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| The Hindu Phenomenon |
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RETREAT AND RAGE |
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the nature of things, it was only to be expected that fundamentalist
groups would arise in several Muslim lands. Whatever its rationale
in terms of corrupt and tyrannical rulers and betrayed hopes, this
upsurge is an exercise in self-destruction, though others cannot
escape the fallout if only because two-thirds of the world's proven
oil resources are locked in the Gulf region. All in all, Islam as a
civilization is at bay. It is not encircled; it is closed from
within. It cannot escape from the closed circle.
We have noted that just as control of the Mediterranean- Indian Ocean trade accounted for the success of the Islamic enterprise from the eighth to the sixteenth century, despite endless wars and rise and fall of dynasties, its loss by the end of the sixteenth century gravely weakened the ottoman empire, the sword and shield of Islam in its encounter with the rising power of the West. The same factor was to play a critical role in the rise of revivalist movements beginning with the eighteenth century. The implication should be obvious, though it is seldom drawn, especially by Muslim scholars. The revivalist movements too represent the retreat of Islam.
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