The time of religion

Samuel Huntington, the American writer who caused argument about his famous book "Clashes of civilizations and reformation of the new world order," said: "Twenty first century is the beginning of (the time of religion)."

The Western secular examples of the state are facing a challenge and are being replaced in more than one country, including Russia which considered "Orthodoxy" an essential matter, Turkey, and India.

Huntington (1927 - 2008) anticipated in his book "Who are we? The Challenges to America's National Identity" under the title: "United States' battle with militant Islam" that the nineties witnessed a great turn toward religion where Americans crushingly supported religion to play a bigger role in public life.

In 1991, 78% voted for allowing students to perform Salah inside schools after the high court had prohibited performance of Salah inside schools in 1962.

He compared between the stance of Europe and the United States toward religion, recording that religiousness distinguishes Americans from the rest of the European peoples because Americans are extremely Christians, therefore they divided the world according to good and evil at a degree exceeded the vision of others to that duality.

He added: The leaders of other communities see this religiousness not only extraordinary, but it is also disturbing to deep moral values which are generated by this religiousness when discussing political, economic, and social issues through a religious perspective.

Huntington does not see any strangeness in this because religion goes along with nationalism in the history of the West.

Huntington tried to justify that the twenty first century is the time of religion by saying that the United States should have an exterior enemy, which is Islam.

So, he said: "The social theory and historical events prove that there is no exterior enemy encourages to internal disparity, so the absence of exterior threat decreases the need to a powerful government and coherent nation, and without Cold War, in his opinion, what is the need to the United States?

The future look of Huntington leads us to an old view about the status of religion and American society in the fifties.

The American writer, Gerald Dricks, monitors in his book "The crescent and the cross" that look.

Gerald, who declared his Islam, obtained Masters in theology from Harvard Collage and worked previously as a beadle in the United Methodism Church "The followers of the movement which was established in England in the eighteenth century, depending on the principles of John and Charlies Wesely and is characterized by the active concerns of the interests of the society and its high morals."

Gerald described the status of his city in the fifties saying:

The doors of the houses were rarely closed, words came out from the mouth as a pact, and shaking hands was more value than any binding legal contract.

Mothers always stayed home around the clock, grandfathers were so close, and neighbors never changed by the pass of time which caused social and family stability, which is almost unavailable now.

A teacher had a high status in the society and you do not hear about violent actions in school or elsewhere.

The occurrence of a divorce case meant a social scandal and I cannot recall one separated family at that time.

The Church was the pivot of society life, prayers were recited at the beginning of every scholastic day. On Sundays, a child was taught a group of principles and moral behaviors of great values that were based on the Ten Commandments in addition to the words of Jesus (Peace be upon him) who said to the child: "You have to love your master from the bottom of your heart, from within your soul, and with your reason."

This is the first and the most important commandment.

The second commandment says: "You have to love your neighbor as you love yourself."

However, it is not part of cinematic tricks which are innovated by fairy tales makers in Hollywood, but that was our daily-life system. The society in which I used to live was basically religious although my family was methodic. With the presence of that trend, there were determiners that helped me evaluate several aspects of Islam.

During my early childhood, conservative women in my village used to wear "Head cover" for prayers, clothes were decent for both men and women, and short clothes were not acceptable.

Men and women used to eat regularly at one table and guests used to sit in one separate room before and after the meal.

When married couples go out together, men used to sit in front of the car seat, whereas women in the back seat.

Dating between males and females was acceptable, but there were restrictions. Crazy parties were banned, and most people were not drinking wine, whereas some used to drink little.

With old age, I can pick up the similarities between social habits in which I lived and the habits which exist in the Muslim Nation.

After we have seen a future and an old view, let us recognize another third view.

Islamophobia hits all sides of Western society, especially the Vatican, the guardian of Catholicism in the world.

Peru Guido, the one who was in charge of the Institute of foreign missionaries in Vatican warned against future Muslim control of Europe, in the light of the high density of Muslim population in Italy alone, which is estimated by 200.000 Muslims annually, whereas the local population does not exceed 120.000.

He added that the European society is living an empty spiritual state, and a state of promiscuity and the abandonment of the Christian doctrines, which motivated him to convert to Islam to fill the spiritual vacuum.

These statements were reported under the division of the European canon line between the claim to support the right of Muslims to practice religion, and the claim of reviving the Christian heritage, and the growing warnings against the impact of Islam and its control over the hearts and minds of the Europeans.

These fears caused Josie Boleikrbu, a priest in the Patriarch of Lisbon, to warn Catholic women against marrying Muslims, and the demands of Pastor Giuomu Biffi to the Italian government to make the priority of immigration to the Catholics to protect the Christian identity of the country.

Moreover, the Vatican rejected the demand of Turkey to gain the membership of the European Union because it does not share the same Christian heritage with the European continent.

Indeed, Allah (Glory be to Him) says the truth: "They (the disbelievers, the Jews and the Christians) want to extinguish Allâh's Light (with which Muhammad peace be upon him has been sent — Islâmic Monotheism) with their mouths, but Allâh will not allow except that His Light should be perfected even though the Kâfirûn (disbelievers) hate (it). * It is He Who has sent His Messenger (Muhammad peace be upon him) with guidance and the religion of truth (Islâm), to make it superior over all religions even though the Mushrikûn (polytheists, pagans, idolaters, disbelievers in the Oneness of Allâh) hate (it)." [Surat At-Tawbah: 32 - 33].