Ahmadiyyat - The Renaissance of Islam — Page 358
358 AHMADIYY AT Successors, are to be found in Africa, among the indigenous communities of that continent. It is their example which has become the effective instrument for the wider'spread of the Movement in those countries. When their fellow coun- trymen observe the beneficence wrought in the lives of the members of the Movement through their adherence to the standards of the Movement, they are in turn drawn strongly towards the Movement and need little persuasion to identify themselves with it. The Movement has thus a bright future before it in several parts of Africa, more particularly in West Africa. The world today presents an ironic spectacle of the highest progress in science and technology, beyond the wildest dreams of even half a century ago, on the one side, and the rapid deterioration of moral and spiritual values on the other. This rift is widening daily, more especially in the West, and if it is not drastically narrowed and then eliminated at an early date, it would bring about universal disaster of the highest magnitude. It might mean the end of civilization as it is conceived today. At the root of the trouble is the woeful lack of moral and spiritual leadership among the so-called advanced sections of humanity. Large sections have become completely alienated from God. In the West scarcely anyone believes truly in the possibility of communion with God, which is of the very essence of spiritual life. Such halting and sporadic effort as is put forth towards the stimulation of moral and spiritual values, is based on human speculation and is not derived from Divine direction. This tendency is patently observed even among the orthodox Muslim divines. They render lip-service and verbal homage to the doctrines and teachings of Islam, but their conduct does not furnish an illustration of those values. By denying the possibility of revelation in this age they have closed firmly upon them- selves, and upon those who seek guidance from them, the only door through which access might be gained to the Almighty. They talk of things divine and sublime, but in the conduct of t}1eir lives they merely ape and copy the West,