As we have previously mentioned in our write-up here and here, rockstar Muslim "celebrity sheikhs" and their groupies are not a pathway towards political and intellectual revival. In order for Muslims and the general public to understand why this is the case, it is necessary to look back in time and see historically just how Muslim intellectual life was politically subverted via colonial interference and foreign control. This short write-up from over a decade ago, accurately and succinctly describes the colonial process necessary for controlling the minds and intellectual life of people residing in the Muslim World. This form of colonialism was more insidious and long lasting - the shackles were mental and invisible -- but much much stronger. The names/faces and hyped up personalities may change but the process remains essentially the same.
It is our view here at iSiyasah that any form of revival -- if it is to be genuine-- must actively work to undo these mental shackles and intellectual barriers to build an alternative and independent political and ideological order.
Destroying and Rebuilding Islam in the image of the west
By Yusuf Progler
As the Christian millennium looms, Muslims - rather than joining the celebrations - might fruitfully use the occasion to consider the Christian and western influence and impact on Islamic civilization. Beginning with the Crusades, and for nearly a millennium since, western Christian colonial and cultural incursions into the Muslim world are characterized by dastardly acts and destruction. Consider, for example, this case:
"They opened fire with cannons and bombs on the houses and quarters, aiming specially at the mosque, firing at it with those bombs. They also fired at suspected places bordering the mosque, such as the market. And they trod in the mosque with their shoes, carrying swords and rifles. Then they scattered in its courtyard and its main praying area and tied their horses to the qibla. They ravaged the students' quarters and ponds, smashing the lamps and chandeliers and breaking up the bookcases of the students and the scribes. They plundered whatever they found in the mosque, such as furnishings, vessels, bowls, deposits, and hidden things from closets and cupboards. They treated the books and Qur'anic volumes as trash, throwing them on the ground, stamping on them with their feet and shoes. Furthermore they soiled the mosque, blowing their spit in it, and urinating and defecating in it. They guzzled wine and smashed the bottles in the central court and other parts. And whoever they happened to meet in the mosque they stripped. They chanced upon someone in one of the student residences and slaughtered him."
When people first read this quote, some think it depicts the Christian expulsion of Muslims from Spain, while others see in it more contemporary events, such as the Christian genocide of Muslims in Bosnia. Certainly the deeds and barbarities described are consistent with many instances of western atrocities against Muslims. Murder, plunder, destruction, humiliation - Muslims have suffered all of these at the hands of western invaders.