Page 240 - What Kind of Yemen ?

one who disagreed needed to be killed was dominant. People were

sometimes oppressed in the name of politics, sometimes in the name of
religion and sometimes for national, ethnic or tribal differences. Free-
dom of ideas and belief was restricted: Rulers solely sought to impose
their own ideologies, beliefs and lifestyles. The ruled, on the other
hand, struggled to make a living, mere survival representing their only
consolation.
No works of art like those of the past appeared in these lands

bereft of mutual understanding. No aesthetic concerns could be seen at
all, apart from the palaces of the dictators. For hundreds of years, not
a single world-renowned scientist has emerged from those lands.
Yet those lands once led the world in terms of ideas, science and
art. One of the sources of that superior civilization was the enthusiastic
and determined implementation of the open-mindedness and rational-
ity revealed in the Qur'an.
Members of other faiths and civilizations once greatly admired
Muslims. Today's Muslims need to know about the glorious history of

Islamic civilization and they must bear the fervor and responsibility
that goes with it.
It is possible to rebuild a splendor similar to that of the past and
for Muslims to be at the forefront of both a culture and a civilization
that enlightens the world. However, it is of the greatest importance for
all such activity in that regard to be done in a spirit of unity and union.
If a culture that regards differences with understanding, that uses its

power and energy for the benefit of not only Muslims but all mankind
and a culture that is conciliatory and peace-loving prevails among
Muslims, then the Islamic world can build the greatest civilization of
the 21st Century. It is the responsibility of us, the Ummah, to turn to
the true spirit of Islam and put these grim days behind us, God willing.

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