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Part Two: Muslims And Their Inviolable Faith In Islam: A Counterweight to Western Anarchic Forces.

By Abdusamaad (Sam) Karani

Manufactured Western Global Chaos And  Islamophobia Muslim Inviolable Faith: A Historical Counterweight To Global Domination

     Part One:        Western Purveyors of Anarchic Chaos And Global Domination.

    Part Two:     Muslims And Their Inviolable Faith In Islam:

                        A Counterweight to Western Anarchic Forces

“Islam: Muslims Do Not Need Villains For Their Inviolable Faith.”

Historically, since the Crusades (1050-1300 CE), Muslims have been viewed as villains by the West for successfully preventing world domination and hegemony by Western (often Christian) forces. The Crusades, initiated by Western European Christians, aimed to halt the expansion of Muslim states, reclaim the Holy Land in the Middle East for Christianity and recapture territory that had previously been Christian. This occurred after centuries of Muslim wars of expansion.

In retrospect, Muslims (and, by default, Islam) became the manufactured adversary of the West, obstructing global domination and hegemony. This perspective persists despite the dialectical differences; that is, Muslims have become synonymous with Islam. Furthermore, aside from the convenience of villains needing an enemy to blame, there is no equivalent global historical counterbalance to challenge Western hegemony, power, and domination. At its core, the only force capable of withstanding the anarchic chaos introduced by the West is a robust Muslim alternative system based on their inviolable faith, characterized by inherent resilience and integrity.

However, there is a dialectic difference between  compromised regimes with Muslim majorities and the “street.” Additionally, Muslim societies must be distinguished from the “street ideology” and Muslim majority regimes or states that are often reluctant to oppose Western hegemony openly.

Despite ecclesiastical differences among the adherents of Islam, what unites all Muslims (Ummah) is their shared form of prayer and their common annual pilgrimage to Mecca (Hajj). The pilgrimage to Mecca (Saudi Arabia) remains one of the largest religious gatherings in the world each year. In this context, Islam is a homogeneous religion across all nations and is the second-largest religion globally. As an Abrahamic religion (monotheism), it has approximately 1.9 billion adherents. Furthermore, in terms of percentage and worldwide spread, Islam is the fastest-growing major religion in the world.

Website: www.samkarani.com and author of “The Rats Had Never Left – Conquering Colonists & Systemic Racism. Decolonize Your Mind (Freisen Press, 2023).

Islam is recognized as a universal religion due to its inclusiveness, adaptability, and ability to change while maintaining its core beliefs. This means that the expression of faith in Islam is genuinely ecumenical, promoting unity and universality. As a result, there is a significant difference in perspectives between its adherents and those with a Western worldview; these represent two distinct ways of interpreting the world. This makes Muslims the villains as a counterweight to domination.

Furthermore, it is historically evident that Muslims possess an inviolable faith in their religion. They firmly believe that their faith in Islam is enduring, capable of withstanding the test of time and the ongoing changes in Western politics. It is not subject to transient forces. Muslims’ faith in Islam remains a constant and is not contingent on ephemeral (temporary) changes in Western dialectic political nuances. Therefore, Muslims’ enduring faith in Islam needs to be differentiated from the politics surrounding Muslims in society.

The difference in world views between Muslims and Western political dialectics is often mistaken or presumed to be a “clash of civilizations” and that “never a twain will meet.” This dialectical difference essentially prescribes that Muslims cannot live together with other cultures, religions, and societies in general. It disregards the core principle of the Islamic edict for its adherents and requires adaptation, respect, and accommodation for diversity in life.

Islamophobia

According to Gottschalk and Greenberg (2018), “In the minds of many Americans, Islam is synonymous with the Middle East, Muslim men with violence, and Muslim women with oppression. A clash of civilizations appears to be increasingly manifest, and the war on terror seems to be a struggle against Islam. These are all symptoms of Islamophobia. Meanwhile, the current surge in nativist bias reveals the racism of anti-Muslim sentiment.” The authors also explore Western anxieties through political cartoons and film media with immediate and vital impact. They provide background on Islamic traditions and their history with America and graphically show how political cartoons and films reveal Americans’ casual demeaning and demonizing of Muslims and Islam. It is a phenomenon common among both liberals and conservatives. Hence, Islamophobia and anti-Muslim Sentiment offer a way of picturing the villain as Muslim and Islam.

This tactic and smear campaign of a “clash in civilizations” is known to American media. Historically, it was used to portray their own original Aboriginals successfully (First Nation People), and communism and the Soviet Union, that is, both essentially to be mortally feared. Therefore, throwing Muslims and Islam in the same basket of fear and paranoia that Americans should mortally heed. The American media, and especially Hollywood, therefore, fully subscribe to this Muslim hate phenomenon.

This characterization of a “clash in civilizations” presumes a mono-state of Islam (universally) and Muslims. There is no single Muslim state that is equivalent to a “Muslim civilization.” Hence, the fundamental premise is wrong! Islam prescribes essentially “a behavioural way of life” for its adherents (culture in society), which contradicts a mono-state of civilization in principle. Therefore, this characterization is essentially mischievous.

Therefore, Muslims in America and the West, with the advent of Islamophobia, often live in fear due to their manufactured vulnerability as pariahs. However, Muslims find themselves generally in a reactive state.

Nugent et al. (2018),in a paper drawing on the literature on nationalism and international relations theory, hypothesize that a Muslim’s ideological response to Western domination is a function of the type of domination experienced (either or a combination of military, cultural, or economic,) and individual-level characteristics such as intensity of religious practice (for instance mosque attendance worldwide is overflowing, and Christian churches are grossly short on attendance). The researchers tested their hypothesis in an experiment in Egypt, and their findings suggest that foreign domination does not always yield defensive responses and often produces a desire for greater cooperation with the hegemon.

This is fundamentally contrarian to American and Western fear (Islamophobia) and their paranoid mind state. Moreover, it demonstrates the poor mental health of their societies. Hence, Egyptian Muslims demonstrate a healthy and well-adjusted mental health mindset to Western hegemony and domination and not with essential fear. This could be interpreted as drawing positive lessons from their religion and faith in Islam and prescribing a way of living for  Muslims with others, although they may perceive you as a villain and with fear. Therefore, Muslims feel secure in their faith!

Moreover, this author and his lived experiences in South Africa, England, and now Canada bear testimony of Muslims feeling secure in their religion of Islam and as Muslims too!

Summary

There is a contradiction between the West and Muslims: Despite experiencing Islamophobia, Muslims feel secure in their faith and demonstrate a healthy mental health state, whereas adherents of Western hegemony and their domination of others remain possibly very insecure, anxiety-ridden, and, therefore, react with paranoia (Islamophobia). Moreover, Muslims do not need to make villains of anyone in society!

Gottschalk, P. and Greenberg, G. (2018): “Islamophobia and Anti-Muslim Sentiment Picturing the Enemy. “ Second Edition. https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781538107386/Islamophobia-and-Anti-Muslim-Sentiment-Picturing-the-Enemy-Second-Edition.

Nugent, E., Masoud, T. & Jamal, A. A. (2018): “Arab Responses to Western Hegemony: Experimental Evidence from Egypt.” https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0022002716648738?icid=int.sj-abstract

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