The aim of this article is to encourage integration of Islamic culture in the world order. I will point out why – according to me – such change is necessary and is in the best interest of the world Muslim community.
I will start by saying that that western civilisation is predominant in the world today. In the past centuries it was not so. At various times the Indian and then the Muslim nations were the drivers of the world economy. It was the development of science that has been the driver of the growth of western nations through the past few centuries. This process started with the Reformation and the Renaissance in Europe. These movements led to a critical appraisal of the Christian religious scriptures and that intellectual freedom made it possible for the scientific culture to flourish for perhaps the first time in human history.
With climate change, global warming and other such threats to human existence we now need more science and not less to ensure the continued survival of the human race.
At the present time the Middle Eastern nations have a good amount of influence over the Muslim community in nations like India and also all over the world. The reason for this is primarily financial. The Gulf nations have been blessed with Petroleum resources that that is the main reason for the strength of their economies and their influence worldwide.
But change is the only constant in life and it is only a matter of time before this source of revenue wanes. The world economy is weaning itself from dependence on oil. An American businessman whose company manufactures specialised computers for the Oil industry told me that he does not see his company flourishing for more that 20 or 30 years more as the world is slowly starting to end exploration of Oil.
Assuming this will happen then after a maximum of 30 years the Middle Eastern nations will see their financial clout decrease dramatically and with it their influence over the worldwide community of Muslims.
The Gulf Nations need to invest in their citizens and have their skills and efforts drive their economies. This – along with their strengths in Science, Engineering, Engineering and Mathematics – is the reason the western nations have been prospering in the past many decades. And the Gulf nations have a window of about 20 to 30 years to make that happen.
The main obstacle to that happening at present the sort of education most of the youngsters in the Gulf nations (and also Muslim kids in India and Pakistan) receive. This education – as far as I know – consists of an uncritical reading of the Holy Koran and other Islamic religious scriptures.
Now I fully believe that Prophet Muhammad was a God inspired mystic and any person would be very wise if he allowed himself to be guided by his teachings. But at the same time it is true that there is room for different interpretations of his teachings. The philosopher Bertrand Russell mentions in The History of Western Philosophy that according to the mystics every text of the Koran has upto 700 layers of interpretation.
That being the case I think the Gulf states and also Muslims in India, who depend on income from the Gulf for their survival and activities, would do well to start emphasizing knowledge in general and the sciences in particular in their education of their youth. I am no expert on the Koran (I haven’t read it even once) but I sure it is possible to find an interpretation of the Koran that does not prohibit this.
This is the way – I think – to again making the Muslim culture dominant and respected in the world as it was many centuries ago.
I’ll end here. Please comment on the article if you liked it or even if you didn’t. Feedback from my readers keeps me going.
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