I recently came across Rimond Htoo's piece - Ceasefires won't bring piece. He is absolutely right for a befitting title to his piece. I am also in agreement that "Since Burma is a multi-ethnic country, mere democracy won’t do. Burma needs a system that guarantees the rights and self-determination of every ethnic group." I shall extend this definition to include every minority group - religious and otherwise, which includes the Rohingyas of Arakan.
As I mentioned in some of my earlier articles, Burma or today's Myanmar has been a hopeless case of lies and deception leading to frustration on the part of minorities since its founding after the British colonial masters had left. Promises made by those in power never translated into tangible gains on the ground that could gravitate people towards a federal formula for unity shunning disunity and racism that had always defined race relations inside Burma. So, Rimond Htoo's piece may be what is in store for the Karen and various other minorities, and that would be a sad one - going back to the unfortunate days of death and diaspora.
I hope that such fears are untrue and that the new rulers in Myanmar are different than their predecessors. And that they have learned and become wiser and better. The ball is obviously in their court. If they want to retrace their path to the olden days of oppression and persecution of minorities like the Karen and Rohingya (and others) by kicking the ball into their own goal post, it would be utterly stupid, esp. with so much of support that they enjoy and the goodwill others now have about their new regime. It would be their loss, and no one else's. Under the current wave of new hope and aspirations, the only thing the regime can do is to carry the ball forward and make a winning team by playing together as equals with the same goal or objective. Just as in soccer or with any other game, an winning formula requires building a winning team, and that process starts with dialogue, open negotiations that show what is at stake and how unity of purpose and action can be a winning formula for all. It is surely not dictated by barrel of a gun, and no bullies either.
Again, my hope is that the new regime is different for better. It is neither SPDC nor SLORC, and as such trouble days are over for Burma, and a new dawn offers newer hopes. And thus, the ceasefires made on the ground with Karen and others are meant to be stepping stones before a serious dialogue with various nationalities, ethnicities, races, religions, etc. take place on a common formula of unity in diversity towards a federal government where no single group dominates the government. Ethnic tensions need to be eased so that trust is built within and between all races and minority groups.
On a personal level, I am willing to give the new regime some time to prove its worthiness before we dump it as the same old, rotten, dirty regime, if it proves hypocritical and acts contrary to its promises made. Whatever it is worth, my opinions on Burma's latest development can be read in the New Age. Here is a link: http://newagebd.com/newspaper1/editorial/47088.html
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Saturday, January 14, 2012
Is the change in Myanmar for real?
In its latest gesture of amnesties, the military-backed regime of Thein Sein in Myanmar has released many political prisoners. Those freed included veterans of the 1988 student protest movement, monks involved in the 2007 demonstrations and ethnic-minority activists like U Kyaw Min (a member of the Committee Representing the People’s Parliament led by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi). Truly, the names of those released read like a who's who of Burma's most prominent political detainees. In a statement broadcast on the TV, President Thein Sein said those released were people who could "play a constructive role in the political process".
The releases came a day after the government had signed a landmark ceasefire with the rebel Karen National Union in Hpa-an, capital of eastern Karen state. The release of all political prisoners has been a long-standing demand of the international community. As a human rights activist who for years has demanded reform inside Burma, I warmly welcome these releases.
My hope is that the new regime is serious about a transformational change that would allow the released politicians and former prisoners of conscience to play a positive role to unite the otherwise fragmented country of many nations, races, ethnicities and religions under a federal formula. For too long, the former military regimes and their ultra-racist supporters have used one community against another, and created an atmosphere where bigotry, racism, xenophobia and hatred ruled supreme. Of special mention is the 1982 Burma Citizenship Law which ensured such state policies of exclusions that would rob millions of Rohingya and other religious and ethnic minorities of their citizenship rights. Forgotten there was the time honored realization that narrow ethno-centric nationalism in a country of diverse races and ethnicities is suicidal.
With the release of ethnic minority leaders like U Kyaw Min of Arakan (alias) Shamsul Anwarul Haque, my hope is that President Thein Sein and his new regime is serious about a genuine reform. Pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi has welcomed the move as a "positive sign" and so did many international leaders.
When Thein Sein’s Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), a military-backed civilian government, came to power in November 2010, after the country's first elections in 20 years [in which Daw Suu Kyi’s The National League for Democracy (NLD) did not participate], no one was sure which direction the new regime would follow. Many considered the regime change as a sham -- the same old stuff: serving new wine in an old bottle. But soon after coming to power, Thein Sein took reform steps that were meant to show the world that he was serious about a transformational change. He opened dialogue with Suu Kyi and her NLD. He released her from house arrest within a week of coming to power. Last May, the government released some 1500 prisoners, which did not, however, include any prominent politician. Last September, Thein Sein suspended construction of controversial Chinese-funded Myitsone hydroelectric dam, a move which was seen as showing greater openness to public opinion. Then in October, he freed more than 200 political prisoners as part of a general amnesty, and passed new labor laws allowing unions to function.
All such reforms were not lost in the minds of ASEAN leaders who met last November agreeing that Myanmar would chair the grouping in 2014. The award was meant to show that Burma was moving in the right direction with the steps taken thus far and also as a sign of encouragement to keep it up. The pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi soon announced that she would stand for election to parliament, as her party rejoined the political process.
There has been such an unmistakable aura of change in Myanmar that the U.S. President Barack Obama called such the "flickers of progress." Before sending his top diplomat to Myanmar, Obama said, "We want to seize what could be a historic opportunity for progress, and to make it clear that if Burma continues to travel down the road of democratic reform, it can forge a new relationship with the United States of America."
The U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visited the country in December and also met with Suu Kyi. This year the British Foreign Secretary William Hague visited the country in which he expressed his strong concern saying, “Minorities like the Rohingya in many cases lack basic civil and political rights.” These and other western leaders hinted that they would help to ease sanctions against the regime if it releases its political prisoners and is serious about reform that would resolve ethnic conflicts around the border regions.
Last month President Thein Sein signed a law allowing peaceful demonstrations for the first time. The NLD re-registered as a political party in advance of by-elections for parliament due to be held early in 2012. In recent weeks, the government has agreed a truce deal with rebels of Shan ethnic group and ordered the military to stop operations against ethnic Kachin rebels.
Now with the release of high ranking political prisoners there is little doubt that Thein Sein is serious about genuine reform in his country. Suu Kyi described the past 12 months as "eventful, energizing and to a certain extent encouraging". And she is right. Myanmar is seemingly taking irreversible baby steps for a viable democracy.
Never before in the last 50 years did we ever see such a ray of hope gleaming in the country that was once Burma. We can pray and hope that Thein Sein is no charlatan change agent but is as genuine as it comes. Sure, there are several steps that need to be taken before Myanmar becomes a country with a functioning democracy where its people would enjoy political and economic freedom like many other citizens of our planet -- the release of all remaining political prisoners; repealing the racist and xenophobic Burma Citizenship Law of 1982 which has resulted in unfathomed discrimination, violations of human rights and forced exodus of millions of its inhabitants to settle for a life of unwanted refugees in neighboring countries like Bangladesh and Thailand; addressing the rights of Burma’s ethnic and religious minorities (especially, the Rohingya, Karen and Shan peoples) and ensuring the fair and independent application of the rule of law for all its inhabitants.
Objective and unbiased researches have amply shown that the Rohingya people are an indigenous group whose ancestry and root to the soil of Arakan state of today’s Myanmar predates the British colonial era. [See, e.g., my book -Muslim Identity and Demography in the Arakan State of Burma, available in the Amazon.com] Accordingly, they had exercised the right of franchise in all elections in the pre- and post-colonial periods, including the SPDC’s 2010 election. And yet, this unfortunate people have been denied citizenship and rendered stateless for a xenophobic law that violates every principle enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The sad plight of the Rohingya people was duly observed by Tomas Ojea Quintana, the U.N. Special Rapporteur, who said, “Despite being in this region for generations, this population is stateless. This population is not recognized by the Government as one of the ethnic groups of the Union of Myanmar and is subject to discrimination…. However the Government allowed them to participate in the referendum on the adoption of the new Constitution…. What is more significant than the possibility to vote for the Constitution of a nation to show that one belongs to the nation? If this population was considered apt to give its views on the adoption of the Constitution, then it should be granted all other privileges, including the citizenship, which recognized ethnic groups, citizens of Myanmar do enjoy in the Union.”
As Thien Sein reforms and changes the old orders yielding place to the new, I wish he is mindful of the views and concerns expressed by dignitaries like Tomas Quintana, and stops discriminatory practices against the Rohingya and other vulnerable minorities, plus restores dialogue with each of the ethnic and religious groups on the principle of unity in diversity.
Only the coming months will show how serious is the new government in Myanmar about its commitment to reform. Let’s hope that Thein Sein will not be like any of his hateful predecessors and will do all that is required to ensure human rights for all and bring glory to Myanmar.
The releases came a day after the government had signed a landmark ceasefire with the rebel Karen National Union in Hpa-an, capital of eastern Karen state. The release of all political prisoners has been a long-standing demand of the international community. As a human rights activist who for years has demanded reform inside Burma, I warmly welcome these releases.
My hope is that the new regime is serious about a transformational change that would allow the released politicians and former prisoners of conscience to play a positive role to unite the otherwise fragmented country of many nations, races, ethnicities and religions under a federal formula. For too long, the former military regimes and their ultra-racist supporters have used one community against another, and created an atmosphere where bigotry, racism, xenophobia and hatred ruled supreme. Of special mention is the 1982 Burma Citizenship Law which ensured such state policies of exclusions that would rob millions of Rohingya and other religious and ethnic minorities of their citizenship rights. Forgotten there was the time honored realization that narrow ethno-centric nationalism in a country of diverse races and ethnicities is suicidal.
With the release of ethnic minority leaders like U Kyaw Min of Arakan (alias) Shamsul Anwarul Haque, my hope is that President Thein Sein and his new regime is serious about a genuine reform. Pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi has welcomed the move as a "positive sign" and so did many international leaders.
When Thein Sein’s Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), a military-backed civilian government, came to power in November 2010, after the country's first elections in 20 years [in which Daw Suu Kyi’s The National League for Democracy (NLD) did not participate], no one was sure which direction the new regime would follow. Many considered the regime change as a sham -- the same old stuff: serving new wine in an old bottle. But soon after coming to power, Thein Sein took reform steps that were meant to show the world that he was serious about a transformational change. He opened dialogue with Suu Kyi and her NLD. He released her from house arrest within a week of coming to power. Last May, the government released some 1500 prisoners, which did not, however, include any prominent politician. Last September, Thein Sein suspended construction of controversial Chinese-funded Myitsone hydroelectric dam, a move which was seen as showing greater openness to public opinion. Then in October, he freed more than 200 political prisoners as part of a general amnesty, and passed new labor laws allowing unions to function.
All such reforms were not lost in the minds of ASEAN leaders who met last November agreeing that Myanmar would chair the grouping in 2014. The award was meant to show that Burma was moving in the right direction with the steps taken thus far and also as a sign of encouragement to keep it up. The pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi soon announced that she would stand for election to parliament, as her party rejoined the political process.
There has been such an unmistakable aura of change in Myanmar that the U.S. President Barack Obama called such the "flickers of progress." Before sending his top diplomat to Myanmar, Obama said, "We want to seize what could be a historic opportunity for progress, and to make it clear that if Burma continues to travel down the road of democratic reform, it can forge a new relationship with the United States of America."
The U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visited the country in December and also met with Suu Kyi. This year the British Foreign Secretary William Hague visited the country in which he expressed his strong concern saying, “Minorities like the Rohingya in many cases lack basic civil and political rights.” These and other western leaders hinted that they would help to ease sanctions against the regime if it releases its political prisoners and is serious about reform that would resolve ethnic conflicts around the border regions.
Last month President Thein Sein signed a law allowing peaceful demonstrations for the first time. The NLD re-registered as a political party in advance of by-elections for parliament due to be held early in 2012. In recent weeks, the government has agreed a truce deal with rebels of Shan ethnic group and ordered the military to stop operations against ethnic Kachin rebels.
Now with the release of high ranking political prisoners there is little doubt that Thein Sein is serious about genuine reform in his country. Suu Kyi described the past 12 months as "eventful, energizing and to a certain extent encouraging". And she is right. Myanmar is seemingly taking irreversible baby steps for a viable democracy.
Never before in the last 50 years did we ever see such a ray of hope gleaming in the country that was once Burma. We can pray and hope that Thein Sein is no charlatan change agent but is as genuine as it comes. Sure, there are several steps that need to be taken before Myanmar becomes a country with a functioning democracy where its people would enjoy political and economic freedom like many other citizens of our planet -- the release of all remaining political prisoners; repealing the racist and xenophobic Burma Citizenship Law of 1982 which has resulted in unfathomed discrimination, violations of human rights and forced exodus of millions of its inhabitants to settle for a life of unwanted refugees in neighboring countries like Bangladesh and Thailand; addressing the rights of Burma’s ethnic and religious minorities (especially, the Rohingya, Karen and Shan peoples) and ensuring the fair and independent application of the rule of law for all its inhabitants.
Objective and unbiased researches have amply shown that the Rohingya people are an indigenous group whose ancestry and root to the soil of Arakan state of today’s Myanmar predates the British colonial era. [See, e.g., my book -Muslim Identity and Demography in the Arakan State of Burma, available in the Amazon.com] Accordingly, they had exercised the right of franchise in all elections in the pre- and post-colonial periods, including the SPDC’s 2010 election. And yet, this unfortunate people have been denied citizenship and rendered stateless for a xenophobic law that violates every principle enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The sad plight of the Rohingya people was duly observed by Tomas Ojea Quintana, the U.N. Special Rapporteur, who said, “Despite being in this region for generations, this population is stateless. This population is not recognized by the Government as one of the ethnic groups of the Union of Myanmar and is subject to discrimination…. However the Government allowed them to participate in the referendum on the adoption of the new Constitution…. What is more significant than the possibility to vote for the Constitution of a nation to show that one belongs to the nation? If this population was considered apt to give its views on the adoption of the Constitution, then it should be granted all other privileges, including the citizenship, which recognized ethnic groups, citizens of Myanmar do enjoy in the Union.”
As Thien Sein reforms and changes the old orders yielding place to the new, I wish he is mindful of the views and concerns expressed by dignitaries like Tomas Quintana, and stops discriminatory practices against the Rohingya and other vulnerable minorities, plus restores dialogue with each of the ethnic and religious groups on the principle of unity in diversity.
Only the coming months will show how serious is the new government in Myanmar about its commitment to reform. Let’s hope that Thein Sein will not be like any of his hateful predecessors and will do all that is required to ensure human rights for all and bring glory to Myanmar.
Sunday, January 8, 2012
More on Rick Santorum
In the latest debate in NH, Congressman Ron Paul called Rick Santorum one of the "top corrupt individuals because he took so much money from the lobbyists.” Many of us, who are Pennsylvania residents should not be surprised by such unkind and yet true assessment on Santorum. So disappointed were his constituents that they made sure that he did not represent them on the Senate floor any longer. Consequently, in 2006, he was defeated in a re-election bid by one of the widest margins in national history against Bob Casey, Jr.
Ron Paul said, "He’s a big government, big spending individual. Because, you know, he preached to the fact he wanted a balanced budget amendment but voted to raise the debt [limit] five times. So he is a big government person... And also where did he get — make his living afterwards? I mean, he became a high-powered lobbyist on — in Washington, D.C. And he has done quite well.”
Ron Paul's campaign has come out with a new ad in South Carolina, which hits Rick Santorum on his "record of betrayal."
"One serial hypocrite exposed," the ad says, showing clips of Newt Gingrich. "Now another has emerged: Rick Santorum, a corporate lobbyist and Washington politician. A record of betrayal."
Santorum bashes President Obama as a European-style socialist and preaches fiscal conservatism. Yet in the Senate, he made sure dollars from the socialistic Medicare program went to Puerto Rico on behalf of a hometown firm — United Health Services — that later gave him nearly $400,000 in director’s fees and stock options.
He was among the pay-for-play Republicans who tried to strong-arm lobbyists and say that if you wanted to have influence you had to cough up campaign money. While Karen Santorum was home-schooling their seven children in Virginia, Santorum soaked the Pennsylvania taxpayers to the tune of $100,000 by enrolling the children in a Pennsylvania cyber charter school.
On race issues: In Iowa, Santorum tossed out a line about food stamps that NPR reported this way: “I don’t want to make black people’s lives better by giving them somebody else’s money.” He later told CNN that he was “pretty confident” that he didn’t say “black.” The only alternative, watching the video clip, is that he said “blah.” He doesn’t want to make blah people’s lives better by giving them somebody else’s money?
It is high time that guys like Santorum are dumped by Republican voters in the coming primary elections.
Ron Paul said, "He’s a big government, big spending individual. Because, you know, he preached to the fact he wanted a balanced budget amendment but voted to raise the debt [limit] five times. So he is a big government person... And also where did he get — make his living afterwards? I mean, he became a high-powered lobbyist on — in Washington, D.C. And he has done quite well.”
Ron Paul's campaign has come out with a new ad in South Carolina, which hits Rick Santorum on his "record of betrayal."
"One serial hypocrite exposed," the ad says, showing clips of Newt Gingrich. "Now another has emerged: Rick Santorum, a corporate lobbyist and Washington politician. A record of betrayal."
Santorum bashes President Obama as a European-style socialist and preaches fiscal conservatism. Yet in the Senate, he made sure dollars from the socialistic Medicare program went to Puerto Rico on behalf of a hometown firm — United Health Services — that later gave him nearly $400,000 in director’s fees and stock options.
He was among the pay-for-play Republicans who tried to strong-arm lobbyists and say that if you wanted to have influence you had to cough up campaign money. While Karen Santorum was home-schooling their seven children in Virginia, Santorum soaked the Pennsylvania taxpayers to the tune of $100,000 by enrolling the children in a Pennsylvania cyber charter school.
On race issues: In Iowa, Santorum tossed out a line about food stamps that NPR reported this way: “I don’t want to make black people’s lives better by giving them somebody else’s money.” He later told CNN that he was “pretty confident” that he didn’t say “black.” The only alternative, watching the video clip, is that he said “blah.” He doesn’t want to make blah people’s lives better by giving them somebody else’s money?
It is high time that guys like Santorum are dumped by Republican voters in the coming primary elections.
Letter of a former Guanatanamo Bay prisoner - a must read
Mr. Lakhdar Boumediene was the lead plaintiff in Boumediene v. Bush. He was in military custody at Guantánamo Bay from 2002 to 2009. The New York Times has recently posted Mr. BOUMEDIENE's letter. You can read this here.
Saturday, January 7, 2012
Bachmann is out, Who’s next?
The USA is in the early stage of its primary elections to narrow down the number of Republican presidential hopefuls to just one. Michelle Bachmann, the congresswoman from the state of Minnesota, suffered a hard blow with a last-place finish in the Iowa caucuses. Wisely, she has ended her campaign, but has not yet endorsed any of her former rivals.
It is good to see that the Republicans in Iowa had dumped Bachmann, a highly polarizing politician since becoming a congresswoman in 2006. Her biting condemnations of Democrats — and of tax increases, big government, the health care law and government spending — and hawkish and pro-Israeli remarks on international affairs show that she would have been a very poor choice for the White House, let alone a dangerous one, if she was ever elected to the highest office in the country.
The field of (serious) Republican candidates now includes only six candidates. They are Ron Paul, Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, Jon Huntsman, Rick Perry and Newt Gingrich. In spite of spending millions in ad campaigns, Romney barely won over Santorum in the Iowa caucuses, thus once again showing that many Republicans are not comfortable with his Mormon religious faith. His moderate stances on gay rights and abortion also concern conservatives. He remains, however, a Republican Party establishment favorite and has lately been endorsed by Senator John McCain, the Republican presidential candidate who had lost his bid against Obama in 2008. It is believed that he will do a better job in New Hampshire, next to the state of Massachusetts where he once was a governor. With his right-leaning conservative talks, pro-Israeli and warmongering remarks on world affairs, he has been courting support within the grass-root Republicans who make up the majority of voters in these primaries.
After a close second finish in the Iowa caucuses, Rick Santorum, the former senator from Pennsylvania (PA), is immensely energized in his campaign. Before losing to Bob Casey, Jr. in the PA senate race, he was the third-ranking Senate Republican, one of his party’s fastest-rising stars and a brash favorite among social conservative. He had a staunchly conservative voting record in the Senate, and is a hawk on foreign affairs. He is loathed by liberals and independents and has little chance of winning against Obama, if he was to win the Republican ticket. The best he can hope for is a second spot in the Republican ticket, and that seems to be his strategy.
Rick Perry, the longest serving Governor of the state of Texas, once a favorite amongst both social conservatives and the Tea Party movement, especially the Christian evangelicals, had a very poor performance in the Iowa caucuses. He finished fifth. His awful mumblings in the debates have shown that he is not a presidential material. Although initially rumored to quit the race soon after Iowa results, he has decided to continue his bid. With elections coming into the more conservative southern states (the so-called Bible Belt), e.g., in places like South Carolina, he, with strong southern roots, is hoping for a better result that would catapult him to a frontrunner position once again. If he fails to come in the top in the first couple of southern states, it is widely believed that he would drop out of the race.
Newt Gingrich, the former House speaker from Georgia, had a dismal fourth-place finish in the Iowa caucuses. He claimed to be “Romney-voted” (much like how the Democratic candidate John Kerry was ‘Swift-voted’ by Bush Jr. supporters in the 2004 presidential election), with a barrage of negative ads against him from Mitt Romney. Before the Iowa results, he was riding high with a front-runner status. He vowed to continue on to New Hampshire. As I noted elsewhere, he has serious character flaws, and is one of his party’s best-known and most polarizing figures. He is a hypocrite, and acknowledged having an extramarital affair with Callista Bisek, then a House staff member and now his wife, while leading impeachment proceedings against President Bill Clinton for lying about his own sexual transgressions. As we have seen in Iowa, his lack of a well-established association with religious conservatives, and questions about his two divorces, could make him a less favorable candidate amongst some conservative Republicans. With his warmongering mentality, while a chicken-hawk himself, much like Bush Jr., he is a dangerous person to end up in the White House. Even if were to ever succeed in winning his party’s nomination, he has little chance of ever winning the presidential election.
Jon Huntsman, Jr., the former two-term governor from the state of Utah, did not campaign in Iowa and has instead been campaigning strongly in New Hampshire. He has significant foreign policy experience. He speaks Mandarin fluently from his time as a Mormon missionary in Taiwan. He served in diplomatic positions in the two Bush administrations and as ambassador to China under President Obama. On a personal level, he is a moderate on social issues, and immensely popular with many Democrats and independents. With an impressive record overall he could be a formidable contender for a one-to-one race against Obama. However, he is a moderate (and a Mormon), which can hurt his chances winning the Republican ticket in this era of polarization. If he decides later to run as an independent, there is little doubt that he would hurt Obama’s chances of getting reelected badly.
This leaves us with Ron Paul, the senior Congressman from the state of Texas, who has rightly been dubbed as the “intellectual godfather of the Tea Party.” He is a very wise man, a first-rate intellectual, and a good Christian. During his 20 years in Congress, Paul has established himself as an outspoken critic of American foreign and monetary policy, and rightly so. He is widely known for his libertarian positions on a host of political and social issues. He is most popular amongst young voters, especially among college-age voters. Although the Tea Party movement echoes Paul on fiscal issues, some of its Palin-Bachmann like shallow and obtuse folks are very uncomfortable with his so-called isolationist stance on international affairs. Many of these Tea Party conservatives are not on board with his beliefs about scaling back the United States military worldwide. However, outside (probably) Jon Huntsman, Jr., Ron Paul remains the last, best hope for renouncing America’s worst and reclaiming her greatness.
When a patient requires surgery to save it, nothing short of it will do any good. Thanks to the pyrrhic wars started by Bush Jr. and continued by Obama, the USA is now dying! She requires surgery and not a band-aid to save itself. A drastic change is required in the top with fresh new ideas and thinking, and not Obamesque mesmerizing and hypocritical sound-bytes. As I see it, outside Ron Paul and Jon Huntsman, Jr., none of the candidates has what it would take to conduct that necessary life-saving surgery in the heart of the USA. Come November while I don’t see myself voting for President Obama, one thing for sure, as an independent, I won’t vote for any of the Republican candidates unless it is either Ron Paul or Jon Huntsman, Jr.
It is simply unlikely that either party can hope to win the next election without massive support from the independents. Thus, if the Republican voters are serious about a change in the White House, they better wise up by nominating a candidate that the independent voters won’t mind voting for. Since the next election should also be about the direction the Americans would like their nation to follow in the coming years so as not to hastily embrace the fate of the falling Roman Empire, any urge to go back to the pyrrhic, gung-ho days of Bush would be not only insane, it would be utterly suicidal.
Will the Republican voters take heed as they weed out undesirables like Bachmann?
It is good to see that the Republicans in Iowa had dumped Bachmann, a highly polarizing politician since becoming a congresswoman in 2006. Her biting condemnations of Democrats — and of tax increases, big government, the health care law and government spending — and hawkish and pro-Israeli remarks on international affairs show that she would have been a very poor choice for the White House, let alone a dangerous one, if she was ever elected to the highest office in the country.
The field of (serious) Republican candidates now includes only six candidates. They are Ron Paul, Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, Jon Huntsman, Rick Perry and Newt Gingrich. In spite of spending millions in ad campaigns, Romney barely won over Santorum in the Iowa caucuses, thus once again showing that many Republicans are not comfortable with his Mormon religious faith. His moderate stances on gay rights and abortion also concern conservatives. He remains, however, a Republican Party establishment favorite and has lately been endorsed by Senator John McCain, the Republican presidential candidate who had lost his bid against Obama in 2008. It is believed that he will do a better job in New Hampshire, next to the state of Massachusetts where he once was a governor. With his right-leaning conservative talks, pro-Israeli and warmongering remarks on world affairs, he has been courting support within the grass-root Republicans who make up the majority of voters in these primaries.
After a close second finish in the Iowa caucuses, Rick Santorum, the former senator from Pennsylvania (PA), is immensely energized in his campaign. Before losing to Bob Casey, Jr. in the PA senate race, he was the third-ranking Senate Republican, one of his party’s fastest-rising stars and a brash favorite among social conservative. He had a staunchly conservative voting record in the Senate, and is a hawk on foreign affairs. He is loathed by liberals and independents and has little chance of winning against Obama, if he was to win the Republican ticket. The best he can hope for is a second spot in the Republican ticket, and that seems to be his strategy.
Rick Perry, the longest serving Governor of the state of Texas, once a favorite amongst both social conservatives and the Tea Party movement, especially the Christian evangelicals, had a very poor performance in the Iowa caucuses. He finished fifth. His awful mumblings in the debates have shown that he is not a presidential material. Although initially rumored to quit the race soon after Iowa results, he has decided to continue his bid. With elections coming into the more conservative southern states (the so-called Bible Belt), e.g., in places like South Carolina, he, with strong southern roots, is hoping for a better result that would catapult him to a frontrunner position once again. If he fails to come in the top in the first couple of southern states, it is widely believed that he would drop out of the race.
Newt Gingrich, the former House speaker from Georgia, had a dismal fourth-place finish in the Iowa caucuses. He claimed to be “Romney-voted” (much like how the Democratic candidate John Kerry was ‘Swift-voted’ by Bush Jr. supporters in the 2004 presidential election), with a barrage of negative ads against him from Mitt Romney. Before the Iowa results, he was riding high with a front-runner status. He vowed to continue on to New Hampshire. As I noted elsewhere, he has serious character flaws, and is one of his party’s best-known and most polarizing figures. He is a hypocrite, and acknowledged having an extramarital affair with Callista Bisek, then a House staff member and now his wife, while leading impeachment proceedings against President Bill Clinton for lying about his own sexual transgressions. As we have seen in Iowa, his lack of a well-established association with religious conservatives, and questions about his two divorces, could make him a less favorable candidate amongst some conservative Republicans. With his warmongering mentality, while a chicken-hawk himself, much like Bush Jr., he is a dangerous person to end up in the White House. Even if were to ever succeed in winning his party’s nomination, he has little chance of ever winning the presidential election.
Jon Huntsman, Jr., the former two-term governor from the state of Utah, did not campaign in Iowa and has instead been campaigning strongly in New Hampshire. He has significant foreign policy experience. He speaks Mandarin fluently from his time as a Mormon missionary in Taiwan. He served in diplomatic positions in the two Bush administrations and as ambassador to China under President Obama. On a personal level, he is a moderate on social issues, and immensely popular with many Democrats and independents. With an impressive record overall he could be a formidable contender for a one-to-one race against Obama. However, he is a moderate (and a Mormon), which can hurt his chances winning the Republican ticket in this era of polarization. If he decides later to run as an independent, there is little doubt that he would hurt Obama’s chances of getting reelected badly.
This leaves us with Ron Paul, the senior Congressman from the state of Texas, who has rightly been dubbed as the “intellectual godfather of the Tea Party.” He is a very wise man, a first-rate intellectual, and a good Christian. During his 20 years in Congress, Paul has established himself as an outspoken critic of American foreign and monetary policy, and rightly so. He is widely known for his libertarian positions on a host of political and social issues. He is most popular amongst young voters, especially among college-age voters. Although the Tea Party movement echoes Paul on fiscal issues, some of its Palin-Bachmann like shallow and obtuse folks are very uncomfortable with his so-called isolationist stance on international affairs. Many of these Tea Party conservatives are not on board with his beliefs about scaling back the United States military worldwide. However, outside (probably) Jon Huntsman, Jr., Ron Paul remains the last, best hope for renouncing America’s worst and reclaiming her greatness.
When a patient requires surgery to save it, nothing short of it will do any good. Thanks to the pyrrhic wars started by Bush Jr. and continued by Obama, the USA is now dying! She requires surgery and not a band-aid to save itself. A drastic change is required in the top with fresh new ideas and thinking, and not Obamesque mesmerizing and hypocritical sound-bytes. As I see it, outside Ron Paul and Jon Huntsman, Jr., none of the candidates has what it would take to conduct that necessary life-saving surgery in the heart of the USA. Come November while I don’t see myself voting for President Obama, one thing for sure, as an independent, I won’t vote for any of the Republican candidates unless it is either Ron Paul or Jon Huntsman, Jr.
It is simply unlikely that either party can hope to win the next election without massive support from the independents. Thus, if the Republican voters are serious about a change in the White House, they better wise up by nominating a candidate that the independent voters won’t mind voting for. Since the next election should also be about the direction the Americans would like their nation to follow in the coming years so as not to hastily embrace the fate of the falling Roman Empire, any urge to go back to the pyrrhic, gung-ho days of Bush would be not only insane, it would be utterly suicidal.
Will the Republican voters take heed as they weed out undesirables like Bachmann?
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Character Development by Collective/Public Organizational Activities
STANWOOD COBB was a Harvard educated historian who lived and taught in Istanbul, Turkey nearly a century ago. In 1914 he published a book, based on his experiences in the Orient. In his book “Islamic Contribution to Civilization”, he writes:
“As I moved among the common people I was particularly struck with their serenity and calm at all times. Along the quai of the Bosphorus, for example, one had an opportunity to see the difference in temperament which set the Muslim trader apart from his competitors. While others were always on the watch for customers, shouting loudly and waving as they saw potential patronage, and often jumping out of their boats in order to induce trade, the Muslim sat in lordly calm, waiting in peace for whatever customer Allah willed to send him. Actually, this attitude was more persuasive to us than the hurry-scurry of the Greek and Armenian boatmen, whom we brushed aside in order to reach the boat of a Turk.
This Muslim attitude of immense calm in the midst of the life of commerce was even more noticeable in the Istanbul bazaars. There many of the rug merchants sat in front of their bazaars in order to entice passers-by. But the Turkish rug dealers sat calmly on a platform in the rear of their bazaars, not deigning to move until you had found a rug you were interested in and asked them its price. It was the custom of the Turk to name a price about twenty-five per cent more than normal, and come down to normal in the course of that bargaining which then was an indispensable element of commercial life in the East. On the other hand, it was the custom of many other rug merchants to name to greenhorns a price three or four times greater than normal. American tourists, having been told that one should always bargain, would take delight in bringing the price down to half the original amount demanded and go away proud of their bargaining skill -- not knowing that they had paid in the end twice the normal value.
The Turks were not only honest as merchants, but they were also honest as servants. It was a common saying among the American missionaries that if one by accident lost an article in a Turkish village, nine times out of ten it would be returned. This was hardly true in other Eastern villages. Common pilfering seems to have been stamped out early in the history of Islam by the very stringent rules enforced against it. I was amazed in a Turkish town, to see a haberdashery stall open to the sidewalk left entirely unguarded on a Friday while the proprietor was attending mosque service.”
My speech is about Building Islamic Attitude, Knowledge and Skills, with emphasis on Character Development by Collective/Public Organizational Activities. How to do this?
There is an African idiom: ‘It takes a village to raise a child.’ It is absolutely true. You cannot expect to raise a good child without contribution from every major element within a society. It all starts with the family, the parents. It is no wonder that our Prophet Muhammad (S) said, “A father cannot give his son anything better than refined manners and fine education.” [al-Hakem]
In the classical work “Bahr al-Fava'id” it is written, “Know that the well-being of children is due to their parents, and their perdition is also due to their parents... The Prophet (S) said, "God curse the father whose child is disobedient," that is, may God's curse be upon that father whose sons are disrespectful.” Also:
“It is related in the [Prophetic] Traditions that on the Morrow of Judgment sons will grasp their father's skirts, and wives the skirts of their husbands, saying, "Lord God, they did not teach us the rules of the Law; therefore we are bound for Hell-fire out of ignorance." For people are destined for Paradise through knowledge and for Hell-fire through ignorance.” - [Bahr al-Fava'id]
As we consider educating our Muslims, we must make sure that they understand why they were created by Allah (SWT). The Qur’an says: “Had it not been for My worship, I would not have created Jinn and man.” As we can see, Ibadah or worship in Islam is not limited to prayer alone, but is a 24/7/365 affair. It is meant to raise God-consciousness, so that a person is aware that even if he or she does not see Allah, He sees him/her.
Let me relate a story from Tadhkirat al-Auliya of Farid al-Din Attar (R):
A certain shaykh [Junayd al-Baghdadi (R)] favored one of his disciples over others because of the latter’s God-consciousness. Other disciples obviously were jealous about the Shaykh’s favoritism.
One day to prove the point, the Shaykh gave each disciple a fowl to kill it in a place where no one could see him. All the disciples returned after killing their fowls, except the favored disciple. The shaykh inquired why he had returned with the live fowl.
The disciple replied, “I could not find a place where Allah would not see me.”
His God-consciousness did not allow him to be heedless of Allah’s presence.
The shaykh then told his other disciples: “Now you know this youth’s real rank; he has attained to the constant remembrance of Allah.” [Devotional Stories: H. Siddiqui]
Our Prophet Muhammad (S) said, “Avoiding sinful acts is the mother of worship (Ummul ibadat).” [Al-Munabbihat]
Knowledge is essential for character building. A Tradition says: it is only the erudite ones who can truly worship Allah in the right way. Imam Abu Hanifa (R) said, “Worshipping without knowledge is like building on dung.” [Islamic Wisdom: Habib Siddiqui]
Muhammad said, “An 'Aalim (learned person) is superior to a worshipper as the full moon is superior to all the stars. The ulama (scholars) are heirs of the prophets and the prophets do not leave any inheritance in the shape of dirhams and dinars (wealth), but they do leave knowledge as their legacy. As such a person who acquires knowledge acquires his full share.” [Abu Dawud and Tirmizi: Abu Darda (RA)]
Hassan al-Basri (R) said, “The ink of a scholar is holier than the blood of a martyr.” [Kashf al-Khafa’: Al-Khatib al-Baghdadi (R)]
It is this importance of knowledge which made the Muslim Arabs, the followers of Muhammad (S), to become the torchbearers or vanguards of knowledge in an age of darkness radiating light in all directions. They created an Islamic civilization, driven by inquiry and invention, which was to become the envy of the rest of the world for nearly a millennium.
It is this spirit, the unquenched thirst for knowledge, which made Abu Rayhan al-Biruni to ask a question on inheritance law or some other related issue while he was lying on his deathbed. (Abu Rayhan al-Biruni was a great scientist, physicist, astronomer, sociologist, linguist, historian and mathematician whose true worth may never be known. He is considered the father of unified field theory by Nobel Laureate - late Professor Abdus Salam. He lived nearly a thousand years ago and was a contemporary of Ibn Sina (Avicenna) and Sultan Mahmoud of Ghazni.)
The jurisprudent was quite amazed that a dying man should show interest in such matters.
Abu Rayhan said, “I should like to ask you: which is better, to die with knowledge or to die without it?”
The man said, “Of course, it is better to know and then die.”
Abu Rayhan said, “That is why I asked my first question.”
Shortly after the jurisprudent had reached his home, the cries of lamentation told him that Abu Rayhan had died. (Murtaza Motahari: Spiritual Discourses)
Unfortunately, the same Islam that was responsible for founding the groundwork for Islamic Civilization, which was to initiate the European Renaissance, is now looked upon as a regressive force in today’s world. By many of our own so-called Muslims, Islam is not looked upon as a comprehensive way of life. By vast majority of our people, Islam, like Christianity, is viewed as a casual thing – a Friday affair that is limited to prayer (salat), fasting (saum), zakat and performing hajj (but the spirit is missing). Islam is often mixed with local non-Islamic culture (identity crisis).
The Muslim world is now a backward nation that is behind every other nation in every human index. It has, sadly, become a society that is at ease with crimes and corruption. Most of its governments are corrupt. Worse yet, they are often repressive governments, which are at war with their own people. They have created a society of sycophants or clients, and not of meritocracy where competency rules. The end result is a Muslim world of zeros!
As to how to build Islamic attitude, knowledge and skills, with emphasis on character development by collective/public organizational activities, let me share something that may help. Here in the USA and Canada, the Muslim Students Association (MSA) has been --
- organizing Jum’aa prayer in US and Canada University campuses
- organizing daily prayers in musallas near the campus
- organizing weekly halaqa
- discussing Qur’an and Sunnah
- discussing issues of relevance
- promoting a Muslim identity in a non-Muslim country
- teaching etiquette and manners
- listening to stories from those who converted to Islam
- encouraging group activities that foster brotherhood
- going together and performing community service
- show that Muslims are people who care about others
This type of activities has allowed many Muslims – indigenous and immigrants alike -- to become role models for the society at large. No wonder, their interaction with the local community has helped to curb negative stereotypes against Islam and Muslims.
I believe that our young students here in IIUC can draw some inspirations from these foreign Muslims who are living outside Dar-as-Islam.
Our Prophet (S) said, “As you are, so will you have your leaders.”
My hope is that one day each one of our Muslim nation states will have representative leadership that is honest, just and mindful of their obligations, i.e., enlightened and benevolent leadership that promote meritocracy and competence. And that in not too distant a future, we shall be able to reclaim our lost heritage and become once again the torchbearers of progress and enlightenment in our world that still needs a life-saving deen. And Islam is that deen!
[Speech given at IICU, December 22, 2011]
“As I moved among the common people I was particularly struck with their serenity and calm at all times. Along the quai of the Bosphorus, for example, one had an opportunity to see the difference in temperament which set the Muslim trader apart from his competitors. While others were always on the watch for customers, shouting loudly and waving as they saw potential patronage, and often jumping out of their boats in order to induce trade, the Muslim sat in lordly calm, waiting in peace for whatever customer Allah willed to send him. Actually, this attitude was more persuasive to us than the hurry-scurry of the Greek and Armenian boatmen, whom we brushed aside in order to reach the boat of a Turk.
This Muslim attitude of immense calm in the midst of the life of commerce was even more noticeable in the Istanbul bazaars. There many of the rug merchants sat in front of their bazaars in order to entice passers-by. But the Turkish rug dealers sat calmly on a platform in the rear of their bazaars, not deigning to move until you had found a rug you were interested in and asked them its price. It was the custom of the Turk to name a price about twenty-five per cent more than normal, and come down to normal in the course of that bargaining which then was an indispensable element of commercial life in the East. On the other hand, it was the custom of many other rug merchants to name to greenhorns a price three or four times greater than normal. American tourists, having been told that one should always bargain, would take delight in bringing the price down to half the original amount demanded and go away proud of their bargaining skill -- not knowing that they had paid in the end twice the normal value.
The Turks were not only honest as merchants, but they were also honest as servants. It was a common saying among the American missionaries that if one by accident lost an article in a Turkish village, nine times out of ten it would be returned. This was hardly true in other Eastern villages. Common pilfering seems to have been stamped out early in the history of Islam by the very stringent rules enforced against it. I was amazed in a Turkish town, to see a haberdashery stall open to the sidewalk left entirely unguarded on a Friday while the proprietor was attending mosque service.”
My speech is about Building Islamic Attitude, Knowledge and Skills, with emphasis on Character Development by Collective/Public Organizational Activities. How to do this?
There is an African idiom: ‘It takes a village to raise a child.’ It is absolutely true. You cannot expect to raise a good child without contribution from every major element within a society. It all starts with the family, the parents. It is no wonder that our Prophet Muhammad (S) said, “A father cannot give his son anything better than refined manners and fine education.” [al-Hakem]
In the classical work “Bahr al-Fava'id” it is written, “Know that the well-being of children is due to their parents, and their perdition is also due to their parents... The Prophet (S) said, "God curse the father whose child is disobedient," that is, may God's curse be upon that father whose sons are disrespectful.” Also:
“It is related in the [Prophetic] Traditions that on the Morrow of Judgment sons will grasp their father's skirts, and wives the skirts of their husbands, saying, "Lord God, they did not teach us the rules of the Law; therefore we are bound for Hell-fire out of ignorance." For people are destined for Paradise through knowledge and for Hell-fire through ignorance.” - [Bahr al-Fava'id]
As we consider educating our Muslims, we must make sure that they understand why they were created by Allah (SWT). The Qur’an says: “Had it not been for My worship, I would not have created Jinn and man.” As we can see, Ibadah or worship in Islam is not limited to prayer alone, but is a 24/7/365 affair. It is meant to raise God-consciousness, so that a person is aware that even if he or she does not see Allah, He sees him/her.
Let me relate a story from Tadhkirat al-Auliya of Farid al-Din Attar (R):
A certain shaykh [Junayd al-Baghdadi (R)] favored one of his disciples over others because of the latter’s God-consciousness. Other disciples obviously were jealous about the Shaykh’s favoritism.
One day to prove the point, the Shaykh gave each disciple a fowl to kill it in a place where no one could see him. All the disciples returned after killing their fowls, except the favored disciple. The shaykh inquired why he had returned with the live fowl.
The disciple replied, “I could not find a place where Allah would not see me.”
His God-consciousness did not allow him to be heedless of Allah’s presence.
The shaykh then told his other disciples: “Now you know this youth’s real rank; he has attained to the constant remembrance of Allah.” [Devotional Stories: H. Siddiqui]
Our Prophet Muhammad (S) said, “Avoiding sinful acts is the mother of worship (Ummul ibadat).” [Al-Munabbihat]
Knowledge is essential for character building. A Tradition says: it is only the erudite ones who can truly worship Allah in the right way. Imam Abu Hanifa (R) said, “Worshipping without knowledge is like building on dung.” [Islamic Wisdom: Habib Siddiqui]
Muhammad said, “An 'Aalim (learned person) is superior to a worshipper as the full moon is superior to all the stars. The ulama (scholars) are heirs of the prophets and the prophets do not leave any inheritance in the shape of dirhams and dinars (wealth), but they do leave knowledge as their legacy. As such a person who acquires knowledge acquires his full share.” [Abu Dawud and Tirmizi: Abu Darda (RA)]
Hassan al-Basri (R) said, “The ink of a scholar is holier than the blood of a martyr.” [Kashf al-Khafa’: Al-Khatib al-Baghdadi (R)]
It is this importance of knowledge which made the Muslim Arabs, the followers of Muhammad (S), to become the torchbearers or vanguards of knowledge in an age of darkness radiating light in all directions. They created an Islamic civilization, driven by inquiry and invention, which was to become the envy of the rest of the world for nearly a millennium.
It is this spirit, the unquenched thirst for knowledge, which made Abu Rayhan al-Biruni to ask a question on inheritance law or some other related issue while he was lying on his deathbed. (Abu Rayhan al-Biruni was a great scientist, physicist, astronomer, sociologist, linguist, historian and mathematician whose true worth may never be known. He is considered the father of unified field theory by Nobel Laureate - late Professor Abdus Salam. He lived nearly a thousand years ago and was a contemporary of Ibn Sina (Avicenna) and Sultan Mahmoud of Ghazni.)
The jurisprudent was quite amazed that a dying man should show interest in such matters.
Abu Rayhan said, “I should like to ask you: which is better, to die with knowledge or to die without it?”
The man said, “Of course, it is better to know and then die.”
Abu Rayhan said, “That is why I asked my first question.”
Shortly after the jurisprudent had reached his home, the cries of lamentation told him that Abu Rayhan had died. (Murtaza Motahari: Spiritual Discourses)
Unfortunately, the same Islam that was responsible for founding the groundwork for Islamic Civilization, which was to initiate the European Renaissance, is now looked upon as a regressive force in today’s world. By many of our own so-called Muslims, Islam is not looked upon as a comprehensive way of life. By vast majority of our people, Islam, like Christianity, is viewed as a casual thing – a Friday affair that is limited to prayer (salat), fasting (saum), zakat and performing hajj (but the spirit is missing). Islam is often mixed with local non-Islamic culture (identity crisis).
The Muslim world is now a backward nation that is behind every other nation in every human index. It has, sadly, become a society that is at ease with crimes and corruption. Most of its governments are corrupt. Worse yet, they are often repressive governments, which are at war with their own people. They have created a society of sycophants or clients, and not of meritocracy where competency rules. The end result is a Muslim world of zeros!
As to how to build Islamic attitude, knowledge and skills, with emphasis on character development by collective/public organizational activities, let me share something that may help. Here in the USA and Canada, the Muslim Students Association (MSA) has been --
- organizing Jum’aa prayer in US and Canada University campuses
- organizing daily prayers in musallas near the campus
- organizing weekly halaqa
- discussing Qur’an and Sunnah
- discussing issues of relevance
- promoting a Muslim identity in a non-Muslim country
- teaching etiquette and manners
- listening to stories from those who converted to Islam
- encouraging group activities that foster brotherhood
- going together and performing community service
- show that Muslims are people who care about others
This type of activities has allowed many Muslims – indigenous and immigrants alike -- to become role models for the society at large. No wonder, their interaction with the local community has helped to curb negative stereotypes against Islam and Muslims.
I believe that our young students here in IIUC can draw some inspirations from these foreign Muslims who are living outside Dar-as-Islam.
Our Prophet (S) said, “As you are, so will you have your leaders.”
My hope is that one day each one of our Muslim nation states will have representative leadership that is honest, just and mindful of their obligations, i.e., enlightened and benevolent leadership that promote meritocracy and competence. And that in not too distant a future, we shall be able to reclaim our lost heritage and become once again the torchbearers of progress and enlightenment in our world that still needs a life-saving deen. And Islam is that deen!
[Speech given at IICU, December 22, 2011]
Monday, December 19, 2011
How to Build Islamic Attitude, Knowledge and Skills?
THE seventh century which saw the rise of Islam also saw Christian Europe enter the Dark Ages. In the western Europe the invading Goths had almost obliterated the culture and technology of the Romans. In the Eastern Roman Empire, centering in Constantinople, the Church had all but suppressed Greek science and philosophy. India was languishing in a period of stagnation; and China, while blossoming richly in the arts, was almost wholly devoid of science.
It was during this period of decline and stagnation that Muslim Arabs, the followers of Muhammad (S), became the torchbearers or vanguards of knowledge in our world. They created an Islamic civilization, driven by inquiry and invention, which was to become the envy of the rest of the world for nearly a millennium.
It is this spirit, the unquenched thirst for knowledge, which made Abu Rayhan al-Biruni to ask a question on inheritance law or some other related issue while he was lying on his deathbed. (Abu Rayhan al-Biruni was a great scientist, physicist, astronomer, sociologist, linguist, historian and mathematician whose true worth may never be known. He is considered the father of unified field theory by Nobel Laureate - late Professor Abdus Salam. He lived nearly a thousand years ago and was a contemporary of Ibn Sina (Avicenna) and Sultan Mahmoud of Ghazni.)
The jurisprudent was quite amazed that a dying man should show interest in such matters.
Abu Rayhan said, “I should like to ask you: which is better, to die with knowledge or to die without it?”
The man said, “Of course, it is better to know and then die.”
Abu Rayhan said, “That is why I asked my first question.”
Shortly after the jurisprudent had reached his home, the cries of lamentation told him that Abu Rayhan had died. (Murtaza Motahari: Spiritual Discourses)
Speaking about the Islamic civilization, Carli Fiorina, the former (highly talented and visionary) CEO of Hewlett Packard, said, “Its architects designed buildings that defied gravity. Its mathematicians created the algebra and algorithms that would enable the building of computers, and the creation of encryption. Its doctors examined the human body, and found new cures for disease. Its astronomers looked into the heavens, named the stars, and paved the way for space travel and exploration. Its writers created thousands of stories; stories of courage, romance and magic. When other nations were afraid of ideas, this civilization thrived on them, and kept them alive. When censors threatened to wipe out knowledge from past civilizations, this civilization kept the knowledge alive, and passed it on to others. While modern Western civilization shares many of these traits, the civilization I'm talking about was the Islamic world from the year 800 to 1600, which included the Ottoman Empire and the courts of Baghdad, Damascus and Cairo, and enlightened rulers like Suleiman the Magnificent. Although we are often unaware of our indebtedness to this other civilization, its gifts are very much a part of our heritage. The technology industry would not exist without the contributions of Arab mathematicians.”
Truly, there is a hardly a field that is not indebted to these pioneering children of Islam. Here below is a short list (by no means a comprehensive one) of Muslim scientists from the 8th to the 14th century CE:
• 701 (died) C.E. - Khalid Ibn Yazeed - Alchemy
• 721-803 - Jabir Ibn Haiyan (Geber) - Alchemy (Great Muslim Alchemist)
• 740 - Al-Asma’i - Zoology, Botany, Animal Husbandry
• 780 - Al-Khwarizmi (Algorizm) – Mathematics (Algebra, Calculus) - Astronomy
• 776-868 - ‘Amr ibn Bahr al-Jajiz – Zoology
• 787 - Al Balkhi, Ja'far Ibn Muhammas (Albumasar) - Astronomy
• 796 (died) - Al-Fazari, Ibrahim Ibn Habib - Astronomy
• 800 - Ibn Ishaq Al-Kindi - (Alkindus) – Medicine, Philosophy, Physics, Optics
• 815 - Al-Dinawari, Abu-Hanifa Ahmed Ibn Dawood - Mathematics, Linguistics
• 816 - Al Balkhi – Geography (World Map)
• 836 - Thabit Ibn Qurrah (Thebit) - Astronomy, Mechanics, Geometry, Anatomy
• 838-870 - Ali Ibn Rabban Al-Tabari - Medicine, Mathematics
• 852 - Al Battani Abu Abdillah - Mathematics, Astronomy, Engineering
• 857 - Ibn Masawaih You'hanna-Medicine
• 858-929 - Abu Abdullah Al-Battani (Albategnius) - Astronomy, Mathematics
• 860 - Al-Farghani, Abu al-`Abbas (Al-Fraganus) - Astronomy, Civil Engineering
• 864-930 - Al-Razi (Rhazes) - Medicine, Ophthalmology, Chemistry
• 873 (died) - Al-Kindi – Physics, Optics, Metallurgy, Oceanography, Philosophy
• 888 (died) – ‘Abbas ibn Firnas – Mechanics, Planetarium, Artificial Crystals
• 900 (died) - Abu Hamed Al-ustrulabi - Astronomy
• 903-986 - Al-Sufi (Azophi) - Astronomy
• 908 - Thabit Ibn Qurrah-Medicine, Engineering
• 912 (died) - Al-Tamimi Muhammad Ibn Amyal (Attmimi) - Alchemy
• 923 (died) - Al-Nirizi, AlFadl Ibn Ahmed (Altibrizi) - Mathematics, Astronomy
• 930 - Ibn Miskawayh, Ahmed Abu-Ali-Medicine, Alchemy
• 932 - Ahmed Al-Tabari - Medicine
• 934 - al Istakhr II – Geography (World Map)
• 936-1013 - Abu Al-Qasim Al-Zahravi (Albucasis) - Surgery, Medicine
• 940-997 – Abu Wafa Muhammad Al-Buzjani - Mathematics, Astronomy, Geometry
• 943 - Ibn Hawqal – Geography (World Map)
• 950 - Al Majrett'ti Abu-al Qasim - Astronomy, Alchemy, Mathematics
• 958 (died) – Abul Hasan Ali al-Mas’udi – Geography, History
• 960 (died) - Ibn Wahshiyh, Abu Baker - Alchemy, Botany
• 965-1040 - Ibn Al-Haitham (Alhazen) - Physics, Optics, Mathematics
• 973-1048 - Abu Rayhan Al-Biruni - Astronomy, Mathematics, History, Linguistics
• 976 - Ibn Abil Ashath - Medicine
• 980-1037 - Ibn Sina (Avicenna) - Medicine, Philosophy, Mathematics, Astronomy
• 983 - Ikhwan A-Safa (Assafa) - (Group of Muslim Scientists)
• 1001 - Ibn Wardi – Geography (World Map)
• 1008 (died) - Ibn Yunus - Astronomy, Mathematics
• 1019 - Al-Hasib Alkarji - Mathematics
• 1029-1087 - Al-Zarqali (Arzachel) - Astronomy (Invented Astrolabe)
• 1044 - Omar Al-Khayyam - Mathematics, Astronomy, Poetry
• 1060 (died) - Ali Ibn Ridwan Abu'Hassan Ali - Medicine
• 1077 - Ibn Abi-Sadia Abul Qasim - Medicine
• 1090-1161 - Ibn Zuhr (Avenzoar) - Surgery, Medicine
• 1095 - Ibn Bajah, Mohammed Ibn Yahya (Avenpace) - Astronomy, Medicine
• 1097 - Ibn Al-Baitar Diauddin (Bitar) - Botany, Medicine, Pharmacology
• 1099 - Al-Idrisi (Dreses) - Geography, Zoology, World Map (First Globe)
• 1110-1185 - Ibn Tufayl, Abubacer Al-Qaysi - Philosophy, Medicine
• 1120 (died) -Al-Tuhra-ee, Al-Husain Ibn Ali - Alchemy, Poem
• 1128 - Ibn Rushd (Averroe's) - Philosophy, Medicine, Astronomy
• 1135 - Ibn Maymun, Musa (Maimonides) - Medicine, Philosophy
• 1140 - Al-Badee Al-Ustralabi - Astronomy, Mathematics
• 1155 (died) - Abdel-al Rahman Al Khazin-Astronomy
• 1162 - Al Baghdadi, Abdel-Lateef Muwaffaq - Medicine, Geography
• 1165 - Ibn A-Rumiyyah Abul'Abbas (Annabati) - Botany
• 1173 - Rasheed Al-Deen Al-Suri - Botany
• 1180 - Al-Samawal - Algebra
• 1184 - Al-Tifashi, Shihabud-Deen (Attifashi) - Metallurgy, Stones
• 1201-1274 - Nasir Al-Din Al-Tusi - Astronomy, Non-Euclidean Geometry
• 1203 - Ibn Abi-Usaibi'ah, Muwaffaq Al-Din - Medicine
• 1204 (died) - Al-Bitruji (Alpetragius) - Astronomy
• 1213-1288 - Ibn Al-Nafis Damishqui - Anatomy
• 1236 - Kutb Aldeen Al-Shirazi - Astronomy, Geography
• 1248 (died) - Ibn Al-Baitar - Pharmacy, Botany
• 1258 - Ibn Al-Banna (Al Murrakishi), Azdi - Medicine, Mathematics
• 1262 (died) - Al-Hassan Al-Murarakishi - Mathematics, Astronomy, Geography
• 1270 - Abu al-Fath Abd al-Rahman al-Khazini – Physics, Astronomy
• 1273-1331 - Al-Fida (Abdulfeda) - Astronomy, Geography
• 1306 - Ibn Al-Shater Al Dimashqi - Astronomy, Mathematics
• 1320 (died)-Al Farisi Kamalud-deen Abul-Hassan - Astronomy, Physics
• 1341 (died) - Al-Jildaki, Muhammad Ibn Aidamer - Alchemy
• 1351 - Ibn Al-Majdi, Abu Abbas Ibn Tanbugha - Mathematics, Astronomy
• 1359 - Ibn Al-Magdi, Shihab-Udden Ibn Tanbugha - Mathematic, Astronomy
• 1375 (died) - Ibn Shatir – Astronomy
• 1393-1449 – Ulugh Beg – Astronomy
• 1424 - Ghiyath al-Din al Kashani – Numerical Analysis, Computation
(References: Hamed Abdel-Reheem Ead, Professor of Chemistry at Faculty of Science, University of Cairo Giza-Egypt and Director of Science Heritage Center, http://www.frcu.eun.eg/www/universities/html/shc/index.htm; See also the books: 100 Muslim Scientists by Abdur Rahman Sharif, Al-Khoui Pub., N.Y; Muslim Contribution to Science by Muhammad R. Mirza and Muhammad Iqbal Siddiqi, Chicago: Kazi Publications, 1986.)
With such a train of Muslim scholars, it is not difficult to understand why George Sarton said, "The main task of mankind was accomplished by Muslims. The greatest philosopher Al-Farabi was a Muslim; the greatest mathematicians Abul Kamil and Ibrahim Ibn Sinan were Muslims; the greatest geographer and encyclopaedist Al-Masudi was a Muslim; the greatest historian, Al-Tabari was still a Muslim." The Oxford History of Technology sums it up as follows: "There are few major technological innovations between 500 A.D. and 1500 that do not show some traces of the Islamic culture."
History before Islam was a jumble of conjectures, myths and rumors. It was left to the Muslim historians who introduced for the first time the method of matn and sanad tracing the authenticity and integrity of the transmitted reports back to eyewitness accounts. According to the historian Henry Thomas Buckle ‘this practice was not adopted in Europe before 1597 AD.’ Another method: that of historical research and criticism - originated with the celebrated historian Ibn Khaldun. The author of Kashfuz Zunun gives a list of 1300 history books written in Arabic during the first few centuries of Islam. That is no small contribution!
The rise of Muslim rule was dramatic. So also was its decline to the point where in 1492 the Caliph Abdullah abandoned Granada to the conquering Spaniards, "weeping like a woman for what he could not defend like a man."
For the next five centuries while the Islamic civilization declined – politically, economically, socially and culturally, it set all Christendom aglow. Thus, while it has been a dawning of Christian West, it has been a period of doom and gloom for Muslims. It is no wonder that Muslims have become a nation of zeros. When’s the last time you have heard of a Muslim winning the Nobel Prize in science or medicine? How about scientific publications? Unfortunately, you won’t find too many Muslim names in scientific and engineering journals either. Why such a paucity? What excuses do we have?
Some years ago a published UN report on Arab development noted that the Arab world comprising of 22 countries had translated about 330 books annually. That is a pitiful number, only a fifth of the number of the books that (tiny) Greece (alone) translates in a year! (Spain translates an average of 100,000 books annually.) Why such an allergy or aversion from those whose forefathers did not mind translating older works successfully to regain the heritage of antiquity, analyzing, collating, correcting and supplementing substantially the material that was beneficial to mankind? Why is the literacy rate low among Muslims when the first revealed message in the Qur’an is ‘Iqra (meaning: Read)?
How do we get out of this predicament?
Solutions to our present-day predicament:
We must look into our past to search for solutions to our current predicament. How did those desert Arabs of Muhammad’s (S) time, one of the most unlettered people on earth, technologically far inferior to their counterparts in Persia and Byzantine, once become the proud ancestors of Islamic civilization dominating for centuries half the known world? What characteristics defined them? What attitudes did they have? What did they learn and what skills did they acquire?
Before Islam, these desert Arabs were the ignored bunch in history left to live a life of ignominy. The cultural transformation in those desert Arabs was brought about by one man – the most remarkable figure in history - Muhammad (S), the Prophet of Islam. The first word of his prophecy was – Iqra. As he preached pure monotheism in Allah, breaking all artificial barriers between men, he taught his people religious ethics and morality -- to shun falsehood, to be just, to do what is virtuous (ma’ruf) and forbid what is evil (munqar). He taught them accountability for their deeds. He taught them how to live a wholesome noble life, and how to die nobly. Thus, like a good teacher, he molded their character.
The influence of the religion which Muhammad (S) preached to his people did not diminish after his death in 612 CE (11 A.H). On the contrary, it increased year by year through the Qur’an, the sacred book of Islam. Though caliphs came and went, though military commanders were capable or inept, the power of the Qur’an kept the Muslims true to their course and maintained that spirit of unity for which Muhammad (S) had laid the foundations. Racial energies which had been wasted in internecine warfare were turned into channels which led to prosperity and progress.
As the Islamic empire expanded, conquering newer territories, the Muslim rulers offered better social and economic conditions than those which prevailed. In accordance with the teachings of Muhammad (S), the armies of Islam were careful to abuse neither the countryside nor its inhabitants. In fact, the orders later given by the Caliphs Abu Bakr and Ali (RA) regarding merciful treatment of non-combatants were the first humanitarian steps taken in the history of warfare. Arab rule introduced a more stable situation than any previously known in the Middle East. The condition of the peasants was improved by means of new and more democratic land division and less stringent taxation. Many of the conquered peoples enlisted in the armies of Islam, becoming even Muslims to further advance their social standing. Within a few decades from the death of its Prophet (S), the Arab nation ruled from the gates of India to the Straits of Gibraltar. [6]
As noted by historian Stanwood Cobb, this seeming miracle was the result of various factors, some of which have already been discussed. ‘But more than anything else, it was due to the religious zeal which possessed the Muslims.’
The dawn of Islamic culture and technology broke first in the newly founded city of Baghdad, which became the model of an urban civilization that began to spread throughout the Muslim world. Its location on the banks of the Tigris was ideal for Islam's capital city. Profiting by the peace and protection of Islam, merchants traveled safely between India and Egypt, making Baghdad an unrivaled commercial hub. The city grew rapidly. A new and wealthy class of merchants, some of whom attained huge fortunes, came into existence. Their prosperity soon seeped down to even the humblest citizens. The "Kadi", or judge, was available to the lowliest citizen, as in fact even the caliph was at times. A new taxation system, more equitable than that under Roman rule, helped to stabilize the economy. A general exuberance and atmosphere of adventure pervaded the life of Baghdad, which soon came to be known as the land of opportunity, much like what is today promoted in places like the New York City. It was a city that integrated people of all races, creating synergy for greater good for all. Its caliphs were zealous patrons of education and invited scholars from all parts of the world. ‘Persians, Greeks and Armenians jostled elbows with Arabs. Christians and Jews were as welcome as Muslims. These scholars were kept busy translating and codifying works of science from the Greek and Aramaic languages. Their emoluments were generous and their prestige great.’ [6]
Baghdad became the focal center of the world's learning. Its caliphs built modern universities, attracting the most brilliant minds, who would later become the Steve Jobs and Bill Gates of that Islamic civilization. They erected observatories, thus enabling Muslim mathematicians to correctly estimate the circumference of the globe as 25,000 miles. As these Muslim scientists and engineers resurrected the forgotten or neglected sciences, they also expanded them.
Those caliphs were a perfect example of practicability. Their zeal for abstract learning did not lessen their concern for the welfare of the humble peasant, the "man with the hoe", upon whose shoulders has always rested fundamentally the burden of civilization. For they fully realized the importance of the soil and its tillage both as a source of state income and as a means of prosperity and happiness to the masses. Scientific horticulture became a flourishing and progressive practice in all the Muslim caliphates. The whole known world was scoured for new varieties of plants, and the art of irrigation was intelligently utilized to increase production.
In the words of Stanwood Cobb, “Prosperity and culture were not peculiar to the wealthy class alone. For this rapidly growing Islamic civilization was built upon the broad foundations of the welfare of the common people, in accordance with the precepts of the Islamic brotherhood founded by Muhammad (S), upheld by the Koran [Qur’an], and practiced by all the early caliphs. Probably never in previous centuries had the well-being of the masses been so deeply and intelligently considered as it was in all these Islamic caliphates. The new socio-economic pattern in religious and political life gave a dynamic unity to all phases of Muslim activity. The extraordinary rise of the Arabic-Islamic culture cannot be viewed separately from this factor of unity which, beginning on the spiritual plane, reached down to dominate all aspects of secular life.” He continues, “All of these factors combined to create a seemingly more harmonious and universally prosperous economic pattern than had existed before the coming of Islam. A proof of the satisfactory condition of the masses during the first few centuries of Islamic rule is that practically all of the Middle East and Persia, ninety percent of the population of Christian Egypt, and all the peoples of North Africa became Muslims. This they did of their own choice, for conversion was never forced upon the conquered.”
The cultural progress of Baghdad was copied into all other major Muslim cities. In all these Islamic centers libraries and universities were founded, and schools for the common people were established. Learning and scholarship were highly honored. The new common language enabled scholars to move from court to court in search of career opportunities. Thus a constant exchange of ideas stimulated the focal centers of Muslim culture; scientific advances and discoveries were quickly spread from caliphate to caliphate.
The end result was a glorious Islamic civilization that we are so proud of. Throughout the Islamic Empire education, art and science were unified by a common faith, a common language and common customs. Muslim scholars could travel freely between Bukhara and Xinjiang in the east to Cordova in the west. The extent of this Islamic civilization, as well as the progress and achievements of its component parts proved an inspiration to Muslim scholarship and creative arts.
As Baghdad had been the first of many such Islamic centers to arise in glory, so it was the first to fall into that decay. As in the case of Rome, the corruptions of luxury and the selfish grasping of power by rival political elements contributed to her decline. The justice which had characterized the rule of the early caliphs yielded to an inequitable system of taxation and to corrupt government.
As we search answers to our predicament, so must we retrace our roots and dig those values that were responsible for our glorious past and discard or weed out all those that are harmful. History can again make us wise if we know how to read its truths. If we are to learn from Arnold Toynbee [7], here are some lessons from the Islamic civilization:
1. Peace is a necessity for cultural advance.
2. The prosperity of all peoples springs from the soil. Thus, serious attention must be given to agriculture.
3. The spirit of élan or confidence (the ‘can do’ attitude) under which science can flourish. It is always in periods of enthusiasm and zeal that civilization advances most rapidly.
4. Devotion of the people to a common language and religion.
5. Lastly, the establishment of civilizations requires unifying forces. The more unifying the force, the more stable the civilization.
----=----
So where shall we start? What is our game plan? In the following I propose 3 items for transforming our pathetic state.
1. Seeking knowledge
The main reason behind the success of early Muslims rested in their seeking knowledge where it was evident and also from places where it was hidden. In this regard, the attitude that they instilled was a never satiated thirst, which followed the Prophetic Traditions: “A Muslim is never satiated in his quest for good (knowledge) till it ends in paradise.” [Tirmizi: narrated by Abu Sa'eed al-Khudri (RA)] “One who treads a path in search of knowledge has his path to Paradise made easy by Allah thereby.” [Muslim: Abu Hurayrah (RA)] “To seek knowledge for one hour at night is better than keeping it (night) awake.” [Darimi: Abdullah ibn Abbas (RA)]
They did not shy away from translating and learning from others in the best of the Prophetic Traditions: “The word of wisdom is [like] the lost property of a wise man. So wherever he finds it, he is entitled to it.” [Tirmizi: Abu Hurayrah (RA)]
When others were hesitant to do experiments to check their hypotheses, they courageously filled the vacuum. In that they were true to the Prophetic dictate: “Knowledge is a treasure house whose keys are queries.” [Mishkat and Abu Na’im: Ali (RA)]
At a personal level, all Muslims must act upon the celebrated hadith of our Prophet Muhammad (S): “The search of knowledge is an obligation laid on every Muslim.” [1]
He (S) also said, “A learned person is superior to a worshipper as the full moon is superior to all the stars. The scholars are heirs of the prophets and the prophets do not leave any inheritance in the shape of dirhams and dinars, but they do leave knowledge as their legacy. As such a person who acquires knowledge acquires his full share.” [Abu Dawud and Tirmizi] [2]
Sadly, today’s Muslims seek wealth more than they know how to even spend it. In spite of all the wealth that Allah (SWT) has bestowed on us, we have failed to create a single respectable institution of higher learning. Ali (RA) was once asked what was better: wealth or knowledge. He said, “Knowledge is superior to wealth for ten reasons:
• (i) Knowledge is the legacy of the prophets. Wealth is the inheritance of the Pharaohs. Therefore, knowledge is better than wealth.
• (ii) You are to guard your wealth but knowledge guards you. So knowledge is better.
• (iii) A man of wealth has many enemies while a man of knowledge has many friends. Hence knowledge is better.
• (iv) Knowledge is better because it increases with distribution, while wealth decreases by that act.
• (v) Knowledge is better because a learned man is apt to be generous while a wealthy person is apt to be miserly.
• (vi) Knowledge is better because it cannot be stolen while wealth can be stolen.
• (vii) Knowledge is better because time cannot harm knowledge, but wealth rusts in course of time and wears away.
• (viii) Knowledge is better because it is boundless while wealth is limited and you can keep account of it.
• (ix) Knowledge is better because it illuminates the mind while wealth is apt to blacken it.
• (x) Knowledge is better because knowledge induced the humanity in our Prophet to say to Allah, "We worship Thee as we are Your servant," while wealth engendered in Pharaoh and Nimrod the vanity which made them claim Godhead.” [3]
What wisdom! Yet today our people are dispassionate about seeking knowledge. Why? Do they know what Imam Ibn Hazm (R) - the great Spanish Muslim theologian, jurist and poet - said? He said, “If knowledge had no other merit than to make the ignorant fear and respect you, and scholars love and honor you, this would be good enough reason to seek after it… If ignorance had no other fault than to make the ignorant man jealous of knowledgeable men and jubilant at seeing more people like himself, this by itself would be reason enough to oblige us to feel it… If knowledge and the action of devoting oneself to it had no purpose except to free the man who seeks it from the exhausting anxieties and many worries which afflict the mind, that alone would certainly be enough to drive us to seek knowledge.” [4]
I only wish that his remarks would wake our people to seeking and mastering knowledge.
Muslims should also ponder over the statement made by Mu’adh ibn Jabal (RA): “Acquire knowledge for the pleasure of Allah, for learning engenders piety, reverence for one’s Lord and fear of wrongdoing. Seeking knowledge for Allah’s pleasure is an act of worship, studying it is a celebration of God’s glory (lit. Zikr), searching for it is a rewarding struggle (lit. Jihad), teaching it to someone who realizes its worth is a charity (lit. Sadaqa), and applying it in one’s home strengthens family unity and kinship. … Knowledge is a comforting friend in times of loneliness. It is the best companion to a traveler. It is the innermost friend who speaks to you in your privacy. Knowledge is your most effective sword against your foe, and finally, it is your most dignifying raiment in the company of your close comrades.” [Hilyat’ul Awliya Wa Tabaqat’ul Asfiya]
Similarly, Sharafuddin Maneri (R) said, “Knowledge is the fountainhead of all happiness, just as ignorance is the starting point of all wretchedness. Salvation comes from knowledge, destruction from ignorance.” [Maktubat-i Sadi]
The next question we must ask is – what kind of knowledge should we seek? Is it only science/ engineering/ medicine/ technology – in which we lag badly? Or, is it in the area of social sciences? What kinds of skills should we develop? Is it desirable to have a brilliant and yet a Godless psychopath behind a nuclear button? I fear not. We must ensure that our educational system allows for grooming of a conscious human being first before turning him/her into a scientific genius. Scientific discoveries and technological breakthroughs must be dictated by Islamic ethics and morality.
As such, we must ensure that our children are raised properly and that they learn from role models of piety, honesty, self-sacrifice and generosity.
2. Quality of leadership and Government patronage:
The quality of leadership on the top matters. In the early days of Islam, Muslim rulers were not only the great patrons of learning they were great scholars themselves. They surrounded themselves with learned men: philosophers, legal experts, traditionalists, theologians, lexicographers, annalists, poets, mathematicians, scientists, engineers, architects and doctors. Scholars held high ranks in their courts.
We must ensure that we have responsive governments that are honest, just and mindful of their obligations, and are held accountable for their deeds. They must ensure good governance, safety of prosperity of our people. They must promote meritocracy and not sycophancy.
Like agriculture, education sector should be prioritized high in the budget so that we can build world-class institutions of higher learning.
Many a times our students can’t apply the skills/knowledge that they learned in schools. The brightest minds naturally are draining out of their respective countries, only to settle (with very few exceptions) in more prosperous western countries, where they can apply their talents and skills appositely. Unless we can stop this ‘brain-drain’ phenomenon we will never be able to catch up with more developed and prosperous nations. The post-World War II technological success and ensuing prosperity in the USA owes mostly to its brilliant immigrant scientists and engineers.
Let me again quote here from Carli Fiorina, who said, “Leaders like Suleiman [the magnificent] contributed to our notions of tolerance and civic leadership. And perhaps we can learn a lesson from his example: It was leadership based on meritocracy, not inheritance. It was leadership that harnessed the full capabilities of a very diverse population - that included Christianity, Islamic, and Jewish traditions. This kind of enlightened leadership - leadership that nurtured culture, sustainability, diversity and courage - led to 800 years of invention and prosperity.”
Would our leaders take heed and amend their actions? If they can’t attract their expatriates to return, let alone outsiders, can they at least stop brain-drain phenomena by retaining the best? Are they committed to creating a society which gravitates good ones, and filters out the bad ones?
While our governments surely have an obligation towards patronizing academic institutions from primary to tertiary levels, our wealthy ones should not be oblivious of their own duties towards creating prestigious private institutions like the Stanford University. There, too, quality of education must take precedence over profit motivation. In today’s America, outside UC Berkeley, all the top 10 schools are private universities. We need our Warren Buffets and Bill Gates to step forward to pay their dues to our societies which have enriched them.
3. Going beyond the expected:
As I hinted above, Muslims are far behind in every field of learning. Simply going with the flow or doing just the bare minimum is simply not sufficient to close this widening gap, especially in the area of technology. If they are going at a speed of a bike, we must try to go at a speed of a motor car; if they are going at a speed of motor car, we must try to go at a speed of an airplane to close this gap. Simply speaking, our strategy ought to be - going beyond the normal call of duty, doing extra things. To elucidate this point, let me here close with a story from our Prophet’s time.
Talha bin 'Ubaidullah narrated that a man from Najd with unkempt hair came to Allah's Apostle and we heard his loud voice but could not understand what he was saying, till he came near and then we came to know that he was asking about Islam. Allah's Apostle said, "You have to offer prayers perfectly five times in a day and night (24 hours)." The man asked, "Is there any more (praying)?" Allah's Apostle replied, "No, but if you want to offer the Nawafil prayers (you can)." Allah's Apostle further said to him: "You have to observe fasts during the month of Ramad, an." The man asked, "Is there any more fasting?" Allah's Apostle replied, "No, but if you want to observe the Nawafil fasts (you can.)" Then Allah's Apostle further said to him, "You have to pay the Zakat (obligatory charity)." The man asked, "Is there any thing other than the Zakat for me to pay?" Allah's Apostle replied, "No, unless you want to give alms of your own." And then that man retreated saying, "By Allah! I will neither do less nor more than this." Allah's Apostle said, "If what he said is true, then he will be successful (i.e. he will be granted Paradise)."
Here in this hadith lies the formula for rejuvenating the Muslim nation. May we be guided to reclaim our lost heritage! [8]
Notes:
]1]. See hadith collections by Imams Ibn Majah and Baihaqi.
[2]. Consult this author’s books – Islamic Wisdom and Wisdom of Mankind – for many such hadiths and sayings of learned men of Islam.
[3]. Hilyat’ul Awliya wa Tabaqatul Asfiya by Imam Abu Na’im al-Asfahani (R).
[4]. Imam Ibn Hajm, “Al-Akhlaq wa’l Siyar" – Morality and Behaviour, published in "In Pursuit of Virtue" by M. Abu Laylah, Ta-Ha Publishers 1990.
[5]. ibid.
[6] Stanwood Cobb, Islamic Contributions to Civilization (1963).
[7] Arnold J. Toynbee, Civilization on Trial, Oxford.
[8] Habib Siddiqui, Seeking Knowledge: Our National Imperative, Muslim World Almanac (2008), http://www.mathaba.net/0_index.shtml?x=596589.
Bibliography:
World Book Encyclopedia
Encyclopaedia Britannica
Chronology of Science & Discovery - by Isaac Asimov
Introduction to the History of Science - by George Sarton
History of the intellectual development of Europe - by John William Draper
The making of humanity - by Robert Briffault
Decline and Fall of Roman Empire - by Edward Gibbon
Legacy of Islam - by Sir Thomas W. Arnold and Alfred Guillaume
The Miracle of Islamic Science - by Dr. K Ajram
The Arabian Connection: A Consiparcy Against Humanity - by Kasem Khaleel
Muslim History: 570-1950 C.E. - by Akram Zahoor
It was during this period of decline and stagnation that Muslim Arabs, the followers of Muhammad (S), became the torchbearers or vanguards of knowledge in our world. They created an Islamic civilization, driven by inquiry and invention, which was to become the envy of the rest of the world for nearly a millennium.
It is this spirit, the unquenched thirst for knowledge, which made Abu Rayhan al-Biruni to ask a question on inheritance law or some other related issue while he was lying on his deathbed. (Abu Rayhan al-Biruni was a great scientist, physicist, astronomer, sociologist, linguist, historian and mathematician whose true worth may never be known. He is considered the father of unified field theory by Nobel Laureate - late Professor Abdus Salam. He lived nearly a thousand years ago and was a contemporary of Ibn Sina (Avicenna) and Sultan Mahmoud of Ghazni.)
The jurisprudent was quite amazed that a dying man should show interest in such matters.
Abu Rayhan said, “I should like to ask you: which is better, to die with knowledge or to die without it?”
The man said, “Of course, it is better to know and then die.”
Abu Rayhan said, “That is why I asked my first question.”
Shortly after the jurisprudent had reached his home, the cries of lamentation told him that Abu Rayhan had died. (Murtaza Motahari: Spiritual Discourses)
Speaking about the Islamic civilization, Carli Fiorina, the former (highly talented and visionary) CEO of Hewlett Packard, said, “Its architects designed buildings that defied gravity. Its mathematicians created the algebra and algorithms that would enable the building of computers, and the creation of encryption. Its doctors examined the human body, and found new cures for disease. Its astronomers looked into the heavens, named the stars, and paved the way for space travel and exploration. Its writers created thousands of stories; stories of courage, romance and magic. When other nations were afraid of ideas, this civilization thrived on them, and kept them alive. When censors threatened to wipe out knowledge from past civilizations, this civilization kept the knowledge alive, and passed it on to others. While modern Western civilization shares many of these traits, the civilization I'm talking about was the Islamic world from the year 800 to 1600, which included the Ottoman Empire and the courts of Baghdad, Damascus and Cairo, and enlightened rulers like Suleiman the Magnificent. Although we are often unaware of our indebtedness to this other civilization, its gifts are very much a part of our heritage. The technology industry would not exist without the contributions of Arab mathematicians.”
Truly, there is a hardly a field that is not indebted to these pioneering children of Islam. Here below is a short list (by no means a comprehensive one) of Muslim scientists from the 8th to the 14th century CE:
• 701 (died) C.E. - Khalid Ibn Yazeed - Alchemy
• 721-803 - Jabir Ibn Haiyan (Geber) - Alchemy (Great Muslim Alchemist)
• 740 - Al-Asma’i - Zoology, Botany, Animal Husbandry
• 780 - Al-Khwarizmi (Algorizm) – Mathematics (Algebra, Calculus) - Astronomy
• 776-868 - ‘Amr ibn Bahr al-Jajiz – Zoology
• 787 - Al Balkhi, Ja'far Ibn Muhammas (Albumasar) - Astronomy
• 796 (died) - Al-Fazari, Ibrahim Ibn Habib - Astronomy
• 800 - Ibn Ishaq Al-Kindi - (Alkindus) – Medicine, Philosophy, Physics, Optics
• 815 - Al-Dinawari, Abu-Hanifa Ahmed Ibn Dawood - Mathematics, Linguistics
• 816 - Al Balkhi – Geography (World Map)
• 836 - Thabit Ibn Qurrah (Thebit) - Astronomy, Mechanics, Geometry, Anatomy
• 838-870 - Ali Ibn Rabban Al-Tabari - Medicine, Mathematics
• 852 - Al Battani Abu Abdillah - Mathematics, Astronomy, Engineering
• 857 - Ibn Masawaih You'hanna-Medicine
• 858-929 - Abu Abdullah Al-Battani (Albategnius) - Astronomy, Mathematics
• 860 - Al-Farghani, Abu al-`Abbas (Al-Fraganus) - Astronomy, Civil Engineering
• 864-930 - Al-Razi (Rhazes) - Medicine, Ophthalmology, Chemistry
• 873 (died) - Al-Kindi – Physics, Optics, Metallurgy, Oceanography, Philosophy
• 888 (died) – ‘Abbas ibn Firnas – Mechanics, Planetarium, Artificial Crystals
• 900 (died) - Abu Hamed Al-ustrulabi - Astronomy
• 903-986 - Al-Sufi (Azophi) - Astronomy
• 908 - Thabit Ibn Qurrah-Medicine, Engineering
• 912 (died) - Al-Tamimi Muhammad Ibn Amyal (Attmimi) - Alchemy
• 923 (died) - Al-Nirizi, AlFadl Ibn Ahmed (Altibrizi) - Mathematics, Astronomy
• 930 - Ibn Miskawayh, Ahmed Abu-Ali-Medicine, Alchemy
• 932 - Ahmed Al-Tabari - Medicine
• 934 - al Istakhr II – Geography (World Map)
• 936-1013 - Abu Al-Qasim Al-Zahravi (Albucasis) - Surgery, Medicine
• 940-997 – Abu Wafa Muhammad Al-Buzjani - Mathematics, Astronomy, Geometry
• 943 - Ibn Hawqal – Geography (World Map)
• 950 - Al Majrett'ti Abu-al Qasim - Astronomy, Alchemy, Mathematics
• 958 (died) – Abul Hasan Ali al-Mas’udi – Geography, History
• 960 (died) - Ibn Wahshiyh, Abu Baker - Alchemy, Botany
• 965-1040 - Ibn Al-Haitham (Alhazen) - Physics, Optics, Mathematics
• 973-1048 - Abu Rayhan Al-Biruni - Astronomy, Mathematics, History, Linguistics
• 976 - Ibn Abil Ashath - Medicine
• 980-1037 - Ibn Sina (Avicenna) - Medicine, Philosophy, Mathematics, Astronomy
• 983 - Ikhwan A-Safa (Assafa) - (Group of Muslim Scientists)
• 1001 - Ibn Wardi – Geography (World Map)
• 1008 (died) - Ibn Yunus - Astronomy, Mathematics
• 1019 - Al-Hasib Alkarji - Mathematics
• 1029-1087 - Al-Zarqali (Arzachel) - Astronomy (Invented Astrolabe)
• 1044 - Omar Al-Khayyam - Mathematics, Astronomy, Poetry
• 1060 (died) - Ali Ibn Ridwan Abu'Hassan Ali - Medicine
• 1077 - Ibn Abi-Sadia Abul Qasim - Medicine
• 1090-1161 - Ibn Zuhr (Avenzoar) - Surgery, Medicine
• 1095 - Ibn Bajah, Mohammed Ibn Yahya (Avenpace) - Astronomy, Medicine
• 1097 - Ibn Al-Baitar Diauddin (Bitar) - Botany, Medicine, Pharmacology
• 1099 - Al-Idrisi (Dreses) - Geography, Zoology, World Map (First Globe)
• 1110-1185 - Ibn Tufayl, Abubacer Al-Qaysi - Philosophy, Medicine
• 1120 (died) -Al-Tuhra-ee, Al-Husain Ibn Ali - Alchemy, Poem
• 1128 - Ibn Rushd (Averroe's) - Philosophy, Medicine, Astronomy
• 1135 - Ibn Maymun, Musa (Maimonides) - Medicine, Philosophy
• 1140 - Al-Badee Al-Ustralabi - Astronomy, Mathematics
• 1155 (died) - Abdel-al Rahman Al Khazin-Astronomy
• 1162 - Al Baghdadi, Abdel-Lateef Muwaffaq - Medicine, Geography
• 1165 - Ibn A-Rumiyyah Abul'Abbas (Annabati) - Botany
• 1173 - Rasheed Al-Deen Al-Suri - Botany
• 1180 - Al-Samawal - Algebra
• 1184 - Al-Tifashi, Shihabud-Deen (Attifashi) - Metallurgy, Stones
• 1201-1274 - Nasir Al-Din Al-Tusi - Astronomy, Non-Euclidean Geometry
• 1203 - Ibn Abi-Usaibi'ah, Muwaffaq Al-Din - Medicine
• 1204 (died) - Al-Bitruji (Alpetragius) - Astronomy
• 1213-1288 - Ibn Al-Nafis Damishqui - Anatomy
• 1236 - Kutb Aldeen Al-Shirazi - Astronomy, Geography
• 1248 (died) - Ibn Al-Baitar - Pharmacy, Botany
• 1258 - Ibn Al-Banna (Al Murrakishi), Azdi - Medicine, Mathematics
• 1262 (died) - Al-Hassan Al-Murarakishi - Mathematics, Astronomy, Geography
• 1270 - Abu al-Fath Abd al-Rahman al-Khazini – Physics, Astronomy
• 1273-1331 - Al-Fida (Abdulfeda) - Astronomy, Geography
• 1306 - Ibn Al-Shater Al Dimashqi - Astronomy, Mathematics
• 1320 (died)-Al Farisi Kamalud-deen Abul-Hassan - Astronomy, Physics
• 1341 (died) - Al-Jildaki, Muhammad Ibn Aidamer - Alchemy
• 1351 - Ibn Al-Majdi, Abu Abbas Ibn Tanbugha - Mathematics, Astronomy
• 1359 - Ibn Al-Magdi, Shihab-Udden Ibn Tanbugha - Mathematic, Astronomy
• 1375 (died) - Ibn Shatir – Astronomy
• 1393-1449 – Ulugh Beg – Astronomy
• 1424 - Ghiyath al-Din al Kashani – Numerical Analysis, Computation
(References: Hamed Abdel-Reheem Ead, Professor of Chemistry at Faculty of Science, University of Cairo Giza-Egypt and Director of Science Heritage Center, http://www.frcu.eun.eg/www/universities/html/shc/index.htm; See also the books: 100 Muslim Scientists by Abdur Rahman Sharif, Al-Khoui Pub., N.Y; Muslim Contribution to Science by Muhammad R. Mirza and Muhammad Iqbal Siddiqi, Chicago: Kazi Publications, 1986.)
With such a train of Muslim scholars, it is not difficult to understand why George Sarton said, "The main task of mankind was accomplished by Muslims. The greatest philosopher Al-Farabi was a Muslim; the greatest mathematicians Abul Kamil and Ibrahim Ibn Sinan were Muslims; the greatest geographer and encyclopaedist Al-Masudi was a Muslim; the greatest historian, Al-Tabari was still a Muslim." The Oxford History of Technology sums it up as follows: "There are few major technological innovations between 500 A.D. and 1500 that do not show some traces of the Islamic culture."
History before Islam was a jumble of conjectures, myths and rumors. It was left to the Muslim historians who introduced for the first time the method of matn and sanad tracing the authenticity and integrity of the transmitted reports back to eyewitness accounts. According to the historian Henry Thomas Buckle ‘this practice was not adopted in Europe before 1597 AD.’ Another method: that of historical research and criticism - originated with the celebrated historian Ibn Khaldun. The author of Kashfuz Zunun gives a list of 1300 history books written in Arabic during the first few centuries of Islam. That is no small contribution!
The rise of Muslim rule was dramatic. So also was its decline to the point where in 1492 the Caliph Abdullah abandoned Granada to the conquering Spaniards, "weeping like a woman for what he could not defend like a man."
For the next five centuries while the Islamic civilization declined – politically, economically, socially and culturally, it set all Christendom aglow. Thus, while it has been a dawning of Christian West, it has been a period of doom and gloom for Muslims. It is no wonder that Muslims have become a nation of zeros. When’s the last time you have heard of a Muslim winning the Nobel Prize in science or medicine? How about scientific publications? Unfortunately, you won’t find too many Muslim names in scientific and engineering journals either. Why such a paucity? What excuses do we have?
Some years ago a published UN report on Arab development noted that the Arab world comprising of 22 countries had translated about 330 books annually. That is a pitiful number, only a fifth of the number of the books that (tiny) Greece (alone) translates in a year! (Spain translates an average of 100,000 books annually.) Why such an allergy or aversion from those whose forefathers did not mind translating older works successfully to regain the heritage of antiquity, analyzing, collating, correcting and supplementing substantially the material that was beneficial to mankind? Why is the literacy rate low among Muslims when the first revealed message in the Qur’an is ‘Iqra (meaning: Read)?
How do we get out of this predicament?
Solutions to our present-day predicament:
We must look into our past to search for solutions to our current predicament. How did those desert Arabs of Muhammad’s (S) time, one of the most unlettered people on earth, technologically far inferior to their counterparts in Persia and Byzantine, once become the proud ancestors of Islamic civilization dominating for centuries half the known world? What characteristics defined them? What attitudes did they have? What did they learn and what skills did they acquire?
Before Islam, these desert Arabs were the ignored bunch in history left to live a life of ignominy. The cultural transformation in those desert Arabs was brought about by one man – the most remarkable figure in history - Muhammad (S), the Prophet of Islam. The first word of his prophecy was – Iqra. As he preached pure monotheism in Allah, breaking all artificial barriers between men, he taught his people religious ethics and morality -- to shun falsehood, to be just, to do what is virtuous (ma’ruf) and forbid what is evil (munqar). He taught them accountability for their deeds. He taught them how to live a wholesome noble life, and how to die nobly. Thus, like a good teacher, he molded their character.
The influence of the religion which Muhammad (S) preached to his people did not diminish after his death in 612 CE (11 A.H). On the contrary, it increased year by year through the Qur’an, the sacred book of Islam. Though caliphs came and went, though military commanders were capable or inept, the power of the Qur’an kept the Muslims true to their course and maintained that spirit of unity for which Muhammad (S) had laid the foundations. Racial energies which had been wasted in internecine warfare were turned into channels which led to prosperity and progress.
As the Islamic empire expanded, conquering newer territories, the Muslim rulers offered better social and economic conditions than those which prevailed. In accordance with the teachings of Muhammad (S), the armies of Islam were careful to abuse neither the countryside nor its inhabitants. In fact, the orders later given by the Caliphs Abu Bakr and Ali (RA) regarding merciful treatment of non-combatants were the first humanitarian steps taken in the history of warfare. Arab rule introduced a more stable situation than any previously known in the Middle East. The condition of the peasants was improved by means of new and more democratic land division and less stringent taxation. Many of the conquered peoples enlisted in the armies of Islam, becoming even Muslims to further advance their social standing. Within a few decades from the death of its Prophet (S), the Arab nation ruled from the gates of India to the Straits of Gibraltar. [6]
As noted by historian Stanwood Cobb, this seeming miracle was the result of various factors, some of which have already been discussed. ‘But more than anything else, it was due to the religious zeal which possessed the Muslims.’
The dawn of Islamic culture and technology broke first in the newly founded city of Baghdad, which became the model of an urban civilization that began to spread throughout the Muslim world. Its location on the banks of the Tigris was ideal for Islam's capital city. Profiting by the peace and protection of Islam, merchants traveled safely between India and Egypt, making Baghdad an unrivaled commercial hub. The city grew rapidly. A new and wealthy class of merchants, some of whom attained huge fortunes, came into existence. Their prosperity soon seeped down to even the humblest citizens. The "Kadi", or judge, was available to the lowliest citizen, as in fact even the caliph was at times. A new taxation system, more equitable than that under Roman rule, helped to stabilize the economy. A general exuberance and atmosphere of adventure pervaded the life of Baghdad, which soon came to be known as the land of opportunity, much like what is today promoted in places like the New York City. It was a city that integrated people of all races, creating synergy for greater good for all. Its caliphs were zealous patrons of education and invited scholars from all parts of the world. ‘Persians, Greeks and Armenians jostled elbows with Arabs. Christians and Jews were as welcome as Muslims. These scholars were kept busy translating and codifying works of science from the Greek and Aramaic languages. Their emoluments were generous and their prestige great.’ [6]
Baghdad became the focal center of the world's learning. Its caliphs built modern universities, attracting the most brilliant minds, who would later become the Steve Jobs and Bill Gates of that Islamic civilization. They erected observatories, thus enabling Muslim mathematicians to correctly estimate the circumference of the globe as 25,000 miles. As these Muslim scientists and engineers resurrected the forgotten or neglected sciences, they also expanded them.
Those caliphs were a perfect example of practicability. Their zeal for abstract learning did not lessen their concern for the welfare of the humble peasant, the "man with the hoe", upon whose shoulders has always rested fundamentally the burden of civilization. For they fully realized the importance of the soil and its tillage both as a source of state income and as a means of prosperity and happiness to the masses. Scientific horticulture became a flourishing and progressive practice in all the Muslim caliphates. The whole known world was scoured for new varieties of plants, and the art of irrigation was intelligently utilized to increase production.
In the words of Stanwood Cobb, “Prosperity and culture were not peculiar to the wealthy class alone. For this rapidly growing Islamic civilization was built upon the broad foundations of the welfare of the common people, in accordance with the precepts of the Islamic brotherhood founded by Muhammad (S), upheld by the Koran [Qur’an], and practiced by all the early caliphs. Probably never in previous centuries had the well-being of the masses been so deeply and intelligently considered as it was in all these Islamic caliphates. The new socio-economic pattern in religious and political life gave a dynamic unity to all phases of Muslim activity. The extraordinary rise of the Arabic-Islamic culture cannot be viewed separately from this factor of unity which, beginning on the spiritual plane, reached down to dominate all aspects of secular life.” He continues, “All of these factors combined to create a seemingly more harmonious and universally prosperous economic pattern than had existed before the coming of Islam. A proof of the satisfactory condition of the masses during the first few centuries of Islamic rule is that practically all of the Middle East and Persia, ninety percent of the population of Christian Egypt, and all the peoples of North Africa became Muslims. This they did of their own choice, for conversion was never forced upon the conquered.”
The cultural progress of Baghdad was copied into all other major Muslim cities. In all these Islamic centers libraries and universities were founded, and schools for the common people were established. Learning and scholarship were highly honored. The new common language enabled scholars to move from court to court in search of career opportunities. Thus a constant exchange of ideas stimulated the focal centers of Muslim culture; scientific advances and discoveries were quickly spread from caliphate to caliphate.
The end result was a glorious Islamic civilization that we are so proud of. Throughout the Islamic Empire education, art and science were unified by a common faith, a common language and common customs. Muslim scholars could travel freely between Bukhara and Xinjiang in the east to Cordova in the west. The extent of this Islamic civilization, as well as the progress and achievements of its component parts proved an inspiration to Muslim scholarship and creative arts.
As Baghdad had been the first of many such Islamic centers to arise in glory, so it was the first to fall into that decay. As in the case of Rome, the corruptions of luxury and the selfish grasping of power by rival political elements contributed to her decline. The justice which had characterized the rule of the early caliphs yielded to an inequitable system of taxation and to corrupt government.
As we search answers to our predicament, so must we retrace our roots and dig those values that were responsible for our glorious past and discard or weed out all those that are harmful. History can again make us wise if we know how to read its truths. If we are to learn from Arnold Toynbee [7], here are some lessons from the Islamic civilization:
1. Peace is a necessity for cultural advance.
2. The prosperity of all peoples springs from the soil. Thus, serious attention must be given to agriculture.
3. The spirit of élan or confidence (the ‘can do’ attitude) under which science can flourish. It is always in periods of enthusiasm and zeal that civilization advances most rapidly.
4. Devotion of the people to a common language and religion.
5. Lastly, the establishment of civilizations requires unifying forces. The more unifying the force, the more stable the civilization.
----=----
So where shall we start? What is our game plan? In the following I propose 3 items for transforming our pathetic state.
1. Seeking knowledge
The main reason behind the success of early Muslims rested in their seeking knowledge where it was evident and also from places where it was hidden. In this regard, the attitude that they instilled was a never satiated thirst, which followed the Prophetic Traditions: “A Muslim is never satiated in his quest for good (knowledge) till it ends in paradise.” [Tirmizi: narrated by Abu Sa'eed al-Khudri (RA)] “One who treads a path in search of knowledge has his path to Paradise made easy by Allah thereby.” [Muslim: Abu Hurayrah (RA)] “To seek knowledge for one hour at night is better than keeping it (night) awake.” [Darimi: Abdullah ibn Abbas (RA)]
They did not shy away from translating and learning from others in the best of the Prophetic Traditions: “The word of wisdom is [like] the lost property of a wise man. So wherever he finds it, he is entitled to it.” [Tirmizi: Abu Hurayrah (RA)]
When others were hesitant to do experiments to check their hypotheses, they courageously filled the vacuum. In that they were true to the Prophetic dictate: “Knowledge is a treasure house whose keys are queries.” [Mishkat and Abu Na’im: Ali (RA)]
At a personal level, all Muslims must act upon the celebrated hadith of our Prophet Muhammad (S): “The search of knowledge is an obligation laid on every Muslim.” [1]
He (S) also said, “A learned person is superior to a worshipper as the full moon is superior to all the stars. The scholars are heirs of the prophets and the prophets do not leave any inheritance in the shape of dirhams and dinars, but they do leave knowledge as their legacy. As such a person who acquires knowledge acquires his full share.” [Abu Dawud and Tirmizi] [2]
Sadly, today’s Muslims seek wealth more than they know how to even spend it. In spite of all the wealth that Allah (SWT) has bestowed on us, we have failed to create a single respectable institution of higher learning. Ali (RA) was once asked what was better: wealth or knowledge. He said, “Knowledge is superior to wealth for ten reasons:
• (i) Knowledge is the legacy of the prophets. Wealth is the inheritance of the Pharaohs. Therefore, knowledge is better than wealth.
• (ii) You are to guard your wealth but knowledge guards you. So knowledge is better.
• (iii) A man of wealth has many enemies while a man of knowledge has many friends. Hence knowledge is better.
• (iv) Knowledge is better because it increases with distribution, while wealth decreases by that act.
• (v) Knowledge is better because a learned man is apt to be generous while a wealthy person is apt to be miserly.
• (vi) Knowledge is better because it cannot be stolen while wealth can be stolen.
• (vii) Knowledge is better because time cannot harm knowledge, but wealth rusts in course of time and wears away.
• (viii) Knowledge is better because it is boundless while wealth is limited and you can keep account of it.
• (ix) Knowledge is better because it illuminates the mind while wealth is apt to blacken it.
• (x) Knowledge is better because knowledge induced the humanity in our Prophet to say to Allah, "We worship Thee as we are Your servant," while wealth engendered in Pharaoh and Nimrod the vanity which made them claim Godhead.” [3]
What wisdom! Yet today our people are dispassionate about seeking knowledge. Why? Do they know what Imam Ibn Hazm (R) - the great Spanish Muslim theologian, jurist and poet - said? He said, “If knowledge had no other merit than to make the ignorant fear and respect you, and scholars love and honor you, this would be good enough reason to seek after it… If ignorance had no other fault than to make the ignorant man jealous of knowledgeable men and jubilant at seeing more people like himself, this by itself would be reason enough to oblige us to feel it… If knowledge and the action of devoting oneself to it had no purpose except to free the man who seeks it from the exhausting anxieties and many worries which afflict the mind, that alone would certainly be enough to drive us to seek knowledge.” [4]
I only wish that his remarks would wake our people to seeking and mastering knowledge.
Muslims should also ponder over the statement made by Mu’adh ibn Jabal (RA): “Acquire knowledge for the pleasure of Allah, for learning engenders piety, reverence for one’s Lord and fear of wrongdoing. Seeking knowledge for Allah’s pleasure is an act of worship, studying it is a celebration of God’s glory (lit. Zikr), searching for it is a rewarding struggle (lit. Jihad), teaching it to someone who realizes its worth is a charity (lit. Sadaqa), and applying it in one’s home strengthens family unity and kinship. … Knowledge is a comforting friend in times of loneliness. It is the best companion to a traveler. It is the innermost friend who speaks to you in your privacy. Knowledge is your most effective sword against your foe, and finally, it is your most dignifying raiment in the company of your close comrades.” [Hilyat’ul Awliya Wa Tabaqat’ul Asfiya]
Similarly, Sharafuddin Maneri (R) said, “Knowledge is the fountainhead of all happiness, just as ignorance is the starting point of all wretchedness. Salvation comes from knowledge, destruction from ignorance.” [Maktubat-i Sadi]
The next question we must ask is – what kind of knowledge should we seek? Is it only science/ engineering/ medicine/ technology – in which we lag badly? Or, is it in the area of social sciences? What kinds of skills should we develop? Is it desirable to have a brilliant and yet a Godless psychopath behind a nuclear button? I fear not. We must ensure that our educational system allows for grooming of a conscious human being first before turning him/her into a scientific genius. Scientific discoveries and technological breakthroughs must be dictated by Islamic ethics and morality.
As such, we must ensure that our children are raised properly and that they learn from role models of piety, honesty, self-sacrifice and generosity.
2. Quality of leadership and Government patronage:
The quality of leadership on the top matters. In the early days of Islam, Muslim rulers were not only the great patrons of learning they were great scholars themselves. They surrounded themselves with learned men: philosophers, legal experts, traditionalists, theologians, lexicographers, annalists, poets, mathematicians, scientists, engineers, architects and doctors. Scholars held high ranks in their courts.
We must ensure that we have responsive governments that are honest, just and mindful of their obligations, and are held accountable for their deeds. They must ensure good governance, safety of prosperity of our people. They must promote meritocracy and not sycophancy.
Like agriculture, education sector should be prioritized high in the budget so that we can build world-class institutions of higher learning.
Many a times our students can’t apply the skills/knowledge that they learned in schools. The brightest minds naturally are draining out of their respective countries, only to settle (with very few exceptions) in more prosperous western countries, where they can apply their talents and skills appositely. Unless we can stop this ‘brain-drain’ phenomenon we will never be able to catch up with more developed and prosperous nations. The post-World War II technological success and ensuing prosperity in the USA owes mostly to its brilliant immigrant scientists and engineers.
Let me again quote here from Carli Fiorina, who said, “Leaders like Suleiman [the magnificent] contributed to our notions of tolerance and civic leadership. And perhaps we can learn a lesson from his example: It was leadership based on meritocracy, not inheritance. It was leadership that harnessed the full capabilities of a very diverse population - that included Christianity, Islamic, and Jewish traditions. This kind of enlightened leadership - leadership that nurtured culture, sustainability, diversity and courage - led to 800 years of invention and prosperity.”
Would our leaders take heed and amend their actions? If they can’t attract their expatriates to return, let alone outsiders, can they at least stop brain-drain phenomena by retaining the best? Are they committed to creating a society which gravitates good ones, and filters out the bad ones?
While our governments surely have an obligation towards patronizing academic institutions from primary to tertiary levels, our wealthy ones should not be oblivious of their own duties towards creating prestigious private institutions like the Stanford University. There, too, quality of education must take precedence over profit motivation. In today’s America, outside UC Berkeley, all the top 10 schools are private universities. We need our Warren Buffets and Bill Gates to step forward to pay their dues to our societies which have enriched them.
3. Going beyond the expected:
As I hinted above, Muslims are far behind in every field of learning. Simply going with the flow or doing just the bare minimum is simply not sufficient to close this widening gap, especially in the area of technology. If they are going at a speed of a bike, we must try to go at a speed of a motor car; if they are going at a speed of motor car, we must try to go at a speed of an airplane to close this gap. Simply speaking, our strategy ought to be - going beyond the normal call of duty, doing extra things. To elucidate this point, let me here close with a story from our Prophet’s time.
Talha bin 'Ubaidullah narrated that a man from Najd with unkempt hair came to Allah's Apostle and we heard his loud voice but could not understand what he was saying, till he came near and then we came to know that he was asking about Islam. Allah's Apostle said, "You have to offer prayers perfectly five times in a day and night (24 hours)." The man asked, "Is there any more (praying)?" Allah's Apostle replied, "No, but if you want to offer the Nawafil prayers (you can)." Allah's Apostle further said to him: "You have to observe fasts during the month of Ramad, an." The man asked, "Is there any more fasting?" Allah's Apostle replied, "No, but if you want to observe the Nawafil fasts (you can.)" Then Allah's Apostle further said to him, "You have to pay the Zakat (obligatory charity)." The man asked, "Is there any thing other than the Zakat for me to pay?" Allah's Apostle replied, "No, unless you want to give alms of your own." And then that man retreated saying, "By Allah! I will neither do less nor more than this." Allah's Apostle said, "If what he said is true, then he will be successful (i.e. he will be granted Paradise)."
Here in this hadith lies the formula for rejuvenating the Muslim nation. May we be guided to reclaim our lost heritage! [8]
Notes:
]1]. See hadith collections by Imams Ibn Majah and Baihaqi.
[2]. Consult this author’s books – Islamic Wisdom and Wisdom of Mankind – for many such hadiths and sayings of learned men of Islam.
[3]. Hilyat’ul Awliya wa Tabaqatul Asfiya by Imam Abu Na’im al-Asfahani (R).
[4]. Imam Ibn Hajm, “Al-Akhlaq wa’l Siyar" – Morality and Behaviour, published in "In Pursuit of Virtue" by M. Abu Laylah, Ta-Ha Publishers 1990.
[5]. ibid.
[6] Stanwood Cobb, Islamic Contributions to Civilization (1963).
[7] Arnold J. Toynbee, Civilization on Trial, Oxford.
[8] Habib Siddiqui, Seeking Knowledge: Our National Imperative, Muslim World Almanac (2008), http://www.mathaba.net/0_index.shtml?x=596589.
Bibliography:
World Book Encyclopedia
Encyclopaedia Britannica
Chronology of Science & Discovery - by Isaac Asimov
Introduction to the History of Science - by George Sarton
History of the intellectual development of Europe - by John William Draper
The making of humanity - by Robert Briffault
Decline and Fall of Roman Empire - by Edward Gibbon
Legacy of Islam - by Sir Thomas W. Arnold and Alfred Guillaume
The Miracle of Islamic Science - by Dr. K Ajram
The Arabian Connection: A Consiparcy Against Humanity - by Kasem Khaleel
Muslim History: 570-1950 C.E. - by Akram Zahoor
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