“Don’t do yourself disservice.” William Shakespeare “This was the sin committed by Khomeini in his own sweet dream.” Author Chapter Seven Westernization in Islam Within Islamic states now anti-party and anti-Islamic, fervor is running high. With people’s feelings of opposition to Islamic principles, a lack of confidence in party propaganda, the lack of public trust in the Islamic leaders, opposition to the party’s political methods, a general public apathy towards politics, a public inclination towards Western propaganda and above all the intensification of group differences, national minorities are all evident at various social levels. These opinions are mainly formed outside the party and come to the surface, but within the Islamic party itself, there are supporters of such opinions. One of these opinions is “Westernization,” which has been spread amongst the youth and the educated. Those holding these opinions have risen against the ultra-Islamites and are trying to shape their history from a new angle. Such a review of party history has caused anxiety even amongst some freedom thinkers in the party. They are mainly worried about the impossibility of differentiating between freedom thinkers and Islamites within the party. Some believe that the Islamic leaders and ultra-Islamites cannot be separated. The freedom thinkers within the party are indeed the natural outcome of Islamic dictatorial revolution. They consider that some measure of freedom following a revolution is provisional and temporary. These educated groups are mainly inclined towards the movements of Western social democracy. They are in favor of the freedom of expression, the freedom of societies and parties, the freedom of travel and a multi-party state, while detesting a one-party system. Another factor that has attracted the views of these groups is the scientific and technological advances and, therefore, the resultant standard of life of Western countries within the past 30 years. The ultra-Islamites and the liberal-minded members of Islamic countries call these the “Westernized” group. Despite the claims of Islamic leaders, the “Westernized” group are of the opinion that the main Western capitalist countries are not rotten and outdated but are much faster then Islamic states, advancing towards improved economic conditions, regarding which the Islamic states are being left way behind. Of course, they also consider that differences do exist between capitalist countries themselves; for instance, they pay special attention to countries such as Sweden, France, England, Switzerland and Japan. Although the “Westernized” group uses Islamic expressions in their analysis, they believe that the time for Islamic approaches is over and that science and technology are the order of the day. For this reason, they have no confidence in Islamic parties and are of the view that the best outcome in terms of current techno-economical conditions is produced through a multi-party system. Some Westernized groups within Islamic states are called “democrats.” They consider Islamic teachings as a failure and are of the view that the Islamic leaders were living in an era when capitalism was in its infancy and that therefore the Islamic leaders’ conclusions regarding capitalism are incorrect and non-scientific. Democrats believe that capitalism’s shortcomings and its ills are not deep properties of capitalist systems but are short-term problems that will be recoverable. They believe that, within the past 30 years, capitalism has gone through changes and survived the crisis of apartheid. Democrats have declared themselves to be free from the imposition of force and are of the opinion that a system based on the application of force would be bound to fail. Democrats consider Islamic states as “Eastern socialism” and do not recognize any outcome from these countries. Many of its members during the Islamic revolution were detained and imprisoned. Within Islamic states, these groups can undertake only clandestine activities, which operate under extremely difficult conditions, with their members often facing the danger of death. Westernization could be currently considered as the most important socio-political event within Islamic states. There are many reasons for the development of Westernization within Islamic states, but they could in general be categorized as follows: Within Islamic societies, honest and civilized people are increasingly disillusioned and therefore distance themselves from harsh or liberal bureaucracy. The educated sector within Islamic societies are in deep contention with any form or methods of bureaucracy. The contemporary Islam born out of bureaucracy attempts to justify its actions under the pretext of scientific socialism. The speed of technical and scientific developments in the Western world, especially following World War II, is another factor influencing the young, educated sector of Islamic societies. The educated sector of Islamic states, and therefore the most advanced Islamic states, understand that, in most economic fields, and also in the field of science, information is way behind that in capitalist countries. Its general scale of volume does not only feel this backwardness, but also from the viewpoint of the rate of development. The educated sector of Islamic societies confirms the existence of some dictatorial pressures extended by the Islamic party; there are great discrepancies with these systems. The educated sector of Islamic societies are of the view that the spirit of Westernization would help to develop scientific, technical and cultural relationships between the Western and Islamic countries and would remove the isolation of the Islamic states and open up a path for the future development of Islamic states. The Westernized group are of the opinion that, without advancement in the economic, cultural, scientific and technical sectors on the scale of the Western world, and without co-operation in these areas, no country on its own can improve in these fields. Great events take place across the globe, but today, the general public’s information with regard to these incidents is trivial and shallow. This little knowledge cannot keep the cultured members of society satisfied, while the educated sector of the Islamic world are thirsty for such information. Throughout Islamic countries, not a single newspaper, magazine or radio program exists that raises subjects of interest to the public. Through the official media, none of the public in the Islamic world are informed of important economic and social issues. This is why millions upon millions of people from Islamic countries are listening to Western stations for their news. It is no coincidence that magazines from France, America and England are sold within the Islamic states at an unbelievable speed. If these magazines were to be sold freely in any numbers, their sale would have been far greater than that of the internal magazines produced by Islamic states. The interesting phenomena in Islamic states is that the ultra-Islamites are losing the battle of winning the hearts and minds of the people at such a speed that the youth and educated are increasingly being driven more towards Westernization. Indeed, it could be said that there is now a competition of democratic forces against that of the stagnant Islamite mentality within the Islamic states. The only solution to the problem, according to bureaucrats, is to create censorship on satellite frequencies and that of foreign radios, and also by limiting tourism to the country and blocking travel abroad by their own citizens, thus limiting cultural relationships and reducing international technological exhibitions. But this is an unwise solution that would ultimately create more damage to the bureaucrats themselves than anyone else, since any boycott of the technical, economical and cultural fields would be severely detrimental to Islamic societies.
Posted on: Sun, 06 Oct 2013 12:46:47 +0000
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