accompany the Islamic reform/revival.THE ISLAMIC RESURGENCE Islamic resurgence is a puzzling phenomenon in the contemporary world – a world which is dominated by consumerism and secularism. The Islamic resurgence takes in a strong and militant protest against the status quo and refuses to take the direction that the modern world pursues. To understand this Islamic militant protest, there is a need to look into the matrix that has given birth to the diverse modern Islamic movements. First, there is a deep crisis in the modern Muslim world. In fact, a fundamental malaise ails both the Muslims and their communities. Muslims sense that something has gone wrong with Islamic history. The roots of this malaise stem from an awareness that something is awry between the religion which God has appointed and the historical development of the world He controls. The glorious Islamic empire is there no more. As a matter of fact, from the 18th century, the Muslim world began its serious decline. There was a disintegration of military and political power. There was enfeeblement of commercial and political power. Intellectual effort stagnated. Religious vitality ebbed. An effete decadence infected art. The writings of the great masters elicited commentaries rather than enthusiasm. And the classical systems were used to delimit the road that one must travel rather than provide the impetus of one’s journey. In brief, the Muslim world, that once gloried in its grip on the world and history from the fall of Constantinople in 1453, seemed to have lost the capacity to order its life effectively by the beginning of the 18th century. Worst, the degeneration of the Muslim World coincided with the exuberance of the West. At about this time, Western Civilization was launching forth on the greatest upsurge of expansive energy that human history has ever seen. Vitality, skills, wealth and power vastly accumulated. With them, the West began not only to sha...
