Mamdouh Bitar, Ruba Mansour:
Warning of the extinction of Arab Muslims is a risk. Foreseeing the future of these peoples in light of the current repercussions and circumstances is risky, but it is necessary, especially when we see and perceive numerous signs of the downfall of these peoples. We don’t know if salvation is possible! Or is it too late?
What concerns us most is the fate of the peoples of this region, which can be described as bleak. These peoples, at the hands of their own people, have become increasingly stagnant and have failed to transform their stagnation into a state of movement. It has always been clear that the stagnation-movement dichotomy constitutes the fundamental and primary axis that determines the birth of a civilization, its progress and prosperity, or its decline, dissolution, and extinction. How can these peoples transform stagnation into movement? At a time when these peoples are subject to thousands of restrictions, the most important of which are arbitrary, fanatical religious restrictions?
There are several answers to this question, and all of them involve the issue of ignorance and the necessity of liberation from it in order to be able to think and innovate. Liberation does not only mean the departure of the colonizer; it primarily means liberating the mind. Was the Syrian mind liberated at the hands of Khalid ibn al-Walid? Or the Syrian people were liberated from the federal state with Rome, only to fall into the trap of totalitarianism shackled by shackles imposed from the unseen, theocracy, and absolutism—the absolutism of the other, ruling by his own command, by God’s command, or both. This was the case with the Caliphate and the Caliph, ruling by his own command and by God’s command, and keen to spread traditions and customs that were backward in their historical context and became more backward with time. A mind shackled by shackles does not produce a free, creative human being, but rather a puppet driven by whims and vile intentions. With the arrival of Ibn al-Walid with the Bedouins of Quraysh and the Jazira, all development and construction in these lands came to a halt, with the exception of the collection of the jizya (tribute) and the Islamization of the people. Then came the formulation of the Umar Covenant, which represented the height of unprecedented decadence, followed by numerous other catastrophes. This was how it began 1,450 years ago, and this is how things have continued to this day.
The functioning of reason and the concept of thought were defined, and the existence of a rational Arab mind was denied, as it merely transmitted texts that were perceived as the best and most valid texts. For every time and place, and dressed in a galabiya similar to the galabiya of the best nation, every people has a mind no different from the mind of another people. However, the difference between the Arab mind and the natural mind is that this mind is imprisoned in religious prisons and exposed to a civilizational shock after its encounter with the West. Instead of this shock having a positive effect, which it could have had, the mind imprisoned in religious prisons has regressed negatively, rushing back to the ancient past, leaning on it, covering it up, and protecting it. This is a distorted and sick defense of the self, which has become immersed in individualism and has strayed from the concept of the “community mind,” as it is the memory, identity, and culture of society. The community mind has eroded and been subjected to further restrictions, leading to the extinction of its function and creative abilities, which has been reflected in the backwardness of the peoples’ conditions. This is precisely what we see now; we see backwardness in its ugliest forms.
The Arab community mind has been imprisoned in a long history of destruction and oppression, which has led to… Turning it into a passive, submissive person instead of an active, creative person, it was necessary to understand the difference between activity and reactivity to help protect the societal mind from damage. Unfortunately, prevention failed, and the ongoing and raging conflict between the active and passive minds continued on all levels, leading to the dominance of emotion over action. The results of such a conflict determined the possibility of societal progress or backwardness. Therefore, society lagged behind and remained stagnant and regressing in place.
The crisis of the Arab mind is linked to the duality of creativity and conformity. It is better to say the opposite of creativity and conformity. When creativity is mentioned, it necessitates conformity as its opposite, which cannot coexist! Creativity and conformity are closely linked to the active and passive societal mind. To the extent that the mind is liberated from its negative, emotional forms and to the extent that this mind is active, it will be capable of creativity, which is the key to the progress of peoples, nations, and humanity.
Warning against the extinction of these peoples or their transformation into Absolute marginality or functional death is a translation of the warning of the consequences of disabling the mind and transforming it from active to passive. Is it possible to save this mind …?