❖ The Irreligious Nature of Secularism and Its Practical Implications
✿ Divine Guidance: A Fixed and Unchanging System
The guidance revealed by Allah ﷻ is not an evolving ideology or mutable philosophy. Rather, it is a system based on established and immutable principles, commands, and values. These divine standards serve as the benchmark by which all human thoughts and actions are measured — and based on which any ideology or action is declared either religious or irreligious.
❖ The Link Between Secularism and Irreligiosity
When examined from an Islamic perspective, it becomes evident that secularism is inherently irreligious. The actions and ideologies promoted by secularism are clearly devoid of religious basis. Its foundations rest on material realities and individual freedoms — values that often stand in direct contradiction to religion. Hence, it is accurate to classify secularism as an irreligious system in principle.
✿ Secularism as an Ideology and a Social System
It is vital to analyze secularism both as an ideological framework and as a practical system. While its core values are irreligious, its outcomes — particularly in the form of modern institutional structures — have deeply penetrated our daily lives. Institutions like:
✔ Schools
✔ Hospitals
✔ Media
✔ Banking systems
✔ State governance
— are all products of secular thought.
❖ Colonial Influence and the Rise of Modern Institutions
The colonial powers introduced many of today’s institutional models, which served as practical embodiments of secularism. Gradually, these structures replaced traditional religious institutions, and it is now difficult to imagine modern life without them.
✿ The Practical Challenge of Declaring Secularism Irreligious
It is not sufficient to merely label secularism as irreligious. A comprehensive critique of both its ideological foundations and practical dimensions is essential. Now that secularism is intertwined with our lives, the important question arises:
What are the consequences of declaring it irreligious? Can we offer a viable alternative to the secular social order?❖ A Religious and Intellectual Response to Secularism
Opposition to secularism cannot be reduced to mere slogans. We must:
◈ Understand its theoretical foundations,
◈ Analyze its social and economic structures, and
◈ Engage with it through the lens of Islamic social sciences.
Only then can we propose changes that align these structures with our religious values.
✿ The Fundamental Clash Between Islam and Secularism
✔ Secularism is grounded in a purely materialistic worldview.
✔ It is a principle for organizing political and social systems devoid of divine guidance.
✔ Islam and secularism are fundamentally opposed in both ideology and demands.
✔ Though secularism is embedded in our social framework, challenging it requires intellectual, not emotional, resistance.
❖ The Need for Genuine Intellectual Resistance
True resistance against secular thought is only possible when we:
✔ Understand its philosophical underpinnings, and
✔ Formulate a scholarly, well-reasoned response.
Without this intellectual effort, no meaningful religious opposition to secularism can succeed.
