The Future of Islam in the U.S.A.

BY  A D M I N   POSTED ON  N O V E M B E R 8 , 2 0 1 2

The Future of Islam in the U.S.A. 

Dr. Jaafar Sheikh Idris

The collapse of Communism has automatically   created a new world order in which the
USA has emerged as the sole super power, and in which all concerned, including the
USA are trying to find their  appropriate place and suitable role.

One of the big challenges that this new order has posed for both the West, and especially
the  US on one side, and the Muslim world and Muslims living in the West on the other
side, is the future relationship between Islam and the West.

This future depends of course on how each of these parties views itself and views the
other party in relation to itself.

One such view characterizes the West as being essentially Judaeo-Christian, secular,
capitalist and democratic; it cannot therefore coexist with a people whose way  of life is
Islamic, whose government is thus theocratic and hence undemocratic, and whose
economic system is certainly not capitalist, a people who aim at nothing less than the
destruction of Western civilization  and the re-establishment of the Islamic Empire.

But this, goes the argument, is what Muslim fundamentalists  are, and since their 
fundamentalist movement is on the  rise, we have to consider Islam to be the new
villain, the new enemy, and thus brace ourselves up to  curb its onward advance,  before
it sweeps the Muslim world and exploit its resources to destroy Western civilization.
Promoters of this view call for intolerance even regarding those Muslims living in the
West.

The call for a return to Islam as a complete way of life  continues to gain momentum,
and garner adherents,  while the advocates of secularism are clearly fighting a losing
battle.
And so, if that picture of Islam and the West is a true one, there would be legitimate
cause for alarm on the part of the West. But fortunately, it is not.

A good understanding of Islam and of the West is bound, in my opinion, to foster good
relations between the two. It is the task of those   Muslims and non-Muslims  who have
this good understanding, to cooperate in disseminating it among people in the West as
well as in the Muslim world,  so that it becomes part of  public opinion in these two parts
of the globe, and so that it may influence policy makers, and leaders in those regions.

There is no denying the fact that differences, even on matters of principle and vital
issues,  do exist between adherents of Islam, and adherents of other ideologies in the
West. But Islam is not a religion of the East, nor are those ideologies endemic to the
West.

If Islam originated in the so-called East, so did Christianity and Judaism. If

the West found no difficulty in accepting the latter two, it should find no problem with
accepting Islam, especially in view of the fact that Christianity and Judaism were
originally meant to be local religions, while Islam was, from the start declared to be a
universal religion.

What is it in Christianity or Judaism that makes them more Western? Why should the
West accept a religion which says that Jesus is the son of God, and shun one which says
that he is a prophet of God? Why should the West feel comfortable with a religion which
claims to be for a special people, and shun the one which says that it is for mankind at
large? Is there anything in the West which necessitates this choice?  No!  And that is why
increasing numbers of Westerners are coming to the fold of Islam without losing their
Western identity, whether it be American, British, French or any other.

And if there are Christians and Jews in  the East, why can’t there be
Muslims in the West?

And why should the West be identified with secularism? This identification is, in my
opinion, unfair to the West, whether it comes from Muslims or from the Westerners
themselves. This is because secularism in its extreme form, the form which it took in the
former communist countries, was rejected by people in Western Europe and the U S,
and is now universally  condemned.  The secularism that is prevailing in the West is, to
varying degrees, a somewhat moderate one, in which there is place for religion. But not
everyone in the West, and specially the U. S., is happy even with this moderate form.
There are many who feel that secularism, instead of being a state of neutrality among
religions, is itself increasingly becoming a religion in its own right, and an intolerant one
at that.  They attribute many of the signs of moral decline to this dwindling role of
religion.

The equation of the secular with the Western, is also unfair because there is much in the
West that is far more important, and of universal value than secularism.

Now we come to the question of democracy. Western states are no doubt

democratic. But is Islam really undemocratic? This depends on what one takes to be the
most important characteristics of a democratic state.

If by democracy is meant rule of law, human rights, choice of rulers, then these are
inseparably part  of the religion of Islam. No ideology, secular or religious, lays greater
emphasis on the importance of the principle of  the rule of law  than Islam.   Justice, the
Qur’an tells us, is to be administered irrespective of our feelings towards people, “Be
just, even if it is against your next of kin.”, and “Let not your hatred of some people
induce you to be unjust. Be just. That is nearer to piety.”

The same applies to human rights, the rights of life, of ownership, of expression, of
movement, etc., within the Islamic Law.

Choice of heads of state is explicitly stated by Umar, the second Caliph after the Prophet,
to be a right of the people.

So, if these principles are what we mean when we talk about democracy, then Islam
advocates democracy. But if by democracy is meant all the democratic institutions that
happen to be in place now in the West, or if it is meant that the legal system of any state
which claims to be democratic must be a copy of the American or British, or French legal
system, then Islam is surely not democratic.

I am sure that if Islam is properly explained to people in the West, then many of them
would come to its fold, and many others would be influenced by many of its teachings,
even if they did not embrace it.
I therefore consider it the duty of Muslims living in this country, whether they be natives
or immigrants, to do their best to present Islam to their fellow Americans, laying more
emphasis on the fundamentals of the faith, and on moral values. No book gives a more
complete and perfect account of the Creator and the way He should be served than the
Qur’an. Other religious and philosophical descriptions and conceptions of the Creator
and of people’s relations to Him, do not at all compare with the Qur’anic account. I am
therefore positive that many people will recognize this Qur’anic account of the Creator
as the most appropriate, once they come to know it.

It is also the duty of  Muslims in the West to cooperate with non Muslims in promoting
any form of good, and fighting any form of evil, especially drugs. We should remember
that the goal of our religion, and indeed of all authentic Divine messages,  is to increase 
good and diminish evil in the world.

I urge you to remember that our primary aim is to guide and reform, and
not to destroy. Urging Muslims to spread the faith, the Prophet said, “By God, if
through you God guides a single person, then that is better for you than the best  of
worldly wealth.

May God help us and guide us to the right path.