‘ A system of government by the whole population, usually through elected representatives.’  This reveals the basis for the government of the people, for the people, by the people. It is noteworthy that for a system to be successful it should reflect the wishes and aspirations of its people, and be geared towards their fulfillment. However, if the realities and needs of the times are understood, it will become crystal clear that the ‘system of the people by the people’ will portray the nature and essence of the people who frame it, be they the representatives of the people or a self-imposed leadership.  

It is interesting to observe that an idol is a symbol to help keep the worshiper’s attention from wavering from the act of worship. If, however, the idol itself becomes the object of worship the practice is known as idolatry. In a similar manner, a system can deteriorate and lose meaning if it takes away rather than give to the constituents, the basic ingredients for their survival and progress.  This is exactly what seems to have happened with Islam, where the ideals of its philosophy seem to have got lost in its rituals and traditions. The religion, which is supposed to have abolished idolatry, itself became the idol. For, besides the stone idols, Islam fought to replace the contemporary traditions of the power structure of the society. It defied slavery, accumulation of wealth, sexual discrimination, child poverty etc. Islam claimed to be a complete code of life by defining its true meaning and suggesting the means to regulate it.  It meant to make the people answerable both to themselves as much as to the system, because the system was basically designed for self-control and subsequent self-reform. Where, the individual’s progress was aimed at the eventual uplift of society and humanity as a whole. As long as these ideas remained the center core of Islamic polity, its rise was meteoric and it spread like wild fire. For, then it was providing the needs of the majority by controlling and eliminating the excesses meted out by the individual. The tide of Islam conquered and replaced other systems that conflicted with it or stood in its way. Eventually, however, the conqueror became the conquered. Muslim empires of the Abbasids and Ummayads, that had grown out of the ruins of the Byzantinean,  Persian and the Abyssinian predecessors  succumbed to the same pleasures of worldly desires as against basic human needs, and gave up their ways of simplicity and serenity by losing sight of the true basis of the faith. Avarice in human nature once again replaced the lofty ideals of self –sacrifice, philanthropy and shared well being. The Palaces and the courts, which were the centers of learning, knowledge and human amelioration, became the breeding grounds of conspiracy,  connivance, egotism and self aggrandizement. So much so that Ijtehad – a unique means of democratic intellectual advancement, was pushed in the background, and totalitarianism ruled sway.    

Others in general, and the Western renaissance in particular, both consciously and unknowingly, picked up the benefits of ‘ to participate and share’, from the teachings and methods of early Islamic practices. While they experimented, adopted and adapted knowledge and progressive scientific techniques, Muslims languished in the squalor of their past glory. Refusing to accept and adjust to the needs of the changing times. They thus passed on the torch of civilization to their contemporaries of the age and period.