By Khalil
History is an open book of learning and lessons. Alongside recording events and phenomena, it invites people to reflect on their beliefs and to test them against truth and reality. The West, trying to present itself as civilized and advanced through its technology, science, and political progress, encourages Eastern countries, especially Islamic ones, to follow its example. Today, history stands at a dangerous crossroads in its test.
If we look at Western countries from the perspective of the Middle Ages, they went through many bitter experiences of ignorance and cruelty. To hide this past, they present their current material progress to Islamic countries as a sign of modern achievement and superiority. But they forget that the new pages of history have challenged all this, as we will point out in some cases.
Human beings and Human rights: Human rights are the greatest and most attractive slogan of Western countries, which they hold up as an example for Eastern Islamic countries. Yet, over the past nearly thirty years, their involvement in many illegal wars has caused suffering not only to humans but also to animals, trampling human dignity. In Afghanistan, NATO soldiers even fed people to dogs and used heavy weapons on civilians, like the bomb they called the “Mother of All Bombs” in Achin, Nangarhar. They also supported groups that held no commitment to any human value.
Civilization and Culture: The West often speaks of its high civilization and culture, believing it sets the best examples for the world. Yet the horrors carried out in occupied countries by NATO soldiers and the British, under America’s direction, reveal these nations as having the most corrupt culture. They have created machines of human destruction, each possesses nuclear weapons, allow marriage between women, between men, and even between humans and animals, claiming this as the highest expression of their culture.
Media and Freedom of Speech: In the West, most media outlets serve governments and military powers. They have never shown the image of a martyred child in Gaza or a grieving mother as a symbol of oppression. Yet they report the normal deaths of Israelis or other American and European citizens as human rights crimes. Many who criticize government policies or illegal wars are arrested or killed. This shows that freedom of speech and the media are used only to humiliate, not to protect the truth.
Protection of Civilians: In Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine, and many other countries, thousands of civilians have been killed in bombings by the United States and Western countries. In Gaza, during ongoing atrocities by Israeli occupiers, many civilians, women, and children, as well as humanitarian convoys and hospitals full of wounded people, were bombed and turned into ruins. Yet the West never condemned this. Instead, it continued to support the brutal Israeli soldiers.
Respect for countries’ freedom and sovereignty: The United States had no reason to invade Afghanistan or Iraq. These were illegal wars and acts of aggression. In Afghanistan, it violated the country’s sovereignty and placed a puppet government in power. Yet NATO and European countries outside NATO never questioned this standard, nor did they challenge their own interference in another country’s internal affairs or participation in occupation forces.
Life, education, and rights: Many European countries have banned Islamic practices, especially the hijab and the call to prayer. Religious freedom is only a slogan. They do not see refugees or people of other ethnicities as equal to the local population. They have restricted their rights to life and education.
Human compassion and support for the oppressed: Organizations that claim to work for human rights, civil activity, and individual freedoms say their goal is compassion and support for the oppressed. Yet it is clear that most of these organizations are funded for hidden agendas. They never truly help those in need and have always used them for publicity and campaign purposes.
Violating the United Nations Charter: As mentioned before, the purpose and philosophy of the United Nations face shameful failure and helplessness more than ever. It is becoming clear that the UN serves as a tool for a few powerful countries, giving legitimacy to their illegal goals while presenting themselves as just and civilized. They fund the organization for this reason and force their decisions upon it.
Considering the points above, it is clear that Western values should no longer be seen as a matter of pride, but of shame. Islamic countries should no longer be deceived by these slogans. They should return to their own principles and values. The Qur’an says that until they are followed, true friendship cannot exist, yet the friendship offered by the West is unstable and full of deceit.
The truth is that only Islam holds the key to civilization and culture. It upholds these values with real pride. Other nations should see the exposed faces and values of Western governments not as firm standards, but as empty words used to exploit and occupy weaker nations. The West itself does not fully believe in these values, nor has it applied them in its own countries.
