•‘Never the twain shall meet’ is an interesting phrase to use describing the ever conflicting relationship between the West (reads secular) and Islam.
•Samuel P Huntington’s “The clash of Civilization?” has opened the Pandora box and critically examined this bitter sweet relationship.
•The West and Islam differ in practical every aspect from its ideology, concept and practices.
•Religion to the West, plays second fiddle as compared to sciences and this is not surprising as the West had a bitter experience with it (namely Christianity).
•When Constantine, the Roman Emperor, accepted Christianity and made Christianity the State religion, which had all the necessary structures – there were no synthesis, no permeation of the state structure by Christian values
•In other words Christianity had no answer on how to govern a country. The two (the State and Christianity) stood close but apart, no symbiotic relationship so say the least. Thus they felt apart from each other.
•In contrast to Islam which not only provide the structure, but also the blueprint on how to run the State - as religion is the basic guiding foundation of running it, of which Divine laws is the only and ultimate law that is recognized, others must abide under its framework
•In Islam religion is the Deen, a way of life and not as seen by the West as religion per se. This is the Deen where the message is from Allah, whose sole purpose of creating Man is to worship Him and Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), the best example of Man is the messenger of this message.
•With the Qur’an and the Prophet’s Hadith as the guiding principles, Islam has the answer to all matters and Muslims are ordained to refer to these in the daily dealings of their lives, so much so if conflict arises
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Islam and the West, each on its own promotes a different ethics, values and principles. Notwithstanding this, the quest for power is both pursued by the West and Islam relentlessly. Power is the name of the game and a leader is the main character behind this power play
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•In politics, there are various factors that shaped the style of government. This holds true not only in secular government states but also in Islamic government states
•However, the main driving force behind these governments is the leadership. It will make or break a government just like driving a car which looks simple but bringing the car to the intended direction requires certain skills and concentration.
[source: www.andalus.sg]
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