Islam and the West… for a better world @
Conclusions The fact that the Islamic historical experience evolved in a complex and rich environment of Near Eastern cultural heritages is usually missed by Muslims, who like to think of an “Islamic essence”, as well as by advocates of eternal civilizational conflict. There is no doubt that each pre-modern civilization was unique. The uniqueness of Islamic civilization, however, never precluded expropriation, adaptation and exchange. Yet, in our world, civilization can no longer be assumed as an appropriate tool of analysis. During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, programmes of modernization undertaken in many parts of the Muslim world were so extensive that they altered the very nature of state and society. This process of change was enhanced by European economic penetration, western imperialist administrations, and the post-colonial Muslim states. Whether they like it or not, Muslim peoples have become integrated in an international system of nation-states. Early in the twentieth century, the seat of the Caliphate, which symbolized Muslim political authority for centuries, has been abolished. The bases upon which the Muslim state is founded have been derived of the modern European model of the state. Whether democratic or not, structure and values of the state in the Muslim world are almost entirely Western. Like its western model, the state in the Muslim world has a claim to the monopoly of violence and the right to legislate; it demands absolute loyalty from its citizens; it is centralized, national, institutionalized, hierarchal, and mainly secular. The state’s relations with the rest of the world are rooted in the modern world system and political culture. When the world political culture was dominated with the ideas of socialism, nationalization and development, Muslim states followed suit; and with the rise of economic liberalisation and market forces, Muslim states moved towards privatization and the open-door policy. This state is not only confined in Muslim countries known for their good relations with the United States and the European Union, but also embody those that declare their commitment to Islamic traditions, such as
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