Blog : One Arab's viewpoint. Part 1

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12/13/2015 10:55 pm

One Arab's viewpoint. Part 1

This is from a clip I found very interesting on "Da Tube place."

Saudi Cleric: "We Arabs are backward, but we don't know it".

This Arab guy is one of the first I'd actually listen to with respect, who tells it like it is. He says other stuff on other clips. I'll do something on another clip or two later as some are a bit lengthy. The English is under it in subtitles, and so it was easy to type. There was a questioner, so it's in Q&A format.

Q. We Arabs are a consumer society, even though there has been some change. But to what extent? Are we about to leave our backwardness?

A. Oh no, we havent even begun because we have yet to acknowledge that we are backward. Perhaps 10-20% are aware of this backwardness but the majority doesnt even realise it. So our problem is we are backward and dont even know it. On the contrary, we treat Western people as though they were carpenters or blacksmiths. We treat the people who created this great and lofty civilization as if they were carpenters and blacksmiths. We view them as mere labourers. While we consider ourselves to be men of thought, science and culture who embody everything you aspire to in life. This is the exact opposite of how things should be.

Q. Why are you so pessimistic?

A. That's the reality. If we were to send back to the prosperous West everything we got from it what would be left? Even the Aqqal headband you are wearing was made in Britain. We are incapable of producing anything. We cant do without the West. If you have a headache, you have to swallow an asprin they made. If you want to travel you must take a plan or a car, if you want to get some sleep you must turn on the air-conditioning and the same is true of all the implements of civilization.

Q. Civilizations complement one another.

A. Complement? What have we given them?

Questioner. Oil, the religion of Islam ...

A. The oil came from Allah and on top of that we need the West to extract it. If not for their industry our oil would be worthless. It had been in this land for centuries and yet we did not benefit from it in any way. Oil became valuable only when others came up with inventions and later came here to extract if from our land. Civilizations are measured by their ability to change. We are exactly the other way around. We believe the measure of success is unchangeability and this is a great problem. If societies remained static civilization would not develop. Their development is dependent on their willingness to change. The reason that the West developed is that it stemmed from Greek culture which was founded on the objective use of reason. When this great beacon of light was extinguished in the Middle Ages the great mathematics (of the Arabs) had a role in the development of the West but I still believe that the Anglo-Saxon culture is the source of modern culture. The problem of the Arabs in societies that were occupied like Egypt or Iraq was that the colonialists left too early, before they had established democracy. As a result of the British occupation or colonialization Egypt was preparing to become a democratic country. There was cultural and political pluralism, Egypt was on its way to become a democratic country if not for the 1952 coup, which was dubbed a "revolution."

Q. Are we are enslaved by our identity or should it serve for our development?

A. History, identity and culture should belong to society, and not vice versa. Otherwise it is if you are locking yourself in a cage. People are not unchanging like rocks or trees. A person needs to change. One should choose one's own identity rather than have it imposed upon him.

Q. Let's talk in practical terms. You say we suffer from backwardness while culture and prosperity is limited to the West .... and to people who borrowed them from the West.

A. When I talk about the development of the West some people say to me, "What about Japan and China?" If these countries had not emulated the West they would not have progressed. Their progress was determined by the extent to which they borrowed from the West.

Q. So our opening up to the West will determine our development?

A. Absolutely.

Judgment Day will be interesting - and all paths lead there.

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