Islam's Response to Contemporary Issues — Page 75
Social Peace 75 1. Growing atheism; 2. An enfeebling of the belief in a real powerful God Who takes live interest in human affairs and the way human beings shape their conduct; 3. A progressive weakness in the beliefs in traditional and ethical values; and, 4. A growing tendency to forget the end and to treat the means as ends in themselves. This is a situation, which prevails, in all the so-called ‘civilized’ or ‘advanced’ societies of the world. Slowly, as moral and ethical values continue to wither, they begin to influence the legislative and executive process of governments. When there is no God-made law to be accepted, and absolute ethical values and noble traditions are challenged and defied daily, any legislation to discipline moral behaviour also becomes lax and more accommodating. The very platform, on which laws pertaining to moral behaviour are founded, begins to slip away. A comparative study of legislation in this area over the last few centuries would effectively prove the case in point. Gone are the days of Oscar Wilde when homosexuality was considered a crime by society, which would most mercilessly punish it. Gone are the days of chastity not being just a virtue but a social trust which, if violated, would be brought to account. This softening on crime is no longer seen as alarming. That is the problem. The definition of crime itself is undergoing fundamental change. That, which was considered a crime yesterday is no longer so. That which was concealed for fear of shame or reprimand is disclosed and displayed with great pride. If this philosophy was sound and worthy of