related to their relationship with their religion, and the nature of their paths in this world and their purposes within it. They are those who are immersed in a sea of desires.
These immersed individuals must achieve some form of harmony with themselves and their communities, given that they belong to a religion that has obligations, commands, and prohibitions. They often resort to a subjective interpretation of religion characterized by laxity and elasticity, crafting for themselves a false sense of harmony with the truths of their religion and community. Once this meaning becomes solidified and rooted within them over time, with the accumulation of similar instances, they view anyone who merely calls for adherence to the correct tenets of their religion and its constants as stringent or extremist, despite the fact that most of these immersed individuals do not oppose religion.
In this context, the situation is entirely different for societies where historical religions, or 'earthly' religions as some call them, are prevalent; none of them have ever faced issues of this kind, and it is neither expected nor natural for such situations to arise in them at any point in time.
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- Hisham Yacoub (editor) and others, "Eye on Al-Aqsa 18 – Executive Summary," Jerusalem International Foundation, Beirut, 2024.
- Data paper, "Jerusalem a Year After the Aggression on Gaza," 7/11/2024. https://qii.media/items/2138.
- Al-Jazeera Net, 23/9/2024. https://tinyurl.com/2s39wkj7.
- Al-Quds City website, 6/11/2024. https://qii.media./items/2151.
