The New Renaissance is an article written by Hasan Al-Bannã in which he counters an article written by Taha Husayn. Hasan argues that Egypt is born again in its Islamic identity. He says that a “western tint” is no longer an option for Egyptians. He starts out his article with is ideas on how we currently view the political, social, and moral spheres of people. Specifically, he talks about how more people are constantly proclaiming the necessity to return to the principles and ways of Islam.
Many others attribute this shift to the following factors. Some explain this shift as a reaction to present day economic and political pressures. While others attribute it to the growth of extremist organizations. However, he believes it comes down to one of the following three: The failure of the West, the Perfection of Islam, and the development of social conditions.
When talking about the failure of the west he mentions how the current Western way of life is bounded on knowledge, discovery, and invention. He says that man is not an instrument and that naturally, we become tired of materialistic conditions and desires. This was a viewpoint that I had never thought about before.
The other cause I found interesting was when he talked about the development of social conditions. He points out that the world has long been ruled by democratic systems and has glorified the idea of democracy. He talks about German Nazism and Italian Fascism and their effects on peoples’ mindsets. All of these different regimes and events led to the conlcusion that to free onself from exisitng states of affairs, it is necessary to allow people to return to Islam. This article gave me a unique perspective on the return of Islam.