Does Islam see itself as having a 'mission civilisatrice'

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Does Islam see itself as having a 'mission civilisatrice'
OP - January 01, 2010, 03:30 PM

I think that Muslims have always viewed Islam as a civilising culture with a mission to 'civilise' the world by turning it Islamic. On a grassroots level it manifests itself in how dawah is an impulse. Islam presents itself not just in spiritual terms (there is nothing unique spiritually about Islam), but in cultural, moral terms - pointing to the supposed corruption in the society, religion or culture from which the target of conversion originates.

When converts take their shahadah, a common experience is the virulence and vehemence with which they reject all manifestations of their previous life and culture. Cat Stevens repudiated all that he was and all that he came from as corrupted when he became Yusuf Islam. What they left behind was uncivilised, corrupt, ignorant, backwards.

Islam is a 'Year Zero' religion. It believes that all before it was jahil - and that even today, all non Muslims exist in a realm of jahil. It offers kuffars the chance to enact a Year Zero and start again cleansed of the corruption they previously belonged to.

These terms are moral and civilisational - Islam believes it has a burden - the Muslim man's burden - just like how European colonialists said they had a white man's burden. It is redolent with 'mission civilisatrice' language - the division of the world into Muslim and Kuffar, the dualism, the setting up of a hierarchy of humanity with Muslim men at the pinnacle, and all others beneath.

Much has been written about how Islam is essentially a form of Arab Imperialism. We can see how Muslim intellectuals romanticise Islamic empires, subjugations, military powers and imperialisms of history - lamenting their loss and elevating them as signs of Islam's superiority, all the while, decrying all non Islamic forms of historical imperialism. I think that is all just part of this attitude inherent in Islam - the civilising mission they believe is the duty of all Muslims.

"we can smell traitors and country haters"

Quote from: arX on May 01, 2011, 03:33 AM
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Re: Does Islam see itself as having a 'mission civilisatrice'
Reply #1 - January 01, 2010, 04:42 PM

pretty much hit the nail on the head there. the glorification of every islamic culture of the past,while simultaneously refusing to acknowledge any worthwhile contribution of non-muslim cultrures, is endemic within the muslim peoples and sadly propogated by those muslim "intellectuals" who ought to know better.

Islam is, plainly, arab imperialism with the added bonus of childish superstition and unfeasibly complicated and petty byelaws that must be be obeyed.

I would write more but i'm in a house surrounded by "believers" who would give me no end of grief if they knew what I was typing.

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Re: Does Islam see itself as having a 'mission civilisatrice'
Reply #2 - January 01, 2010, 05:27 PM

Its also why amongst Islamic ideologues and even amongst many Muslims there is such unease with lberal secular democracy and the principles of egalitarianism and individual rights they are founded on.

If Islam is the civilising culture, and the Year Zero that can restart society and individual life after the corruption of jahil - anything that prevents its dominion must be jahil too. And if the principles of liberal democracy, egalitarianism, equality of men and women, equality of all people regardless of their religious affiliation, and secular politics are of such great appeal to the majority of people in the world - all those things are enemies of the dominion of Islam.

The universalism of liberal principles is as loathsome then, as the Zoroastrians, Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Hindus, Sikhs, animists, pagans, and every other culture or religion that Islam has confronted in its civilising mission too.

Except this time, its not a religion or culture that Islam has locked horns with before. They could be dispensed with easily simply by invoking the exceptionalism and superiority of the prophet and of Allah etc etc etc. Conversions, denigrations of those religions in religious terms.

But how do you defeat such a fluid, beautiful, universally appealing culture as liberal universalism and egalitarianism? Especially when it even appeals to those inside your own home? Its contaminating the Ummah itself!

This causes deep unease within Islam, and that is because of the dawah impulse inherent in Islamic theology, about its civilising mission and destiny.

"we can smell traitors and country haters"

Quote from: arX on May 01, 2011, 03:33 AM
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Re: Does Islam see itself as having a 'mission civilisatrice'
Reply #3 - January 01, 2010, 05:37 PM

Quote from: Humanoid on January 01, 2010, 04:42 PM
Islam is, plainly, arab imperialism with the added bonus of childish superstition and unfeasibly complicated and petty byelaws that must be be obeyed.

Exactly

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Re: Does Islam see itself as having a 'mission civilisatrice'
Reply #4 - January 02, 2010, 12:55 AM

Quote from: Humanoid on January 01, 2010, 04:42 PM
pretty much hit the nail on the head there. the glorification of every islamic culture of the past,while simultaneously refusing to acknowledge any worthwhile contribution of non-muslim cultrures, is endemic within the muslim peoples and sadly propogated by those muslim "intellectuals" who ought to know better.

Islam is, plainly, arab imperialism with the added bonus of childish superstition and unfeasibly complicated and petty byelaws that must be be obeyed.

I would write more but i'm in a house surrounded by "believers" who would give me no end of grief if they knew what I was typing.

What I find funny are those things the Muslims apparently contributed to the West and yet those very Muslims ignore the fact that such ideas were quickly rejected. Take reason versus tradition; that might have been an idea spawned in the first 30 years after Muhammad's death but by the time of the 10th century, Islam had well and truly rejected rationalism and reason in favour of blind observance to tradition.

The benchmark of contributions by Muslims should be based on whether Islam alone caused the creation of such innovations (cause and effect not just simply correlation) and secondly whether Muslims continued using such innovations in the long term.

Islamic Spain is the prime example of half truths if I ever saw one; the Los Vegas of the Islamic world put up as the benchmark as to what Islam is like when implemented; the reality is that Islamic Spain was as far from Islam as one can get; it was about Islamic as me being labelled Christian because I happen to celebrate Christmas and eat hot cross buns on easter.

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Re: Does Islam see itself as having a 'mission civilisatrice'
Reply #5 - January 02, 2010, 12:58 AM

Not just Islam. Christianity too.

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