Islamic civilization is based on the dynamic principles of equality and equity.

Islam is a religion of peace which aims at the formation of a civilization that is based on the principles of public good, harmony and tranquility. Islam practically proved this aspect when it transformed and reformed the Arab civilization which was on its lowest ebb at the advent of Islam. At the time of the birth of Holy Prophet (PBUH), the Arab society was replete with abominable vices such as polytheism, female infanticide, gambling and drinking, etc., but owing to the great message of Islam, the society became the leading civilization of the world within a few years and became the role model for eternity.

All the religions of the world including the modern civilization emphasize on the welfare of humanity but Islam is having a distinction. For example Islam protects the humanity from degradation by concentrating and emphasizing on the worship of only one God and by clarifying that the God Almighty is one in His person and in His characters and by declaring that He is having no partners.

All the religions of the world including the modern civilization emphasize on the welfare of humanity but Islam is having a distinction.
All the religions and modern civilizations emphasise on spending wealth in charity but Islam makes it obligatory upon its followers who are in possession of certain amount of wealth to spend a part of it in charity each year. God Almighty declares in the Holy Quran that those people who spend their wealth in charity and for noble causes are giving loan/Qarz-e-Hasana to Him and He would repay/discharge this loan manifold either in this world or in the Hereafter. Islam abhors economic exploitation of people by completely prohibiting all kind of usury / interest.

Islamic civilization is based on the dynamic principles of equality and equity. Islam does not accept distinction / superiority of people on the basis of color, race, creed or language. The only aspect of priority accepted by Islam is piety. In verse No. 13 of Surah Hujraat (Private apartments), God Almighty says “Human beings, We created you all from a male and female, and made you into nations and tribes so that you may know one another. Verily, the noblest of you in the sight of Allah is the most God fearing of you. Surely Allah is All knowing, All-aware”. The Holy Prophet (P.B.U.H) himself belonged to the middle class and the selection of the orthodox caliphs was only an account of piety and consultation.

At present, the Islamic world is divided into more than 50 states and each one is having its own civilization. Some of them like Turkey may be termed as part of modern civilization. The Arab states are having their own civilization and Iran boosts of its own ancient Persian civilization whereas the Muslims of Pakistan, India and Bangladesh share distinct cultural values which may jointly be termed as Indo-Pak Muslims civilization. As a whole these Islamic civilizations are in no way inferior to modern civilization and are ahead of modern civilization on numerous accounts.

However, the Indo-Pak Muslim civilization is lagging behind the modern civilization owing to our own shortcomings and deficient character. The first major difference in this regard is our low literacy rate. Our literacy rate is no match for that of the modern civilization and this is the root cause of our problems and it is also in contravention of Islamic teachings as the Holy Prophet said, “Seeking knowledge is obligatory on each Muslim man and woman.” At the occasion of battle of Badr in 2 A.H, about seventy infidels of Makkah were arrested as Prisoners of War and the condition for setting them free was that each one of them who was literate would teach ten Muslims the art of reading and writing.

Secondly, we, as a nation, have adopted double standards and a hypocratic attitude. We use religion for worldly means and instead of following the dynamic principles of Islam, we pay heed to our whims and wishes. As per our worldly needs, sometime we become staunch Muslims, sometimes moderate Muslims and sometimes liberal Muslims. Instead of feeling regrets or sorry, we feel proud for flouting mandatory Islamic tenets such as offering obligatory salat/prayers and paying obligatory Zakat and even we try to justify our abysmal and un-Islamic deeds by giving them decent names such as commission to bribery and payment/mark up to Interest, etc. So, as a civilization or nation, we are not having a definite line of action and are using religion for worldly benefits.

Thirdly, we do not feel ashamed of after telling lies and, unfortunately, we give this nefarious deed different decent names like politics, diplomacy, etc. Lies and falsehood have penetrated in all the aspects of our lives. Fourthly, we are not interested in our reformation and rectification. Instead of taking lesson from our past history and rectifying our mistakes we are bent upon repeating our previous mistakes.

In this regard, Almighty God says in verse No. 11 of Surah Raad (Thunder) “Verily, God does not change a peoples’ condition unless they change their inner selves”. In addition to it we are also confronted with some other serious problems which need solution.

If we take sincere and dedicated efforts for getting rid of such shortcomings, then we can easily enable us to face the challenges of modern civilization, as the Muslim civilizations of Arab, Turk and Iran are already compatible with modern civilizations on various accounts because the modern civilization is based on indecent and feeble moral standards especially in family matters whereas all the Muslim Civilization concentrate on solid ethical values. Instead of hiding our individual and collective loopholes, we should face the reality and should take concrete steps for our


Atta ur Rehman Khilji (CSP)