The history of warfare and assassinations has been going on since the beginning of this world, and so far, this battlefield is constantly dynamic. Different nations of the world are fighting with each other. This disposition of expanding the territory of one’s own country, apprehending others;obstructing humanity on religious fetidness is increasing gradually, and with the expansion, these wars and conflicts, which violate human rights, are taking a new form unexceptionally. The greatest war of our time has now become intellectual and ideological aggression. With the initiation of armed strength, and the development of nuclear energy, the intellectual war is at its climax, and in the modern world, only those are professed winners who fight and become victorious intellectually.And Muslims who were famous for their intellectual legacy and who decorated the arena with the help of their ethical and moral etiquettes,and intelligentsia and research in the past are now struggling for their identity and to rationalize their position. History witnesses that there was a time when the boundaries of the Muslim world were spread over many countries, where all kinds of conveniences were available, and the people were entirely prosperous; all the facilities and luxuries were accessible.There was a full abundance of wealth, grain and crops were available in profusion. The Muslim states were the most developed in terms of health and treatment, transportation, education and learning, industry, and trade. Convoys of Muslim merchants delivered goods to remote areas. There were great centers of learning in the Muslim world; Kufa, Basra, and Baghdad were the world’s largest centers of learning and research, and the fame of the libraries here resounded all over the world. The fame of Muslim researchers, intellectuals, philosophers, physicians, scientists, mathematicians, historians, poets, writers, and masters of industry and craft was spread all over the world. Islamic states were the most dominant in the world. On the other side, Europe was gripped by poverty; Christian-dominated states were in the throes of civilization at that time. The nature of civilization, decency, morality and education were also missing in them. Instead of wearing clothes on their bodies, they used animal skins to cover their bodies. European and Christian rulers were jealous of the progress of Islamic countries. The prosperity of the Muslims did not go unnoticed by them. Under the guise of the Crusades, the rulers incited the Christian masses against the Muslims. Jealousy was created among Christians against the financial well-being of Muslims. A clear example of this is Pope Urban’s words, “France is fed up with the Christian population and there are many canals of milk and honey are flowing in the basins of Canaan”.
After a series of failures in the Crusades, Europeans became convinced that the path to empower and control the Muslim world was extremely difficult;weakening their power is ‘tantamount to sufflating the lion’. Following this path, it was impossible to embarrass the dream of Europe’s development and empowerment.So, Europe focused on the other side of this war and instead of fighting a war of weapons, they started an intellectual and ideological war. In Arabic, it is called “Al-Ghazwul-Fikri”. Systematic plans were made for this intellectual war; different techniques and tactics were devised. Gradually its depth and breadth increased and finally, it encompassed the whole world. The Muslim Ummah, which governs most of the world, suffered the most from this intellectual war. The victorious nation of the world was labeled as overwhelmed, and the great Muslim victories, a better administrative system, a consolidated economic system, and a judiciary, become a novel of the past. The splendour of the Muslim World was reduced to dust, and the glory and prosperity came to an end. The Jewells of art, innovation,Education, and learning were snatched and were lost in the markets of freakiness;civilization and culture disappeared;the whole Muslim world has been enslaved and became the ‘Sick man of Europe’. The situation has reached such a point that their property has become a matter of dispute today. In the contemporary period, Muslimshave not been able to make their own decisions even within the limits of their country. This is how the Qur’an depicts this situation, “And the earth was confining for you with its vastness”. (Al-Qur’an, 09:25). To endorse this non-armed approach and turn the climath of Muslims into deterioration through intellectual warfare, Europe paid special attention to all the techniques and methods such as history, economics, media, politics, religious education, geography, etc.To impose this intellectual invasion, Europe used three things the most i.e., Media, philanthropy, and education. Today, 96% of the media is controlled by Europe, and the world contemplates education and learning as a blessing created by them. Their ideology is influencing every corner of the world. What are the mentalities, ideologies, and religious belief systems of other nations particularly Muslim nations? It is being decided by Europe and America and the whole world is recognizing it as reality. In the same ideological invasion since 9/11, the United States has turned the entire Middle East, including Afghanistan, Libya, Iraq, and Syria, into dust and blood. It has become difficult for Muslims to identify their opponent and devotee. The issue of distinguishing between friend and foe has become extremely complex. In short, today Europe is advanced in all horizons of life and the Muslim world is devastating. This progress and success are the intellectual invasions that started only after the eleventh century and the Islamic world failed to realize it.
(The author is a Researcher at the Department of Islamic Studies at Baba Ghulam Shah Badshah University)
