The West on the Road to Self-Annihilation
The Illusion of Eternal Dominance
Observing the astonishing strides of Western nations in the fields of politics, commerce, industry, and sciences, the heart and mind are struck with profound awe. One begins to assume that the progress of these nations might be eternal, that the decree for their dominance and control over the world has been finalized, and that they have been granted a permanent monopoly over the governance of the inhabited earth and its elements. It seems their power is established on such solid foundations that no one can uproot them.
Similar assumptions have been made in every age regarding all the nations that were dominant in their respective times. The Pharaohs of Egypt, the ‘Ad and Thamud of Arabia, the Chaldeans of Iraq, the Chosroes of Iran, the world-conquering Greeks, the global rulers of Rome, the victorious Muslim warriors, and the world-consuming soldiers of Tartary—all have displayed similar spectacles of dominance and power on the stage of this earthly globe. Whenever a nation rose, it overshadowed the world in the exact same manner, beating the drums of its majesty and grandeur across all over the globe. The world, bewildered, always assumed their power was everlasting. However, when their appointed time ended and the True Sovereign—who inherently possesses everlasting power—decreed their downfall, they fell in such a way that most were entirely wiped from the face of the earth. If the name and trace of some remained in the world at all, it was only in a state where they became the subjects of their own subjects, the slaves of their own slaves, and the vanquished of their own vanquished.
“Many generations have passed before you; travel through the earth and see what was the end of those who rejected (the commands and guidance of Allah).” (Surah Ali ‘Imran, 3:137)
The Law of Cyclical Fluctuation
The system of the universe is designed in such a manner that it contains no absolute stillness or permanence. There is a continuous motion, alteration, and rotation that does not allow anything to rest in a single state. With every creation comes destruction, with every formation comes deterioration, with every spring comes autumn, and with every ascent comes a descent; and the reverse is equally true. A tiny seed blown about in the wind today firmly roots itself in the earth tomorrow to become a massive tree. The day after, it dries up and turns to dust, and the nurturing forces of nature abandon it to foster another seed. These are the fluctuating tides of life. When humanity observes one of these states persisting for an extended period, it mistakenly assumes it to be permanent. If there is a decline, they believe it will always remain a decline; if there is an ascent, they think it will always remain an ascent. However, the only difference here is merely a matter of sooner or later; no state is ever eternal.
“And these days (of varying fortunes) We alternate among the people.” (Surah Ali ‘Imran, 3:140)
Worldly conditions revolve in a cyclical motion. Birth and death, youth and old age, strength and weakness, spring and autumn, blossoming and withering—all are different facets of this same cycle. Within this rotation, everything experiences a phase of prosperity in turn, during which it grows, expands, exhibits strength and vitality, and displays its beauty and bloom, until it reaches the absolute peak of its development. Then arrives a second phase, during which it diminishes, withers, and becomes afflicted with weakness and frailty, until eventually, the very forces that initiated its beginning bring about its end.
This is the customary law of Allah Almighty regarding His creations. Just like all other things in the world, this same law applies to human beings, whether considered as individuals or as nations. Humiliation and honour, hardship and ease, decline and progress, and all similar states are distributed among different individuals and nations through this cyclical motion. Everyone undergoes these phases successively. None is entirely deprived of this distribution, nor is anyone granted permanence in a single state, be it prosperity or adversity.
“This has been the practice of Allah with those who went before, and you will find no change in the practice of Allah.” (Surah Al-Ahzab, 33:62)
The Consequence of Transgression and Arrogance
Across every inch of the earth, we find the remnants of nations that preceded us. They have left behind such marks of their civilization and culture, their industry and craftsmanship, and their skill and dexterity that, upon seeing them, it becomes evident they were no less than the advanced and dominant nations of today; in fact, their supremacy over their contemporaries was perhaps even greater.
“They were stronger than them in power, and they ploughed the earth and built it up more than these have built it up.” (Surah Ar-Rum, 30:9)
But then, what was their ultimate fate? Seeing prosperity before them, they were deceived. The downpour of blessings led them into arrogance. Affluence became a trial for them. Intoxicated by dominance and governance, they became tyrannical and oppressive. Through their own misdeeds, they began to wrong their own souls.
“The wrongdoers merely pursued the luxuries they were provided with, and they became criminals.” (Surah Hud, 11:116)
Despite their rebellion, God granted them respite.
“And how many a township did I give respite while it was doing wrong, then I seized it! And to Me is the final return.” (Surah Al-Hajj, 22:48)
And this respite was no ordinary reprieve. Some nations were granted this leniency for centuries.
“And indeed, a day with your Lord is like a thousand years of those which you count.” (Surah Al-Hajj, 22:47)
Yet, every moment of respite became a new trial for them. They assumed that God had been rendered helpless against their schemes, and that they, not God, were now ruling the world. Eventually, Divine wrath flared up, and the gaze of favour turned away from them. The era of prosperity was replaced by an era of decline. Against their plots, God also devised a plan. But God’s plan was such that they could not even comprehend it; how, then, could they counter it?
“And they planned a plan, and We planned a plan, while they perceived not.” (Surah An-Naml, 27:50)
God’s scheme does not approach from the front; it operates by infiltrating the very core of human beings, permeating their hearts and minds. It attacks human intellect, consciousness, discernment, thought, and senses. It blinds the eyes of the heart. It does not merely make one physically blind, but strips away intellectual sight.
“For indeed, it is not the eyes that are blinded, but blinded are the hearts which are within the breasts.” (Surah Al-Hajj, 22:46)
And when the eyes of one’s heart are blinded, every strategy devised for betterment ends up backfiring. Every step taken toward the destination of success drags one toward the hell of destruction. All of one’s faculties rebel against themselves, and their own hands strangle their throats.
“Then see how was the outcome of their plan—that We destroyed them and their people, all together.” (Surah An-Naml, 27:51)
The Paradigm of Pharaoh and the Israelites
We find a perfect blueprint of this rise and fall in the story of Pharaoh’s people and the Children of Israel. When the people of Egypt reached the ultimate stages of progress, they committed themselves to oppression and rebellion. Their king, Pharaoh, claimed divinity and made an oppressed nation—the Children of Israel, who had settled there during the time of Prophet Joseph (peace be upon him)—the target of excessive tyranny and injustice. Eventually, when his and the Egyptians’ transgressions exceeded all bounds, God willed to bring them low and to elevate that very weakened nation whom they despised.
Thus, God’s will was fulfilled; Prophet Moses was raised from among this weak nation, nurtured in the very house of Pharaoh by his own hands, and assigned the mission of liberating his people from Egyptian slavery. He reasoned with Pharaoh gently, but Pharaoh did not desist. Successive warnings from God were sent to Pharaoh and his people. Famines struck repeatedly. Storm after storm arrived. Blood rained down. Swarms of locusts devoured their fields. Lice and frogs tormented them severely, yet their arrogance did not waver.
“But they were arrogant and were a criminal people.” (Surah Al-A’raf, 7:133)
When all proofs were exhausted one by one, the decree of Divine punishment was enacted. By God’s command, Prophet Moses led his people out of Egypt. Pharaoh, along with his army, was drowned in the sea, and the power of Egypt was so utterly shattered that it could not recover for centuries.
“So We took him and his soldiers and cast them into the sea. So see how was the end of the wrongdoers.” (Surah Al-Qasas, 28:40)
Then came the turn of the Children of Israel. After bringing down the Egyptian nation, the True Sovereign of the universe bestowed the dominion of the earth upon this nation that had been despised and humiliated in the world.
“And We caused the people who had been oppressed to inherit the eastern regions of the land and the western ones, which We had blessed. And the good word of your Lord was fulfilled for the Children of Israel because of what they had patiently endured.” (Surah Al-A’raf, 7:137)
And He granted them excellence over all the nations of the world.
“And that I preferred you over the worlds.” (Surah Al-Baqarah, 2:47 (Also found in 2:122)
The Condition of Stewardship
However, this excellence and earthly inheritance were conditional upon righteous conduct. It was already conveyed through the tongue of Prophet Moses that they would certainly be given stewardship of the earth, but it would also be observed how they act. And this is a condition not solely specific to the Children of Israel; rather, whichever nation is given dominion over the earth is bound by this same condition.
“Then We made you successors in the land after them so that We may observe how you will do.” (Surah Yunus, 10:14)
Thus, when the Children of Israel rebelled against their Lord, altered His Word, exchanged truth for falsehood, adopted the practices of consuming unlawful wealth, lying, dishonesty, and breaking covenants, and became extremely greedy, cowardly, and comfort-seeking; when they killed their prophets, harboured enmity against those who called to the truth, turned away from the leaders of goodness, and chose to obey the leaders of evil, the gaze of the Lord of the Worlds turned away from them.
The inheritance of the earth was snatched from them. They were subjected to being trampled by the tyrannical rulers of Iraq, Greece, and Rome. They were evicted from their homes. They were forced to wander the dust of various lands in disgrace and humiliation. The stability of their governance was permanently taken away. For thousands of years, they have been so gripped by God’s curse that they cannot find a place of honour in the world.
“And they were covered with humiliation and poverty and returned with anger from Allah.” (Surah Al-Baqarah, 2:61)
The Contemporary Crisis of the West
Today, the repetition of this very Divine custom is unfolding before our eyes. The same consequence of deeds that ensnared past nations has now overtaken the Western nations. Every possible warning has already been given to them. The calamities of the Great War, economic hardships, rampant unemployment, the severity of vile diseases, and the disruption of the global order—all of these are clear, manifest signs through which, had they possessed vision, they could have realized the consequences of oppression, rebellion, hedonism, and the desertion from truth.
Yet, they draw no lessons from these signs. They persistently insist on turning away from the truth. Their sight fails to reach the root cause of the illness. They merely look at the symptoms of the disease and are exhausting all their strategies in attempting to treat them. Consequently, the more they apply the remedy, the worse the disease becomes. The circumstances now indicate that the era of warnings and proofs is nearing its end, and the time for the final judgment is approaching.
Divine Providence has set loose two formidable negative forces upon the Western nations, dragging them toward ruin and destruction: the spectre of generational severance and the demon of nationalism. The first negative force has overpowered their individuals, and the second has gripped their nations and empires. The former has corrupted the intellects of their men and women. It is uprooting their future generations by their own hands. It teaches them contraceptive measures. It encourages them toward abortion. It highlights the benefits of sterilization; through which they destroy their own reproductive capacities. It renders them so insensitive that they destroy their own children. In short, this is the spectre that is gradually making them commit suicide.
The second negative force has stripped their great political leaders and military commanders of the ability to think and deliberate correctly. It is breeding within them sentiments of selfishness, rivalry, hatred, prejudice, and greed. It is dividing them into hostile and antagonistic factions. It makes them taste each other’s might, which itself is a form of Divine torment.
“…or to confuse you [so you become] sects and make you taste the violence of one another…” (Surah Al-An’am, 6:65)
