Modernity represents a link in the chain of development, It was entirely European, and from Europe it spread to other regions, Each stage of development laid the foundation for the one that followed, building upon the preceding stage, The European Renaissance led to the Scientific Revolution, and the Scientific Revolution evolved into the Industrial Revolution, All of this passed through the so-called Arab region almost unnoticed, as local attention was not paid to the requirements of modernity, such as accumulation and scientific advancement, especially after the discovery of oil, This discovery, in some Bedouin areas, contributed to a kind of self-deception through confusion, The Bedouin were confused by the vast difference between modernity and modernization, Modernization allowed for the construction of skyscrapers, which replaced tents, while the mind remained in its old, ailing state, Modernization concerned construction and consumption, while modernity concerned the mind and perception, The difference between the two is so great as to be contradictory, In other words, the financial capacity to undertake modernization had a paralyzing effect on modernity, which does not require the construction of skyscrapers, Modernity includes building skyscrapers as a by-product, not as its primary function!
There are different ways of development: gradual, cumulative, or both. There is also the method of skipping stages, The Arab Bedouin imagined that they could skip stages, such as the bourgeois stage, which laid the foundation for Western democracies, while there was no bourgeoisie in the Arab region, The leap did not happen and succeeded only in illusion, Alongside the skyscraper, the camel remained as it was 1440 years ago, and the superstition, illusions, and myths remained, That is, even what is called the forced transition to true modernity did not happen, Here, they were satisfied with the external coating, that is, they were satisfied with consumerist appearances such as gold-plated cars and smartphones without paying attention to how they are made, Consequently, they were not made and were satisfied with buying them with oil money in almost all cases, The historical rationality was not revived, which means that modernity cannot be domesticated and developed without similar and appropriate practices and ideas concerning freedoms, citizenship, then rights and duties, An advanced industrial economy cannot be built without capital accumulation. Modernity is a historical process, not a ready-made product.
One of the most important obstacles to modernity was the factor of sanctification that was born from the womb of religion. Sanctification prevents tampering with the sacred, and the sacred is usually the religious, and the source of organizing all aspects of life was the Sharia. As a result, it can be said that there were applications of collective punishments, which meant forced residence in exile or imprisonment of the sacred, and how can the development process succeed without tampering with the various foundations of life! Here, some invented justifications for imprisoning the human mind in perpetuity by saying that its intellectual output is strange and does not suit the heritage, meaning the accepted customs and traditions, even without analyzing or studying them. Poverty is also strange, but begging is acceptable, even though aid is strange, Tyranny is rejected, even though it is a local, traditional product based on the rules of obedience and submission. But seeking refuge in the lands of the infidels is desirable, even the dream of every Muslim, despite Ibn Abdullah’s warning against a believer living under the protection of a polytheist, Here, hypocrisy was completed by denying the rulings of religion and the rulings of jihad, In this case, the charlatanry of fatwas was completely unleashed, According to one fatwa, these hungry people came to Islamize Europe, or as another fatwa said, these people did not come to France or Germany or other countries, but to the vast lands of God, Some claimed that believers are not for work but for guidance, as a former Jordanian minister said. Minister Muhammad al-Qudah found that believers were created for guidance, and polytheists were created for work, and thus integration between people is achieved in the most perfect way.
The Arab elites failed to draw up a viable or achievable roadmap, They championed Arab nationalism, which was racist, pathological, and rooted in the past and language—a lame foundation incapable of steady progress, These elites promoted a superficial, nominal liberalism devoid of any real liberal content because it wasn’t accompanied by socioeconomic transformations, such as the treatment of women, In Saad Zaghloul’s time, women were unveiled, but now, contrary to logic, they are veiled under the influence of Salafism, which had no other aim than to return to a past that, for Salafists, was dazzling in its grandeur. Salafism lied and believed its own lie about a dark past painted white, Even some elites believed the past was pure and pristine, This was due to the singularity of sources and the prevalence of the court poet model—fabrication, Fabrication was a source of livelihood; sustenance was bestowed, not earned through hard work, The literature of this region consists of only one book, It is by its author, Hossam Itani, about the attitude of the people of the conquered regions towards the conquerors, and the book is banned in all Arab entities that do not deserve the name “states”.
The problem lies in the belief held by some that modernity and tradition can be reconciled, However, modernity is indivisible; it must be accepted in its entirety or rejected entirely, This is because modernity is an integrated system encompassing rationality, democracy, and knowledge, Progress cannot be achieved selectively, such as adopting Western technology while rejecting its intellectual values and social implications, A technological head cannot be fitted onto a Bedouin body, A complete break with the epistemology of Bedouin tradition is necessary, There can be no progress without modernity, especially in politics, nor can there be progress with the politicization of religion or the religiousization of politics. All Arab entities are governed by a deadly mix of politics and religion, preventing them from progressing beyond the initial stages.
Modernity represents a link in the chain of development, It was entirely European, and from Europe it spread to other regions, Each stage of development laid the foundation for the one that followed, building upon the preceding stage, The European Renaissance led to the Scientific Revolution, and the Scientific Revolution evolved into the Industrial Revolution, All of this passed through the so-called Arab region almost unnoticed, as local attention was not paid to the requirements of modernity, such as accumulation and scientific advancement, especially after the discovery of oil, This discovery, in some Bedouin areas, contributed to a kind of self-deception through confusion, The Bedouin were confused by the vast difference between modernity and modernization, Modernization allowed for the construction of skyscrapers, which replaced tents, while the mind remained in its old, ailing state, Modernization concerned construction and consumption, while modernity concerned the mind and perception, The difference between the two is so great as to be contradictory, In other words, the financial capacity to undertake modernization had a paralyzing effect on modernity, which does not require the construction of skyscrapers, Modernity includes building skyscrapers as a by-product, not as its primary function!