The Failure Of The Muslim World?

Victor Davis Hanson writes in Opinion Journal that the Muslim world has misjudged the West because their culture is corrupt and backwards. First of all, Hanson is painting the Muslim world with a very broad brush. I don’t think it fair or accurate to portray an entire culture based on the actions of a few. It’s more accurate to say that those currently in control of the majority of the Muslim world are corrupt and backwards. There are some very progressive Muslims such as President Musharraf of Pakistan or Queen Rania of Jordan who are trying to better the Muslim world through education and democracy rather than guns and fanaticism.

Musharraf has recently delivered sharp criticisms of the Muslim world, echoing some of Hanson’s ideas. His words are straight and to the point:

Today we are the poorest, the most illiterate, the most backward, the most unhealthy, the most un-enlightened, the most deprived, and the weakest of all the human race.

Unfortunately, Musharraf is right. The Muslim world is currently in its own Dark Ages. One can only hope that there is the potential for a new Renaissance in the Muslim world that will allow them to escape the cycle of violence and resentment in whch they are currently mired.