Assalam alaikum
Prominent thinker
Syed Qutb said:
‘There is nothing in our Islam of which we are ashamed or anxious about defending; there is nothing in it to be smuggled out the people with deception or do we muffle the loud truth which it proclaims . This is the defeatist mentality , defeated before the West, and before the East and before this and that mode of Jahiliyyah.’
In face of the attacks on Islam by the disbelievers, some Muslims turn to the defensive with an inner feeling of defeat as they try to show that the Islamic values are no different from the western ones.
If they are told that the Islamic political system is dictatorial, they respond by trying to show it is democratic.
If they are told that Islam spread with Jihad, they respond that Muslims fought only to defend themselves when attacked.
If they are told that there is a problem with the status of women in Islam, they try to prove that Islam allows polygamy only under strict conditions which most men do not fulfill and hence they conclude it is virtually not allowed!
Such apologetic attitudes should be put behind.
Islam is a way of life given to us by Allah, it cannot be put on the same level as other man-made ideologies or corrupted revelations. Muslims should have enough confidence in themselves to go on the offensive rather than stay on the defensive like an accused person.Some Muslims try to hide their Islamic identity for fear of being labeled as “fundamentalist”. Men are shaving their beard and women are trying to make their hijab look like the latest fall fashion. If presented with food or drink that is haram, they say we are full at the moment, or they say we do not like that particular food. Only few say that they cannot eat it because it is unlawful in Islam. This is not the way of the companions of the Prophet ﷺ behaved.
When the companions accepted Islam, they became proud of it and felt that all other ideologies and ways of life are inferior to what has been revealed to them from above seven heavens.
Thus, in order to inspire the regeneration of the Muslim Ummah, it is imperative that Muslims free themselves entirely from the spirit of apology for their dīn and take time to reflect without reacting in ways which will further aggravate the situation. We must confront ‘alternative views’ intellectually, be proud of our rich Islamic legacy and should endeavour to preserve this difference as a precious quality and pronounce it boldly to the world.
No civilisation can prosper, or even exist, after having lost pride in itself and the connection with its own past, let alone commit the folly of destroying their own social institutions in order to imitate a foreign civilisation – foreign not only in an historical or a geographical sense but also in a spiritual sense. The European Renaissance is one prime example. Europe did accept Islamic/Arab influences in the matter and method of learning, but it did not imitate the outward appearance and spirit of Arabian culture and nor did it sacrifice its own intellectual and aesthetic independence.Muslims should shed the victim mentality that holds them back from taking practical steps towards reforming the societies they live in. Islām can no longer afford to remain an empty form under the impact of new ideas and conflicting cultural currents. We Muslims must regain our lost confidence, connect to our greater Islamic vision.
Read more:
https://www.islam21c.com/islamic-thought/defeating-the-defeatist-mentality/
