Secularism VS Islamic Society

1-What Is Secularism?

Secularism means that Religion is personal affair of everyone and Government can not bound anyone to change religion. Government should make policies not related to the religion. Political point of view Secularism is Separation of Religion and government. It is also said that secularism is separation of church and state. The world largest Electronic encyclopedia (en.wikipedia.org) Defined secularism as

“Secularism is the assertion that governmental practice or institutions should exist separately from religion from/or religious beliefs”.

It means that governmental institutions are separate from religion and there is no religion announced by the government as state religion. All the Modern European counties are secular states. America is also a secular state.

In Europe it is considered that secularism is movement toward modernism. All the secular states of world have different opinion that why they are secular.

Secularists tend to prefer politicians to make decisions for secular rather than religious prospective. In this respect, policy decisions pertaining to topics like abortion, embryonic stem cell research, same-sex marriage and sex education are prominently focused upon by the American secularist organizations.
Some of the states that are "constitutionally secular" are , France,  South Korea, India, and the United States,Turkey.

2-History of Secularism:

The term “Secularism” was first time introduced by a British writer George Holyoake in 1846.

Holyoake used this term to describe his views about promoting social values different from religion.

George Holyoake's 1896 publication defines secularism as:
“Secularism is a code of duty pertaining to this life, founded on considerations purely human, and intended mainly for those who find theology indefinite or inadequate, unreliable or unbelievable. Its essential principles are three:
1- The improvement of this life by material means.
2- That science is the available Providence of man.
3- That it is good to do well. Whether there is other good or not, the good of the present life is good, and it is good to seek that good.

Secularism is often associated with the Age of Enlightenment in Europe, and plays a major role in society of west. The principles, but not necessarily practices, of separation of church and state in the United States and in France draw heavily on secularism. The idea of separation of religion and government has also existed in India. The modern Indian society is based on these values and to a certain extent; this attempt has been successful as well. Secular states also existed in the Islamic world .

A lot of religions accept the primacy of the rules of secular, democratic society but may still seek to influence political decisions or achieve specific privileges or influence through church-state agreements .So many Christians support a secular state, and may acknowledge that the conception has support in biblical teachings, particularly Jesus' statement. However, some Christian fundamentalists (notably in the United States) oppose secularism, often claiming that there is a "radical secularism" ideology being adopted in current days and see secularism as a threat to "Christian rights” and national security. The most significant forces of religious fundamentalism in the contemporary world are Fundamentalist Christianity and fundamentalist Islam. At the same time, one significant stream of secularism has come from religious minorities who see governmental and political secularism as integral to preserving equal rights.
Some people think that in this century of mass politics, it is wiser to view our politics in terms of Democracy/Dictatorship rather than Islam/Secularism.

Historically, non-religious groups and activists have promoted secularism and separation in World.

3-Secular Organizations:

There are some organizations which morally support secularism and tell people about secularism. Groups such as the National Secular Society in United Kingdom and Americans United campaign for secularism and are often supported by Humanists. In 2005, the National Secular Society held the inaugural "Secularist of the Year" awards ceremony. Its first winner was Maryam Namazie, of the Worker-Communist Party of Iran.
Another secularist organization is the Secular Coalition for America, it is linked to many secular humanistic organizations and many secular humanists support it, as with the Secular Society, some non-humanists support it.
Local organizations such as Free thought Association of West Michigan work to raise the profile of secularism in their communities to include secularists, freethinkers, atheists, agnostics, and humanists under their organizational.
There are some student Organizations, such as the Toronto Secular Alliance, try to popularize secularism on campus. The Secular Student Alliance is an educational nonprofit that organizes and aids such high school and college secular student groups.
In Turkey, most prominent and active secularist organization is Atatürk's Thought Association (ADD), which is credited for organizing demonstrations in four largest cities in Turkey in 2007, where over 2 million people, mostly women, defended their concern in and support of secularist principles.
Leicester Secular Society founded in 1851 is the world's oldest secular society.

4-Secularism VS Islamic Society:

Secularism and Islam are two different thoughts. Islamism is an idea for restoring the political side of Islam in modern times. This movement has been identified as a new phenomenon emerging among Muslim societies as a result of the political and cultural domination of the West through colonization.
Islam provides governance wherein the subjects of an Islamic government can exist in harmony while the Islamic government remains under the obligation to provide protection to develop individual cultures. The Islamic government is, nevertheless, not simply guided by majority votes and individual or group whims and desires, but guidance from the Divine is at the core of its governing principles.
Islam is complete way of life. It provides the necessary guidelines and examples for an exemplary political system that respects human rights, upholds noble and moral social values and establishes justice by removal of injustices. Islam provides that framework within which all sacred imperatives of a healthy relationship between God-man, man-man and man-environment are enshrined. Freedom of speech is key element of Islamic societies that lead to magnificent discoveries, inventions and scientific advancements in the past.
The modern threats of injustice are proven drivers to generate not only the vigilance, but also positive activism for possible ratifications in the context of Islam/Secularism dichotomy. It is an absolute requirement to respond to injustice of any form or nature. The Quran is the testimony for that as well as the Prophet as the ultimate leader of the Ummah.
The challenge is however, and has remained as always: how do we as subscribers to the Islamic way of life ensure continuity and creativity in our response to ever changing current affairs while staying within the prescribed sacred imperatives of the Quran and the Sunnah? The Ummah, unlike ever before, is much larger and increasingly complex than any point of time in Islamic or human history. So how do we, as deputies of the Prophet Muhammad and vicegerents of Allah on Earth, serve the essence of the Ummah in an ever changing social, political and economical environment of our planet, that is Earth?
An alternative sense of Islamism is used, meaning Muslim individual and/or organizational efforts which have as their goal the establishment of Islamic law as background for a Muslim governmental system and to plead for the re-emergence of Ummah.
In Islam, there is no particular political solution. Religion is politics and politics is religion. The term democracy/dictatorship is irrelevant because Islam can flourish under both regimes. Mass injustice comes into being under democratic regimes (Egypt, India, US) as well as under dictatorial regimes (Saudi Arabia, Vatican and China). Justice is yet again a relative term as it depends on who defines it.
Islam Plays very important role in our life. Secularism says that religion should not interfere in state matters, but Islam offers the complete method of leading life. Islam gives us complete political system, like Ministries, deviation, union council, departments and other political entities.
Thus, the fight between Islamists and secularists has its basis in what Muslims consider as their Caliph system. Opposed to this is the idea of perpetuating the colonial legacy of separating religion from politics, which was introduced after the colonial occupation.

The tendency to limit secularism to the experiences of west European and North American countries with Christianity since the 18th century. Whether viewed as "separation of church and state" or "disestablishment of religion," such definitions are obviously specific to certain situations and do not address the continuing social and political role of religion in public life, even in those settings. For instance, efforts to sever institutional links between religion and the state cannot apply to the role of religion in politics, since there is no way of knowing the motives of people’s political action, let alone attempting to control that.

It is also problematic to equate secularism with disregard for religion, or a diminishing role for it in public life, as some scholars have argued in relation to Western societies. Since that could not possibly mean that religion has no influence whatsoever in the public life of any society, as that is obviously false, the question becomes what sort of influence, and how is it diminishing? From this perspective, secularism should be understood in terms of the type of relationship between religion and the state, rather than a specific way in which that relationship has evolved in one society or another.

The form that relationship should take in pluralistic societies has to be the product of organic development over time, and be accepted as legitimate by the population at large, instead of expecting it to drastically change immediately by constitutional enactment or political rhetoric.

As a matter of terminology that is relevant to this deeply contextual approach, it should be noted that the term "secularism" in its west European and North American sense has come to Africa and Asia in the suspect company of colonialism. For the Islamic societies in particular, this term is commonly associated with militantly anti-religious attitudes of the French Revolution, in relation to Christianity. Nevertheless, this term can be used in relation to experiences of African and Asian societies, provided it is understood and applied in the specific context of each society, rather than as a feature of liberal political or constitutional transplant. This view of secularism, I believe, will redress much of the apprehension about the concept as a tool of Western imperialism.

On the substantive side of the issue, the most compelling argument for an Islamic rationale for secularism is its necessity for pluralistic nation states that are able to safeguard the freedom of religion and belief of believers and non-believers alike. That is, the freedom of religion and belief of Muslims as well as non-Muslims is more likely to be violated by a state that seeks to promote a particular religious doctrine than one that is neutral on the matter.

Secularism may be accepted in a Christian society but it can never enjoy a general acceptance in an Islamic society. Christianity is devoid of a shari`ah or a comprehensive system of life to which its adherents should be committed. As such, a Christian could accept secularism without any qualms of conscience. Furthermore, Westerners, especially Christians, have good reasons to prefer a secular regime to a religious one. Their experience with "religious regimes" - as they knew them - meant the rule of the clergy, the despotic authority of the Church, and the resulting decrees of excommunication and the deeds of forgiveness, i.e. letters of indulgence.

Muslim societies, the acceptance of secularism means something totally different; i.e. as Islam is a comprehensive system of worship (`ibadah of ALLAH(s.w.t)) and legislation (Shari`ah), the acceptance of secularism means abandonment of Shari`ah, a denial of the divine guidance and a rejection of Allah’s injunctions; It is indeed a false claim that Shariah is not proper to the requirements of the present age. The acceptance of a legislation formulated by humans means a preference of the humans’ limited knowledge and experiences to the divine guidance: "Say! Do you know better than Allah?" (2:140).

For this reason, the call for secularism among Muslims is rejected by Islam. Its acceptance as a basis for rule in place of Shari`ah is downright riddah. The silence of the masses in the Muslim world about this deviation has been a major transgression and a clear-cut instance of disobedience which have produces a sense of guilt, remorse, and inward resentment, Secularism is compatible with the Western concept of God which maintains that after ALLAH had created the world, He left it to look after itself. In this sense, ALLAH’s relationship with the world is like that of a watchmaker with a watch, he makes it then leaves it to function without any need for him. This concept is inherited from Greek philosophy, especially that of Aristotle who argued that God neither controls nor knows anything about this world. This is a helpless God as described by Will Durant. There is no wonder that such a God leaves people to look after their own affairs. This concept is totally different from that of Muslims. We Muslims believe that Allah (SWT) is the sole Creator and Sustainer of the Worlds. One (Who takes account of every single thing)(72:28); that He is omnipotent and omniscient; that His mercy and bounties encompasses everyone and suffice for all. In that capacity, Allah (SWT) revealed His divine guidance to humanity, made certain things permissible and others prohibited, commanded people observe His injunctions and to judge according to them. If they do not do so, then they commit kufr, aggression, and transgression."

It is commonly claimed that Islam mandates the establishment of an "Islamic state" which will implement and enforce Shari’a (the normative system of Islam) as the law of the land. But in my view, the notion of an Islamic state is a contradiction in terms because whatever principles of Shari’a are enacted by the state as positive law cease to be the normative system of Islam by the very act of enacting it as the law to be enforced by the state. Since there is so much diversity of opinion among Islamic schools of thought and scholars, any enactment of Shari’a principles as law would have to select some opinions over others, thereby denying believers their freedom of choice among equally legitimate competing opinions.

Moreover, there is neither a historical precedent of an Islamic state to be followed, nor is such a state practically viable today. As the most avowed advocate of an Islamic state today would concede, there has never been such a state throughout Muslim history, since that of the Prophet in Medina, which was so exceptional as to be useful as a model to be applied today. Recent experience has also shown that the implementation of Shari’a as the official law of the state is untenable in economic and political terms in the modern nation state in its present global economic and political context because it conflicts with international law.

Many Middle Eastern nations have tried hard over the past few decades to secularize, but without much success. The backlash from Muslim traditionalists has been strong because Islam doesn’t have a tradition of separating church and state.

The cult of Mustfa Kamal Ataturk arose from his determination to make Turkey , a majority Muslim country, a secular state, one whose citizens would regard themselves primarily as Turks, not Muslims, and who would look toward Europe for cultural and political guidance.

To achieve this goal, Kamal abolished the Caliphate, which made the Ottoman sultan, as Caliph, not just the ruler of an empire but the protector of the entire Islamic community, or umma. He then exiled the last Caliph and replaced theocracy with his own charismatic brand of nationalism, telling the ethnically diverse groups of his fledgling country that only a modern, secular, democratic society could give them a viable state.

It is against the law, for instance, to wear a head- scarf in a government building or a public university. Provisions that have been used to shut down Islamist political parties.

Turkey still regards Europe, not the Middle East, as its natural ally, though it has never quite been accepted into that club. Oddly enough, its candidacy for membership in the European Union has been stalled by criticism over its restrictions on religion. And in the paradox that is Turkey, some of its Islamists have come to regard the West as the protector of their religious liberties, with one Islamist party supporting joining the European Union.

Naturally, many Turkish officials bristle at the European criticism of religious restriction. Howard Eisenstat, an instructor at Koc University in Istanbul, who is writing his doctoral dissertation on Turkish nationalism at the University of California at Los Angeles, describes Turkey's anxiety this way: "If you want us to democratize by giving rights to people who aren't truly democratic, what is the guarantee that these people are going to play by the rules? "

Turkey is politically and strategically a European nation. But, geographically it's both a European and Asian nation. Some of its region falls into the Asian continent.

Turkey is Islamic as well as secular state. After the First World War turkeys General Mustafa kamal Pasha decided to separate the countries of Empire of Usmania. Then pasha’s secularize the country as well. He changed the whole scenario of the country. Wearing hijab was banned in colleges, Universities and other departments of the country.

In America, too, there are large institutions which for the backbone of secular, civil society. The Christian Right is working hard to co-opt them for their religious agenda. It’s not that the institutions have failed in their goals, but rather that they have done too well because they have made society safe for the irreligious.

Opponents argue that secular government creates more problems than it solves, and that a government with a religious is good. Some Christian opponents contend that a Christian state can give more freedom of religion than a secular one. For evidence, they give Norway, Iceland, Finland. All with constitutional links between church and state and yet also recognized as more progressive and liberal than some countries without such a link. For example, Iceland was among the first countries to legalise abortion, and the Finnish government provides funding for the construction of Mosques. Some cite the counter example of the Netherlands and, more recently, Sweden, it being  a secular state.
Some modern commentators have criticized secularism by conflicting it with religious, atheistic belief systems. The word secularism itself is commonly used as a pejorative by religious conservatives in the United States.
The funny thing about this “secularism” is that the majority of the people who make up society aren’t secular. According to the CIA World Fact Book , 84% of the country is religious, and of that 84%, 78.5% is Christian.
Our neibour country India is also a secular state. Indian says that secularism is very important for India and India can not survive without secularism. They argue that Political and educational stability is only with the secularism in India.
In the present political circumstances the future of secularism does not seem to be bright. However, one should not take short-term view based only on given context. Human brings, have always struggled to transcend their given situation; A purely contextual view tends to be realistic but is also a restricted one.

World has very big challenges to meet due to its economic backwardness and unemployment, which sharpen communal struggle. Unemployed and frustrated youth can easily be induce to think and act communally as he thinks his unemployment is due more to his caste or community than economic backwardness. Secularism is not solution.