‘Promote research in medical institutes’

Chairman Urology and Transplant Surgery, PAF Hospital, Professor Saeed Akhtar said, "Whether it's the new Covid-19 vaccine or the creation of a spacecraft, we as a Muslim nation and Pakistanis are far behind. We have placed all the responsibility of creative thinking, new inventions, finding new frontiers, designing new surgical instruments and techniques on the West and we have become just a consumer society."

He expressed these views while addressing as a guest speaker during a session on 'Research Ethics and Islam', organised by Zia-ud-Din University.

Professor Saeed Akhtar said that universities whose job is to 'form and create new knowledge' are only a means of imparting knowledge and not of creation. "Is Islam a Progressive Religion or a Regressive Religion? What is our responsibility as a Muslim scientist, a modern physician and as a nation in a competitive world?" he questioned while discussing many issues.

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Explaining his point of view, he said that Islamic scholars are not well versed in modern issues and modern sciences. "There seems to be little contact or collaboration between basic scientists and doctors in most of the Islamic world. As a result, there is no relevant and commercially viable research or research products. The majority of people with modern understanding are unaware of the complexity of the teachings of Islam," he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 15^th, 2021.