By:

Dr. Mohd Abbas Abdul Razak

Dr. Yousef Rahath

Dr. Abdul Latif Abdul Razak

International Islamic University Malaysia

-The Days of Ignorance (Ayyamul Jahiliyyah)

-Alexander the Great did not want to conquer Arabia

-Superpowers like Rome & Persia not interested to rule Arabia

- A transformational change happened with the coming of the Prophet of Islam

- It was a birth from darkness into light

- The Qur’an and Sunnah took the Arabs from their degrading lifestyle into one filled with enlightenment, dynamism and spirituality

The Golden Age of Islam (750-1258)

Muslims enriched their civilization by borrowing ideas from earlier civilizations, mainly Greek, Persian and Indian

Approach used: Adopt, Adapt and Assimilate

Muslims took all that are useful and valuable to enrich their own civilization

Baghdad, Cordoba, Damascus & Cairo became centers of learning & research

Baitul Hikmah had a big collection of books and manuscripts

Islamic Caliphs encouraged scholars to do research

At the zenith of the their civilization, Muslim scholars became great authorities in the areas of medicine, philosophy, mathematics, algebra, chemistry, astronomy, botany, etc.

Great personalities like Al-Kindi, Al-Farabi, Ibn Sina, Al-Ghazali, Ibn Khaldun, Ibn Rush and others appeared on the intellectual stage of the Muslims

Muslims had a mastery over science, technology, critical and creative thinking

They inspired the Renaissance scholars of the West to be scientific and innovative

The Renaissance movement got the spark/impetus from the Muslim Golden Era

Started with the fall of Baghdad in 1258

One after another the empires started to fall

Muslim scholars were caught in their own polemics in the areas of Islamic jurisprudence

Over politicking, tribalism, dispute over trivial issues in their school of thought brought disunity in the Ummah

Muslim scholars did not contribute during the European Industrial Revolution during the 18th century

European colonization also caused the knowledge and technological gap in Muslim countries

Colonization has created dependency on the West

Politics dominates the hearts and minds of people

Muslim countries are lagging behind others when it comes to technology

Critical & creative thinking, innovative and progressive thinking are all missing in the Muslim world

Muslims have become one of the largest consumer society in this planet. All branded items in science & technology are produced by non-Muslim countries

Development in the Muslim countries are held back due to over politicking

Left behind compared to the rest of the world due to war, sectarian violence, illiteracy, tribal culture, etc.

War has caused humanitarian crisis in many parts of the Muslim world

The Shite-Sunni conflict is a never ending one. No permanent solution has been found to put a stop to this age old problem

Brain drain phenomenon. Muslim countries lose talented scientists and scholars to the West

Refugee and asylum seekers going to the West

Muslim countries and organizations have passed on the Muslims problems to the West to deal with

Disunity among Muslim countries is a major issue

Some try to change the world into Islamic by violent means

Expecting others to solve dispute among Muslim countries (U.S., UN, EU, Nato, etc)

Wealth generated from oil and gas is not put into productive means to improve the pathetic conditions of the Muslim Ummah

Muhammad Iqbal, Jamaluddin Al-Afghani, Muhammad Abduh believe that the Muslim Ummah can be productive if they can make a marriage between the Zikr(spirituality) and Fikr (knowledge & scientific investigation) mentioned in the Qur’an

All Muslim countries must allocate large amount of their national budget for education, scientific research, sustainable development and at the same time reduce the percentage spent on the purchase of armaments

Prevent ‘brain drain’ by introducing ‘brain gain’ and ‘brain retention’

After electing a new government, Muslim countries must go on with their agenda on nation building and stop over politicking, slander campaign, character assassination, etc

All conspiracies to overthrow a legitimately elected government, undemocratic means of grabbing power, coup d'état , should be avoided

Invest and produce new technology of their own

Muslims must be prepared to learn and co-exist with others

Following the path of moderation preached in the Qur’an and Sunnah

Promulgate Islam with beautiful preaching and good character

Muslims must be prepared to learn the good and useful things that come from others

Stop all uncalled wars and sectarian violence. Learn from those nations that were into war in the past. After two World Wars Europeans started to respect human lives. The Japanese too stopped going into war. At the moment, all these countries are into science and technology and their countries are developing at a rapid pace

Clash of civilizations bring disharmony. Co-existence of

civilizations inspires to see beauty and acceptance of one another

(Mohd Abbas Abdul Razak)IIUM

Civilization

Syukran Jazilan

Thank You

Terima Kasih