EDITORIAL

Message of Contemporary Human Thought

The campaign of hostility against Islam has reverted to its fierceness at many levels. Some religious and political leaders, thinkers, academicians, intellectuals, journalists and media figures now take part in that campaign in different ways and forms. Though the end is always the same, the means tend to vary depending on the circumstances. They may be overt in times, secret in others, and then may all of a sudden take the shape of a fierce war that continues unabated.

The world is embarking on an era where the advocates of racism, religious fanaticism, and intellectual and civilizational isolation are spreading allegations and fallacies that only kindle the fires of hatred and enmity among the world's peoples, deliberately promote unrest and purposefully cast doubts about historical facts and moral values. Those who do not know these facts and values find themselves in a quandary, torn between the radiance of faith, conviction and knowledge, and the darkness of doubt, fanaticism and ignorance, between tolerance, mutual understanding and dialogue and cooperation on the one hand, and hatred, racism, sectarian conflict and intellectual disputes on the other. This situation is of great concern and reflects the defectiveness of the international relations, the chaos of intellectual safety and cultural peace, and the dangerous discrepancy between the values, principles, ideals and theories addressed today and adopted by the international community, and a reality that is replete with deviations in thought, erratic behaviour and an inclination for misleading minds, distorting the truth and baffling the international public opinion. Such a situation is unprecedented in world history, not only in its scope but also in that strange perseverance to doing evil, committing cruel injustice, and overusing deception and betrayal under pretexts that were used in the past to impress and befuddle the simple-minded and that are now open secrets.

Any sensible person knows that today's world takes an unsafe path. There are ill-intentioned parties who seek to sow trouble and unrest, disrupt the stability of human societies and trigger religious strife, leading to a state of utter chaos that no effort on the part of genuine rational-thinking men and no good offices of wise men can end. This poses a serious threat to the state of the world and opens the doors wide open before anarchic ideas, erratic actions, and exclusionist policies that seek to separate man from his reality and lure him into illusions and perdition, thus placing him outside the historical moment, stripping him of his rational and civilized mind, and making him unable to act positively or constructively in ways that affect the lives of individuals and communities.

Those who commit the crime of waging a war on Islam and Muslims, no mater how diverse and myriad their styles are- are knowingly or unknowingly prejudicing the entire humanity and all divine religions. They erect obstacles on the path to the future that mankind dreams of and strives with all its might to fulfil with the help of the Almighty and Creator (SWT) and thanks to the desire to build not to demolish, and to edify civilization instead of wreaking havoc on earth. These fierce campaigns against Islam as a religion, a way of life, a culture, a civilization and an Ummah, have as their first and last target humanity at large, a humanity that is thus thrust into labyrinths to which there is no beginning or end, and that sees its future on this planet at stake.

One of the amazing aspects of this anti-Islam and Muslims campaign in this juncture of history are the so-called experts, disguised as men of thought, science and culture, who introduce themselves as the champions of reason and logic and of defending rights. They claim that they fight ignorance and superstition, combat fanaticism and extremism and endeavour to eradicate terrorism. All of these are but false claims, fallacies and lies that they spread for no purpose but to serve their own interests and realize their plans. These plans can be summed up in a desire to enfeeble the great Islamic edifice, undermine its integrity, mercilessly tear it apart, create a cleavage between Islam and life, and force Muslims to follow their policies.

Faced by such a worrisome and extremely tense situation, the world's conscience and rational-thinking people stand fast before the conspiracies being weaved against humanity by the true fanatics, the prominent extremists and those who have no respect for the truth. In fact, thinking rationally about the world's current situation can only lead to favouring the supremacy of human interests over the sectarian and religious interests of a given group or community, the political and economic interests of a category or the strategic interests of a country, no matter how powerful this country is. It is not in the interest of humanity to kindle the fires of religious wars, spur sectarian conflicts or escalate clashes - instead of dialogue - between civilizations and cultures. Nor is it in the interest of humanity to turn the onslaught upon another religion into an international crisis that preoccupies the public opinion and distracts the attention from important matters such as the pursuit of people's prosperity and progress and the achievement of peace and stability. It is not in the best interest of the world, today and the future, to create tension spots that would serve as breeding grounds for crises of with unpredictable consequences. There is no doubt that offending religions and questioning people's faith and beliefs are two matters of great danger. In addition to being a blatant violation of human international laws, the risks that they entail are despicable crimes.

The responsibility of the sensible people and rational thinkers in this world only becomes weightier as this abnormal phenomenon escalates in its threat to the safety of human societies, and as long as the war waged on Islam and Muslims in all parts of the world continues unabated. We still believe that fighting these campaigns is not the responsibility of Muslims alone. It is also the responsibility of the intellectual and cultural elites that nurture a human conscience, an enlightened mind and a clear vision of the world's issues and destiny.

The mission of human thought in today's world is one of great value, and discharging this mission is a moral duty, a human necessity and the expression of a strong need that cannot be evaded or neglected. With an enlightened thought and a wise mind, it becomes possible to deal with this phenomenon which has come to characterize our today's world, to face it with wisdom and clarity, unmask its true purposes and unveil its real plans. If the Islamic thought fails to tone with the fundamental goals of Islam, to adopt the argument of the Middle Way and tolerance, and to open up to the world while assimilating its changes, freeing itself from the after-effects of the age of civilizational regression, then it will never be able to convince others of the true essence of Islam and to provide compelling arguments that refute the allegations against Islam.

Islam Today