Distorting Religious Teachings and Degradation of Islamic Civilization

The Islamic civilization once conquered the peaks of progress and prosperity once, but what brought about its later collapse?Undoubtedly, many factors were influential, but the role of a deviated religious culture cannot be ignored.Islam has been always plagued with distortions throughout its history. Many Islamic principles have been affected by distortions, but here we will focus on five moral teachings that were very influential in uplifting the human life and Islamic civilization, but they later influenced the lives of Muslims in a reverse manner.Moral teachings about faith, hope, and devotion can be the basis of a successful personal life while paving the way for the establishment of a progressive civilization. However, distortion of the Quranic verses has led to emergence of misunderstandings of Islamic teachings; so that, the Islamic civilization has been rendered too weak in the face of the modern western civilization.Today, Muslims, at individual and social levels, follow practical programs that have been offered by the west and even spiritual attitudes are affected by western viewpoints. Therefore, the decadent western civilization has been so established among Muslims that it has even penetrated deep into spiritual ideas.Do shed more light on this issue we will delve into Ehya ul-Ulum by Abu Hamid Ghazali and Jami-us-Sa’adat by Mehdi Naraqi. The former is an authentic source for Sunnis while the latter is revered by Shia Muslims.The said two books are among the most influential moral books among Muslims and their position on moral teachings has greatly influenced general culture among Muslims.A review of those books will show what failures in delineating original moral principles has led to weakness and collapse of the Islamic civilization.