“Modernity is one of the most delicate and vital issues confronting us, the people of non-European countries and Islamic societies. A more important issue is the relationship between an imposed modernization and genuine civilization. We must discover if modernity as is claimed is a synonym for being civilised, or if it is an altogether different issue and social phenomenon having no relation to civilisation at all. Unfortunately modernity has been imposed on us, the non-European nations, in the guise of civilization.”

—  Ali Shariati

Source: Reflections of Humanity, (1984), p. 17: Second paragraph.

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Ali Shariati 11
Iranian academic and activist 1933–1977

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