In his book *Islam and the West*, Bernard Lewis notes an important observation: he considered one of the factors behind the weakness of the Ottoman Empire to be its arrogant view of Europe, the perceived enemy. Because of this, Istanbul failed to notice the West’s rise and transformation, and thus found itself surprised by Western progress when confronted in war. This attitude of superiority cost the Ottomans dearly, for they looked down on the West as an enemy—while today the West looks at us with an even deeper sense of superiority.
This same mindset appears today in the condescending attitude of some Gulf populations toward other Arab peoples, as well as in the attitude of rulers toward their subjects. With this mentality of superiority, our chances of revival declined, while the West—civilizationally advanced—exercised a kind of intellectual guardianship over weaker nations from its own perspective.
How can an enemy respect us when we have abandoned the sources of our own strength and resilience? We are in urgent need of an honest confrontation with ourselves, for we bear responsibility for enabling our adversary. Moreover, arrogance is not merely a feeling; it is a mental structure operating within collective consciousness, producing closed political and social systems that resist reform and fear self-examination, leaving them powerless before rising powers.
What is astonishing is that we continue to look at the West in the same way, as some religious figures and politicians claim: “The West is infidel, and we are superior.” But the question remains: superior in what? Reality shows that the West surpasses us civilizationally. So what value is there in the perfection of religion if we do not activate it in confronting a powerful and hostile West?
