Rising to fall

BY M. IQTEDAR HUSAIN FAROOQI

With regard to human development as well, barring some oil-producing Arab nations, most Muslim countries rank very low on the human development index. In the scientific field, the record of Muslim nations is dismal. Barely 500 PhDs in science are produced every year. This number is 3,000 in the UK alone. Out of the 500 and odd Nobel Prizes in science awarded from 1901 to 2008, Jews, who constitute 0.2 per cent of the world’s population, received around 140 prizes (25 per cent) as against only one received by a Muslim (the other recipient having been declared a non-Muslim by Pakistan), which is about 0.2 per cent of the total awards received. This is indeed a sad commentary on Muslims as far as scientific achievements are concerned.

Another disheartening report, recently compiled by the Shanghai Jiao Tong University, lists the top 400 universities in the world that have a high standard of teaching and research. Not one university from the Islamic world finds a place in the list. This is a truly painful situation, especially when compared with the period of shining Islamic civilisation during the middle ages from the 7th to 16th century. The well-known science historian, Charles C. Gillespie, has recorded the names of about 130 scientists and technologists who made a great impact during the middle ages. Of this number, 120 scientists belonged to the Islamic world while only four came from Europe. Is this not reason enough for Muslims to study their past critically, assess the present honestly and determine the future rationally?

I can provide some more information, not happy news, about the numerical strength of Muslims in the years to come. Given the present birth rate, the Muslim population will have doubled in the next 50 years i.e. it would comprise around three billion people. In that scenario, the number of Muslims will surpass the Christian population which stands today at about 2.3 billion but will only be doubled in 500 years. This however will not be good for Muslims themselves. Given the prevailing economic conditions in the Muslim world and the backwardness they are experiencing today, their growth in terms of population may further aggravate their economic problems, not solve them. Moreover, doubling the Muslim population in the next 50 years could in fact widen the economic gap between Muslim and Christian nations. So who will dominate the world in this century or the next? Muslims with five per cent of global wealth or Christians with 70 per cent of world economic power?

Muslims must understand that the numerical strength of a nation does not guarantee respect and dominance in the present-day scientifically advanced world. It is only scientific knowledge that matters and which brings respect, power and wealth. There are many examples that demonstrate the futility of higher populations possessed of lower economic and military power. For instance, the economically, militarily and scientifically powerful but small Jewish community of Israel is considered a perpetual threat to a very large but technologically backward population of Arab countries who rightly feel defeated and cheated. Another glaring example is the disparity between the small number of Muslims who live in the West where they enjoy economic prosperity and those who live in many Muslim-majority countries with large populations where they experience a variety of hardships.

Nissim Hasan, an Islamic scholar of repute, has observed that "Diminishing Muslim vision of knowledge is singularly responsible for the decline of the economic and political power of the Islamic civilisation. We have failed now for centuries to become leaders of humanity. We have surrendered our vision, our faith and our reason to dead woods." Mahathir Mohamad, the former prime minister of Malaysia, has rightly advised Muslims "to give up their illogical beliefs and regressing thoughts and be prepared to face the challenges of the fast changing social order" (OIC Conference, Kuala Lumpur).

It is important to note that during their rule of Spain from the 8th to the14th century AD Muslims dominated the whole of Europe as Muslim Spain was the hub of scientific activity and its earnings were higher than the earnings of the rest of Europe put together. Today the situation has turned topsy-turvy. Today the GDP of Christian Spain is higher than that of the 12 oil-producing Muslim countries combined. And Spain was not the only highly developed country in the Islamic world during the middle ages. All the regions and cities under Islamic rule, such as Baghdad, Damascus, Cairo, Tripoli and so on, were humming with scientific activity. Islamic society all over the world was considered to be highly developed – scientifically, intellectually, culturally and economically. In contrast, as described by historians, when science flourished in the Islamic world, Europe was trapped in the dark ages and the evils of pedantry, bigotry and cruelty supported by their reliance on charms, amulets and relics were common. It is important to mention that during the rise of Islam Muslims comprised barely 10 per cent of the world’s population.

According to Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, the great visionary of India, this situation "started changing after the 16th century when Muslim society stagnated and followed the lifestyle of the Europeans of the dark ages. On the other hand, Europeans (Christians) turned towards progressive thinking and the scientific pursuits of Muslims" (Letters of Azad). The results were obvious. Muslim society, which dominated the world for about 800 years in all respects of human activity, started declining in intellectual vitality and was ultimately dominated by the emerging power of Europe.

In this connection, the observations of the great Islamic thinker, Maulana Abul Hasan Ali Nadvi, are especially relevant and valid as he explains, "After the 16th century, Muslims lost interest in inquiry and the physical sciences and engaged themselves more in the metaphysical sciences with the result that they could not produce great men of learning (genius). Muslims forgot their own scientific thinking and followed only traditional knowledge. They therefore lagged behind in science and technology and thus became slaves of the West" (Islam and the West).

Some years ago the political scientist, Samuel P. Huntington, expressed the view that the recent conflict between the West and the Muslim world was actually a clash of civilisations. This is absolute nonsense. In fact, it is a clash between the rich and poor where rich nations dictate their terms and poor nations are subjected to exploitation and humiliation.

Poor nations, whether Muslim or non-Muslim, should understand that their survival depends entirely on global peace and their unnecessary conflict with the rich nations, particularly in the name of religion, will only land them in greater trouble and distress. Muslims can only regain their past glory if they adopt a scientific renaissance similar to the European Renaissance and do so more vigorously and rapidly than Europe did. But before this is done, Muslims have to condemn and reject the forces of extremism and promote the true Islamic values of tolerance and moderation. Hatred of the West will do no good to Muslims. It will only lead to greater misery for them. And hating the West but taking pride in getting visas or green cards in order to live there is nothing short of hypocrisy and duplicity. 

Some distinguished rulers in the Arab world, and the Saudi Arabian King Abdullah in particular, must be congratulated and supported for their recent initiative to promote interfaith dialogues and understanding between all the religions of the world. At a recently held interfaith conference King Abdullah rightly observed that "Islam must do away with the dangers of extremism to present the religion’s ‘good message’. We must tell the whole world that we are a voice of justice and values and humanity, that we are a voice of coexistence. The Islamic world faces difficult challenges from the extremism of some Muslims whose aggressions target the magnanimity, fairness and lofty aims of Islam."

Muslims do not need empty slogans and misplaced religious fervour. It is high time they interacted with the West as responsible nations. They must welcome Barack Obama’s Cairo speech which invites Muslims to join hands with the West for global peace and prosperity. Obama’s initiatives should be supported, his hands strengthened so that he succeeds in his stupendous task of unity of all faiths for the cause of better understanding and peace on this highly charged and disturbed earth. In the words of President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt, "Islamic civilisation respects all mankind and this must be made clear to the whole world, not by words but rather by deeds and conduct." 

It is high time close contact and cooperation was established between Nobel Peace Prize winner Obama and Muslim nations in general and Arab countries in particular. This will help considerably in weakening the anti-Islamic forces of the West, which have no doubt existed there from the time of the crusades.

(Dr M. Iqtedar Husain Farooqi is secretary of the Sir Syed Scientific Society, Lucknow; Email: [email protected].)