The Pitfalls of Some Who Attributed Themselves to Islam While Calling for Revival and Advancement

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

Imam As-Sadi, may Allah have mercy upon him, said:

In the view of these deviated people, revival and advancement means to assimilate into the morale and mentality of the outsiders – the enemies of all religions (i.e. the materialists); lose all their personalities by adopting the personalities of those people, imitate them in their manners, dress, dealings and customs – precisely and distinctly, because they see that one should dissociate from the religion ordained by Allāh and from beautiful manners. This is progress and advancement in their view, thus they replace that which is lofty, perfect and precious with something that is low and despicable.

They are in agreement with their enemies outwardly and inwardly, and through this path they became the greatest weapon of the enemies against their religion and people, and for this reason they blindly imitated the foreigners in harmful matters. As for that which they possess of those things (worldly advancement) that are of benefit – even if associated with the religion, they are the most distant from it as is well known regarding their state of affairs.

And through that which the deviants decorate their falsehood is their strong language (or forceful speech) regarding modern culture (or intellectual development), while claiming that neither can manners be refined nor free from oppression and tyranny except by way of that. They exaggerated in praising it and its educators, vilify those who do not have this modern culture and ridicule them. They interpret it with various deviated interpretations and everyone blurting, because if sciences are disorderly and manners are based on them, then this is how its people will behave. They do not agree – in anything – in their views and opinions, and all their statements refer back to toppling the religion and manners.

Indeed, sound intellectual development and beneficial refinement is that which the religion of Islam brought, which cleansed the beliefs from polytheism and the worship of images; cleansed the manners from every evil trait, cleansed deeds and etiquettes until matters became rectified, the state of affairs came to be upright, combined between the religious and worldly affairs; reformed the beneficial morale and the material sciences that support them.

And certainly what is witnessed is a testimony to that which we have mentioned, for indeed the contemporary (or modern) sciences and inventions – despite their expansion and vastness – have been unable to rectify the manners, bring about sound virtues and remove evil due to them being devoid of (sound) religion; rather the religion of Islam is that which will guarantee this rectification, undertake this beneficial refinement, direct towards every good and deter every evil, for indeed it is the rectifier of the apparent matters (i.e. deeds) and the hidden affairs of the soul in the religious and worldly affairs. Whoever looks at its fundamentals, subsidiary issues and what it deters, he will find the affair as we have mentioned; rather -above everything else -Allāh is the granter of success”. [2

al-Dalāʾil al-Qurʾāniyyah fī anna al-ʿulūm wa-al-aʿmāl al-nāfiʿah al-ʿaṣriyyah dākhilah fī al-dīn al-Islāmī page 17