The Idea of the Modern Middle East - Essay Sample

Introduction

Modernization is a transition from premodern or traditional manner of doing things to a modern method carrying out the activities around (Gelvin, 2005). In most cases, it means changing most of the activities that were done and adopting more advanced methods that are easier and more accessible. An excellent example of modernization is when the culture changes from using traditional methods of healing such as herbs that rent easily found and adopting the use of modern medicine and healing procedures. In such a case, the medicine that is manufactured in modern society is more affordable and easily accessible. In addition to that, it is more effective because the impurities and errors that occurred in the ancient methods are minimized. Modernization also stands for the change of culture that the people had since some of the activities that the people do are based on poor cultural misdemeanors. As a result, the people in the country could adopt more friendly cultures and those that enhance equality and void oppression of particular members of the society. Several factors affect modernization such as education, science and the growth of knowledge in the community at hand. This paper evaluates modernization in the Middle East and the controversy that the topic has in the country, how the European philosophies have influenced the controversy surrounding modernization and the traditional versus secularist controversy. In addition to that, the paper analyses how constitutions were felt to make the countries modern.

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Several philosophes have been seen especially in the idea about the modernization of the nations in the Middle East. To begin with, the European theory, especially in cities like Tehran, was that they should hurry up and modernize (Gelvin, 2005). The controversy, however, came in when it turned out that instead of only adopting the good modern culture, the European policies tried to impose their culture on the people in the nations. In addition to that, the Europeans termed the everyday activities that the people were used to as cumbersome and unworthy of practicing which made their influence more negative. Even though some of the traditional methods of handling their activities were beneficial, the idea of modernization seemed to oppose them strongly. An excellent example of such vital aspects that modernization of the Middle East was against included guilds, Sufi orders, clerical, and family networks. Groups such as the ones mentioned above promoted a sense of belonging and made it easy for the people to relate to each other. The coming of the European modernization, however, tried to get rid of them which in turn broke the bonds between the people of the Middle East. Traditions acted as the moral compass in them, and they outlined how people should behave and interact with each other. The transition from a practice that is known for a very long time is especially troublesome considering that the people are not very dynamic since their traditions are also based on their religious beliefs. It is essential to note that religious beliefs are more complicated to change also.

Secularism is the act of trying to make human life better by the use of science logical reasoning and social organization (Gelvin, 2005). The idea was majorly based on making the nation better without making any influence on the religious culture that the people had. It, however, became evident that the European culture tried to impart all their religion on the people which were somewhat unfair considering the strong religious belief that the people in the Middle East had. At the beginning of the nineteenth century, the Arab world began to face severe influence from the west, and it came accompanied by other terms such as modernization and westernization. The influence that the western culture had on the people in the Middle East was very high, and it significantly condemned their culture and traditions. As a result of the poor relation and the way that the people were not willing to accept the influence that the western culture had on them a controversy arose. There are some of the people who were willing to forego their culture and accept the western one, but most of the other people were not ready to do so. There are some of the Arabs who transformed into Christianity and rejected the most common faith in the region- Islam. The people, therefore, had different views on the ideas that Europeans introduced. As one of the policies of secularization, religion would have been restricted to private life and would not be publicly advocated. The policy was another cause of opposition to the idea of secularization. The idea was a big blow to the Islam culture, and many of the leaders were against it.

Constitutions were one of the conventional methods that were used in making the nations feel more modern. They were a set of rules that were used to govern the behavior of those who were under the influence of the Europeans (Gelvin, 2005). The constitutions were more formal than the previously existing law about how the people were supposed to behave in addition to that the constitutions were easily referred to as they were written. The traditional law was not recorded but instead was maintained in the minds of the keepers of the law. As a result, people could easily make mistakes when referring to laws. It was, therefore, wiser that the constitution is written.

Conclusion

The modernization is essential in the development of modern techniques that are easier compared to the traditional ones. Modernization, however, does not have to take away the good traditional values that the people have but should instead try to accommodate the changes in the laws set. It is also right that the nations that need to be modernized be ready to accept thee changes in terms of behavior especially if the traditions are not that accommodating. According to the book by James Gelvin, the Middle East has faced several controversies due to the differences that modernization has in relation to the culture that the people have (2005). It is essential that the nations find out a means to resolve the differences.

References

Gelvin, J. L. (2005). The modern middle east: A History (p. 357). New York: Oxford University Press.