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Afghanistan/South Asia
21st century will be the century of Islam
2005-02-15
Professor Abdul Jabbar Shakir, a Pakistani scholar and researcher on Allama Iqbal, says optimistically that the 21st century will be the century of Islam. "It is my conviction that Islam will be the religion of humanity in the 21st century," he said in Jeddah during a visit to perform Haj.

Shakir rejected the theory of clash of civilizations as a Western rhetoric and said that "civilizations never clash but they move parallel to each other." Shakir, who is the director of Baitul Hikmat in Lahore, claimed that his center has more than 50,000 books, 5,000 manuscripts, and 30,000 magazines. Of those, 3,500 books in 18 languages are on the life of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). According to him it is the biggest such collection in the world.
That's what makes him such an expert on civilizations and able to forecast what the 21st century's going to be like. I wish I was able to see 14 centuries into the future like that.
Posted by:Fred

#22  I do miss THE FAR SIDE.
Posted by: JosephMendiola   2005-02-15 9:51:10 PM  

#21  ...and soon it will be "The Summer of George"!
Posted by: G. Costanza   2005-02-15 3:26:35 PM  

#20  non- master race Arabs. See Sudan for example
Posted by: Frank G   2005-02-15 3:03:52 PM  

#19  If they succede in converting the whole world, where will they get their slaves from?
Posted by: Mark E.   2005-02-15 3:00:51 PM  

#18  Obviously this guy never heard of the whole "Mogul Emperors" thing, huh?
Posted by: mojo   2005-02-15 2:40:35 PM  

#17  SR71, we're both right. :-)
We just cover different aspects of the issue.
Posted by: Sobiesky   2005-02-15 1:39:30 PM  

#16  Sobiesky - I hope that you are right, but I fear that Mrs. Davis is right.
Posted by: SR71   2005-02-15 1:32:59 PM  

#15  Don Sensing has a post up on this topic today.

This idea of some Islamic reformation is so much whistling past the graveyard. If there is one, it will come about only after they find out the rest of the world will not tolerate the kind of behavior that has become the norm in the middle east.

Our problem is with the arabs, particularly the ones that hang around the Saud tribe, not Islam. I had no problem with Indonesia or its practice of Islam until the Wahabbis got there. Islam does not need reformation, Wahabbis need exterpation.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis   2005-02-15 12:39:38 PM  

#14  SR71, I understand where you're coming from but... no. It is anti-reformation. Already happened once, in 12th century. The reformation was represented by thinkers like Ibn Rushd, or Ibn Sina. The anti-reformation (fundies that wanted to return to 7th century modus vivendi) won and precipitated centuries of decline of Islamic civilization.

You can's apply the X-tian context here.
Posted by: Sobiesky   2005-02-15 12:26:05 PM  

#13  What if the rise of militant Islam is the reformation?
Posted by: SR71   2005-02-15 12:13:57 PM  

#12  Actually, I think the notion that civilizations don't clash was once marginally true. Obviously there were conquests which would have it no other way, but where conquest was not the point, then they could, indeed, "glance" off and continue on their merry way. But that was a long time ago - this guy missed the memo.

Now the world is very small, indeed. There is no where to go that doesn't lead to a confrontation with an existing society - so this is juicy rationalization for the current a priori aggressor ideology.

Posted by: .com   2005-02-15 10:49:41 AM  

#11  AP...if they don't do it themselves, yes-and that should give them some incentive. With the Sunni voting model to gauge it by (where Sunni Muslims in Iraq had a chance, a choice, and did not seize it), I am thinking they will not seize this opportunity, instead opting for "delay, resist, obfuscate". It then becomes a bloody, long war, like the religious wars of Europe, but in this case, truly earning the title of a world war.
Posted by: Jules 187   2005-02-15 10:15:26 AM  

#10  â€œcivilizations never clash but they move parallel to each other.”

Just what the heck does that mean? Aside from the fact that it's meaningless, I mean.
Posted by: growler   2005-02-15 10:15:19 AM  

#9  Jules 187---Islam will be reformed. If it isn't done within, then it will be done externally, and not by choice.
Posted by: Alaska Paul   2005-02-15 9:54:42 AM  

#8  #6-And they had so wanted a nomination for most likely to crash and burn...

I am joshing. I think you and SteveS make good points. I hope that Muslims are capable of reforming the religion; I just have my doubts.
Posted by: Jules 187   2005-02-15 9:28:08 AM  

#7  With the exception of Venezuela, we already have a Moslem Common Market -- it's called "OPEC".
Posted by: Tom   2005-02-15 9:24:24 AM  

#6  One can forsee many things happening to Islam in the 21st Century. First and foremost, a 'Reformation', with several components: a reduction of sectarianism, based on increased exposure to different facets of Islam by Moslems; the elimination of repugnant cultural traits masking as religion (perhaps like Vatican II); and efforts to soften the ethnic clashes that hide behind sectarianism, primarily the Arab-Indo European clash. Second, through the renewed economic revitalization of the Mid-East that comes with democracy and reform, and possibly the formation of a Moslem Common Market, will come an inevitable modernization and secularization of government and culture, resulting in a growing Moslem middle class. And third, secularism itself, leading to a tolerance and acceptance of other religions and beliefs. All together, this might lead to the 21st Century being "The Century of Islam", as least as far as Islam would receive The Most Improved In Class award.
Posted by: Anonymoose   2005-02-15 9:15:02 AM  

#5  i bet there are alot of hindu's buddhist christians and another 100 other religions that diagree with him
Posted by: Thraing Hupoluper1864   2005-02-15 8:30:28 AM  

#4  Oh Fred! That "14 centuries into the future" line is priceless.

I, too, predict the 21st century will be important to Islam; either as the era when Islam undergoes a reformation and gets its collective act together or as the era when Islam becomes extinct.
Posted by: SteveS   2005-02-15 8:06:15 AM  

#3  If all he talks about, all he reads, all he knows about is Islam, sure, the 21st century will be about Islam.
Posted by: Thinens Unomotch9553   2005-02-15 7:43:00 AM  

#2  I wish I was able to see 14 centuries into the future like that.

LOL!

I want to know whether he thinks the 20th Century was the Century of Nazism or Communism.
Posted by: Bulldog   2005-02-15 4:59:51 AM  

#1  I wonder how many grade 10 science books he has in his collection. Methinks not a lot.
Posted by: phil_b   2005-02-15 4:45:25 AM  

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