ISLAM

CHAPTER IX
THE EAST AND THE WEST
Cl
Islam has made universal progress from the
borders oi the Pacific Ocean to those of the Atlantic
on account of its Catholic and liberal policy."
Sir P. C. Ray.
After covering such a wide range of subjects
and discussing numerous topics regarding comparative
religion and comparative sociolgy with reference
to Islam and Christianity, it is now time to
make a survey of them and bring the book to a
close. In doing so, we would try to mention a few
matters which could not be given separate chapters
for elaborate treatment. We shall discuss here these
topics in a general manner, and no method will be
followed accordingly in this chapter. It will be
seen that although the West has superseded the
East in material prosperity, yet the mind of the
West has reached the lowest level in degeneracy
and cultural bankruptcy. There is an ugly and
empty mind under a charming and apparently rich
face. Mr. Sinclair L,ewis, the Nobel-laureate of
America, in his preface to the Main Street repents :
"Our railway station is the final aspiration of architecture."
This shows the agony of the Western
mind under presure of stone and heaps of gold or
sand. The West is intolerent, envious of any; Eastern
culture or tradition that has got the upper hand