Zahid Parvez - Building a New Society: An Islamic Approach to Social Change

Building a
New Society

An Islamic Approach
to Social Change

ZAHID PARVEZ

Published by

Revival Publications, Markfield Conference Centre, Ratby Lane, Markfield, Leicestershire LE67 9SY, United Kingdom.
Tel: 01530244944, Fax: 01530244946
E-mail: revival@islamic-foundation.org.uk

Copyright Revival Publications, 2000/1420 H

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner.

eISBN 9780860376040

To

my parents and teachers
who inspired me to live by Islam
and to strive for a better society

In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the most Merciful

Contents

As humanity enters the third millennium of the Christian era, waves of globalisation and floods of information are forcing human beings in almost every part of the world to become citizens of the universal village. A need for mutual understanding and dialogue between peoples belonging to different religions, cultures and ideologies was never as great and as pressing as it is today. It would not be going too far to suggest that this is now becoming a prerequisite for the very survival and sustenance of human society. No one can afford to live in isolation. We all have to learn to live with each other, as well as learn from each other, to build a better future for all. A Clash of Civilisations is the worst scenario; coexistence, co-operation and the creation of a healthy confluence are definitely alternatives. As such, dialogue within and dialogue between religions, cultures and ideologies, constitute the most pressing needs of the future. Muslims living in the West can play a very important role in initiating and promoting this process.

Dialogue presupposes a readiness to think and talk, to discuss and even differ without conflict and confrontation. It can hardly flourish among those who choose to be deaf and dumb. For we can talk to each other with confidence only if we are clear about what we are, and what our vision of the future is. Muslims in the West can equip themselves to fulfil this historic and challenging responsibility by first talking to themselves and defining their position in the context of the contemporary world, even before they talk to others, which they must. I regard it a healthy development that young Muslim intellectuals are beginning to initiate debate and discussion on crucial issues relating to Islams essential message and the strategies and methodologies of social change under its influence. To me this represents yet one more expression of Islamic resilience and global upsurge. It is all the more important that young intellectuals are trying to breathe some fresh air by trying to make inputs based upon the original sources of Islam, without discarding the tradition and simply replaying the drama of angry young men, a sight so familiar in our times.

Zahid Parvez is a young Muslim academic serving at the Business School, of the University of Wolverhampton. As an ex-President of The Young Muslims and of the Islamic Society of Britain, and an active member of the Islamic Movement, he has had full exposure to the intellectual and social challenges the two million strong Muslim community is facing in the United Kingdom. He is also aware of the contemporary Western context, both intellectual and cultural. He has tried to delve deep into the sources of the Quran and Sunna, along with availing himself of contemporary Muslim literature, to rediscover the message of Islam and to carry it to men and women struggling today to carve out a future that is spiritually and morally rich, along with being materially comfortable and socially just and honourable. He is concerned about the future of human beings, who are torn between the extremes of crass materialism and socially devoid spiritualism. He nourishes a vision of the future for humanity that is spiritually fulfilling and materially rewarding, along with ensuring freedom, justice, peace and well-being for all humans on the globe. He is convinced that the Quran and the Prophet Muhammads (blessings and peace be upon him) model provide such an alternative, only if we understand them correctly and strive to live according to them assiduously. Moreover, he has tried to seriously explore the nature of this model and ventured to spell out as to how it can be actualised in the contemporary world. Simultaneously, he focuses on the nature of this model and its methodology for individual and societal change.

I regard this study as a creative and useful contribution to contemporary Islamic literature. I particularly value it as it can help the Muslims in the West in strengthening their own identity and in preparing them to be active participants in the dialogue between religions and cultures on which the future of humanity hinges. I also hope this will spur other Muslim intellectuals and activists, particularly younger ones, to come to grips with the challenges that beset the world of Islam in particular and humanity in general. It is only through integrity of faith, clarity of thought, creativity of approach and the cross-fertilisation of ideas that the challenges of today and tomorrow can be successfully met. This purposeful effort, of my younger brother and colleague, Zahid Parvez, however tentative and explorative, gives me great hope for the future. It is only through such efforts that the way can be paved for more elaborate and authoritative works to appear and influence the future development of Muslim thought and society in the West.

Essentially, Zahid Parvezs study on Building a New Society An Islamic Approach to Social Change, represents a pioneering effort in the Muslim youths search for a new paradigm to inspire mankind to emerge out of the cultural crisis of our times.

Two major concerns provided me with the idea and motivation for writing this book. The first of these relates to the growing fears and misunderstandings that are witnessed in the West regarding Islam and its upsurge in the world today. Fear of Islam is easily noticed from the attitudes of many ordinary people, and misunderstanding regarding it continually flow through the media, academic writings and from the views of numerous politicians. As viewed from a Muslims perspective, these either exist due to a genuine lack of comprehension of the Islamic faith and mission, or are based on distorted or insufficient information, or even stem from deep rooted prejudices. Whatever the reasons for their existence may be, they simply contribute towards engendering suspicion and mistrust. They also foster negative attitudes and hostile responses, all of which are not conducive to social harmony nor world peace. As a saying goes: behaviour breeds behaviour. Mistrust and hostile responses initiated from one side is most likely to result in a similar behaviour from the other. The second concern, which is strongly connected to the first, relates to the negative, and in cases, extremist attitudes and approaches that are employed by certain Muslim groups in their efforts to free the Muslim world from secular-materialistic influences and take the message of Islam forward to humanity. Whether or not such attitudes are in response to the hostile conduct of certain Western governments, they only contribute towards reinforcing negative Muslim stereotypes and distract attention away from the true message of Islam and its grand vision for humanity.