“Read! Recite! Proclaim! In the name of thy Lord and cherisher who created - created the human, out of a congealed clot of blood (a leach-like substance). Read and thy Lord is Most Bountiful. He who taught (the use of) the Pen- taught man that which he knew not (Holley Quran 96: 1-5).
The first revelation to the Prophet of Islam revealed by God was ‘to read’. God didn’t say fight, be clean, do charity, pray, but he said ‘read’. With the passage of time Mohammad (peace be upon him) stressed his followers to gain knowledge, he says “seek knowledge even unto China”. The importance of china in my understanding was in two contexts, one Chinese language was alien to Arabs and other Islamic world at that time besides being very far off place to the Arab world. And second was the knowledge capital of china that would have made it focus of Prophet, as China was advanced, even than western world, in knowledge at that time. The emphasis given on knowledge by Prophet of Islam motivated most of the Muslims to seek knowledge and to transfer this knowledge from generation to generation. Within the hundred years after the emergence of Islam, Muslims proved to be very educative and innovative.
The non-commercialization of education in Islamic world and the zeal to propagate this knowledge made Islamic world front runner and torch bearer of knowledge. When whole of the west was in Dark period, Islamic world was blooming with knowledge and prosperity. Muslim scholars contributed in almost all major fields of knowledge and innovations. The thirst of knowledge in the Muslim world gave birth to scholars like Abu Ali al-Hussain Ibn Abdallah Ibn Sina, known as Avicinna, Hunayn ibn Ishaq, Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Zakariya al-Razi, Al-Idrisi, Ibn al-Baitars who immensely contributed in the field of medicine and science, besides these scholars Muslim world created scholars like; Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi, Ghiyath al-Din al Kashani, Umar Khayyam, Abu al-Hassan al Haitham and many others. They too proved to be masters and architects of the modern scientific fields of medicine, astronomy, physics, mathematics and social sciences like Sociology and History, of which example of Ibn khaldun is a ready reminder to everybody. Unfortunately we can not find names of these people anymore in our academic books and papers, as there legacy was not continued and their innovations were not patented, when Intellectual property law IPR was implemented. With the result western scholars adopted their innovation and patented them in their own name, as they did with the number of Chinese innovations like gun powder, printing press etc.
The knowledge capital of Muslim world could not sustain long, as the coming generation failed to preserve and work with it with the changing times. With the result after 13th century, influence of Muslim world in the field of knowledge and innovation started declining. Though the influence and contribution of Muslim scholars to this legacy remained for one more century, but after fifteenth century we could not see such innovations and rapid application of knowledge in the Islamic world. Despite the fact that in the medieval period three greatest Muslim Empires came to existence- Ottaman in Turkey, Safavid In Iran, and Mughal in Indian subcontinent. Still in modern time, we could not see much contribution in scientific knowledge by Islamic world. Why the greed of seeking and imparting knowledge declined in Muslim world? Why Muslim countries are far behind than non-Muslim countries in education, technology, and economic development? Why Muslim women are less educated than the non-Muslim women? Despite the fact, Islam gives equal rights to both male and female to seek education /knowledge. According to (Al-Bayhaqi), the Prophet Muhammad (Pbuh) says, “It is obligatory for every Muslim – male or female – to acquire knowledge.” If Islam would not have allowed women to seek knowledge we would not have seen the wife of Prophet Mohammad (PBuh) - Aisha bente Abu Bakir, who had gained a tremendous knowledge of law, religion, literature and even medicine - guiding many sahaabi’s (companions of prophet Mohammad) after the death of Prophet Mohammad. But present day Muslim world has forgotten this.
The recent ban on girl education and demolition of Schools in the picturesque Swat valley in NWFP (North-Western Frontier Province) in Pakistan by Taliban is a new challenge which Muslim world is facing by its own people. Though national assembly of Pakistan later rejected the ban, Taliban’s second in command Mula Shah Duran ordered prohibition of girl’s education Calling it un-Islamic. One fails to understand which Islam he is talking of. As we have already seen din-i-illahi, din-i- Qadyani , and now we have dine–i-Talibani, which does everything except the things which Islam teaches. According to Washington Times, dated January 5, 2009, “Three years ago, more than 120,000 girls attended schools and colleges in the region (NWFP), which has a population of 1.8 million. Now only about 40,000 are enrolled”. The enrolment has effected because of the speeches of so called local religious demagogues against girl education. If the situation continues time is not far when we will find no girls in schools, and boys either in opium cultivation or in jihadi camps. If we go by Taliban means of education, then we have to confine girls inside homes and teach them to read Quran. What should these girls do, just to recite Quran-- which they don’t even understand as most of us in south Asia do-- is not enough to progress. If learning means to learn to read Quran only, than Prophet Mohammad (Pbuh) would not have asked his people seek knowledge even if you have to go China.
Muslims in the present world feel helplessness, vulnerability, frustration and reaction to their every action, whether sane or insane, with the result they either go for Jihad or come to the streets to protest. That only alienates them from the rest of the world. On the other hand America and other western countries that feel Muslim as the biggest threat, with the result they have been using force to eliminate a section of people who oppose American/western hegemony. The antagonism and hatred by western countries for Muslim world, going on from many centuries, is a creation of Christian Church who felt threat of Islam. This creation of hatred is still going on in western world despite their liberal education and thinking. Thanks to the American and western culture and so called modernism that has trapped and jaundiced their vision. If they would have kept, otherwise, eye on their history that could have led them to learn the truth about their past.
The second biggest challenge now, west and America feels, is ideological challenge. All the ideologies vanished, because of the influence of western ideology. Hindus, Buddhists, Communists, and other sects fell into the lap of west. Even the most politically and culturally rigid country; China follows all the footsteps of West. The culture, way of living, eating habits, and dressing in China goes western way; thus on cultural sector even China has fallen into their lap. Then ,there remains only one ideology which challenges western ideology, i.e Islamic ideology .this is the ideology which challenges western ideology and goes against the western way of life style. This way, it is Muslim world that become only challenging force for the western world. So there remain only two prominent ideologies: western ideology and Muslim ideology. Parallel force is always, and has been always, challenge unless it bows down its head and accepts the supremacy of the other. If you are not with us, you are against us. And the one who is against us has to accept our hegemony or face the music, that is the direct and indirect message of American and western world to the Muslim world.
At this important point of time, when a black African becomes president of USA, Taliban forces in Afghanistan are able to gain control, and America is loosing their “war on terror”. The humiliation of Bush in Iraq where he was given farewell with shoes, the Israeli attack on Palestine that lead to death of thousands of people and further strengthened the Hamas, one wonders where the world is heading. In one hand America and its allies have realized that they cannot defeat Muslim world with force, they need to negotiate and find a different strategy. One the other hand Muslim world is getting ray of hope after America’s shameful exist form Iraq, and their helplessness in Afghanistan. But what is Muslim world doing? Excluding one or two Muslims nations, USA and other Western countries control all most all the Muslim nations. That starts from the nuclear power Pakistan to the natural resource rich countries of Middle East. But, despite America’s indirect control on these governments, it could not control the emotion and loyalty of the people of these countries, who have started hating America and western world because of its anti-Muslim policies.
Despite having enough economic resources Muslim world could not establish a single world class university. This had a direct impact on the knowledge capital of Muslim world. Why can’t Muslims produce ibn Sina, and Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi like people now? Muslims in the world have enough resources, access to technology and knowledge; why still they are behind the west. If Muslims were masters of knowledge, why are they most illiterate and ignorant at this point? This ignorance and lack of knowledge keeps Muslims behind the world, especially the West. Why a community of 14 million Jews can maneuver things in the world, why not Muslims with more the 1 billion population. Muslims world need brains, not countless heads. Muslim uma in general and Ulemas in particular need to come out of there stereotypic notions about science, and encourage young generation -boys –girls to seek more and more scientific knowledge. If Muslims can not speed up and work in the field of knowledge which is imperative for the success of a nation, state, village and for the growth of an individual; they will remain where they are. On the other hand, if the west and America will not take Muslims seriously, the word of ‘jihad’ which has now become a household discussion may have an impact on every household.
