“It is a dangerous, self-deceiving optimism, therefore, for Muslims to talk of Islamic influences as being on their way to conquer the spirit of the West. Such talk is in reality nothing but the old Mahdi-belief in a 'rationalist' disguise—the belief in a power that would suddenly appear and make the tottering structure of Muslim society triumphant on earth. This belief is dangerous because it is pleasant and easy and tends to lead us away from the realization of the fact that we are culturally nowhere, whereas Western influences are today more potent than ever in the Muslim world; that we are sleeping while those influences undermine and destroy Islamic society everywhere. To desire the expansion of Islam is one thing, and to build false hopes on this desire is another.”