The most dangerous challenge we face today is becoming accustomed to emptiness

One of the core dilemmas of profound renaissance—one that undermines the prospects of renewal—is the crisis of meaning experienced by Muslims, regardless of nationality. We have lived through decades of political and economic systems that are incompatible with the Muslim self, and this has had a negative impact on the social fabric.

The Muslim’s sense of inferiority in a fiercely competitive world that elevates intelligence and its effective deployment has led many to see themselves through an extremely narrow lens—one limited to physical needs that add nothing of real value to their existence. We live from day to day, confronting life’s hardships without enthusiasm or motivation to overcome them by adding even a single brick to the edifice of our renewal. And when we think of anything beyond earning a livelihood, our thinking centers on how to survive by any means whatsoever, without asking ourselves: why have we reduced the act of living to food that is eaten, clothes that are worn, and a roof that shelters us—while sidelining our most essential roles?

Is it despair? Frustration? Or a sense of powerlessness in the face of problems larger than ourselves?

Many have come to evade the very act of thinking, and to avoid searching for answers to conditions marked by continuous deterioration. Only a few still consider themselves concerned with finding those answers—not answers that merely soothe pain temporarily, but those that help us anticipate viable solutions for a collapsing reality.

Human Development Studies (UNDP) on alienation and loss of purpose*