Daily Times

Modern high-tech advances in science, healthcare, medicine and technology are the result of many centuries of development, research and experimentation, much of which took place in the Islamic world between the 9th and 14th Century – the golden age of science. During this time, scholars and scientists made extensive contributions to science, medicine and created a body of knowledge that proved extremely important and influential around the world for many hundreds of years.

In the early 10th century, the ruling caliph of Baghdad, Al-Muqtafi, asked Al-Razi, where to build a new hospital. Al-Razi designed an experiment and hung pieces of meat in different locations in the city to see how quickly they rotted and so determined the place with the cleanest air, perfect for a hospital. This was how Muslim scholars during the golden age solved problems: you define a problem, design an experiment and use the evidence to find the answer – by using a scientific approach. The emphasis on science and mathematics allowed Muslim scholars to lay the foundations of modern science. However, after Mongols destroyed Baghdad and Sunni Revival movement took off in the 11th and 12th century, Muslim contributions to the world of science faded into emptiness.

If you do the math of all the people who won the Nobel prize, established in 1901, only three accounts for Muslim scientists. You have Ahmed Zewali and Aziz Sancar for their contributions to the field of Chemistry and, then you have Abdus Salam for Physics. Well, under the Pakistani constitution, Salam is not even considered a Muslim, so here goes another one from the list. Now if you compare that with the Jews, it is a high fraction of the total Nobel prize winners, especially for their contribution to science. Now if you do your math again and observe that there are a billion Muslims in the world and only around 15 million Jews, that is a small ratio. Had Islam not collapsed in its intellectual standing, one can assume, taking into account the rate of progress made in the field of science in the last century, that Muslims would have won most of the Nobel prizes. The fact that it is mere zero today is worrying and unfortunate as in the last 700 years, since the collapse of the Islamic golden age in 1200-1400s, the Muslim world has contributed nothing to the understanding of the universe.

Pakistani Muslim scientists, who were supposed to carry on the work of Musa Al-Khwarizmi, Sutayta al-Mahamill, Al-Biruni and Ibn al-Haitham are finding themselves struggling to teach religiously-rooted students who have blocked their mind from the original thought

It is not due to well-established propaganda of the west, which is a narrative of Muslim mullahs but is due to the incompetence of new leaders sworn in after winning wars, shifting priorities over to expanding by conquests and the rise of mullah extremism in Islam. It is also argued that the Islamic Golden Age collapsed due to the Sunni Revival movement in the 11th and 12th centuries that introduced a series of institutional changes that decreased the payoff to producing scientific works. Coupled with the rise of madrassas and the influence of religious leaders, it just became a business to spread religious knowledge and become a religious scholar. Sadly, that is the business model adopted by today’s religious scholars as well, especially in Pakistan, who manipulate the majority of the population based on emotions elicited by the faith and make sure their followers constantly denounce any reason or logic otherwise hell awaits for them.

Pakistan, among all the Muslim nations, has been a culprit in rejecting its brilliant minds since General Zia launched his Islamisation campaign back in the 80s. Pakistan, since then, has consistently rejected its top minds: from Abdus Salam to Riazzudin to Pervez Hoodhboy to very recent Amer Iqbal. It is not just that but whoever has the privilege of studying abroad from a top university, let that be computer science, biology, neuroscience or physics, refuses to come back to Pakistan because of no growth opportunities, lack of scientific vision and religious-oriented focus of the government. Even the few who do return to Pakistan are driven away or are left to deal with the incompetent bureaucratic nonsense and politics that encapsulates today’s Pakistani society. The dirty politics of rallying against someone for personal gain using religious arguments have become a norm in today’s Pakistani society.

The biggest reason for this extremism and rejection is the radicalisation of the Pakistani education system, especially in its science curriculum, which is a prime example of a failed education system with outdated textbooks, distorted facts, discouragement of questioning and encouragement of rote-learning. If you look at the Chinese education system, which is one of the advanced education systems in the world, it strongly emphasises its science curriculum that is frequently updated and revised with the latest advancements. Chinese students, following with the stereotype, are exceptional at mathematics, physics and other science-related subjects. This is primarily due to the extremely tough and competitive curriculum that they are exposed to during their primary and secondary years of education. More than that, the level of questioning and depth of their thought process is nurtured from the very beginning that allows them the ability to ask tough questions and then find answers. Let’s not look far east and consider India, where the government’s emphasis on science and technology has produced capable leaders and scientists that are shaping the world. Chinese and Indian students, mostly secular and non-believers according to the definitions of today’s Muslim religious scholars, have shown how important science and mathematics education is for the progress of society.

When the western world is thinking about and working on multiverses, supersymmetry, string theory, artificial intelligence, quantum computing, DNA reconfiguration, vaccines to protect from viral diseases, building applications to enhance the cause of the human species, the Pakistani society is focusing on mobile applications that can spot the moon, celebrating building an electric motorcycle, bringing unqualified people to lead their institutions. There are a handful of people who are innovating and disrupting current societal models, but that is strictly within the realms of business. Entrepreneurship has seen a rise but only in applied computer science, not on building infrastructures, frameworks or contributing to meaningful research that might shape the future of mankind. Pakistani Muslim scientists and educators, who were supposed to carry on the work of Musa Al-Khwarizmi, Sutayta al-Mahamill, Al-Biruni and Ibn al-Haitham are finding themselves struggling to teach religiously-rooted students who have blocked their mind from the original thought, questioning and understanding scientific theories or facts. Sadly, that is even true with the majority of Muslim scientists and educators who themselves are unable to develop a deeper understanding of scientific principles because of a clash with their religious ideologies. Many, in the field of academia, end up discouraging asking tough questions: this is frightening. The updates from the science and technology sectors are bleak, and that just signals me the weak health of the overall Pakistani Muslim brain.

The effects of such a weak brain, incapable of logically and scientifically thinking, are visible today especially in the dealings with COVID-19. I tried to put my take on this into words but, Pervez Hoodhboy, in his recent article, puts it perfectly in a single sentence: “The state’s scorn for science and surrender to religious forces has put Pakistan’s millions in danger.”

This thinking that disease comes from God’s wrath instead of viruses and bacteria and calling upon maulanas to publicly ask for forgiveness while blaming women for bringing divine punishment is beyond troubling and ignorant. On top of that, the decision to let mosques, shopping malls open prematurely without proper guidelines is clear evidence of weak scientific reasoning, and a strong signal that emotions and mullahs will eventually win and science along with reason will ultimately lose.

However, the so-called non-believers in China won the war against COVID-19 and somehow got God’s forgiveness. In reality, they took scientific findings seriously and quickly resorted to action rather than demonstrating indecisiveness waiting for a divine sign. Instead of handling the charge over to power-hungry politicians, the entire situation was handled by scientists, doctors and researchers. Quick lockdown, quarantine practices and strictly obeying the law by its people allowed China to overcome the pandemic and bring normality back into its society.

Let’s sum it up with a picture of the Islamic golden age. Ranging from astrophysics to medicine to applied mathematics to arts, the Islamic golden age was the true epitome of progress and success. During the Islamic Golden Age, philosophers, scientists, medical experts, polymaths and people with extensive knowledge of the law were in charge of managing the empire. These leaders focused on building the house of wisdom, hospitals for all and universities. They invited Christians and Jews to work together with Muslim scholars and advance their knowledge because, the more they understood about the universe, the closer they felt to God. They gave charge to women like Fatima al-Fihri, Al-Ijliya Al-Astrulabi and Sutayta Al-Mahamill, who played an equally important role in expanding knowledge and furthering Muslim scholars understanding of the universe.

Today’s Muslim world, especially Pakistan, is the antithesis of Islamic’s Golden Age. Ironically, people who believe to further the cause of Islam have diminished its value and have caused it nothing but embarrassment. I wanted to end my thoughts with a hopeful passage but given all the facts and evidence, today’s Islamic world has taken a backseat into oblivion. It is like the dark side of the moon, facing the opposite direction into the unknown, far from reality, logic and reason.

The writer is a graduate of New York University. He is currently working as the co-founder of mltrons.com and a Visiting Research Scholar at the NYU Tandon School of Engineering