Thoughts on the “Decline”
My philosophy is that in the real, non-ideal, life that we live, nothing is absolute. Consequently, there are usually a multitude of reasons for any given event, regardless of the apparent significance of the event.
So it should come as no surprise that I do not accept the explanation of “It was the West’s fault” as the only explanation of what led to the “Decline.” While I agree with (I think) everyone in this course that the Wester, more specifically Europe, (and let’s not forget the Moguls) were responsible for destroying the Muslim Civilization, its sciences and its philosophies and contribution to humanity, I think it is important to also focus on the internal factors that acted as preconditions for the decline. This does not mean that the decline is the Muslim’s “fault”; but merely that there were some other factors going on within the boundaries of the Muslim Civilization that are worth identifying that played a role in the “Decline”.
Unfortunately I do not have the sufficient knowledge to be able to identify what those factors are. You might be asking yourselves “then why are you writing a post about it?” It’s a valid question. The only reason I wish to do so,however, is two fold. First, if there is one think I’ve learned from this course it’s the value of knowledge in Islam and how it is the responsibility of every human being to seek the truth. The second is the famous maxim: those who do not know their past are doomed to repeat it.