Colonialism:
Colonialism is the method of the capitalist ideology to spread and propagate it, and to bring it into the reality of life. This means the spread of its military, political, intellectual, economic and cultural hegemony and dominance. Just as it is the method for spreading the ideology and making it exist in the reality of life it is also a means for looting the natural resources of the lands, plundering their treasures and sucking the blood from the sons of the land. This is the fundamental method for propagating the capitalist ideology and it is the exact method that they have used for spreading their ideology within the Islamic world.
So they mobilized the armies, they made alliances and they subjugated the agents and those had desires from amongst the sons of the Ummah and they declared a war which they called the First World War. This is when all of the states of disbelief with the exception of Germany gathered together to destroy the Khilafah and remove the authority of the Muslims. After they accomplished that, they spread their military control over the Muslim regions. They divided them first so that their power and strength would be lost in case they realised the seriousness of what happened and the atrocity that they had helped to achieve or had been silent whilst it was taking place. Then after tearing up the regions and dividing them, they then focused on extending their political control and hegemony. So they established their agents and supporters as rulers over the necks of the Muslims who proceeded to be commanded by their commands and to implement all the policies that they desired. They placed their hands over the capabilities of the lands and their natural resources whilst they enforced the economic system that they wanted. These agents signed economic agreements that enabled them to obtain the resources including the despicable agreements in regards to the oil. They proceeded to extend their intellectual and cultural influence and they entrusted their wardens to implement what they wanted so that the society could be built and the ideology firmly implanted within it openly according to the form that they wanted and by the amount that they wanted.
As the culture has the greatest affect over the human thought and influences the course of life, they focused upon enforcing their culture upon the people and they put down education and cultural curricula upon the basis of their philosophy of ‘the separation of the Deen from the life’ which represents their viewpoint in life. To speed up the concentration and spread of this they established schools and educational centres in every city, town and village. The fact that most of the towns and villages did not already have schools helped them and made this matter easier and this was the result of the bad caretaking of the people’s societal affairs by the authority in the period of decline preceding the fall of the Khilafah. This made the people warm to the likes of these actions whilst they did not perceive the true intentions and objectives that lay behind them.
They enforced curricula that they had prepared upon the schools and educational centres and compelled them to stick to them whilst not allowing a single departure from the curricula and programmes that they had laid down. By taking a glance at the cultural curricula that they laid down we find for example the subject of Deen (Religion). So the colonialism did not prevent the teaching of the Deen and indeed they did the opposite by making it a fundamental subject in the schools. However they taught it in the manner that they intended for the Deen so the Deen had no input in political affairs and the affairs of life but rather it only related to the affairs of the hereafter and the relationship between the individuals and their Lord. The curriculum was therefore restricted to the beliefs, worships and morals and it was not permitted for this curriculum to include within it the political or economic systems or discuss political realities. So the Deen is separated from politics and taken away from the State:
‘Give to Caesar what is to Caesar and to Allah what belongs to Allah’ whilst bringing the Deen into the matters of ruling instigates Fitnah (unrest) and wars and brings calamities and scourges! This is because Europe suffered from the interference of the religion and it pulled them into wars that lasted for hundreds of years and they did not revive or elevate except after they had taken the Deen away from politics and the State. This was how the curriculum for the subject of the Deen had to proceed. It was necessary for those entrusted with writing the details of the curriculum to stick firmly to this principle and this is what was obliged and enforced upon the people as a whole.
As for the subject of history, then the fundamental principle for it was to make the European history the example and model that needs to be emulated and the western personality the highest example that must be imitated. They claimed that ’In the West you have the best of examples’ whilst pointing with their fingers to the reality of those lands which are elevated and revived. So the fundamental principle and basis for the history curriculum was established upon two points. The first: To provide a glowing and shining image of Europe, its revival, its history and it personalities including its thinkers. Secondly: They presented the history of the Islamic Ummah in the same way as the Orientalists presented it and wrote it. They therefore did not leave any incident of Fitnah that took place, or difference or struggle that happened over the ruling and authority except that they brought it out and made it prominent. They made the young Muslim feel shy of his history and would visualise the Battle of the Camel, of Siffeen and Marj Dabiq amongst others and the competing amongst the Khulafaa, the assassinations of ‘Uthmaan, ‘Umar and ‘Ali (rah) amongst other matters that made the Muslims feel disdain and contempt towards these events and even from just hearing about them. This was so that the situation would reach the level where the Muslim would not be able to view his history except through the glasses of this gloomy and dark image that had been presented to him.
As for the subject of the Arabic language they wrapped it in a nationalistic covering so that the nationalistic feelings would spread and their pride in Arabs and Arabism along with it. They sang the praises of their glories, they wrote books and articles and regulated the emotions and feelings to such a degree that due to their ignorance some began to view that the Arabs and Arabism held a greater merit over Islam and that without it Islam would not have spread and found a place within life.
These are some of the main subjects within the cultural curriculum and they are the subjects that have an effect upon the shaping of the ‘Aqliyyah (mentality) of the person and the building of his personality. If we add to that the type of people that they appointed to implement these subjects, supervise over them and teach them, then this made the students as a result dislike the Deen as a result of the personality of the teacher and his behaviour and conduct. The students of the Arabic language would leave or indeed end their curriculums and graduated as foreigners to the Arabic language due to a combination of two factors: The corruption of the curriculum and the corruption of those who were entrusted over its implementation.
This was amongst other matters that led to the following results and consequences and these are what we mean by the western occupying influence over the thoughts of the society and its public opinion:
a) The existence of a large number of educated people, who had been educated with their culture, believed in the western Aqeedah and worked in accordance to its viewpoint and philosophy. b) Making the return of Islam to the reality of life and the return of the Muslim authority a far off matter whilst considering the call to that as mere fiction or a kind of madness and considering the call to Islam as being reactionary and backward.
c) The concentration and focus upon the nationalistic or regional thinking and the spreading of malice and hatred amongst the sons of the one and same Ummah.
d) Putting the spotlight upon democracy and making it the goal that is called for and the aim that is worked for to achieve.
e) The spread of the ideas of freedom, general freedoms under slogans such as ‘Freedom, justice and equality’.
f) The spread of various forms of socialist thoughts and what is attached to them in terms of meanings and interpretations.
g) And to satisfy the Muslims and mislead them they focused their viewpoints towards understanding the society as being made up of and consisting of individuals. So the call to return to Allah by the self reformation of the individual spread under the slogan ‘Reform the individual and the society will be reformed’! This was accompanied by calls to gain closeness to Allah through acts of worship, recommended acts of obedience and praiseworthy morals. As a result of this many charitable, religious and moral associations were established upon this basis.
h) The prohibition of political work upon the Muslim due to considering politics as deceit and hypocrisy whilst Islam is upright and clear and as such Islam and politics do not meet and mix. In addition they distanced from the minds of the Muslims that politics in Islam means the taking care of the affairs of the people domestically and externally.
i) Reliance upon the foreigner to reach goals and achieve results. This was in addition to the spread of defeatist thoughts and declined opinions like their misleading statements: In respect to the Noble Aayah:
O you who have believed, upon you is [responsibility for] yourselves (Al-Maa’idah 105).
They took the meaning: Apathy and indifference to what happens in the public and general life.
The Arab proverb: ‘The hand which you cannot resist, kiss it in submission, and then pray that it may be broken’. Which carries the meaning: Submit to injustice and only resist it with empty hopes.
The expression: ‘The month in which you do not have in it a reward, do not count its days’. This expresses the meaning of apathy towards the public life i.e. there is nothing that you can do to change it.
The expression: ‘The palm does not exchange blows with the punch (fist)’. This reflects defeat and cowardice.
The expression: ‘It is not Halaal (permissible) for the Muslim to humiliate himself and confronting the ruler is humiliation’. This means that the political work is prohibited.
The expression: ‘Approach the dog by his mouth so that I can take my requirement from him’. This reflects weakness and hypocrisy.
The expression: ‘Contentment with the state of the reality if it is not what you desire...’. An expression to accept the reality of being subservient.
The expression: ‘Take and demand’. An expression reflecting the acceptance of partial solutions.
The principle: ‘The middle solution’. A western style used to solve problems built upon their Aqeedah.
These are a selection of opinions and thoughts amongst many that poisoned the society and were absorbed into the minds of the people until they became the measure for their actions and the principles for their thought. It therefore became necessary upon the one desiring revival to work to remove these effects, cleanse the brains and distance these defilements so that the purity can return to the Ummah and so that its mentality can be built upon the correct ideological bases.
As for the effect of the occupation upon the collective’s (i.e. the society) sentiments:
They were able to sow the seeds of nationalism, regionalism, racism, tribalism, clanism, madhabiyah and sectarianism. They found a fertile soil that grew and developed quickly and set alight feelings of hostility and hatred amongst the people. This was the tool by which they were able to gain control over everyone and they would feed all of the factions in line with their famous principle: ‘Divide and rule’. The Ummah became many nations and a single people became many peoples and a single society became societies fashioned upon their desires and the feelings and sentiments of the people would not be agitated except in the way that had been drawn out for them to. This is from one angle and from another, they made their (the western colonist) personality the ideal and model personality within the breasts of the people and they made their lands and history the image of what the people look up to in awe of their greatness and majesty. They did this until it reached the extent that those who had been cultured with their culture and who believed in their belief proceeded along with the colonizer. They were imprinted with the colonizer’s thoughts and as a result they became strangers in their society, they would look at their people in scorn and their Ummah in contempt whilst being ashamed of their history.
And at this point I will mention a story that happened with one of delegations of a group of very cultured people who visited China. They were received warmly, welcomed and were hosted with graciousness and honour. They increased their honouring of them and this went past the formalities by inviting them to their evening social activities and gatherings. In one of these even gatherings the Chinese foreign minister was present and he sat with them to honour them and to please them. He then began to talk about the hero and legend who had not even reached twenty years of age, the Muslim commander who conquered India and reached the borders of China. He then mentioned the dialogue that happened between the King of China and the young commander. The young leader Muhammad Bin Al-Qaasim said that ‘Our Ameer has made an oath that he would tread upon the ground of China with his two feet’. The King of China replied to him saying: ‘Carry my greetings with you to him and what is light to carry but precious in wealth as a present along with a bag of soil that you can put underneath his feet and then he can step over it and fulfil his oath’. This is what the high Chinese official related however the respectable cultured delegation hid their faces in shame from this story and they began to attack Muhammad Bin Al- Qaasim severely describing what he did as barbaric colonialism asking why he had felt the need to attack China and what did he have to do with China? And why did the Arabs ever go out outside from the Arabian Peninsula?! This was the result of the colonisers mentality, its arrogance and style and this is what was represented in this respectable and cultured delegation. As a result of this the Chinese Official was furious and he stood up addressing the delegation with hatred and contempt whilst pointing to the head of the delegation who had been condemning Muhammad Bin Al-Qaasim and he said to him: ‘Listen you so and so. Any nation that is ashamed of their history does not deserve to live’. He and those with him then left and the following day the delegation was made to leave China. This event was related by one of those attending who had been an ambassador representing his country at that time.
The above therefore represents the sentiments and feelings that were left within the breast of the people.
As for the effect of the occupation upon the System, then the System is represented by its constitution, laws and the executive body that is responsible for implementing and applying them upon the people i.e. the Haakim (ruler). As for the ruler, then the presence of the disbelievers did not disappear from the Muslim street until they were satisfied and reassured that there were guards present that would protect what they had cultivated. So they did not hand over the rule to their agents from amongst the sons of the Muslims until they were reassured that they were the best to safeguard their presence, secure for them their interests and implement their policies. And that they were the most capable of taming the people and shaping them in accordance to the western viewpoint in life and the western culture, and that they were the most capable of carrying the society as a whole towards becoming a capitalist society in terms of its systems, thoughts and sentiments.
They made the basis of political work in the land a struggle for the position of ruling that takes place between a collection of their agents that would not change the rule but rather just lead to the changing of the ruler and replacing him. The best evidence for this is what we have witnessed in recent years in terms of political struggles, revolutions and coups, not one of which extended beyond the attempt to change the ruler. Many of these attempts were successful in terms of changing the ruler whilst keeping the same system. Indeed it is noticeable that the systems and most of the laws that were enacted since the occupation have not changed until now apart from some minor partialities that do not go outside of the fundamental principles and broad lines, and this is despite the fact that the ruler has been changed a number of times.
We still witness today in the society how political parties and structures engage in fierce political struggles which quite often reach the point of a bloody struggle. We see the programmes, manifestos and culture that they present (if they have even done that) and we see that not a single one of them exits from beautifying their programmes and manifestos with the words of democracy, freedom, socialism, republicanism and progress amongst other wordings by which they adulate their idols and by what they believe will bring them closer to the hearts of the people. However any system that is enforced upon a people in opposition to their belief or in contradiction to their thoughts and feelings, it is only natural and obvious for it to be met by the scorn and hatred of the people and they will oppose if they are able to.
For this reason it was necessary to use the ‘carrot and stick’ policy and as such the policy and rule of repression, persecution, martial law, spies and informers were coupled with the securing of interests, trade representations, grants, loans and import licences. So the stick was in one hand whilst the carrot was in the other which added insult to injury whilst the states of disbelief wrestled over the lands and competed to extend their authority, widen their influence and secure their interests. Then America decided after the Second World War to break out of its isolation after it bore the brunt of the burdens of two wars and it saw that America was the reason for achieving the victory. For this reason America considered itself the legitimate and rightful inheritor of the British, French and indeed all western colonialism which had controlled the Islamic world prior to the war. However Britain and France decided to hang on to their presence and to hold on to their interests and influence and for this reason a hidden struggle between them commenced. So America utilised its international weight, financial pressures and its new agents whilst Britain and France utilised their agents from amongst the rulers and their supporters and helpers. So a bloody struggle occurred and the tools for the struggle were the sons of the Ummah, the fuel were their treasures and resources and the Ummah was afflicted by the fire or tribulations and internal wars. All of which happened in implementation of the desires of disbelief and the disbelievers and under the covering of freedom and liberation.
This therefore is the condition that our society has arrived at in addition to our Ummah and this is the huge legacy that those working to revive the Ummah must deal with. This is what we mean in respect to understanding the reality and gaining a deep understanding of it before attempting to correct it and before making a judgement upon it. So it is not sufficient alone for the ideology to be clear in the minds of those who want to revive the Ummah upon its basis, to lead her in accordance to what it demands and raise her to the level and position that is fitting for her. This alone is not sufficient but rather they have to fully comprehend what the situation of the people is and what they are suffering from in terms of fundamental diseases and side issues. So how will they be successful if they do not comprehend from the ideology except its name and do not understand from the Qur’aan except its script and praise, and they do not understand anything from the goals and objectives that they are striving for except that they want an Islamic State and the return of the might and honour for the Muslims?
Say its knowledge is only with my Lord. None will reveal its timing except Him (Al-A’araaf 187).
Download the book An-Nahdah (Revival) from here or here