and then our exile

To rid the "Third World" of the inferiority complex that has insidiously worked its way into the very mechanisms of survival.

Another pressing need: sane, thorough critiques of Western thought from a Muslim perspective. As in, I don't know if assessments of The Wealth of Nations, or On Capital from that angle exist at all, let alone JSMill, Russeau--all the giants whose philosophies underly the way the West, Westerners, act, think. (Please note that my homogenization of a monolithic "West" is consciously ironic.) Critiques of capitalism, of socialism, liberalism (yes, liberalism too.), the way conservatism is interpreted, the ideal of democracy, the way reality has popped the ideal's bubble... of Huntingdon, of Fukuyama, of the whole concept of "personal freedoms", of the fear of absolutism that itself has turned into an absolute, of the reductionism that is consciously or unconsciously used to play into the hands of secularism, of humanism as a reigning paradigm, of the way the public is manipulated, even of consumer culture...
And not facile "critiques", either: "THA VEST IS A PLAASE OF PROMISKYUEITTY!". (Quite true, in many aspects of the social sphere, but that's just not the point.)
They do exist--Nasr and al-Attas and others have done major major good work in the field. But, it's just, there needs to be more, and then these need to be circulated among the masses of the entire Muslim World, along with realistic and cohesive visions for the future, for *truly* implementing Islam into the economic, social, political, environmental aspects of life. Although the end-goals will be the same, the actual action-plans will of necessity have to be different, to correlate to the various histories and ground realities of the region. But, still... to combine Hasan al-Banna with Syed Qutb with Iqbal with Ghazzali with al-Albaani with al-Afghani... and staying far, far away from "Sir" Syed Ahmed Khan and his adulation (metaphorical form, of course) of the British--these are the true traitors of the ideological front, corresponded to physically by the Mir Jafars (and, more recently eg the Northern Alliance)...
At the moment, in the absence of such critiques, the inferiority complex I started off with has led to widespread apologeticism: "we are this way because we are backward, conservative societies. Let's all eat at McDonalds and then all will be well". and because these people see *themselves* as 'primitive' as opposed to the "advanced" West, they 1) idolize American culture, though they may be staunchly against its wars---they just don't see how actions that lead to invasions are interrelated with Britney Spears and Nike and the economic systems, the industrial complex-- and, 2) start to question why they are supposedly so "behind". they may blame this on Islam... As is inevitable, reactionary movements spring up, watching people start to question the perfect Deen, and so accuse the West of being evil... but even there, the inferiority complex is latent, ingrained since the first step Napolean took onto Egyptian soil.
Not all the critiques should agree with one another--the "Muslim response" won't be homogeneous, and this is in itself good: it will necessitate dialogue and fierce anger and debate, but at the end of it all, some sort of response should have emerged--much like the intellectual response to Greek/Persian philosophy, in the early centuries of this Completion.

I've been having discussions with Babaji that spark these thoughts: he's writing a massive paper, a continuation of his "Sacred Cows of Western Civilization": it is, quite literally, a Manifesto for the Muslim World. His main point is that colonization has not ended since the Jinnahs and so on brought "independence" to their respective "countries"--the structures, the institutional makeups, of the colonizers are still there; it's merely the faces that are different, but they're sitting on exactly the same chairs as those previous. They may have brown skins, darker skins, may even pray five times a day, and so on, but the overall framework has not changed one hoot. When thought about, really, it's a concept that has implications beyond what i can imagine at this time of night, but--that colonization has not ended!! (the point about "darker skins" isn't meant to equate Muslims with a specific colour. but that's obvious.)

recently, Someone--of Delphi, no less--made the point that Canada itself is colonized. This is true--the entire world is under many chains. And yet, the intensity of the suppression, repression, is here glossed over by the fact that people in general are moderately well off, with enough food for their next meal... on the other side of the Pond, such does not exist, period. And although here the political process may be impotent, ineffectual, over There there *is* no political process per se... my point, basically, is that change is needed everywhere, but there's no gloss on top over There.

Except Iran. I don't enshrine it on some pedestal (well, maybe.), but it is true that in Iran--though many problems do exist--generally, there is some beacon of hope: there's actually some form of truly representative government (as opposed to that of a wealthy elite, or a military elite, or authoritarian plutocracy, or militaristic orthodoxy, or a self-appointed "royal" family, or whatever else you find throughout the Muslim World). But, that's a caveat--for the rest, there is little different.

And so: Action-plan for the Muslims of the 21st Century. Portions deal with the West--not nearly in enough depth, but it is a start. It is a start.

Also today, going through the books we brought home from Rutherford. All on this same topic(s)--critiques of globalization, of democracy... Started paging through Fukuyama (The End of History--it's called one of the three works, along with Huntingdon's Clash and one other i've forgotten, that moulds the minds of the neo-liberals in the IMF and the neo-conservatives in Washington--which are one and the same, internally) and quickly grew disgusted at the ingrained, blatent, self-righteous, ideologically-imperialist and even condescending attitude to the world that is not the West---"historical Darwinism".
And so basically, what I'm trying to get to is that someone needs to deconstruct Fukuyama from a Muslim perspective.
(Manji is a twerp when compared with these.)

Part of the reason i'm thinking of these things now, in this form, is because of Shaikh Maher's khutbah at the MCE today--stressing the necessity of a totally activist approach to life. Also that I'm nearly finished Fences & Windows (Naomi Klein).
Now I will be called a lunatic. But there it stands.

I had resolved to save my sanity from the Glob, but now find myself writing a lot. But that is alright--necessary, to think out loud.
And, all of the above is of course applicable to the whole world, not just those regions traditionally "Muslim". I'd been thinking about the Manifesto, though.
Good night.
Fi amanillah. And keep me in your adu'aa, i beg.

(if Umar and Murtada don't mind, I'll change the book they commissioned me to write ("Jihad in Your Backyard: The Trouble with Irshad Manji") to an attempted consolidation of the above thoughts.)
(i had another point that was funny. i'm sure it was funny--funny enough that I had to laugh at it. problem being, i've forgot it. and so, i must go.)
Biology and attending to the chickens and sleep.
Wasalam.