The Spirit of Islamic Civilisation

I've read a great book: The Spirit of Islamic Civilisation (Ruh al-Hadharah al-Islamiyah) written by Seikh Mohammad Fadhil ibn Asyur, son of Seikh Thahir ibn Asyur, a prominent scholar from Tunisia. This book, as noted by The Director of International Institute of Islamic Thougt, Dr. Taha Jabir al-Ulwan, is the preface of big project: the study about Islamic movement (al-Harakah al-Islamiyah) around the world, its achievements and its failures held by the institute whose headquarters is in Washington DC.

This book --in spite of its small size-- is a comprehensive reviews on the history of Islamic movement, the mistake reading of its leaders to the fact that islamic world's has been fallen behind the West and the right solution to build once more awakening of Islamic movement.

The essence of Seikh Fadhil's anwers, i think, is what he called by the spirit of islamic civilisation. If you refer the history of islamic civilisation to its core, you will not focus so seriously to its peripheral area. Focusing to peripheral area, according to Seikh, is the mistake reading where most of islamic movements leaders and thinkers have been falling in.

Seikh Fadhil sees that the tranformation from the chaliph model to the kingdom model of the islamic regime --for example-- was not the core of the problem. The problem was the tranformation from the religion fanatism to the material fanatism, or say it, if you like: from moral commitment to the power or economic commitment. When the moslem community were in one commitment to their religion, they could spread Islam and built civilisation in very large area and at very short time.

So, there is no certain and obliged model of political, economic or civilisation in Islam as far as moslem community in strong faith and fidelity to their religion. The focus, then, is to the essence not to the form. The reference of Seikh in this point of view is Abdrurrahman ibn Khaldun, the writter of great book: Muqaddimah, who explained impressingly the driver of the History of Islamic Civilisation. The only first thing that Islamic community need at present is how they can come back to the basic and the key point of Islam's glory in the past: the true and dinamic IMAN that create and drive their life from private area to the public area.

And that is big challenge to the thinkers and leaders of Islam especially in this recent secular circumstance around the world...