The Muslim Agenda in the present century

Urdu Section

05 Aug 2009, NewAgeIslam.Com

The Muslim Agenda in the present century

First of all, the Muslims should try to find out the reasons for their tragic condition. How and why have they been degraded to such a low-level as to remain an undeveloped and unstable community, whereas other communities of the world have succeeded even in harming them? Why are the Muslims lagging behind and have remained backward educationally, financially and politically? Other communities, who were the victim of impoverishment, lifted their status and raised themselves to greater heights. Obviously, there are certain reasons for Muslim backwardness – the greatest of all is that they have lagged behind in education, research and technology. -- Maulana Asrarul Haque Quasmi Translated from Urdu by Syed Raihan Ahmad Nezami, Najran, Saudi Arabia URL: http://www.newageislam.org/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1604 ----------   The Muslim Agenda in the present century Maulana Asrarul Haque Quasmi Translated from Urdu by Syed Raihan Ahmad Nezami   The condition of Muslims is very bad in the present century; it is even getting worse day by day. Muslims are facing numerous insurmountable problems from all directions, making their survival more difficult. There seems to be no immediate solution in sight in the near future. The hapless, wretched Muslim is being referred to as terrorist, aggressive, uncivilized and uncultured. It is quite common to call Muslims with titles like "terrorist", "orthodox" and "conservative". The western media is leaving no stone unturned in seeking to denigrate Muslims. The irony is that the anti-Muslim elements are garnering success too, in their ugly endeavour through various means and ways. The life of the Muslim Ummah is being made miserable with baseless charges being levelled at them from each and every nook and corner. In the light of the prevailing situation, Muslims should try to take effective measures to elevate their status and clear the doubtful clouds from the minds of other communities.   In this attempt, first of all, the Muslims should try to find out the reasons for their tragic condition. How and why have they been degraded to such a low-level as to remain an undeveloped and unstable community, whereas other communities of the world have succeeded even in harming them? Why are the Muslims lagging behind and have remained backward educationally, financially and politically? Other communities, who were the victim of impoverishment, lifted their status and raised themselves to greater heights. Obviously, there are certain reasons for Muslim backwardness – the greatest of all is that they have lagged behind in education, research and technology. On the other hand, other communities especially the western communities pulled their socks up, continued their struggle for all-round progress and succeeded in their hardy endeavour, obtaining notable successes in financial, political and cultural fields as well as in defence and science and technology. The economy of the western countries is quite strong; so the American dollar and the European euro are enjoy greater standing throughout the world. This gives them an upper hand in the international trade market; their products sell like hot cakes everywhere in the world making their currencies more valuable than others.   The people of the affluent countries are financially well-to-do and leading a contented life in a complete comfort zone far away from the hassles of poverty and hunger, even though some companies, banks and institutions have been affected by the present global economic crisis. Now let us consider the situation of Muslim countries. The currencies of various Muslim countries, except UAE, Malaysia and Saudi Arabia, have been devalued to an alarming level. The products of Arab countries are invisible in the world market as they are in no demand. The situation of the Arab world is even worse in matters of defence – they neither have arms and ammunition for their defence nor the modern technology to produce it.   Another thought-provoking issue is of education, Muslims are extremely backward in terms of education and technology – everyone knows education is an utmost necessity for the human beings. In Islamic teachings too, great emphasis is laid upon acquiring learning. In the light of the present situation, two points seem to be very important First, how can Muslims break the jinx to come out of this exceeding deterioration?   Second, how scan Muslims achieve success to fulfil their ambitions?   We need to pay attention at various fronts to respond to these questions and achieve the target of uplifting the sagging morale of the Muslims, anyhow, on a priority basis. Special attention should be given to education, learning and technical training. For the attainment of educational goal, initially education can be divided in two parts. Primary or Basic education Higher education   The subjects which are most important in life should be taught at primary level such as – religious teachings and the knowledge of day-to-day life because the religious and general knowledge is quite essential for every human being till the last breath. Not a single day can be completed without the sacred knowledge of Islam; hence a certain level of Islamic knowledge is essential so that everyone is able to perform his religious duties with contentment and live like a true devoted Muslim.    The mother tongue and the national language should also be included in the primary education, which are quite important in modern era. The mother tongue must be learnt at a commanding level, but a little bit of knowledge of the national language is enough, by which one may be able to handle the official works and draft any document at any level. As this is the age of globalization, any international language as a contact language seems to be required for businessmen, industrialists, exporters, etc. All the above-mentioned essential subjects must be included in the higher education whose importance is undeniable, and may be helpful in the service to the mankind especially for the Muslims. From the Islamic point of view, some authentic centres for the education and training of "Fiqah", "Tafseer", "Hadeeth", and the Islamic studies should be opened where Muslim youths can be transformed into renowned and erudite "Fuqaha", "Ulema", "Mufassareen", "Muhaddatheen", and Islamic scholars – so that they are able to perform their religious duties by serving the Muslim world.   When we consider the significance of modern subjects, "Information and Technology", "Engineering", "Medical Science", "Journalism" and other professional subjects seem to be given special attention. Information and Technology is of utmost importance – the significant branches of Engineering, important courses such as MBBS, MD and some other degrees in medical science should be obtained on a priority basis. Furthermore, the higher education in Political Science, sociology, Psychology, History, General Science and professional subjects too, is extremely essential. Only then, it will provide financial help and stability to our staggering and limping Muslim economy as well as become an important tool for all-round development. On condition, if the presently discussed educational structure is implemented successfully to the fullest, we can  visualize the educational goal set for the 21st century, and some remarkable achievements can be expected in the coming few decades or so. Translated from Urdu by Syed Raihan Ahmad Nezami, Najran, Saudi Arabia URL: http://www.newageislam.org/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1604 © Copyright: New Age Islam 2008-2009