Many Muslim scientists like Ibn Sina (Avicenna), al-Hasan ibn al-Haytham, known in the West as Alhazen, and Muḥammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi (Algorithmi), made great contributions that shaped the modern world. In the 9th century, Muslim inventor Abbas ibn Firnas was the first to design and test a flying machine, hundreds of years before da Vinci drew plans of his own. Hospitals as we know them today believed to have come from 9th century Egypt.

Sonja Pace | London 16 February 2010

Photo: AFP

A replica of the first person said to have flown with wings is displayed at the science museum in central London on January 21, 2010. The debt owed by European scholars to their Muslim counterparts on everything from water pumps and blood circulation to engineering and map-making was unveiled in a London exhibition on January 21.

Coffee, computers and piston engines – could we imagine a world without them?  These are intricate parts of every day life for most of us and the knowledge that led to them was either invented by or passed down through the ancient Muslim world.  That is the theme of an exhibit in London’s Science Museum and it’s a far cry from the view held by some that the Muslim and Western World represent a “clash of civilizations.”

A simple cup of coffee has become an intricate part of so many cultures. It’s called “Kawha”- where it was first developed as a drink – in the Arabian Peninsula, in today’s Yemen.

Professor Salim al-Hassani of the University of Manchester explains the coffee beans were actually brought to Yemen from the Horn of Africa, from Ethiopia.

“Well of course, coffee was invented in the very early years of Islam – a guy called Khaled in Ethiopia, a young man looking after his sheep,” al-Hassani said.

The sheep seemed to like the beans.  So the young man took the beans to Yemen – the story goes – and the drink was developed and spread like wildfire.

And there were many other inventions or innovations passed on by the early Muslim world from the 7th Century onward, says Hassani.

“One of them is the invention of the university.  This was done in the year 850 by a young lady called Fatima al-Fihri in the city of Fez in Morocco,” al-Hassani said. “The first university as we know it in the world, giving degrees and so on.”

And that’s the theme of this exhibit at the London Science Museum.  It’s called 1001 inventions: the Muslim Heritage, a bit like “1001 Arabian Nights,” the well known fairy tale.

The exhibit in London focuses on scientific or technological inventions and advances that changed our world – from some of the earliest universities, to innovations in medicine, hygiene, pumps, and water wheels.

Some says these important achievements have been forgotten amid the news often coming out of the Muslim world today that focuses so much on strife and terrorism. But, ask just about anyone on the streets of, say, Cairo or Damascus today and they haven’t forgotten –  they’ll readily tell you about Islam’s glory days – not just its conquests but its cultural, scientific and technological innovations.”

These advances came at the height of the Islamic empire’s glory when it spread from the Middle East, across North Africa to southern Spain and beyond.

A time when Muslim scholars and inventors were at the forefront, says Hassani.     

“During that time, there were enormous contributions in science and technology that we have forgotten about and that comes to us from other civilizations,” al-Hassani said. “And, it came to use over a very important civilization and that is the Muslim civilization.”

London Exhibit

A scale model of Al-Jazari’s 13th-century Scribe Clock

Muslims absorbed knowledge – from India, China, the Greeks, the ancient Egyptians – and passed it on.  One exhibit exemplifies that mixture – a giant clock featuring an Indian elephant and Chinese dragons and using ancient Greek water works.  The one here is a replica of the original designed by the Muslim inventor, mathematician and engineer al-Jazari in the early 13th Century.

Anne Marie Brennan teaches forensic biology at London’s South Bank University and is fascinated by these innovations.  

“Everybody has to love the elephant clock,” Brennan said. “The elephant clock is wonderful because it is like a United Nations clock. It has all the elements of different civilizations and I like it as a scientist because it shows that science doesn’t have to be boring and sterile and plain, but it can be decorative and it can also pay homage to the cultures that bring it forward.”

And then there is mathematics and algebra. In general, our numbers are known as “Arabic numerals” today, but it wasn’t always so, says professor Hassani.

“The numbers that we have today – 1,2,3,4 – they’re called Arabic numerals, but actually the Arabs at the time called them Indian numerals,” al-Hassani said.

And, the number “0” for example – “zephir” in Arabic – was used first by early Arab scholars as an integral part of mathematical equations.  And that’s part of the all important formula of zeros and ones that was crucial to the development of computers and other new technology.

The Magenn Power Air Rotor System (MARS) is a patented high altitude lighter-than-air tethered device that rotates about a horizontal axis in response to wind, efficiently generating clean renewable electrical energy at a lower cost than all competing systems. This electrical energy is transferred down the tether to a transformer at a ground station and then transferred to the electricity power grid. Helium (an inert non-reactive lighter than air gas) sustains the Air Rotor which ascends to an altitude for best winds and its rotation also causes the Magnus effect. This provides additional lift, keeps the device stabilized, keeps it positioned within a very controlled and restricted location, and causes it to pull up overhead rather than drift downwind on its tether.

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• Magenn Power Air Rotor System will deliver time-averaged output much closer to its rated capacity than the capacity factor typical with conventional designs. Magenn efficiency will be 25 to 60 percent. This is hugely important, since doubling capacity factor cuts the cost of each delivered watt by half.
• Wind farms can be placed closer to demand centers, reducing transmission line costs and transmission line loses.
• Magenn Air Rotors are operable between 2 meter/sec and in excess of 28 meters/sec.
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These points are mutually inclusive. The advantages above combine to make Magenn the most cost-effective wind electrical generation system.

Sandipan Chatterjee Wakf land now a club: Tollygunge, Calcutta Having failed to give the lease rent agreed upon in 1934, the management of the club has now been ordered by court to pay Rs 30 lakh as arrears and Rs 1 lakh a month as rent Saba Naqvi Wakf Deconstructed ‘To tie down’ is the literal meaning of the Arabic word Wakf. It’s used across the Muslim world to denote property donated by individuals and institutions in the name of Allah for the benefit of the poor in the community. 800 years is how old the institution of Wakf is in India. It began when Muslim rulers donated huge lands for charity. 3,00,000 is the approximate number of registered Wakf properties in India 4 lakh acresis the land Wakf properties account for. According to the deputy chairman of the Rajya Sabha, K. Rahman Khan, this makes the board the third-largest landholder after the railways and defence. 35 is the number of Wakf boards in India, many of them non-functional 5 is the minimum number of members a board must have. The number, however, varies according to the Muslim population of a state. Members are nominated by ruling parties in each state. Wakf Acts The 1954 and 1995 central laws endow huge powers with the state governments that set up and run Wakf boards in their states *** Modus Operandi Outright sale Builder or businessman identifies a Wakf property They approach members of the board The land is sold for a pittance Board members get their cut Cheap rent Happens in states where outright sale is not encouraged Builder/ businessman approaches board members The land is given on a ridiculously low lease Land use is changed to facilitate commercial exploitation Members pocket their cuts Allegations against the board Although Wakf is a national resource to be used to develop institutions and earn income for Muslims, it is so terribly managed that it is the only system where virtually no accountability is demanded Cases of blatant corruption abound. Land is sold off for buildings, hotels, malls or factories for a pittance or given out for shockingly low rents to commercial interests. The boards have become an avenue for political patronage. Muslims who cannot be accommodated in ministries are sent off here. They mostly never do anything for the community. In most cases, they are hand-in-glove with the land mafia and encroachers. The “Islam in danger” sentiment is crudely raised to hoodwink the Muslim public and stop any real scrutiny of the functioning of boards, whose members are out to make a fast buck Ironically, Wakf boards keep claiming properties protected by the ASI as “living” religious shrines. In many cases, there is a clear monetary incentive under the guise of religion. The mess in the boards is also a reflection of the apathy of state governments. Many have not constituted boards; none have carried out a survey of Wakf properties as required by the 1995 Act. As a result of this mess, 70 per cent of Wakf properties are encroached upon, often in connivance with board members or government department overseeing. Allow encroachments The board covertly encourages Muslims to encroach on a monument. Friday prayers begin to be held on a regular basis. Wakf board then attempts to make it a ‘living’ place of worship. Very often, the encroachers are board members or persons acting on their behalf. Later  surrounding land is sold/ leased as  private property for  commercial  purposes. *** It is collectively the biggest land scam in India’s history. Wakf can be described as a religious endowment made in the name of Allah for the benefit of the poor and needy in the Muslim community. There are approximately 3,00,000 registered Wakf properties in India on about four lakh acres of land. It is a national resource that should have been developed for the welfare of the community, as it is meant to. Instead, this resource has been mortgaged, sold and encroached upon with the connivance of the very institutions and individuals responsible for safeguarding it. This is an investigation into a systemic rot. The Wakf boards in most states of India are repositories of corruption, in league with land sharks and builders. They continue to get away with the daylight robbery of their own community because, whenever there is any demand for scrutiny, they crudely take cover behind the “Islam in danger” sentiment. < /tbody>     Earlier, a sale or exchange of land had to have the approval of the district judge. Now the board pretty much does what it wants.     Rahman Khan, deputy chairman of the Rajya Sabha, was chairman of the joint parliamentary committee on Wakf that submitted its report a year ago. Having examined the issue in depth, he says: “If the Wakf properties were managed properly, many problems of Muslims such as joblessness, lack of education and resultant poverty would have been resolved. Today, even if we presume that 70 per cent of these properties have been encroached upon or sold off, even the remaining 30 per cent is a huge resource that can be developed.” He has already recommended to the Manmohan Singh government that there be a “total change” in the constitution of the boards and a national Wakf development corporation be set up with professionals at the helm. “Imagine what great institutions can be built as the land cost is zero,” he says. Wakf property now encroached upon: Fatehpuri Mosque, Delhi In one instance, the board got a property with Punjab National Bank vacated and then leased it to a society headed by one of its own members. Shops too have been given out on lease. But that is some distance away and will happen only if public awareness about the scale of the problem is created. Currently, those who purport to be leaders of the community are complicit in the conspiracy to rob resources while perpetuating a siege mentality. They want to capture existing institutions and sell them off piece by piece. They are adept at fanning fears and feeding into the victimhood syndrome but quite incapable of building institutions or shepherding the community towards modernity. Atyab Siddiqui, advocate and standing counsel of the Jamia Millia Islamia university, says that “anytime we talk of reforming Wakf, they bring religion into it”. According to him, the 1995 Wakf Act actually increased corruption within the boards. Earlier, any sale or exchange of land had to be cleared by a district judge. “But now,” he says, “the board can pretty much do what it likes, and shocking decisions are taken all the time.” Some examples of suspect land deals from across the land: Chennai: In 1997, the Tamil Nadu Wakf Board took the decision to outright sell 1,710 square feet of land in the commercialised Triplicane High street in Madras for a paltry Rs 3 lakh. A sale like this would have required the sanction of two-thirds of the board members. Mumbai: The Maharashtra Wakf Board got a measly Rs 16 lakh for 4,532 square metres in the upscale Altamount Road on which none other than Mukesh Ambani is building his plush 27-storey home. Bangalore: Developed on about five acres of land, the Windsor Manor hotel here was till recently giving the board a rent of Rs 12,000 a month for a property worth Rs 500 crore. Faridabad: The Wakf board has been giving out about five acres of land on 11-month leases for several years at a ridiculously low rent between Rs 500 and Rs 1,500 per month. A factory was built and land use altered. When Outlook approached Salman Khursheed, the Union minister for minority affairs, he admitted that “Wakf is one of those areas in which accountability has not been demanded. The community itself has not demanded accountability possibly due to a level of ignorance”. Can things change? Khursheed says he has proposed changes in the existing laws. “Once there was no accountability in the management of Haj. Now questions are asked all the time,” he points out. “Although the Wakf situation looks impossible, things do and can change once awareness builds up.” Wakf land now a hotel: Windsor Manor, Bangalore The hotel was paying a lease of just Rs 12,000 a month for this five-acre plot till the courts recently ordered a rent of Rs 6 lakh a month for a property worth Rs 500 crore The heart of the problem lies in the constitution of the boards. A senior bureaucrat familiar with the issue says bluntly: “The boards are ill-constituted, not constituted or politically constituted. Often, they’re nothing more than a gang of thieves.” Mostly, political hangers-on and operators from the minority community are sent off to man the boards. The policies of successive governments have created a class of “sarkari Musalmans” adept at capturing institutions and bagging positions through which they can patronise others down the pecking order. The incentive they have, besides authority, is to pilfer as much as they can get away with.     The policies of successive governments have created a class of ‘sarkari Musalmans’ who are adept at capturing institutions.     There are enough examples of how a small group of “insiders” at Muslim institutions benefit from the overall laxity in the boards. For instance, there is the case of a member of the Delhi minorities commission running a private school on a large tract of Wakf land in the expensive Nizamuddin area and paying the board a pittance of Rs 1,000 rent per month. Mohammad Arif, section officer in charge of properties in the Delhi Wakf office, admits reluctantly that there are “some schools running on Wakf land but they are not for the poor and charge fees”. Further digging reveals that, two decades ago, Delhi Wakf ran a charitable dispensary but it was shut down. Now the main service they provide is paying salaries of imams attached to masjids (see On a Wink and a Prayer). Wakf land now Ambani Home: Altamount Rd, Mumbai The market value of this 4,532 sq m plot on which Mukesh Ambani is building a 27-storey skyscraper is Rs 21 crore but the board ratified< br />its sale for a “contribution” of Rs 16 lakh There are two revealing cases linked to the huge Fatehpuri mosque in Delhi. According to some documents accessed by Outlook, what was listed as “Wakf estate number 6540 in masjid Fatehpuri” was occupied by a branch of the Punjab National Bank. The board fought a case and got the property vacated. Subsequently, however, it leased the property to a society headed by one of its own members, a Maulana Moazzam Ahmad. A blatant case of insider trading? Three years ago, a lawyer representing a school running inside the Fatehpuri mosque tried to get a shop at the entrance removed. The Wakf board claimed that the documents relevant for that plot of land were missing—it was widely suspected that the shopkeeper was paying off members. Salman Khursheed also pleads helplessness. “What do we do when the boards let their own properties be encroached upon and then say the documents are missing and they have lost the title deeds?” That is, in fact, the most common tactic used when the boards are in league with encroachers. RS deputy chairman Rahman Khan says that there is no doubt that almost 70 to 80 per cent of Wakf land is encroached upon. Often, it is the government that simply takes over the land. But all too often Muslims themselves are the encroachers who pay off board members to live inside mosques and shrines or run shops and businesses on the premises. “Corruption in the boards is rampant,” says Rahman Khan, “and this is made worse by the attitude of state governments to Muslim institutions. They don’t want to interfere in case there is a reaction and they also don’t care because Muslims are involved.” Wakf land sold cheap: Lal Bagh, Bangalore This 90,000 sq ft of prime property in the city’s posh area was sold for just Rs 1 crore when it could have fetched over Rs 90 crore in the market Standing counsel for Jamia Millia Islamia Atyab Siddiqui says that whenever there is an initiative from educated Muslims to preserve a legacy, build an institution or perhaps even introduce modern education, there is a run-in with the Wakf board. “We believe the Wakf does not have the instruments to preserve old mosques and we have been arguing that the ASI is better positioned to manage properties. But the problem that enlightened sections of society face is that they run up against monetary interests of a few who hide behind the guise of religion.” K.K. Mohammad is a veteran ASI archaeologist who has worked across India. Now the superintending archaeologist for the Delhi circle, he says, “My experience shows me that whenever people claim protected monuments as living shrines, there is a commercial incentive of occupying the monument or developing the land around it. All communities have people who do this.” Most old Wakf properties have caretakers who treat it like a personal fiefdom, building houses and businesses and destroying the character of the shrine. Siddiqui has been part of the initiative to preserve the historic Anglo-Arabic school in Delhi’s Ajmeri gate area. He says, “The high court ordered the removal of encroachers (about 50 families) from the heritage property. But the same lot of property dealers, local toughs, interlopers are again trying to move in under the Wakf umbrella.”     Andhra has the largest number of Wakf properties registered in the country. Here the government has simply taken over land.     Across the country, there are examples of the huge Wakf mess. West Bengal has many cases of properties being encroached upon and made into little slums. Some examples: 4,000 illegal occupants are in possession of a property in Calcutta known as the Mysore Family Fateha Fund Wakf Estate. Over a hundred mosques in Calcutta and Howrah have been encroached upon. Sixty-four other mosques in the state have been illegally occupied. The story is somewhat different in Andhra Pradesh, which has the largest number of Wakf properties registered in the country. Here the government has simply taken over huge tracts of Wakf lands. For instance, Hyderabad’s hi-tech city stands on Wakf land. There is the interesting case of the government taking over 6,000 acres of land worth Rs 500 crore in Visakhapatnam and allotting 900 acres out of this to NTPC and 800 acres to the Hindujas at the rate of Rs 2.25 lakh per acre. When the Wakf board contested this, the Supreme Court ruled in its favour saying that the land was theirs and transferred it back to them. The government had to then transfer the money to the Wakf board.   Wakf land now sold to developer: Aurangabad Notified as Wakf property in 1973, 14 acres of this Rs 60-crore property was allegedly sold for Rs 8 crore to Nirman Bharti Developers, owned by Vilasrao Deshmukh’s brother Dilip Clearly, Wakf is a remarkable resource that can be tapped for the community. In a state like Kerala where people are literate and demand accountability, the board is manned by professionals and headed by two advocates, not by racketeers. Bureaucrats in the ministry of minority affairs in New Delhi cite the work done in Kerala as an example of what is possible. But that is an exception. The norm is rampant corruption, in the firm belief that no one will demand accountability. More than anything else, the terrible state of Wakf properties in India reflects on the Muslim community’s failure to build institutions. Compare this with the manner in which the tiny Christian minority has preserved and built schools, colleges and hospitals. There is a complex set of reasons for this state of affairs in institutions that purport to work for the welfare of the country’s largest minority and the world’s second-largest Muslim population. In the case of Wakf, many illiterate Muslims just see their placards and presume the land belongs to them. They are encouraged to believe there is some higher religious purpose to Wakf, little knowing that it has become a synonym for daylight robbery. The greatest hypocrisy perhaps is that the men who violate the spirit of charity behind the concept of Wakf then pretend to be devout and pious believers.

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Misuse of Wakf properties: Who is Responsible for It? | TwoCircles.net

Misuse of Wakf properties: Who is Responsible for It?
Submitted by admin on 9 February 2010 – 11:26pm.

* Indian Muslim

By Syed Sultan Mohiddin

The Outlook (September 21, 2009) made a shocking revelation about the colossal delinquency by the Wakf Boards. The cover page printed these shameful letters: WAKF – INDIA’S BIGGEST LAND SCANDAL. Followed by this it said: “4,00,000 acres – 3,00,000 properties. Wakf boards around the country are doling out land meant for poor Muslims for a pittance.” Inside the glossy magazine, the cover story by Saba Naqvi has unveiled the height of dishonesty and lackadaisical attitude of the Wakf Boards.

The report has exposed as to how the Wakf Board officials, far from being the guardians of the Muslim properties worth thousands of crores of rupees, have allowed the encroachments, given the occupation of prime lands on ridiculously low rents and even resorted to outright sale of priceless properties. All these disgraceful acts they are doing, the author alleged, “to fill their pockets”. Some examples cited in the article would surely boil the blood of even a suave Muslim. The Maharashtra Wakf Board sold 4,532 square metres plot at the posh Altamount Road in Mumbai to Mukesh Ambani, for a measly Rs.16 lakh. He is building a 27-storey skyscraper on it. By any mean standards, the land would have fetched Rs.21 crore in the market. The 90,000 sq ft prime property at Lal Bagh in Bangalore with market value of about Rs.90 crore was sold for just 1 crore. In Aurangabad, 14 acres of land worth Rs.60 crore was sold for Rs.8 crores. [Courtesy: The Outlook].

Though one should categorically blame the Wakf Boards for the misuse of wakf properties, there are other factors too which have contributed to the hopeless situation. The snail’s pace in the justice-delivery system where cases are not cleared for decades on end, and the callous attitude of the local authorities that never bothered to execute the judicial orders are equally responsible. Even the Wakf laws do not have sufficient teeth to bite the offenders.

A Muslim graveyard in Kadapa (Andhra Pradesh) is a classic case to prove the point in question. An extent of 1.10 acre was granted by the Nawab of Kadapa around 260 years ago for its use as the burial ground. The graveyard had been under the control and use by the Muslim community until 1966, when suddenly a few hoodlums occupied around 22 cents of the land by flattening the tombs and erecting some huts over them.

THE ENDLESS SAGA

The Muthavalli of the graveyard, Mr. Allabaksh Miah, promptly approached the District authorities and pleaded for removal of the encroachments. The Wakf Board also addressed several letters to the District Collector informing that the graveyard is the Wakf Board property and no part of the same can be allotted to private persons. In the year 1967, the then District Collector, Mr. R.M. Sastry, on receipt of a letter from the Secretary of Wakf Board, Andhra Pradesh state, Hyderabad ordered the Municipal authorities to remove the encroachments. The Muthavalli went from pillar to post, pleading for the implementation of the orders from the Collector but the concerned authorities did not take any action to remove the encroachments.

The hooligans resorted to further encroachment of land by demolishing a few more tombs in 1970. This time, the Muthavalli decided to seek justice from the Judiciary. It has taken 12 years for the Court to give its verdict. In the year 1982, the Sub-Court of Kadapa in its judgement clearly said: “The District Collector has the right to remove the encroachments if there are any, taking into consideration the sentiments of the Muslim community.” The High Court too upheld the verdict of the sub-court, Kadapa in its judgement of 1987. As the District Collector did not care to execute the court orders – the Muthavalli got frustrated and handed over the maintenance of the graveyard in the year 1988 to the Committee of Roshan Munawwar Mosque, which is also situated in the premises of the same graveyard.

Now it was the turn of Mr. Jaffer Baig, President of Roshan Munawwar Mosque Committee, to walk through a thorny and exasperating road. He was a high-ranking officer in the government service as the Superintending Engineer before he retired in 1985. Initially he thought of leading a hassle-free life after retirement, but gave up the thought when he knew about the illegal occupancy of a Muslim graveyard. He took up the cause of liberating the occupied land. During the past 20 years, he did not leave any stone unturned to secure the wakf land from the clutches of illegal occupants. A massive Dharna organised under his leadership in 1993, was participated by around 5000 Muslims and a large number of secular and peace-loving non-Muslims. It jolted the then District Collector to convene a meeting at his bungalow by summoning the Committee members and the encroachers. A promise was made to the Committee that the matter will be resolved in a few days. ‘That day’ never came. As the years rolled by, Mr. Baig approached the authorities tirelessly without renouncing hope. The Civil Court of Kadapa passed the buck to the Wakf Board Tribunal in April 2000. The case is pending for disposal in the Wakf Board tribunal for nine long years! When this writer met Mr. Jaffer Baig at his house, he was preparing to go to Hyderabad to appear for the 157th adjournment in the Wakf Board tribunal. He is doing too much at his ripe age of 84 years. “Do you see light at the end of the tunnel?” asked this writer. “Why not? I do have faith in the law of the land,” he retorted.

The Wakf properties are under the clutches of unauthorised hands – in the name of lease, tenancy or encroachment. As the statistics reveals, it is the government, which is in the possession of large wakf properties. What the Muslim leadership and intelligentsia should fight for is for the passing of a law on the floor of the Parliament that gives statutory powers to the Wakf Boards, to enable them to take possession of all the notified Wakf lands in the country on a time-bound plan. Besides, the State Wakf Boards should be cleansed of the political brats who shall be replaced with bureaucrats having impeccable integrity.

The Wakf properties in the country are more than sufficient to address the myriad problems faced by the Muslim community like illiteracy, unemployment and socio-economic backwardness. The trillion-dollar question is: Will the Muslim parliamentarians raise their voice in the parliament for a special law with statutory powers to the Wakf Boards?

—
First published in Radiance Viewsweekly Vol. XLVII No.30, 2009-11-01 issue.

Home / Headlines / The Arab Time Capsule: Once You Were the Leaders of Islamic Civilization – Media Monitors Network (MMN)

The Arab Time Capsule: Once You Were the Leaders of Islamic Civilization
by Mahboob A. Khawaja
(Tuesday, January 26, 2010)

“Are there any Muslim leaders open to listening and learning for their own good and capable to articulate a navigational change to serve the interests of the Muslim Ummah?”

“It is highly probable that but for the Arabs modern European civilization would never have arisen at all; it is absolutely certain that but for them, it would not have assumed that character which has enabled it to transcend all previous phases of evolution. For although there is not a single aspect of European growth in which the decisive influence of Islamic culture is not traceable, nowhere is it so clear and momentous as in the genesis of that power which constitutes the paramount distinctive force of the modern world and the supreme source of its victory-natural science and the scientific spirit.”

— Robert Briffault (The Making of Humanity).

This week (January 25, 2010), the London Museum of Science is displaying the historical achievements of the Muslim world. But the time period is not the 21st century but the golden age of Islamic civilization in Al-Andulus (Spain) from the 8th century to 16th century. Many Western scholars describe the scholarships and scientific contributions of the Arabs of the time distinctively as “people of the Quranic age.” While the Europeans lived in dark ages of barbarism, Muslims were the most advanced civilization in Southern Europe. The BBC news cast made me think deep and reflect on what I wrote two decades earlier “Why Muslims are a Divided People?” and “Towards Muslim Unity” widely published in English and Arabic versions in the Arab world (the Muslim World League Journal, Makkah al Mukarramah, Al-Muslimeen, and Al-Mujahtamah (Kuwait) and a weekly from New Delhi. The rationale of that article rekindled great deal of concerns to remind the Muslims – who they were, where they are, and where are they going to?

Once upon a time, the Arabs were the leaders in knowledge and human progress and the Islamic civilization was the pioneering civilization across Europe to become a role model for centuries to come. For eight hundred years the Arabs evolved the most advanced civilizations- the longest period that any civilizations is known to have flourished in human history. The London Museum of Science is facilitating the past, not celebrating the present or making the future to happen. Why? Simply put, Muslims have not been part of the progressive movement for change and development into the 21st century. They appear more like Muslims without Islam. The achievements over the centuries were the outcome of Islam as a system of thinking and living and nothing else. After the forced collapse and eviction of the Muslims from Al-Andulasia, they misconceived the future challenges and preferred to live in a time capsule of borrowed time and money. They continued to be dispersed, arguing about the past not THINKING about the present or the future, and remained “Scattered like Seeds” as Dr. Shaw Dallal ably describes in his book.

Two decades earlier, the Muslim masses were primarily concerned with the Palestine problem and to see it resolved peacefully into an independent Palestine state. But now their worry horizon has been extended to include Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and the Arabian Peninsula and its future. The Western strategy is at work to create new problems so that the original real problem will be sidelined. Nobody seems to care how much more Muslims have lost on all the major frontiers of human survival. How many more forcibly been made homeless and refugees in their own homes and shelters. The UN estimate indicates 90% of the world refugee population is of Muslim origin. No one thinks or questions as to WHY? Leaderless Muslims are more divided now and ruled by ex-colonial masters than at the time of formal imperialism. Analyzing the affairs of the Muslims two decades later, some of the egoistic and self- made Muslim rulers are caught in global trades-in, selling the Muslims and their interests to foreign powers for money and political favors to manufacture the myth of “Islamic extremism” and “terrorism.” Many petro-dollars surviving rulers call themselves “moderate” Muslims – an innovative way to give meaning and purpose to wickedness and treachery to the cause of Islam and the interests of the living Muslims across the globe, unthinkable in an Islamic system of ethics, laws and accountability. Masses are boxed-in at loss, helpless captives unable to think about themselves with all creative energies drained-out except worrying for the human survival, not knowing how to replace the dummies and cruel leaders imposed and aided by the colonial masters. If you will compare the contemporary Muslims to the time of Al-Andalusia Muslims, you could end up in painful disgust and on-going mental torture. The London Science Museum does not and cannot encompass this reality. The exhibition represents material, scientific and intellectual progress but not the reason for the decline, defeats and surrender at Cordoba, Granada and other Al-Andulusian locations and continued downfall of the Muslims to this day. If the present of the Muslim Ummah is mismanaged and uncertain or complete failure, how could we be optimistic of the future?

The Arabs created a pioneering culture of tolerance embodying varied ethnicities, faiths and linguistic convergence giving shape and form to knowledge and human development, invented mathematics, algebra, geometry, discovered new sciences, developed technology, astronomy, libraries, sense of civic society, medicine and hospitals, centers of learning that modern world cannot match, and they fought for Islam to establish the divine system of human success. “What Went Wrong” often Bernard Lewis contends, what he believes in, not what the Arab world or Muslims did in reality. At the beginning of 21st Century, it seems, the world has gone terribly benign and out of focus – the Western perceived reality has no reason for reality. If it is an absurd one-sided viewpoint – what the world should look like: Arabs and Muslims as “terrorist” while the real terrorist are called “men of peace”. Moderate Muslim spectators prefer ambiguity and silence as the body language to avoid standing for Islam in public and end up losing the official status and financial aid package.

Leaders create leaders. When Muslims were the leaders in faith and human values, they articulated a unique civilization tolerant of diversity and varied cultural ethnicities and built upon the unity of Islamic faith to embody peace and human growth. If you enlist the scholarly discoveries and contributions of the Muslim scholars, they are countless. Do you know any scientists or scholars whose contributions were used as text books for continuously six centuries in the European medical schools? Yes, that is Mohammad Hussein Bu Ali Sina’s Cannon of Medicine. The Europeans changed his name to Avicenna so that nobody would recognize that he was a Muslim scholar. It is said that Ibna Sina alone discovered and authenticated 36 pharmaceutical formulas which are used to this day. Marai Rosa Menocal (A Golden Reign of Tolerance: The Ornament of the World: How Muslims, Jews and Christians Created a Culture of Tolerance in Medieval Spain), explains more: “The lesson of history, like the lessons of religion, sometimes neglect examples of tolerance. A thousand years ago on the Iberian Peninsula, an enlightened vision of Islam had created the most advanced culture in Europe….In Cordoba the library housed some 400,000 volumes at a time when the largest library in Latin Christendom probably held no more that 400.” The contemporary Western ruling elite have many functional problems
; they do not know what peace means. If they had peace and they consciously knew about it – why would they be striving to attain it throughout the recorded history? Do you struggle for the goals that you do not have, or the ones you already possess? Arabs exponents of peace do speak but are unable to reach the majority of the media controlled humanity. The Arab religious scholars see the light just in mosques, whereas people live in darkness. What went wrong with the succeeding generations of the Muslims? Foremost, they ignored Islam and tried to copy the age of ignorance “Jahilliya.” Is it a crime or mismanagement of the human affairs?

Arab people are ancient, tolerant and enjoy credible history of civilization, whereas, Americans are new in civilization and rush to hasty conclusions, only to THINK after the facts and feel guilty for misleading the world to wage bogus wars on terrorism in Iraq and Afghanistan. Islam disciplined the Arabs to THINK in advance, not just the self, but good of the whole of the humanity. The Al-Qura’an identifies them as “the best people chosen to invite the humanity towards goodness and forbid evil.” When Arabs left the universal mission of “goodness”, they were defeated and continued to be so to this day. Could they regain the global leadership thru Islam? AbdulHamid Abu Suleyman (Crisis in the Muslim Mind), believes so: “the basis of Muslim strength and ability as well as creativity stems from faith….the early generations of Muslims understood this, and the result was that they were successful.”

Al-Qura’an stipulates, “Allah is ever Forgiving and Merciful.”

Muslims have a mission – a God given duty to invite the humanity towards goodness and real success – the consciousness of that they ignored under the disguise of oil based economy and oil-fed superficial prosperity – a naïve Western concept of prosperity that drained out the Arab cultural values, intellectual creativity and truism for One Ummah – One People, committed to the DEEN of Islam. Now, they appear divided between solid walls not mud-made huts, air conditioned edifice, chemically prepared unhealthy villas and dust built palaces, big automobiles polluting the environment, packed foods, foreign house-maids symbol of sex and exploitation and mind mapping via satellite dishes right into Arab homes and heartland. Consequently, the oil-based consumable “prosperity” of the Arabs, degenerated the will of the people by eliminating their inborn capacity to THINK and act like Muslims and to undertake a sustainable global mission – a futuristic Islamic goal for the best of humanity. Despite so many in numbers and countless resources, what have the contemporary Muslim leaders done for the interests of the Muslim Ummah? Opportunism is the hallmark of the 21st century smart moderate Muslims capable of consuming bread and butter without much effort. Building palaces on moving sand does not facilitate human progress. The Western strategists created an innovative time capsule to entrap the oil producing Arab leaders into the fantasy of a honeymoon bubble manufacturing an illusion of oil- linked economic prosperity. Its cultural impacts both short and long terms are shockingly unknown to the Arab captives replacing Islamic thinking, education, Arabic language and molding the Arab body and soul into a show piece of modern Arabs devoid of Islamic character and wisdom. But essentially imposing the non-Islamic thinking and values on the Arabian culture. The fantasy bubble is coming to an end with the peak oil forecasts as a visual reality. Power, prosperity and poverty are all trials in human affairs and transitory phenomenon. Was the discovery of oil a conspiracy (“fitna”) for the Arabs to change the originality of thinking, beliefs, values and passion for Islam as successful system of human life?

What went wrong with the Arab pioneers of the Islamic civilization across the European continent? Bernard Lewis (What Went Wrong) talks about the currents of history, primitive role-play, missing leadership and the impacts of political and technological advances of Europe to have curtailed the growth of Muslims influence. However, amongst many reasons, few shall suffice to explain the primary concerns:

* Neglect of Islam as a system of life and absence of proactive transformational leadership
* Change in the Originality of Thinking: absence of proactive vision for the good of the humanity –the role model to forbid evil and promote righteousness (“Ummah of Khair”- the nation of goodness)
* Systematic decadence in intellectual, moral and political leadership
* Dismantling of the Islamic institutions of thinking and political governance for change and development of One Ummah, and defiance to the role of reasoning and accountability
* Adaptability to colonial thinking, behaviors, and social norms that drained out Islamic unity, creativity and movement.
* Fluid and transitory prosperity – aftermath of the oil export revenues.
* Incurable illusions of the neo-colonialist elite that oil revenues are forever and their exclusive property
* Overwhelming materialism and consumerism: training of body and spiritual domain desperately needed training of the faith and a committed mind.

When the colonialism ended, the freedom movements ill conceived the continued role of neo-colonial leadership in Muslim societies mostly occupied by those who were uneducated feudal lords or tribal clan leaders seen as being ignorant, corrupt, and subservient to the neo-colonial master, not the much sought proactive leaders to make the future.

One wonders, if it is an accumulated disgust or considered failure of the contemporary Arab leadership? Generation after generations, Muslims have been defeated and submerged into other entities by the Western masters. So-called liberal democracy had no listing of Muslims as suitable creatures for progressive role-play in international community. Humanity in the West shrinked from intelligence to stupidity, whereas, Charles Darwin (Origin of the Species), was uplifted and honored, man (“insaan”) was degraded from all the possible entries of making the human civilization. Whereas, Islam focused on the man (“insaan”) as the primary object of change and progressive development. Alexis Carrel (Man the Unknown, 1936), appears to affirm the Islamic perspective on human development:

“Certain forms of modern life lead directly to degeneration….in the poor as well the rich, leisure engenders degeneration. Cinemas, concerts, radios, automobiles and athletics are no substitute for intelligent work. We are far from having solved this momentous problem of idleness created by prosperity, modern machinery or unemployment. By imposing leisure upon man, scientific civilization has brought him great misfortune. We are incapable of fighting the consequences of indolence and irresponsibility as cancer and mental diseases……after all the purpose of civilization is not the progress of science and machines, but the progress of man.”

But those Arabs and other Muslims, the pioneers of scientifically progressive civilization, became prisoners of foreign ideas – from freedom to human exploitation, just affixed on paper – phenomenon of exalted humanity – Alhambra palace to Taj Mahal, all transformed into digits and numbers to become an abstract reference in tourist guide, interpretive history full of material civilization, nothing else. The folly of deliberate pedagogy to conceal and distort the entire moral and spiritual progressive evolution of the mankind left to be interpreted in questionable terminology. While ignorance “jahiyillia” and arrogance rule across the globe, true knowledge and the Divine Wisdom live in denials.

How could the contemporary Muslims revive the cultural presence and leadership role in the global political arena? The 21st century is more enlightened and an age of information and knowledge-driven global culture o
f creativity, effective leadership and human progress. It is not reasonable for the ignorant to inherit kingship or a leadership role to be successful. The political imperatives call for the new generation of proactive educated and intelligent people to be in the leading role of planning of change and reformation of the old and obsolete inherited infrastructures of political governance unto new sustainable system of institutional development and nation-building and enriched to communicate effectively and represent the Islamic interests in a rational manner. The hard facts of life speak for themselves. There is not a single Muslim country to present a credible intelligent leader to the international community. Muslims are operative from a position of moral and intellectual weakness and deprivation, not of strength. To change the naïve political governance, Muslims in general and the Arabs in particular, must develop public institutions of the citizenry participation as Islam emphasizes the concept of “Shura”- consultation an important principle for societal decision making, of law, justice and accountability. Muslims as one Ummah could well have a common currency, economic productivity, an international organization – “Ummah Council” responsible to develop policies and deal with issues of security, peace and conflict resolution, and to represent the unity of the Muslim Ummah as an agent of influence to strengthen the Islamic perspectives in a challenging global politics. The powerful nations of the world have intelligent and powerful leaders to represent their national interests. Muslims are handicapped, misinformed and have failed to develop leaders like Syed Qutb, Jamaluddin Afghani, Abu al Alla Moudoodi, Mohammad bin AbdulWahab, Sultan Salahuddin Ayoubi, King Abdulaziz founder of Saudi Arabia, Dr. Soekarno of Indonesia, Dr. Allama Mohammad Iqbal, Mohammad Ali Jinnah and Ayub Khan of Pakistan. The Muslim societies cannot escape the responsibility of collective failure to produce intelligent leaders. The consequences of living under authoritarian rulers and political turmoil are degenerating the Muslim’s’ energies, positive thoughts and creative abilities.

Leaders striving to be effective and successful must hold a vision of the future and be open to listening and learning, not rigid and hiding in remote palaces away from the people. Most often, they are aware of the best strategies to utilize their resources, of strengths and weaknesses of the people around them and a proactive vision to plan and make the future happen out of concrete ideas and ideals- facts of human life conforming to the Laws of God. When the contemporary Muslims left the assigned mission, they became victims of the modernity entrapment which led to their downfall and displacement from homes, shelters, and living habitats. Now, more and more are displaced people and refugees in their own homes and surroundings, a status never imagined but planned by the forces of “jahilliya” to victimize the believers. Islam emphasized the evolution of institutions in human progress but the authoritarian rulers diminished the development of public institutions of learning, administration, justice and accountability. The 21st century is marked by planned conflicts and wars of greed and political domination. Look at the Islamic world, there is not a singly institution or university in any Muslim countries to deal with the important issues of international security, peace and conflict management. If you propose to the rich oil exporting Arab leaders of the imperatives of building such learning institutions to enhance the bonds of Islamic civilization, they will get offended and would never respond to your suggestions. Simply, they are not open to listening to the voices of REASON as was the Shah of Iran, General Musharaf, Colonel Nasser, Saddam Hussein and so many others unaware of their own end. The so called leaders – military dictators, authoritarian kings and presidents and political thugs gained millions and billions from the planned devastation of the Muslim masses in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan only to enrich their life style in the Western sponsored theatre of absurdity until they die in disgrace.

Being optimistic in encountering the harsh challenges of global peace and conflict management and ample opportunities to plan and change the course of somewhat backward Muslim affairs and to remake the promising future of the Muslim Ummah happen out of planned efforts, Carly Fiorina, the former CEO of Hewlett Packard (“TECHNOLOGY, BUSINESS AND OUR WAY OF LIFE: WHAT’S NEXT”), moved my thoughts and soul and fascinated me with her ideas and vision when recently I communicated to her on what she had stated years ago:

“There was once a civilization that was the greatest in the world….

And this civilization was driven more than anything, by invention. Its architects designed buildings that defied gravity. Its mathematicians created the algebra and algorithms that would enable the building of computers, and the creation of encryption. Its doctors examined the human body, and found new cures for disease. Its astronomers looked into the heavens, named the stars, and paved the way for space travel and exploration.

Its writers created thousands of stories. Stories of courage, romance and magic. Its poets wrote of love, when others before them were too steeped in fear to think of such things. When other nations were afraid of ideas, this civilization thrived on them, and kept them alive. When censors threatened to wipe out knowledge from past civilizations, this civilization kept the knowledge alive, and passed it on to others.

While modern Western civilization shares many of these traits, the civilization I’m talking about was the Islamic world from the year 800 to 1600, which included the Ottoman Empire and the courts of Baghdad, Damascus and Cairo, and enlightened rulers like Suleiman the Magnificent. Although, we are often unaware of our indebtedness to this other civilization, its gifts are very much a part of our heritage. The technology industry would not exist without the contributions of Arab mathematicians. Sufi poet-philosophers like Rumi challenged our notions of self and truth. Leaders like Suleiman contributed to our notions of tolerance and civic leadership…. This kind of enlightened leadership — leadership that nurtured culture, sustainability diversity and courage — led to 800 years of invention and prosperity.”

Are there any Muslim leaders open to listening and learning for their own good and capable to articulate a navigational change to serve the interests of the Muslim Ummah?

Al-Qura’an spells out the rationale: “intelligent people always readily accept advice.”

Biswa Ijtema ends today

Lakhs to join Akheri Munajat

slide showDevotees
are heading towards Ijtema ground on the bank of Turag yesterday. The
congregation will conclude today with the final supplication–Akheri
Munajat. Photo: Anisur RahmanStaff Correspondent

Biswa
Ijtema, the largest congregation of Muslims next to hajj, passed its
second day yesterday with Islamic scholars from different countries
delivering sermons on various aspects of Islam throughout the day.

Several
lakh devotees from home and more than 70 countries have gathered at the
venue of the three-day Ijtema that ends today, organisers said.

Akheri Munajat (concluding prayers) will mark the end of the
congregation held each year on the bank of the Turag river in Tongi.

Moulana Jobayerul Hasan of India is scheduled to lead the Munajat that begins in between 12:00 noon and 12:30 pm.

Meanwhile, five devotees died from Friday midnight till yesterday noon, said Tongi police.

They
were identified as Haji Makbul, 65, and M Shamsuddin, 60, of
Mymensingh, M Raziuddin Akanda, 62, of Barisal, M Sahar Ali Mollah, 70,
of Rajshahi and Nurul Islam, 65, of Cox’s Bazar.

The
Tablig-e-Jamaat has been organising the Ijtema since 1976. It mainly
concentrates on prayers and meditation seeking blessing from Allah.

President
Zillur Rahman, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Leader of the Opposition
Khaleda Zia, ministers and political leaders are expected to join the
Akheri Munajat. Separate platforms have been built for them.

Hasina
might take part in the prayers from atop Bata Shoe Company building at
Tongi and Khaleda from atop Atlas Bangladesh Ltd building.

Special security measures have been taken for them.

Besides
devotees at the Ijtema venue, scores of thousands more will join the
prayers from rooftops, open fields and roads around it virtually
turning a vast area into a human sea.

Meanwhile, a dowry-free
mass wedding programme was held yesterday at the Ijtema venue as in the
previous years. A total of 108 couples got married there in presence of
their guardians and relatives.

Later, guardians of the couples distributed date among those present at the programme.

Over
20,000 foreign devotees from over 70 countries taking part in the
congregation are staying in a camp set up for them on the northern end
of the Ijtema ground, said organisers.

A rush of devotees was seen at free medical camps in the Ijtema area yesterday.

The
Ijtema is being held under tight security. Around 18,000 security
personnel from different agencies and several hundred plainclothes law
enforcers have been deployed in the area.

Law enforcers rounded
up 37 pickpockets from Friday morning to yesterday noon. They were also
patrolling the Turag banks so that devotees do not use the polluted
river water.