ABSTRACT
The world of Islam has been compelled to take serious notice of the progress, the peculiar tendencies, and the results of modern western civilization by reason of its extremely aggressive character. In India the penetration of Islam by western influences has been brought about directly by western rule, and, consequently, that penetration is more complete than in many lands nearer west. Each religion in the East represents a social group with a more or less self-contained culture, and in many respects the term “religion” rather corresponds to what we understand by “nation”: indeed the Muslim is accustomed to regard Islam and Christendom as two “nations.” To a large extent this was the case in Europe also the nineteenth century, when industrialism began to develop on a large scale and totally changed the economic structure of society. The western world is accustomed to de clare that democracy represents the perfect ideal of human society.
