Every Muslim whose environment is bombarded with Western ideas/images/behaviour should read this book. Written by a... or should I say, ex-Westerner. The late Muhammad Asad, May Allah reward him for his earnest effort to uphold the idea of a true Muslim.
And only very superficial people can believe that it is possible to imitate a civilisation in its external appearance without being at the same time affected by its spirit.(At this point I'm imagining those who dress up as gothics or punks or trojan heads - can they possibly dress like that and still feel like a true Muslim?)
A civilisation is not an empty form, but a living organism. As soon as we begin to adopt the outward forms of that organism, its inherent currents and dynamic influences set to work in ourselves and mould slowly, imperceptibly, our whole mental attitude.
It is in perfect appreciation of this truth that the Prophet said:
"Whoever imitates other people becomes one of them" (Musnad Ibn Hanbal, Sunan Abi Da'ud)
This well-known hadith is not only a moral admonition but also an objective statement of fact - in this case, the fact of the inevitability of Muslims being assimilated by any non-Muslim civilisation which they imitate in its external forms.
1 comment:
I wrote something in my blog about Leopold Weiss on 8/3/12. Asad was an exceptional man, an exceptional Islamic thinker to me, hence his translation of Quran. I am glad you have him on high regards.
Post a Comment