The Sick Nations of the Modern Age
Summary of the article:
The article argues that modern civilization—especially Western civilization—has been built upon a fundamentally flawed, materialistic worldview that abandoned divine guidance and elevated human desire, power, and self-interest in place of God. Although this civilization achieved scientific, technological, political, and organizational progress, those advances were developed upon spiritually and morally unsound foundations, which ultimately produced moral decay, exploitation, nationalism, social fragmentation, spiritual emptiness, and recurring crises that modern systems are unable to solve because the corruption lies in their very roots. Maulana Maududi then contrasts this with Islam, presenting the Qur’an and the teachings of Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessing be upon him) as the only complete and balanced system capable of harmonizing spirituality, morality, law, intellect, and social order. He further argues that Muslims themselves declined not because Islam failed, but because Muslims abandoned the living spirit of Islam, lost the qualities of jihad and ijtihad, reduced religion to ritual and imitation, and failed to engage creatively with modern knowledge and changing conditions. As a result, the Muslim world became intellectually and politically dominated by the West. He criticizes both traditional scholars for stagnation and modern Muslim elites for Westernization, concluding that the revival of humanity—both the West and the Muslim world alike—depends on returning directly to the Qur’an and Prophetic guidance while reviving Islam as a dynamic, intellectually alive civilization rather than a frozen historical tradition.
Section 1: The Corrupt Foundations of Modern Western Civilization:
Whether in the East or the West, Muslim or non-Muslim, without exception all are afflicted by the same calamity: a civilization has come to dominate them that was nurtured entirely in the lap of materialism. Both its theoretical wisdom and practical system have been built upon false foundations. Its philosophy, its science, its morality, its social order, its politics, its law—in short, every aspect of it began from an erroneous point of departure and has continued progressing in a wrong direction, until it has now reached a stage where the final destination of destruction appears close at hand.
This civilization arose among people who in reality possessed no pure and wholesome source of divine wisdom. Religious leaders certainly existed among them, but they had no wisdom, no true knowledge, and no law from God. There existed merely a distorted religious imagination which, even if it desired to guide humanity upon the straight path in thought and action, could not do so. At most, it could only become an obstacle in the advancement of knowledge and wisdom. Accordingly, that is exactly what it did, and the result of this resistance was that those who wished to progress kicked religion and religiosity aside and set out upon another path in which observation, experiment, conjecture, and induction alone served as their guides.
These unreliable guides, who themselves stand in need of guidance and light, became the objects of their trust. With their aid they struggled greatly in the realms of thought and reflection, research and discovery, construction and organization. Yet in every field they were granted a false point of departure, and the direction of all their progress turned toward a false objective. They began from the standpoint of atheism and materialism. They looked upon the universe with the assumption that it has no God. They contemplated the horizons and the souls believing that reality consists only of what can be observed and sensed, and that behind this outward veil there is nothing at all.
Through experiment and inference they came to know and understand the laws of nature, but they could not reach the Creator of those laws. They found created things subdued before them and began making use of them, yet their minds were devoid of the conception that they are not in truth the owners and rulers of these things, but rather vicegerents of the True Owner. This ignorance and heedlessness estranged them from the fundamental concept of responsibility and accountability, and because of this the very foundations of their civilization and culture became unsound.
They abandoned God and became worshippers of the self, and the self, becoming a god, cast them into tribulation. Now it is the servitude of this false deity that is leading them, in every sphere of thought and action, onto paths whose intermediate stages appear delightful and dazzling, but whose final destination is nothing but destruction. It is this very thing that turned science into an instrument for humanity's ruin; that molded morality into forms of sensuality, hypocrisy, shamelessness, and unrestrained behavior; that imposed upon economics the demon of selfishness and fratricidal conflict; that infused into every vein and fiber of society the poison of self-indulgence, luxury, and egotism; and that corrupted politics with nationalism, territorialism, racial distinctions, and the worship of power, thereby turning it into one of the worst curses upon humanity.
In short, that evil seed which was sown during the Renaissance of the West has, within a few centuries, grown into a gigantic evil tree of civilization and culture. Its fruits are sweet yet poisoned; its flowers attractive yet thorny; its branches present the scene of springtime, yet they exhale such poisonous air that, though unseen, it is steadily contaminating the blood of humankind from within.
The people of the West, who planted this evil tree with their own hands, have now themselves become weary of it. It has created such entanglements and anxieties in every sphere of life that every attempt to solve one problem gives rise to many others. When they cut one branch, numerous thorny branches emerge in its place. They struck at capitalism, and socialism appeared. They struck at democracy, and dictatorship emerged. They sought to solve collective problems, and feminism and birth control arose. They tried to remedy moral corruption through legislation, and lawlessness and criminality raised their heads. In short, there is an endless chain of corruption issuing forth from the diseased roots of this civilization and culture, and it has turned Western life from head to toe into a sore full of pain and suffering, with throbbing agony in every vein and ache in every fiber.
The Western nations writhe in pain. Their hearts are restless. Their souls yearn desperately for some elixir of life, yet they do not know where it is to be found. The majority still suffer under the misconception that the source of their afflictions lies merely in the branches of this evil tree, and therefore they waste their time and energies cutting branches without realizing that the corruption lies in the roots themselves, and that expecting healthy branches from a diseased root is sheer folly.
On the other hand, there exists a small group of sound-minded people who have grasped the truth that the root of their civilizational tree is corrupt. Yet because they have been raised for centuries beneath the shade of this same tree, and because their very flesh and bones have been nourished by its fruits, their minds are incapable of understanding what other root could possibly exist that might bear wholesome leaves and fruit. Consequently, the condition of both groups is the same. All of them anxiously seek something that may heal their pain, but they do not know what they seek nor where it may be found.
Section 2: The Qur'an and the Way of Muhammad , peace and blessing be upon him, as the Cure for the West:
This is the time to present before the Western nations the Qur'an and the way of Muhammad , peace and blessing be upon him, , and to tell them: this is the object for which your souls are restless in longing; this is the elixir of life for which you thirst; this is the pure and wholesome tree whose roots are sound and whose branches are sound, whose flowers are fragrant and without thorns, whose fruits are sweet and life-giving, whose air is gentle and soul-nourishing.
Here you will find pure practical wisdom. Here you will discover the correct point of departure for thought and reflection. Here you will find that knowledge which forms the finest human character. Here you will encounter that spirituality which is not meant for monks and ascetics, but for those who struggle amidst the battlefields of worldly life, serving as a source of inner peace and steadiness of heart.
Here you will find lofty and enduring principles of morality and law, founded upon a comprehensive understanding of human nature and incapable of being altered by the changing whims of desire. Here you will discover those sound principles of civilization and culture which erase artificial distinctions between classes and fabricated divisions among nations, and organize human society upon purely rational foundations. Such principles establish an atmosphere of justice, equality, generosity, and gracious conduct so peaceful and balanced that no room remains for conflicts over rights between individuals, classes, or sects, nor for collisions of interests and selfish aims. Instead, all can work together harmoniously and contentedly for individual and collective well-being.
If you wish to save yourselves from destruction, then before your civilization is shattered by a terrible catastrophe and becomes merely another ruined civilization added to the pages of history, you must cast out from your hearts all those prejudices against Islam which you inherited from the religious fanatics of the Middle Ages and which, despite severing your ties with every other relic of that dark age, you still continue to preserve. Listen to the teachings of the Qur'an and Muhammad , peace and blessing be upon him, with an open heart, understand them, and accept them.
Section 3: How the Muslim World Lost Its Way:
The condition of the Muslim nations differs from that of the Western nations. Their illness is different, and the causes of their illness are also different. Yet their cure is the same as that of the West: to return to the knowledge and guidance which Allah sent through His Final Book and His Final Prophet.
The clash between Islam and Western civilization occurred under circumstances entirely different from those under which Islam had previously encountered other civilizations. Roman, Persian, Indian, and Chinese civilizations confronted Islam at a time when Islam ruled with full force over the intellectual and practical energies of its followers. The spirit of jihad and ijtihad was powerfully active within them. Spiritually and materially alike, they were a dominant nation in the world, entrusted with the leadership of all mankind.
At that time no civilization could stand against theirs. Wherever they turned, they revolutionized the ideas, beliefs, sciences, morals, customs, and cultural ways of nations. Their capacity to be influenced was slight, while their power to influence was immense. Undoubtedly they took much from others, but the temperament of their civilization was so strong and resilient that whatever entered it from outside was molded according to its own nature, and no external influence could create within it a distortion of character.
In contrast, the effects they produced upon others were revolutionary. Some non-Muslim civilizations were absorbed into Islam to such an extent that they lost their distinct identities altogether, while others, possessing greater vitality, were nevertheless so profoundly influenced by Islam that substantial changes occurred within their very principles. But that was a tale from the days when the fire of Islam was still young.
After ruling for centuries by pen and sword alike, the Muslims eventually grew weary. The spirit of jihad within them cooled. The power of ijtihad became paralyzed. The Book which had granted them the light of knowledge and the strength of action they reduced to a sacred relic wrapped in covers. The Sunnah of the Great Guide , peace and blessing be upon him, , which had shaped their civilization into a complete intellectual and practical system, they abandoned.
As a result, the momentum of their progress came to a halt. The flowing river suddenly stagnated in the valley of immobility and turned into a pond. Muslims were deposed from the station of leadership. Their grip over the thoughts, sciences, civilization, and political authority of the nations weakened. Then, in opposition to Islam, another civilization was born. The banner of jihad and ijtihad which the Muslims had cast aside was taken up by the Western nations.
The Muslims slept while the people of the West carried that banner forward into the fields of knowledge and action, until the leadership from which the Muslims had been removed was granted to them. Their sword conquered the greater part of the world. Their ideas and theories, their sciences and arts, and their principles of civilization and culture spread across the globe. Their domination encompassed not only bodies but hearts and minds as well.
At last, when after centuries of slumber the Muslims awoke, they saw that the field had slipped from their hands. Others had taken possession of it. Knowledge belonged to them; civilization belonged to them; law belonged to them; government belonged to them. The Muslims possessed nothing.
"Only the image of a candle remains—and even that is extinguished."
Now the confrontation between Islam and Western civilization is taking place in an altogether different manner. Certainly, Western civilization is in no respect a civilization equal to Islam. If the confrontation were truly with Islam itself, no power on earth could withstand it. But where is Islam? Among Muslims there is neither Islamic character, nor Islamic morality, nor Islamic thought, nor Islamic zeal.
The true Islamic spirit is absent from their mosques, their seminaries, and even their spiritual lodges. Islam no longer maintains any living connection with practical life. Islamic law governs neither their personal affairs nor their collective existence. There remains no branch of civilization or culture whose organization survives in a genuinely Islamic form.
In such a condition, the actual confrontation is not between Islam and Western civilization, but between the Muslims' lifeless, stagnant, and backward civilization and a civilization that possesses vitality, movement, scientific illumination, and practical energy. The outcome of such an unequal struggle can only be what is now plainly visible. Muslims are retreating. Their civilization is being defeated. Gradually they are being absorbed into Western civilization.
Westernism is taking hold over their hearts and minds. Their intellects are being molded into Western patterns. Their intellectual and analytical faculties are being trained according to Western principles. Their ideas, morals, economy, society, and politics—everything is being dyed in Western colors. Their younger generations are rising with the notion that the true law of life is only that which they receive from the West.
This defeat is in reality the defeat of Muslims, but unfortunately it is mistaken for the defeat of Islam itself.
Section 4: The Failure of the Scholars and the Crisis of Muslim Leadership:
There is not merely one country afflicted by this calamity, nor one nation endangered by this threat. Today the entire Muslim world is passing through this terrifying revolution. In truth, it was the duty of the scholars that, when this upheaval first began, they should have awakened; that they should have understood the principles and foundations of the emerging civilization; that they should have traveled to Western countries and studied those sciences upon which this civilization was built.
Using the power of ijtihad, they should have extracted those useful scientific discoveries and practical methods by means of which the Western nations achieved progress, and then installed these new instruments within the educational system and civilizational machinery of the Muslims under the authority of Islamic principles. In this way the losses caused by centuries of stagnation could have been repaired, and the vehicle of Islam could once again have moved in step with the pace of the age.
But alas, the scholars—except whom Allah wills—had themselves become empty of the true spirit of Islam. They possessed neither the power of ijtihad, nor deep understanding, nor wisdom, nor the strength of action. They lacked the ability to derive from the Book of God and the intellectual and practical guidance of the Messenger of God , peace and blessing be upon him, those eternal and flexible principles of Islam capable of addressing changing circumstances.
Instead, they had become wholly afflicted by the disease of blind and rigid imitation of their predecessors, due to which they sought every matter within books that were not the books of God and therefore could not transcend the limitations of time. In every affair they turned toward human beings who were not prophets of God and whose insight could never be entirely free from the constraints of particular times and conditions.
How then could it have been possible for them to guide the Muslims successfully at a time when the age itself had utterly changed and such a tremendous transformation had occurred in the world of knowledge and action—a transformation visible to the sight of God alone, but beyond the vision of any non-prophetic human being, who lacks the power to lift the veils of centuries and ages and see what lies ahead?
There is no doubt that the scholars did attempt to resist the new civilization, but they lacked the necessary equipment for such a struggle. Motion cannot be opposed with stagnation. The movement of the age cannot be reversed through mere argumentation. Obsolete and rusted weapons cannot prevail against modern arms.
The methods by which the scholars sought to guide the Ummah could never truly succeed. A nation engulfed by the storm of Western civilization could not indefinitely continue denying its existence by blindfolding itself and suspending its senses. A people over whom the modern political order of civilization and culture had spread with overwhelming force could not preserve their practical life from its influence while remaining conquered and subjugated.
In the end, precisely what ought to happen under such circumstances did occur. After suffering defeat in the political sphere, Muslims also suffered defeat in the realms of knowledge, civilization, and culture. Now our own eyes witness how, in every region of the Muslim world, the storm of Westernism advances with terrifying speed, carrying Muslim youth ever farther away—miles and miles away—from the center of Islam.
The tragedy is that the scholars of Islam have still not realized their mistake. In nearly every Muslim country, the body of scholars continues upon the same path that led to their initial failure. With the exception of a few extraordinary individuals, the general condition of the scholars is that they make virtually no effort to understand the present tendencies of the age or the new structure of modern minds.
They may express as much hatred as one wishes toward those things that estrange the younger generations of Muslims from Islam, but they cannot endure the effort required to provide an antidote to this poison. The complex intellectual and practical problems which modern conditions have created for Muslims consistently prove impossible for them to solve, because such problems cannot be resolved without ijtihad, and ijtihad they have declared forbidden upon themselves.
The manner in which our scholars today present Islamic teachings and laws often repels modern educated people from Islam rather than familiarizing them with it. Frequently, after listening to their sermons or reading their writings, one involuntarily prays from the heart that no non-Muslim or misguided Muslim may ever have heard such untimely words.
They have created around themselves an atmosphere two hundred years old. Within that atmosphere they think, within it they live, and according to it they speak.
Without doubt, the jewels of Islamic knowledge survive in the world today only through these venerable men, and whatever religious education still spreads does so through them. Yet the vast gulf of two centuries which they have placed between themselves and the modern age prevents any living connection from being established between Islam and the contemporary world.
Whoever turns toward Islamic education becomes unfit for worldly affairs, while whoever wishes to become useful in worldly matters remains entirely estranged from Islamic learning. This is why throughout the Muslim world there now exist two groups utterly opposed to one another:
- One group bears the banner of Islamic sciences and Islamic culture, yet is incapable of guiding Muslims in any sphere of life.
- The other group drives the intellectual, literary, and political vehicle of the Muslims, yet remains ignorant of the principles and foundations of Islam, unfamiliar with the spirit of Islamic civilization, and unaware of Islam's social order and civilizational laws. It retains perhaps a faint glimmer of faith in one corner of the heart, but in every other respect there remains little difference between it and a non-Muslim.
Yet because all intellectual and practical power rests in the hands of this second group, and because it alone possesses the strength to drive the vehicle, it continues leading the Muslim community deeper into valleys of misguidance, with no one to show it the straight path.
I behold this condition, and its terrifying end stands before my eyes. Though I do not possess the knowledge, excellence, and comprehensiveness necessary for such guidance, nor the strength required to reform so vast a nation amid such corrupt circumstances, Allah has placed a pain within my heart. That pain compels me to use whatever little knowledge and insight Allah Most High has granted me in order to call both these groups of Muslims back toward the original source of Islamic teaching and the true fountainhead of Islamic civilization.
Regardless of success or failure, I wish to make my humble effort. Considering the greatness of the task and my own weakness, my efforts appear insignificant even to myself. Yet success and failure alike rest in the hands of the Almighty. My duty is only to strive, and within the limits of my ability I desire to expand the scope of that striving.
(Tarjumaanul-Qur'an, October 1935)