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Islam expanded, beginning with the time of the Prophet, it could not
possibly be ruled from one centre. The surprise, if any, is that the
institution of the caliphate survived till the second decade of this
century even if in a shadowy form. Temporal authority had to
fragment. Empires and kingdoms had to arise. These divisions had to
be based partly on the fact of conquest and partly on ethnicity and
geography. But Muslim states territorially defined as we know them
today are the imperialist West's handiwork. Having come into
existence, though as a result of accidents of history, they are
likely to stay on more or less in their present boundaries. But they
cannot by virtue of their existence become nation-states, unless it
is assumed that Islam will be reduced to the status of a small
compartment in the totality of society as Christianity has been in
the West.
The nation concept is the product of
developments over centuries in Europe. It does not represent only
the triumph of the province over the priest; it represents the
triumph of an altogether new approach to life. Along with its twin
brother, secularism, it represents the triumph of matter over spirit
and of reason over intellect which the Hindus call buddhi.
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