Zurayk noted that the turning away from the “ideas of unity, loyalty, and the universal outlook led to the replacement of the spiritual motivations with material ones”.[7] Although this process of decline was an internal cause, Zurayk attributed the cause of the Nahda, or modern Arab renaissance, to external factors. One of the external contributors, which Zurayk believed played a significant role in demanding change in Arab society, was “Western” or modern civilization. Because the West would continue to impose itself on Arab society, it was imperative that the Arabs work to understand and comprehend it in order to confront it.