Islamic Civilisation and The Modern World (P/B)

Psychology, with all its by-products and off shoots, has assumed in the West the status of religion, and for many people has replaced it. As in other areas of social sciences, some Muslim thinkers and scholars have developed an amazing skill for the unthinking repetition and blind copying of Western, non-Islamic ideas and practices. “In the Lizard’s Hole” is a Prophetic epitaph that describes this activity very well. Some Muslim psychologists insist dogmatically on prying even into lizard’s holes that have been partly or totally abandoned by their Western counterparts. But do Muslims really need modern psychology at all? Is modern psychology wholly Western? Is there a way in which it could be reconciled with Islam? These burning questions lie lurking behind the dilemma of Muslim psychologists.

An important work by Sheikh Muhammad Qutb about the true meaning of being a Muslim, questioning whether the life we are living today as a nation of Muslims is truly the Islamic life taught by the Qur’an and Sunnah.

Muslim civilisation has experienced an overall decline during the last  five centuries after having witnessed a long period of prosperity and comprehensive development. This raises a number of questions such as what factors enabled Muslims to become successful during the earlier centuries of Islam and what led them to their present weak position.  Is it Islam which is responsible for this decline or are other factors which come into play

In this penetrating study has tried answer these questions thoroughly and has then discussed a reform programme that could help reverse the cycle of decline.