Will there be another Iqbal in our future?

Scholars of religion were also pioneers in medicine, astronomy and sciences. How far have we fallen since early age?

The first word which was given to us in our divine scripture was a command: “Iqraa (read)!” The early Muslims understood the command which led to our renaissance in all sciences. When the dark ages descended upon us, it was not due to any external reason. The reason was innate and obvious. We became the nation of takaathur competing against each other in wealth and power. Thus, the legacies of our last major empires (Ottoman, Safavid and Mughal) are not breakthroughs in any sciences. Their legacies are grand palaces, love temples and opulent mosques. All of these empires fell like dominoes in quick succession when confronted with Western civilisation armed with knowledge of sciences. The post-colonial ‘independent’ Islamic nations are also content to continue the legacies of these empires due to which they are literally being devoured one after the other. Will the tide turn in the near future?

The first thing to recognise is that the Islamic countries are currently in a much weaker position than the previous empires. The colonial powers afflicted us with the disease of nationalism due to which each nation has a divergent interest which ultimately weakens the community as a whole. Thus, within the last 20 years we have seen the complete destruction of Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq, Libya, Yemen, Lebanon and most recently Gaza. Each Muslim country is afraid of the threat of being “bombed into the stone age” so they become complicit in all of these massacres. What they do not realise is that eventually the fire of the neighborhood will devour all of them as it is only a matter of time.

The second point to recognise is that the masses of the Islamic countries are ignorant about both modern and religious sciences which have led to their current, impotent state. We see a divergent dual curriculum in all Islamic countries; western/secular one for the elites and eastern/religious one for the masses. This has created an inherent tension within each country. These dual systems have not led to scientific, economic and social renaissance of any of the Islamic countries since independence. Why was the experience of early Islam different from our post-colonial countries?

Early Islam did not distinguish between secular or religious sciences; all knowledge was from God. Our Prophet (PBUH) had obligated every Muslim to seek ilm which encompassed all fields of knowledge. Thus, the past scholars of religion were also pioneers in medicine, astronomy and other sciences. How far have we fallen since the early age? A simple example will illustrate our decline in religious sciences. Muslims are required to pray five times a day. Do we even know what are we reciting during our daily prayers? Is the Imam of our community fluent in the Classical Arabic or is he also just reciting from memory? Do we strive to learn the language so we can understand our rituals, obligations and ethics? Now, consider how much investment our elites place on their children to learn English which is the language of science of today. What is the result of this dichotomy? The society may produce doctors, engineers and other professionals in greater numbers than ever in its history. Yet, without the foundation of religion and its understanding we see a complete collapse of morals in our society. In the religious seminaries, we also produce millions of parrots who can memorise the Quran by heart but cannot understand it. What difference are they making in our society? What is the point of an Islamic Republic where the light of knowledge and understanding has been replaced by the darkness of rote learning and memorisation?

In my opinion, it is an obligation of our government to impart the skills of Classical Arabic to its citizens so they can all understand their basic role in private and public life. This is the first step to create unity of purpose within the country. We need to stop producing donkeys carrying books but original thinkers like Allama Iqbal who intertwined the knowledge of the East and the West to inspire us to create this homeland.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 21^st, 2023.

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