Assalaamu Alikum,

The way forward for the Muslims is, firstly to unite, and secondly to assert our heritage in the field of ALL sciences and humanities. We initiated the expansion of knowledge, because of the faith brought to us by the last Prophet. Is it surprising that we, as a group/nation are so far behind the rest of the world in terms of civilisation and democracy; because we have lost the path and are so self engrossed that we cannot see the wood for the trees. I can, as I am sure you can, remember many instances where we were the pioneers and are now treated as the most backward of people. Ask yourself why that is the Muslims as a learned force ceased to become significant and you will discover that our downfall can be traced to the infighting amongst the Muslims and the divergence from Islam of the hierarchy and also the influential elite. So can we ever gain our rightful place as the people of truth and knowledge or are we to remain in the dark ages, ruled by ignorant leaders (out to further their selfish ends) and torn by fighting amongst the various factions.

Where these factions come from can be arrived at by proper discussion and not by ranting and ravings of the so-called leaders and inciting destruction in the name of Allah. I have often been asked a question that how I deal with the fact that I am a learned scholar (in the sciences) and a Muslim. To me there is no friction between the two, if anything my learning has strengthen my belief that there IS a god and that something else is controlling the events in this universe.

It is sometimes better to achieve learnt faith than blind faith, I certainly do not have blind faith and at times have questioned my peers regarding Islam, in a way as to have seemed to be a non-believer, but surly that is the way to be enlightened - if one is unsure of anything then question it and try and find the answer...or get close to the answer at least. Looking through the centuries since the rise of Islam it is evident that we as a group have played the most major of roles in advancing civilisation and made breakthroughs that have led to the breakthrough in science, medicine, mathematics and humanities.

Does anyone ask the question why?                                                                 

Well let me offer my views........ We were united in one religion. We were not at odds between learning and submitting (to Allah) Nothing was barred unlike today where the scientists are frowned upon and considered to be as non-believers.

As long as one remained in the boundaries of Islam nothing was banned and that is why the Muslims initiated the sciences and mathematics and other subjects. Look at us now we are the least educated of nations and our religious hierarchy (or so it seems is hell bent on taking us further into the depths of darkness) frowns upon Muslims as scientists and humanists.

Our downfall began when we became fragmented and were easily beaten by heathens / heretics. Once in power, these forces destroyed our books and places of learning and some of our leaders joined forces and played major roles in our own downfall. This collusion led to the amalgamation of two cultures and also new practices were introduced as Islamic musts. So once again we lost our faith in ourselves and were diluted by outside powers, which exploited our fragmentation.

Not only did we lose all books and learned scholars of the sciences, we were very open to the Europeans who sought knowledge and learning. So much so that we offered our books for copying and reading, which the Europeans duly did and learnt our entire knowledge base in all subjects even Islam and Islamic Jurisprudence. Is it any wonder why after the demise of the Islamic places of learning, Europe became the centre of growth and advances began to be made in those areas where we had initiated the research and advances. What is more annoying is that due to our lack of unity the Europeans played on this fact and fractionised the Muslims even more and were thus in a great position to take over the mantle as the advancers of civilisation and sciences. The Muslims were cast aside as backward and lacking any brainpower or foresight to bother with.

So it seems that we were the initiators of the great advances in the sciences and now are at the bottom of the pile? The blame must be shared by all quarters the religions and the modern educationalists. It is probably an open secret that in the Muslim countries there are very few individuals who can profess a grasp of both banks of knowledge (Islamic and Secular). It is a great shame since Islam makes it obligatory to educate all sections of society and in all areas........not just religious doctrines. It is interesting to note that it was during the early periods of Islam that science and other sections of education and knowledge flourished and boundaries were pushed back faster than at any period of humanity..........so what went wrong, look at the history of the Muslim empire it becomes self evident what went wrong.......the rulers went away from Islam and factions flourished and thus the educationalists were also left behind because of the rise of the 'militant' scholars / leaders.

So after so many years of being in the darkness it will be an immense task to bring the Muslim nations back into the running of being the advancers of science and literature rather than the backward lot. It is now the time to merge Islamic education and Secular education so that we can once again be the leaders of the world rather than the whipping horses. Just a last comment before I finish, why is it that the number of Muslim scientists in the west is in great excess compared to the fraction of Muslims present in the west, is it because that when given the opportunities the Muslims can easily grasp the concept of science because it does not conflict with their understandings and god's words, ....whereas the other faiths are not as complete.

Let us return to the real Islam, which expects all men / women to educate themselves in the areas of deen (Religion) and duniya (World) that is how the Prophet wanted us to live our lives and how God intended us to praise him. By understanding the world we live in we can fully appreciate the glory of God and how, no matter how much we try, there is an order of things that was (and still is) being controlled by a higher being (GOD). I have no trouble in believing in God, if anything this belief has grown stronger, even though I am a scientist. If I succeed in sparking enthusiasm in our youth, who work very hard in the Islamic Theology field, to take further their education in the sciences, arts and humanities. I shall count myself privileged to have been a part of their education process. I would like to see the Muslims to be where we were 1000 years ago, i.e. leaders in sciences, medicine and humanities.

May Allah (SWT) give me the energy and the determination to achieve my goal (Amen).

Dr. S. J. Haneef