(MENAFN- Gulf Times) 
Muhanna al-Hubail
There are clear and highly important turning points in the socio-political history of all nations. The collapse of internal security and civil rights, as well as its consequent cultural confusion, represent the main motives for such turning. The intellectual concept of any real change in national culture is the basis on which nations build the life of their next generations, trying always to foresee whether this future brings development and growth, or leads to a new cycle of violence and backwardness.
The present situation in the Arab World witnesses a series of events that ensure the collapse of internal security and causes much bloodshed of the civilian population. This is a type of major historical events that precede an intellectual change. It is clear that the three main elements in the socio-political scene in the Arab World and the struggle to protect national interests continue to be the main forces that will shape the next stage.
The three elements are the dictatorial regimes in the Arab World, the global interests supporting these dictatorships and the movement to regain people's rights. The recent events in Sudan and Algeria make clear that the last of these three elements continues to be influential in Arab countries despite the ruthless suppression of the freedom movement in several countries.
The movement aiming to regain the freedom of the suppressed peoples in the Arab World may or may not be successful in its aim, but it is clear that the movement is still very much alive and moves into different parts of the Arab World. Yet there is no doubt that the suppression of freedom that followed the early success in some countries has caused a great shock among Arab youth and a clear retreat of the religious address which had gained renewed strength in the Arab World after the defeat of the Arab regimes in the war of 1967 against Israel.
It is often said that the Arab dictatorships allowed the different trends of the religious address a measure of freedom, so as to check the leftist advance. However, the success of the religious address had two main causes: 1) It filled the spiritual vacuum caused by the marginalisation of the religious aspect in the Arab cultural structure; and 2) It promised that the religious movement heralded a better political future which could triumph over the forces of global injustice. What is more, such triumph was also associated with the Palestinian problem and the hope of regaining Palestine.
During that period, the religious trend made a very strong appeal to the masses, declaring that once we adopt the slogan ‘Islam is the solution', the nation is certain to achieve success on the economic, political and military fronts. This was not confined to the Muslim Brotherhood only. Indeed, the overall Islamic address stressed the same idea, with the so-called ‘neo-Islamism' able to set new horizons of intellectual, economic and social progress, once it declares its commitment to Islam.
This was marketed, without undertaking any research to examine human experience or to understand successful concepts and projects, whether Islamic or not. There was no awareness that such research and understanding were necessary to have a clear perception of human life. Needless to say, it is unnecessary to give such perception a special Islamic basis. It comes within the area that is common to all civilisations. Nations have different approaches and evaluations of the moral and social thought, and they have different philosophical standards in evaluating ideas, but such differences need not affect the common perception of human life or the examination of human experience.
It should be noted that such generalisations, which were frequently repeated in mosques, were contrary to the approach of those who advocated renewal. These were trying to establish a theory opposed to the dream of the Islamic groups. The intellectual approach of the advocates of renewal and reform stressed that the desired change does not rely on such highly emotional approach. It must be based on a reform of ideas and behaviour, and to move from public address in mosques to action that lays the cultural basis of progress.
The idea of the Islamic dream collapsed as a result of two mutually complementary factors. The first is a sustained campaign of persecution of the young elements in Islamic groups. This contributed to the ascendance of emotional and extremist reactions and clinging to a dogma expecting an inevitable victory achieved with divine support. It totally ignored the eternal law of cause and effect that has remained in operation ever since the inception of human life.
The second factor is that the dictatorial regimes were able to manipulate the ascendance of the religious groups, utilising their address and other tools they used to carry out a programme of suppression that helped the regimes to gain popularity as they confronted any force advocating a change that brings freedom and progress to the people. In justifying their oppressive policies, the regimes cited that these forces advocating change were supported by religious groups that have betrayed the Islamic system of justice.
Although the Islamic trend has its own reformers and moderators, the collapse ushered a period akin to a broad cultural hurricane supplemented by an international hostility that received renewed strength after the terrorist attacks of 9/11, 2001. This gave the dictatorships of the Arab World an opportunity to criticise the religious basis of society. Some of this criticism was justified, but the greater part was an opportunist political attempt to convince the West that these dictatorships have an important role in the international struggle against terrorism.
Such feelings found a fertile soil in the chaotic situation in the Arab World, where the Islamic address was being distorted in two ways. It came to be seen as supporting dictatorship, or itself an oppressor giving no value to the life or dignity of people, or indulging in meaningless polemics that are manipulated by the media to raise interest in, and to discredit the religious address.
Thus, we saw a broad rebellion among the youth against the Islamic address. This is seen in a call to stage a rebellion against the dictatorial Arab regimes and their religious supporters, or against Islam itself and whether people are right to adhere to such a ‘backward terrorist religion' or a ‘socially oppressive religion' which should not be tolerated at all. Hence, certain rebellious groups of Arab youth became allied to some global cultural movements, and were given media and financial support by the West against Islam as a faith. This cannot be seen as isolated from other efforts of Western political manipulation.
This new intellectual thought was given the name of social atheism, because it is different from the other type of atheism that rejects religion altogether. It does not see itself in conflict with the spiritual heritage of Islam or with the positive effect of its system of values. Nor does it approve of the suppression of Muslims as backward groups. Yet we see that the ultimate attitude of the Arab social atheism converges with the attitude of the extreme right in the West.
Although the extreme right in the West has a religious basis that may be Christian, Jewish, Zionist, Buddhist or Hindu, it sees no problem in collaborating with the social atheists who call themselves Ex-Muslims. Both are opposed to Islam as a message and to its followers, and they aim to deprive Muslims of their civil rights and their cultural platforms.
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