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Knowledge for regeneration of the Muslims
Emajuddin Ahamed
The plight of nearly 1.4 billion Muslims in the world is far from satisfactory. Though they constitute majority in as many as 57 states out of 192 member-states of the UN and a sizable minority in many of them, practically one fourth of the world’s population, yet they account for less than ten per cent of the world trade and a little more than sixteen per cent of the world’s wealth. Though some of the Muslim states have had the good fortune of possessing in their territories a substantial portion of the fossil fuel ie. Petroleum and natural gas, a tangible motive force of the modem civilisation, yet most of the poorer people in the world live in these states and most of the illiterate and half educated ones inhabit these lands. In most of the Muslim states, there is very little democracy, though the state of Madina, set up in 622 A.D, became a beacon of democratic ideas in the sense of a state based on consent of the people. In the Muslim states there are a few half/baked centres of academic instructions, although Islam laid maximum emphasis on the need for, and pursuance of, education and acquisition of knowledge. In the Muslim states there are not many homes of broad based enlightenment and only a handful of corners where technological development is nourished and practically no resort for motivated high level manpower development with technological skill and moral values.
Islam as a religion is however the fastest growing religion. Some demographers have Predicted that within the next three decades the Muslims may reach somewhere near two billion in number. Even in the West there are Muslims substantial in number (10 million in the US, 5 million in the UK, 5 million in France, for instance). It is good to grow in number, but it is indeed better to grow in quality as well.
Many a one in the West believes that roots of the relative decline of the Muslim World lie in its culture and religious norms. Some again assert that Muslim societies are hopelessly retrograde , steeped in the 7th century idylls and thus incapable of joining the grand procession of top quality production and mass consumption of the twenty first century. Indeed there are reasons for this underdevelopment. Such factors as geographical, geopolitical, demographic status have been responsible for this but none has been so pervasive and so predominant in this regard as the technological dynamics. When Islam was in the ascendancy in the eighth and ninth centuries, the populations of the Muslim World and Christian Europe were almost equal in size, at roughly 30 million each. Of the 14 biggest cities (with roughly 50,000 people), which in fact were the most dynamic trading centres in the world, like Alexandria Cairo, Baghdad, Makhah, for instance, 13 were in the Muslim World. Europe had only one, Rome. Over the next seven centuries demographic balance altered in favour of Europe. Its population increased sharply after the first Millennium, reaching 100 million by 1600 AD. The Muslim countries, on the other hand, were hemmed in aridity and lack of resources, and their population remained practically unchanged for centuries. The temperate zone Turkic lands did better than the desert regions of Arabia and North Africa and coincidentally ‘political leadership of the Muslim world passed from Arabia to Ottoman Empire.
It was technology however which helped create practically impassable bridge between the Muslim World and West. Outnumbered, the Muslim World was also outmaneuvered by technological advancement of the West. The industrial Revolution of the 19th century and the discovery of such basic elements as coal, iron ore, hydro power and so on took the West far beyond the reach of the Muslim World. The cumulative effects of all these worked against them. They lost their trade routes, primary commodities such as oil, and even sovereignty itself.
When they regained their political independence since the middle of the 20th century, even at that stage they committed mistakes. In stead of going as far as to China for the acquisition of knowledge as the West did, borrowing the raw materials of civilization from the Islamic scholarship and generating such movements as Renaissance, Reformation and through their gates reaching the Age of Enlightenment made itself invincible, the Muslims shut themselves up in the chamber of ignorance and arrogance. Many Muslim leaders began to treat the West as a positive threat. They still believed that they could restore the golden age by completing internal cleansing and did not commit themselves to having a firm grip on science and technology. The situation could be altered through the creation of knowledge-based societies through proper application of the right kind of technology and proper development of human resources.
The role of knowledge comes in here. The holy Quoran has extolled knowledge beyond measure. In many places of the Quoran one can find such Praise of knowledge. The best prayer to the Almighty has been : “Oh Lord! Increase me in knowledge” (Rabbi zidni ilmaa”). In Sura 58 : 11 it is said : “Allah will accept those who believe among you, and those who have knowledge, to high ranks.”The holy Quran reminds us : “Are those who know equal with those who know not?” (Surah 39 : 9)
One of the Precious bounties of Allah to mankind is knowledge. After the creation of Adam, Allah endowed him with knowledge, making him more knowledgeable than angels. Allah love mankind and He want man to become the master of everything in nature; but to establish mastery over nature man must study science and technology on the one hand and be self-reliant, self-confident, endowed with self-esteem, on the other, so much so that he will not submit to any one in the universe but Allah, the omnipotent, the omniscient.
If any one looks at the Muslim World today, not a single one of the 57 states can be identified as world class. One cannot find a world class University in the Muslim states. None can find a laboratory in any one of these states, which may be good enough for any original research. We cannot find any society in the Muslim World which has become knowledge-based. The message is simple. Knowledge, both esoteric and exoteric, is the only panacea for the malady afflicting every Muslim state. The process of acquisition of knowledge is the only way of regeneration, the only way for regaining the pristine glory once the Muslims had.
Knowledge however does not come automatically as the manna dew comes down from the sky. It has to be earned. It has to be acquired. That needs deep deliberations and planned efforts. But that needs a clear vision in the first place, a vision of an enlightened society bereft of ignorance, illiteracy, superstition, backwardness, deprivation and darkness. The Muslim World has to change through the touchstone of knowledge. Al~Quoran says : “Allah do not change the condition of a people unless they first change what is in themselves.”
It is a very big enterprise demanding a longer period, massive outlay of community resources, involvement of the talents of a large number knowledgeable persons across the Muslim World. Islands of enlightenment can however be made through creations
of centres of excellence here and there. In the penultimate stage these islands may become so many catalysts, for bringing in wholesome changes in the world and the
process of regeneration in the contemporary Muslim countries may be accelerated. Let the well-meaning persons, opinion leaders and savants of the Muslim World join their heads together to make the world a happier place of living for mankind without fear, hatred, violence, and Islam stands for this.
Professor Dr Emajuddin Ahamed is a former Vice-Chancellor of the Dhaka University. Currently he is the VC of the University of Development Alternative.
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