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Modernizing History.
“All who die by the way, whether by land or by sea,
or in battle against the pagans, shall have immediate remission of sins.
This I grant them through the power of God with which I am invested. O what
a disgrace if such a despised and base race, which worships demons, should
conquer a people which has the faith of omnipotent God and is made glorious
with the name of Christ!”
With these closing words Pope Urban II launched the first crusades against
the Muslims in 1095. At the Council of Clermont he called on the Christians
to fight “the enemies of the Lord” in the East and to restore the land of
Palestine to the rule of Christianity. However, his present-day successor
Pope John Paul II, in an unprecedented volte-face apologised for the
Crusades and sought God’s forgiveness for the sins of Roman Catholics
through the ages. In March 2000 in one of the celebrations marking the
beginning of the new Christian millennium he stated, "We are asking pardon…
for the use of violence that some have committed in the service of truth…".
The phrase "violence in the service of truth" is an often-used reference to
the treatment meted out to heretics during the Inquisition, the Crusades,
and forced conversions of native peoples.
In a similar case in March 1998, President Clinton on a trip to Uganda
acknowledged that the United States was wrong to benefit from slavery. He
said the U.S. had not always done the right thing by Africa, and that
perhaps its worst sin had been that of neglect and ignorance. The President
was taking tentative steps towards what seemed like a public apology for
America's role in the slave trade.
In November of the same year (1998), numerous cases concerning the treatment
of prisoners of war (PoWs) by the Japanese began to surface in the media.
Several war veterans from various countries like America, the Netherlands
and Britain have been demanding monetary compensation from the Japanese for
the suffering they endured in the PoW camps. The veterans filed lawsuits and
started legal proceedings against the Japanese government and even against
some business firms like Nippon Steel.
The common thread running through these seemingly disparate events is the
drastic reassessment of past events, an effort to right some historical
wrongs. Countries, peoples and societies who look back into their past are
being forced to re-evaluate it in a different light. What was once
acceptable and right has now become unacceptable and wrong. That which was
praiseworthy has now become deplorable and vice versa. Yesterday’s freedom
fighters are now considered today’s terrorists. Nations that develop nuclear
warheads in this age run the risk of being isolated when a few decades ago
it was the measure of advanced nations. Invading and colonising a country
was quite acceptable in the 19th century, whereas any nation entertaining
such notions today is carpet-bombed and strangled with international
sanctions. And the list of historical reassessments goes on…
So, why does this occur, why does the perception of right and wrong keep
shifting and changing? We are told that man is constantly learning from his
mistakes, that we are becoming more responsible and mature in our outlook.
The advocates of this view highlight principles like democracy, freedom and
human rights which they claim have become de facto standards of human
decency replacing dictatorships, suppression and crimes against humanity as
proof of mans conceptual progression.
This view is false as it assumes the acceptance of specific Western values
and norms as the universal standards of right and wrong. The fact of the
matter is constantly changing criteria of right and wrong is a phenomenon
only peculiar to man made viewpoints. Since the West discarded religion and
adopted secularism it has glorified the limited mind of man and
overestimated its capability to the point of elevating it to the level of
Lawmaker. Herein lies the explanation of the inconsistence of criteria and
the reason for the West’s need to constantly re-evaluate history. Rules and
laws of any society reflect the perception of what is considered good and
praiseworthy or what is regarded as reprehensible and blameworthy.
Therefore, when the limited mind of man is assigned the authority to dictate
what is right and wrong the rules and laws it gives rise to share this
limited nature of the mind and its shortcomings. In effect, when society
decides to change its mind about certain things, the rules and regulations
are altered to reflect this change. For instance, if the overwhelming
British public opinion is for the legalisation of cannabis the government
may have no choice but to legalise it. The inevitable result is legislative
contradiction and the meaninglessness of justice as it becomes relative
within man-made systems. Issues previously considered as criminal will
become legal and acceptable and vice versa. Little wonder then that the Pope
under pressure from the secular onslaught, felt compelled to apologise for
what is now considered a crime sanctioned by the Church against humanity.
For justice to have any meaning it must be free from relativity and
subjection to continuous re-examination. This means the rules and laws
governing the affairs of mankind should have fixed criteria that don’t
fluctuate. It is quite obvious the man-made systems of the West are
incapable of delivering this solution. Only Islam, as a complete system,
possesses these qualities. The rules and regulations of Islam do not change
over time because they do not originate from the limited mind of man; they
are legislated by his Creator, Allah (swt).
"The rule is to none but Allah." ( 6:57)
Since man is unable to attribute the qualities of right and wrong to actions
with certainty, Islam absolved him of this responsibility. Islam made the
halal and haram permanent criteria. Whatever Islam designates as good and
acceptable or bad and unacceptable shall remain so for all times and places.
Therefore, reviewing Islamic history in light of contemporary changes with a
view to correct the Shari’ah rules for faults or apologise for their
application is unnecessary and preposterous to say the least.
Nevertheless, the kuffar would like nothing much than for us to adopt their
corrupt viewpoint in such matters. On the 23rd of September 2000 the US
congress made a move to pass a bill, sponsored by the Armenian community in
America to press Turkey for financial compensation and the return of
provinces granted to Armenia in 1919 but which were later recaptured as
Armenia fell to the Soviet Army. Likewise, on the 18th of January 2001 the
lower house of the French parliament unanimously approved a bill which
attempts to label with genocide the 1915 quelling of the Armenian
nationalistic rebellion by the Uthmani Khilafah against its authority.
Under no circumstances should Muslims make an apology or express regret for
applying Islam. It was through the application of Islam that the vast
numbers of humanity came under the shade and mercy of this deen, turning
them into this distinguished Ummah.
“Verily you are the best Ummah brought unto
mankind, enjoining the right, forbidding the evil and believing in Allah.”
[3:110]
Acknowledgement of this foul idea could amount to accepting to condemn what
the Messenger of Allah (saw) and his Sahabah (ra) accomplished. The kuffar
would have us call into question their noble deeds. They desire that we
denounce the expulsion of the jews from the Arabian Peninsula by the
Messenger of Allah (saw) and from Jerusalem by Khaleefah Umar (ra), even
though this remains valid to this day despite Yasser Arafat’s efforts to the
contrary.
A study of the history of Islam reveals that the world experienced under the
leadership of Islam such peace and justice modern man can only imagine. The
Islamic Ummah has no reason to rectify its magnificent history. It is the
West that has unleashed incalculable misery upon humanity that has cause for
concern.
Salihu Mahmud |
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This page was last updated on
08/28/2003.
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