UTILIZATION OF MODERN OPPORTUNITIES
Muslims in the present age suffer from a unique deprivation, one that perhaps no other nation or group shares to the same extent. This deprivation lies in their failure to capitalize on the vast opportunities afforded by the modern era.
One of the most significant opportunities available in contemporary times is what we now call “freedom.” The revolutionary French thinker Rousseau famously began his book ‘The Social Contract’ with the sentence: “Man is born free, but everywhere he is in chains.” This phrase became the creed of the modern age, evolving into a universally accepted belief that freedom is a birthright of every human being. It is an inalienable right for individuals to act according to their convictions, with the sole condition being that this freedom must not involve aggression and must be exercised peacefully. Two illustrative stories shed light on this principle.
It is said that when America gained independence from British rule, an American citizen came out into the street to celebrate. He was walking along, swinging his arms vigorously. In the process, one of his hands struck the nose of a passerby. The passerby said angrily, “What is this nonsense?”
The man replied, “America is free now. I can do whatever I like.”
The passerby answered calmly, “No doubt you are free, but your freedom ends where my nose begins.”
This anecdote eloquently encapsulates the modern concept of freedom: individuals are granted complete liberty, provided they do not resort to violence or infringe on the rights of others.
Similarly, Mahatma Gandhi, who learned this principle during his education in the West, applied it effectively in India’s struggle for independence. In 1857, Muslim leaders in India had launched a freedom movement against British colonial rule, basing their efforts on violent struggle. Despite waging a bloody war for over sixty years, their movement failed. However, when Mahatma Gandhi assumed leadership of the independence movement in 1919, he adopted a fundamentally different approach, rooted in peaceful struggle. Consequently, India achieved independence in 1947.
What explains this stark difference? The failure of earlier efforts stemmed from the taqlidi (imitative) mindset of the Muslim leadership, which recognized only armed jihad as a strategy. The classical texts of fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence) were written in an era when the sword was the predominant symbol of power. These works reflect the worldview of their time, emphasizing violent struggle as the sole method of achieving goals. This is reflected in an old Arabic saying:
“War eliminates war” (al-harb anfa lil-harb).
A Persian poet similarly captured this ancient mindset:
“Whoever wields the sword,
The coin bears his name.”
The military mindset is so deeply ingrained in contemporary Muslims that almost no Muslim remains unaffected by it. This mindset is perpetuated in various forms across different contexts. For example, a line from a Palestinian song states: “Halumma noqatil, halumma noqatil, fa inna al-qitala sabeel al-rashad” (Come, let us fight, come, let us fight, because fighting is the way to success).
This mental framework, rooted in ancient jurisprudence, became so prevalent that even modern thinkers could not escape its influence. Figures like Sayyid Jamal al-Din al-Afghani (1838-1897), Sayyid Qutb (1906-1966), Dr. Muhammad Iqbal (1877-1938), and Sayyid Abu al-A‘la Maududi (1903-1979) were also caught in this mindset. This has been a key reason why the sacrifices of contemporary leaders have failed to yield significant results.
The example of Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948) demonstrates how a peaceful approach can be more effective than armed struggle in the modern era. Gandhi joined the Indian freedom movement in 1919. Until then, the movement was based on the principle of violence, which the British government countered with their own violent measures. Gandhi abruptly announced that the movement would henceforth adopt the principle of non-violence instead of violence. This shift rendered the British government powerless, as they could no longer justify suppressing a non-violent movement.
It is said that when Gandhi made this announcement as the leader of the freedom movement, an English collector sent a telegram to his secretariat, stating:
“Kindly wire instructions on how to kill a tiger non-violently.”
This vividly illustrates how non-violence rendered the British government’s violent suppression strategies ineffective.
Muslims, by adopting peaceful means, can achieve far more than they could through violent struggle. The failure to understand this reality lies in their continued adherence to an outdated mindset rooted in medieval jurisprudence, which recognizes only violent struggle as a valid means to achieve goals.
