Temporal Changes

The true secret behind the dominance of the Western powers was that they had transformed the human mindset. To successfully meet the challenge of the Western nations, it was now necessary to counter them in the realm of ideas.

A fundamental mistake of the Ulama of modern times is that they have taken the dominance of Western nations to be simply a political phenomenon. However, this dominance is a reflection of a powerful civilisation. It indicates that the political aspect is secondary. Even if the dominant Western nations were politically defeated, their dominance would remain intact. It was very-well illustrated in the aftermath of the Second World War.

The dominance of the Tartars in the 13^th century over large parts of the then Muslim world was simply by the rule of the sword—that is to say, it was mere political dominance. Suppose the Tartars had been defeated politically by the sword, their dominance would have come to an end. However, the dominance of the Western powers in the modern age was much more deeply entrenched than this. Thus, the future of Western dominance could not be estimated simply on the battlefield.

The true secret behind the dominance of the Western powers was that they had transformed the human mindset. The intellectual revolution they had brought about compelled the entire world to think in the same way they did, to hold opinions of things just like they do.

This major transformation led to a shift in the arena of confrontation between the Western powers and the people they came to dominate, from the battlefield to the field of thought. To successfully meet the challenge of the Western nations, it was now necessary to counter them in the realm of ideas. To find a place in the modern world, it was necessary, once again, to transform the structures of human thought. However, because the Ulama became deeply involved in political conflicts, they failed to understand these imperatives, and they also failed to take the appropriate action on this score.