(Khilafah Magazine - vol:8 issue:8, May 1998)
It is held by many that ‘peace’ in troubled regions such as the Middle East and Northern Ireland can only be found within a secular, democratic framework. They cite that a ‘religious’ government will never be able to produce ‘peace’. They believe that a ‘religious’ state would cause tension within a region that has people of many beliefs. They argue that, if the state were Islamic, what of non-Muslims such as Hindus, Jews and Christians? Or in the case of Northern Ireland, if the state were Catholic what of other denominations such as Protestants? Also it is for this reason, they say that ‘religion is the cause of intolerance’.
This being the case, they argue that the only solution is a state that puts religious differences aside. Secularism does just that, for it believes that religion should be detached from life’s affairs. Secularism believes that religion is a personal matter that should not interfere with political life. That is the only way to ensure ‘religious tolerance’. However, secularism itself carries the seeds of instability. It works via the principles of pluralism whereby different interest groups are recognised and encouraged to distinguish themselves, their needs, their ‘way of life’, and problems that are particularly to them. These groupings can take the form of ethnic, religious or regional divisions, or they can take the form of cause-based divisions such as the pro-‘life’ and the pro-‘choice’ groups. These groups compete to influence the law of the land to favour them or their causes. Such activity in turn breeds sectarianism, leading to intolerance of the grossest kind.
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The roots of pluralism
Pluralism was stressed most vigorously in England during the early 20th century by a group of writers including F. Maitland, S.G. Hobson, Harold Laski, R.H. Tawney, and G.D.H. Cole among others. They were reacting against what they alleged to be the alienation of the individual under conditions of unrestrained Capitalism. Capitalism is in fact the driving force of secular societies where Man is sovereign and he makes the laws of the land.
As history has shown time and again, the group of people who establish legislation and national constitutions do so while seeing the world through their own experiences, wishes and desires. This may be deliberate to protect their personal interests or it may be subconscious, since Man is inherently limited by his life experiences. The Founding Fathers of the US and the royals and lords of the UK, who established legislation in their respective countries, were amongst the few rich in society. The laws they established took the form of unrestrained Capitalism which naturally favored their ‘way of life’. As a consequence, the rest of the society who did not take part in the legislation and whose direct priorities have not been satisfied, worked to influence or change the legislation so as to remedy the situation as they saw it. Some of the negative aspects of society might be overcome, the pluralists argued, by economic and administrative decentralization. Hence the emergence of various groups such as trade unions and professional bodies.
Pluralism has now become an integral part of secular Western ideology. It is seen as one amongst many means of providing checks and balances in society.
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Pluralism breeds sectarianism
The groups within a particular secular, pluralist society can be very desperate and varied. Some are based on wide ranging interests as is the case with religious groups, trade unions, professional organizations and ethnic minorities. Others may be single-issued groups. In the case of abortion, there are pro-lifers (anti-abortionists) and pro-‘choice’ (pro-abortionists). In the case of fox hunting, there are anti-blood sports and pro-country life.
Practically, pluralism has anything but overcome the negative aspects of secular society. Rather it has contributed to them in a pro-found way. This can be seen in the feuds that have arisen between competing groups as a result of pluralism’s polarising properties. Headlines remind us again and again about the resulting chaos, as abortion clinics are bombed, abortionist doctors shot, vivisection labs vandalised. The most dramatic example is that of race in America. The animosity that exists between the blacks and whites of America is clearly evident over the decades. In the violent Watts riot in 1965, 35 people were killed and over $30 million damage done to property. The riot in Newark in 1967 led to the death of 24 and over 1000 injured. In the same year a similar riot in Detroit killed 43 and wounded 2000. And of course the LA race riots in 1992.
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Solving the problems of pluralism using pluralism-a race example
As shown above, the idea of pluralism has now been adopted into secularism as an add-on after thought to improve society. This leads to a twisted handling of problems which have been exacerbated y pluralism itself. Pluralism advocates that groups of people, separated along great divides such as race, fight for their own interests in society. The group gives its members a sense of community, which positively distinguishes them from others. Pluralism therefore inherently encourages segmentation of society which can lead to more severe problems of ‘ghettoisation’ and discrimination. In an attempt to solve such problems, the U.S government adopted the policy of ‘affirmative action’, where by conscious effort is made to ensure that blacks, who have been discriminated for decades, are given rights and opportunities due to the fact that they are black. A set number of places are reserved at colleges for blacks, which must be filled by them. Sponsorships and scholarships are readily available from schools and the government. There are now job opportunities favouring the blacks. In order to measure the success of such affirmative action, one would need to monitor the number of minorities in colleges, employment, army etc. so that quotas could be adjusted. Naturally this has led to increasing resentment of the blacks by the none blacks. They argue that for the cause of political correctness, they are now discriminated against. They claim that an Afro-American will be favoured over a white, even if they are of a weaker standard than their white counterpart. The achievements of the Afro-Americans are then associated to their race rather than merit, which further reinforces the myth that they are inferior. Such aggrieved whites will now hardly be advocates of improving race relations. More fundamentally, the whole society remains as colour conscious as it was before ‘affirmative action’, fertile ground for future discord. In this way policies based on pluralism, such as ‘affirmative action’ and others, feed back into the problems caused by pluralism.
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Islam rejects pluralism
Pluralism seeks to create a ‘peaceful’ coexistence of citizens of a state, by encouraging their differentiation along potentially dangerous lines as discussed. These divisions are dangerous because they take away the loyalty of the citizens of the state and channel them to entities other than the state itself. Additionally, they can back fire directly against what they were meant to achieve as is the case with the ‘affirmative action’ policy of the US. The consequences of these can mean continuos instability, civil war and even break up of the state. To say that some of these differences can exist in a society that does not allow pluralism is one thing but to actively formalise these fault lines and enhance them through legislation is quite another.
In Islam, peaceful coexistence among citizens of the state is sort simply by dealing with them as citizens, and not according to colour, creed, profession, etc.
In the early days of the Islamic state, they Jews were well known for their schemes and treacherous plots against the state. On one occasion, a dead body was being carried by a group of people and passed by the messenger (saw) and his companions. The messenger (saw) immediately stood up in respect. The companions of the messenger (saw) said, "It is a bier of a Jew." The messenger (saw) replied, "Is it not a soul?"
So, in life and in death all citizens of the Islamic state, regardless of belief or race, enjoyed a status that is not seen in secular society. This stems from the fact that no people, or any group, can be the origin of law. The fact that Allah (swt) alone is the legislator means that there is no cause for rivalry or faction-forming amongst citizens. There will be no cause for contempt, competition and rancour amongst the citizens. No single group could usurp the rights of others. Nor by the nature of legislature would anybody believe that there was potential for a group to undermine their rights. The outcome of this is that what is paramount in the eyes of the citizens is their citizenship. The muslims will view the Jews and Christians as citizens and vice-versa. Harmony would arise as all matters are arbitrated by a source, entirely independent of the citizens, Allah(swt). Harmony would arise and did arise for the centuries of Islamic rule in the regions that today are troubled by secularism such as the Middle East, Afghanistan and the Balkans.
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Conclusion
what a capitalist nation fails to realise, which Islam understands clearly is the root cause of intolerance in society. Pluralism builds a people that are conscious of differences and division. This fault line is what leads to earthquakes such as race riots or ethnic cleansing. This fault line is nurtured on a day to day basis through the very mechanism of law making and policies, such as equal opportunities and affirmative action. It is the recognition of differences, categorising and isolating them into sub sections which leads to conflict. This is what renders capitalism incapable of producing stability in society. This being the case it is then ludicrous to proffer Western nations as the " peace makers" and mediators around the world ‘s surface.