After their victory in the Crusades, the Muslims were in a position of dominance; but Islam was not able to spread in Europe by virtue of that domination. The bitter memory of their defeat at the hands of the Muslims had made Europeans averse to Islam. The prejudice and antagonism left by the Crusades now blocked the way to the spread of Islam in Europe.

When European nations later emerged as colonial powers, however, this hostility mellowed. The defeat of the Crusade was now avenged. A large portion of the Muslim world came—directly or indirectly—under European rule.

Defeated nations hold grudges against the other party. For this reason they are not willing to accept anything that their rivals have to offer them. Victorious nations, on the other hand, are self-sufficient. No psychological barrier prevents them from accepting anything that the other party has to offer them. With the colonial period, then, came great new opportunities for the spread of Islam in Europe. Preaching Islam in a defeated Europe was a hard task, but preaching it in a victorious Europe was relatively easy.

But now another obstacle came in the way. The resentment that was previously felt by Europeans was now felt by Muslims. In the colonial period, Europe achieved political and cultural ascendancy over the Muslim world. This made Muslims bitterly antagonistic towards Europe; it made Muslims look at Europe as their material enemies and national rivals; it made them view Europeans with hostility instead of sympathy. The result was that the message of Islam could not be communicated to Europeans in the colonial period either. For the word of God to be conveyed to other nations, a preacher-congregation relationship has to exist between Muslims and other people. Such a relationship was never able to develop between Muslims and Europeans, for one reason in the past and for a different reason now.

Now is the time then to end the political and economic rivalry that exists between Muslims and other nations. Only if Muslims cease to think in a worldly way will an atmosphere conducive to proslytization come into existence. What they must do is think on a divine level, for God has entrusted them with the propagation of His word. Only when they do so will they realize the importance of relinquishing the worldly rivalry that exists between them and other nations.