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Editorial: A New Cycle of Human Civilization
Today, the world is undergoing decisive changes that are sure to redirect the course of human thought and reshape the traits of humanity's future in the short and long terms. The various events that unfold in different spheres of life basically confirm that the world is in a tipping point with no precedent in the history of humanity in the 20th century. The past hundred years are in fact described as the century of major transformations, great wars and thorny crises, just as it was the century of tremendous progress in science, technology, knowledge and inventions that did great service to humanity and opened up wide horizons of civilizational advancement.
The interaction of political events that gave rise to the new equation of the balance of power, coupled with the scientific and advanced technological deve-lopments of this stage in human history, as well as the impact of all this on eco-nomic and social conditions in all parts of the world, all indicate that the world has embarked on the sensitive phase that precedes the decisive leaps which change the course of history.
When the cold war came to an end and the Berlin Wall collapsed, the world aspired to stability as a prelude to world peace and to global economic prosperity. It also hoped that people who were denied their legitimate rights would be able to reclaim them, and that international laws would be applicable to the powers holding the reins of international politics. But these hopes faded, not to say that they were shattered, over the past two decades, challenged by alarming elements on the international scene. Salient among these was the application by superpowers of a policy that serves not the interests of the world's nations, but the vital interests of one country or a specific group of countries that engage in hegemonic practices, which are in themselves a violation of the principles they proclaim and on which they were founded.
This hegemony, which runs against the grain of nature and of Allah's Sunnah for the universe, has affected all aspects of human life, in a way much similar to past tyrannical regimes which ruled during times of violent ideological and political conflicts opposing the capitalist and communist camps. Some of the most dangerous aspects of this hegemony are perhaps the standardization of human thought, the creation of mass culture and the globalization of a media that con-ditions public opinion and influences political, intellectual and cultural trends and clearly impacts on sciences and culture.
As nature would have it, this international situation cannot last, nor can the sway of intellectual monopoly, the hogging of culture and control over the media since this would decommission the intellectual capacities and natural talents abounding in developing countries and even those struggling to grow. It is indeed the inherent nature of the mind to be versatile, to feed from myriad sources and to flow in diverse directions and courses. It is also the very nature of culture to have many manifestations, offshoots and fecund sources, to be diverse in its spe-cificities and differ in its references in such a way as to enhance thought, conso-lidate culture irrespective of its identity, and enrich civilization and contribute to its advancement.
The tremendous scientific progress achieved by humanity at present is a manifestation of the development of human thought and an indication of its ability to bypass the political and economic situation of the international scene and of its freedom from the pressures generated by the crises endured by the world. Analyzing the nature of this progress and this concept of development would enable us to state clearly that the world is inexorably advancing on a path that will lead it to freedom from the obligatory submission to stereotyped thought, mass molded culture and globalized media, towards a new totally different era. Despite the current confusion obscuring horizons and preventing a clear vision of reality and future, a true and smart reading of the present and thorough pondering of history's events and deep assimilation of its lessons, fills the heart with serenity and confidence that the world is standing at the threshold of a new era.
The in-depth study of conditions in many human societies reveals that moral values have lost their hold and that the criteria applied in many societies have become distorted. Western societies in particular are under threat of the 'moral relativity' preached today by nihilists and according to which all things become equal, nothing is better than anything, and that ultimately everything becomes permissible. In the opinion of many conscious people, this will lead to the collapse of the European civilization, the end of the race and the disintegration of the family. Warning against this deterioration, Pope Benedict XVI said in a lecture delivered on 13 September 2008 before a host of French personalities, which included former French presidents Jacques Chirac and Giscard D'Estaing, that a purely material culture which makes belief in God a matter of personal (subjective) choice, is considered a failure of reason and a surrender of its optimal powers, and therefore a failure of humanity and its repercussions can only be dire. The Pope's words prove that the Western perception of secularity, particularly among French thinkers, negates faith since it bypasses religion and dissociates it from public opinion, when it does not reject it outright. Though some European thinkers promote the theory of positive secularity, there is no avoiding the fact that in the name of secularity, which kept religion away from life and turned it into a private matter, Europe has ended in the current state of diminished faith, withered spiri-tuality, family dissolution, crime prevalence, the objectification of man and all other manifestations of the decay of Western civilization and the corruption of its genes.
Our purpose is not to demonstrate the deterioration or fall of the Western civilization. It is a solid, creative and influential civilization which is serving human beings in their worldly life and has elevated human life to undeniable material heights. What we rather wish to say is that the words of the Catholic Pontiff corroborate our own thesis, namely that the world is going through labor pains and that all evidence points to a change in the current international juncture, whether in its political or economic manifestations, or the intellectual and cultural ones, as Allah has decreed for His Creation. If we resort to the man-made measure and used the prevalent term, we would say that it is the natural order. The laws of history and life all prove that change is in the making and that inertia is against the logic itself of historical dynamics and universal laws.
If we look at the financial crunch which shook the United States of America and the whole world in September last year as leading banks with astronomical financial assets filed for bankruptcy, from an intellectual aspect instead of the economic and political ones, and if we place it within the context of the objective and scientific analysis of the civlizational crisis experienced by the world, we will find that it is a reflection of the coming change. What has occurred constitutes in fact a strong shock within the edifice of capitalism and the unbridled globalization trend, thus tolling the bells of danger and heralding the eminent demise of the dominance exercised by international powers over the world's populations.
However, the coming change, expected to affect all fields and stretch to the farthest horizons, should not be perceived with apprehension or treated recklessly. From our study of history in its various stages, we have learnt that each historical phase has its own logic and specificity. Civilizational eras succeed each other as do historical cycles. Naturally man's life is influenced by the changes decreed by Allah. Man interacts with them and assimilates them, since he is the one who makes history and steers its course using the abilities and talents that Allah conferred on him and the resources and innumerable riches the almighty (Exalted by His Name) bestowed on mankind. Thus, we Muslims believe that history is not a series of random leaps, changes of nature or clash of classes. History is the product of divine will and the manifestation of divine mercy on humanity. It is this divine mercy which directs Man's willpower to build human civilization and contribute to the betterment of life on the Earth.
With such faith we look towards the future and anticipate it, armed with knowledge and a conscious reading of the landscape of human reality in all its facets, comparing the events of the past and those of the present, inferring moral lessons from a history whose signs can be read on us and which casts its shadow over our contemporary life. Thus, the outlines of the future become apparent to us, features which are still part of the unknown that is known to Allah and Allah only (SWT), He Who knows all secrets, has blessed human beings with reason and foresight to think, observe, verify, search, compare and judge the present through the past and envision the future in the light of both past and present.
Humanity is on the threshold of a new civilizational cycle, and human thought is soon to start a new era. The world will change when the labor pains it is expe-riencing today give birth to a new human civilization where the voice of justice and equity will ring loud and where the banner of peace will fly high. The events unfolding in the world and the deep and broad transformations occurring today are eloquent signs that the world is moving towards freedom from the shackles that have for long restrained thought and man's willpower and laid heavy burdens on his shoulders in the form of crises and obstacles. Such is the hope of humanity which, by the grace of Allah, Creator of all, the Merciful and the Compassionate, shall not be disappointed.
ISLAM TODAY
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