Essay Sample on The Encounter of the Muslim World with the Modern West

Introduction

European civilization significantly changed the relationship between the state and the church over the years and the establishment of the sacred and the secular in the west. The modern west and the Muslim world in the last five centuries have interacted at different levels which has resulted in the adoption of some of the practices in the west in the Muslim world especially in regard to politics and the relationship between the church and the states. Before the advent of the western world in the Muslim world through the crusaders and the explorers the Muslim world did not have any differences in terms of the state and religion. However, the encounter of the western civilization and the Muslim world led to political and religious changes that has led to the modern existence of the difference between the state and religion even in the Muslim world a practice that began in the western world. Therefore, the resent shown by the Muslim world and people towards the west has to do with the modern encounter of the Muslim world with the modern West at different instances between the 17th and the 19th century. This paper will assess the impacts of modern west on the Muslim world during centuries of interactions especially in regard to the state and religion rhetoric in the Muslim world.

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Historical Paradigm of the Church and the State

One of Thomas Jefferson letters capture the concept of civil governance and argued the need to adopt the remarks that "divided we stand, united we fall" which is the setting of the differentiation of the state and the church. Despite the existence of this idea for many centuries since the European enlightenment, it was the United States which gave the idea a lawful standing and in the last 200 years, it has become a reality. Previously, in the 17th century, there was no straight line differentiating the state and the church which was said to be the most violent time especially in the west where the church was the state and church leaders possessed executive powers.

In the new testament of the Bible, Jesus tells his followers to respect the political authorities that govern them by saying give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and God what belongs to God. This indicates the existence of two distinct actors the state and the church and they can be divided or brought together into a single entity. When the church and the state were united, there was high violence both in the west and the Muslim world due to the coercive powers of the church-state which aimed at conquering the world and assimilating many into Christians. This period involved the crusaders who fought for the church using the state's name and resources. However, the modern West has moved past the church-state to the existence of the church differently as well as the secular and the sacred which took more great shape between 18th and the 20th century.

Islam Beliefs and How They Have Shaped Interactions With the West

Islam is one of the largest religions in the world is practiced in many countries especially in Asia, North Africa, and the Middle East. The religion has unified many ethnic groups who live in brotherhood despite their differences. However, Islam through men interpretation has been used in different instances as a tool against the west who are viewed as the enemies of Islam. However, it is important to note that despite the depiction of the West as the enemy of the Muslim world primarily from the 19th century there are regions where the Muslims and the west work together. However, in some isolated cases State leaders have used Islam to unify the people, especially against Western civilization. This depicts a time when the west did not have a clear boundary between the church and the state and the church used coercive means against countries and ethnic groups that did not share similar ideologies during the time of the crusaders who devastated non-Christian and Judaism civilizations especially in North Africa and the Middle East. Iran is one of the Muslim countries that has shown high resistance to the west due to the differences in philosophies in which Iran views the West as a threat to their ideology of the unity between the state and Islamic religion.

The use of religion against the west through the creation of the Islamic states has significantly shaped the violent response by the Muslim world against the West especially America which is viewed as an enemy of God. The Islamic State has developed the mindset of the people that there is only the House of Islam and the house of unbelief and reinforced the duty of the Muslims to fight against those that are different such as the west. However, the negative rhetoric against the West is shaped long before modern civilization during the seventh century when Islam viewed Christendom as a threat. Islamic states joined in the campaign against the Christendom territories in holy wars, and the Christendom authorities responded with counter attacks using the Crusaders who aimed at regaining the lost Christian territories. This shows the danger of lack of state and religion separation which is the leading case in the Muslim world opposition to the western civilization. The Muslim world today is responding to the Western civilization with violence and hate which has led to the increase in the Western European terror attacks in the name of holy Jihad which aims at reasserting the Muslim values and greatness.

Despite the aggressive nature of the Islamic states such as Iran against the western world, the Muslim world has continued to face defeat by the West European civilizations such as the loss of dominance by Russia and the western countries during the imperial era which led to the colonization of Islamic regions based on foreign laws and ideas. Therefore, the previous successive loss of dominance to the west and Russia has increased the Muslim world hostility against the West and their friends. During the rise and the dominance of America, in the Muslim, it was viewed as progress, and some even envied the economic and political success in the West. Many American companies and explorers have ventured into the Muslim world unnoticed until recently where Islamic states have idealized the Americans and western civilizations as an enemy of God.

The West Support of Israel

The western expansionist philosophy and dominance cannot entirely justify the hostility against the modern western countries by the Muslim world. This is evidenced by the persistence of hatred against the west even after the abandonment of the western policies that anger Middle Eastern and Islamic countries. The continued hatred against the Western European countries is religious based and founded on the west allegiance to the Zionist nation Israel which is a significant threat to the Islamic cultures and state in their own backyard. However, this alone has been found not enough to justify the opposition and the hatred towards the western culture especially America by Islamic states such as Iran which has shown unrelenting hatred against American ideals. The Islamic State has reinforced the hatred through policies and supporting regimes that are against the United States of America. Therefore, the freedom rhetoric and the separation of the state and religion in America is viewed as the main threat towards the creation of Islamic countries such as Iran which thrive on the anti-American policies.

The secularization of the United States and the western culture is viewed as an enemy of the conservative Islamic State ideologies which uses ancient differences and prejudices committed by the Christendom to justify the negative response to the modern west by the Muslim world. Understanding the history of Islamic religion and political culture can help to understand the Islamic rejection and hatred towards the West. However, as long as the differences in culture and view of the world exist between the Islamic states and the West, their differences will continue. The experimentation of religious freedom in the United States has made the country seem a target by the Islamic states which beliefs in unity under Islam and any foreign culture and practice that gives freedom to everybody or secularization as a threat to their existence.

Political Allegiance

The current hostility against the United States of America by the Islamic State of Iran can be traced back to the American support of the Pahlavi dynasty which the American executive which preferred it to stabilize the region. Ayatollah Khomeini was able to rally the masses against the American backed regime and create an Islamic government which has continued to advance anti- American politics and propaganda in the region. In the current situation, the Iran Islamic Government has locked horns against the modern West which it views as a threat towards creating Islamic supremacy in the Middle East and North Africa where the Islamic government of Iran has been accused of sponsoring terrorism.

The rise of Islamic governments after the fall of the Pahlavi dynasty has been remarkably noted by the assassination of the Egyptian president a few years later with the aim of creating an Islamic government. Muslim countries followed suit after Iran and formed politics and governments that are more adoptive of the Islamic principles (Sharia). It is important to note the Iranian Islamic government ideals have mainly inspired the trend of Islamic governments in Asia and North Africa such as Sudan and Pakistan. Countries that still have influence and relationships with the western world such as the Saudi Arabian kingdom has faced significant criticism by the newly founded Islamic governments. The Islamic governments are moving further from the secular state of the government in the west to merging religion and politics. Whereas the modern West stands for religious freedom and secularization, the Muslim world is increasingly adopting the more radical religious approach.

The adoption of Islamic religion which is significantly merged with governance and political issues have made it easy for the Muslim world to gang together against the modern West European countries which are viewed as a threat to the Islamic leadership due to the secularization of the western governments and the separation of the State and the church. The new religious states in the Middle East such as Iran which has been recently receiving negative criticism for funding violence and terror with the aim of intimidating secular governments in the region as well as the west. The stability of the Islamic governments relies heavily on the anti-West policies and propaganda which aims at reducing the influence of countries that support greater freedoms to all religions as well as the secularization of leadership to eradicate any religious control.

Nationalism in the Muslim World

The growth of nationalism in the Islamic States is a significant issue to note on how the encounter of the Muslim world with the west has affected the religion and state status. The boundary between religion and the government in Islamic countries is very small and in some cases none because the states are entirely under the influence and control of Islam based on the sharia law. Apart from brutality to dissidents, the Islamic countries brutally confront any opposition from their citizens irrespective of religious affiliation which indicates the determination of the Islamic States to remain under control and free from influence from the Western countries which are viewed based on the radical Islamic teachings as the enemies of God.

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