A single incident of 9/11 capable of triggering a clash of civilization (impromptu) seems to be incredible. Irrespective of the question; who carried the attack? The war enterprise was more than eager to unleash a clash of civilization. Even after 11 years having been past the war of vengeance continues to kill and maim thousands of innocent human beings. Ridiculously, this asymmetrical conflict wherein the America is armed with an unparalleled firepower has rendered an entire civilization powerless. In the history of more than 14 centuries the subjugation of Muslims was never as overwhelming and absolute as it is today.  
The argument that the war basically is aimed to root-out the menace of terrorism, and is not directed against any religion is not convincing at all. War against terror is to eliminate terrorism if it is true than why after 9/11 almost all the just Muslim struggles--- striving to attain right to self determination--- have been categorised as ‘sheer terrorism’? Is it a mere coincidence that the most misleading slogan “terrorism has no cause” gained currency only after 9/11? As a matter of fact before 9/11 there was hardly any terrorism in Palestine, Afghanistan and Iraq.  Not to talk of Kashmir problem, sadly it is now more and more perceived as an Indo-Pak territorial dispute. However Kashmir issue also lost its gravitational pull internationally, incidentally only after 9/11. Sara Roy, a “respected scholar of the Palestinian issue with Harvard University” while indicating a “paradigm shifts in international discourse” states that “The prospects of Palestinian independence were never as bleak as they seem to be today. 
 For one, the world seems to have reconciled itself to the territorial and demographic fragmentation of Palestine. Secondly, no one talks any more about occupation, the root cause of the problem, declared to be illegal by the United Nations”.  While the Palestinians as Sara Roy believes are being ‘engineered into perpetual beggars’, the single most important issue that continues to keep captive the international attention is security of Israel. In human history probably no other nation has defied the international opinion and carried out worst crimes against humanity as Israel has been continuously carrying out for many decades now.  Had America not been the sole protector of Israel, would it have been possible for a tiny nation to defy the international will, so blatantly? 
  The indiscriminate use of power to suppress the popular uprising by Assad regime is highly condemnable, yet Western powers are not supporting the rebels out of any compassion.  Muwafaq Mahadin a Jordanian intellectual publically states that “Syrian rebellion is being led by Islamists aligned with the West, manipulated by Gulf states including Qatar and Saudi Arabia on the behalf of the United States and Israel, in order to gain dominance in the region”. 
Presently, West and mainly America seems to be invincible. After the fall of Soviet Communist Empire, United States attained an indisputable superpower status, unprecedented in the history. The complete obliteration of an only enemy was declared as end of the history. Ironically climax only heralded a process of stagnation. The empires can be established only after decimating other nations; therefore they require a perpetual enemy to keep going. Otherwise as the law of nature dictates they begin imploding from within. Islam despite its powerlessness but owing to its strong ideological underpinnings is the only potent candidate to be presented as a threat to the present world order. Since a perceivable threat of an enemy is prerequisite for the survival of the superpower, hence the bogey of clash of civilization. 
Islam as a faith inculcates within its followers how to worship one and only one creator. However Islam is not merely a religion that consists of few rituals only, it’s a complete way of life. Simple adherence of mere rituals can coexist with end number of other religions; a way of life that inspires a separate governing system can never coexist with any other system. Islam in the era of post modernity is perceived as a backward looking religion. But it is not unique with Islam only, almost all religious traditions in post modern time are condemned as conservative. What distinguishes Islam from the rest is the fact that while other traditions have fully accepted the supremacy of modernity, Islam in its pristine glory still poses a potent challenge to the many facets of modernity, which are not in full conformity with the universally established principles of ‘right and wrong’. To say Islam per se is anti modern is completely a wrong notion. Islam firmly recognises the process of evolution; it rejects the decaying of civilization and not the progression of civilization. Islam challenges the present world order that has proved completely unjust and discriminatory. Islam’s resistance against the injustices is part of an eternal struggle between right and wrong. Islam providing an alternate to the present unjust order will not emerge out of any clash; it first and foremost depends upon the reaffirmation taking place within.

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Lastupdate on : Fri, 14 Sep 2012 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Fri, 14 Sep 2012 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Sat, 15 Sep 2012 00:00:00 IST