The Present Struggle.

The present struggle, more or less in all Muslim countries, is that the people are not prepared to go along with the rulers in the direction in which they are trying to take them; and the rulers are not prepared to lead the people in the direction in which they desire to move. This has resulted in a perpetual conflict in all the Muslim countries of the world. And this is 'Islam Today.'

In all the Muslim countries, we witness organized attempts to de-Islamise the people. Education has been designed as to eliminate Islamic values, vitiate the morals of the new generation and alienate it from its culture and traditions. Attempts are also being made to promote amongst the masses new cultural values that are bound to corrupt their morals. Western thought and disciplines are being introduced and encouraged. All that these policies and efforts can achieve is to reduce the Muslims to a characterless people; they cannot, even at their best, succeed in persuading the Muslims to give up Islam and deliberately accept a secular state.

In trying to set up and maintain more or less secular system of society and government, the rulers of various Muslim countries are motivated solely by self-interest. They know fully well what the people want. They know it from more or less direct experience that their people fought and won the battle of freedom in the name of Islam. They are also fully conscious of their people's deep and abiding association with Islam and all that it stands for. But, on the other hand, the rulers have acquired a vested interest in the perpetuation of the Western way of life. They have accepted Western culture themselves and made their children's future dependent upon the continuance of the Western way of life. Self-interest, therefore, prevents them from following the Islamic way of life. They are determined to retain power in their hands and are not prepared to adopt the Islamic way of life; therefore, they are trying do de-Islamise the people. This is the logic of their policies.

About the future.

The future of the whole world of Islam will depend upon the attitude that the Muslims ultimately adopt towards Islam. If, unfortunately, the present hypocritical attitudes and anti-Islamic policies persist, I am afraid that the liberated Muslim nations will not be able to preserve their freedom for a long time; sooner or later, they must relapse into slavery and into a state even worse than their present condition. The threatened disaster can be averted only through a faithful and total adoption of the Islamic way of life. The Muslim nations can again become a force in the world and leaders of mankind if those who rule them today come to their senses even now; if, under a genuine system of democracy, the people are allowed to choose their own rulers, and if truly Islamic system of government, economic organization and education are established. The Muslims command a vast part of the globe, stretching from Indonesia to Morocco and endowed with great man-power and enormous resources. If this whole bloc unites under the banner of Islam, and earnestly adopts and rigorously follows the Islamic way of life, no power will be able to stand in its way and stop its march on the road to progress.

( Syed Abul A'ala Maududi )