Documente Academic
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Documente Cultură
ISLAM
Musbri Mohamed
Managing Director
Yayasan PEKIDA Malaysia
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Extract from a speech by Carly Fiorina, CEO of Hewlett-Packard
There was once a civilization that was the greatest in the world.
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.
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Another factor that plays alongside the long-
standing hatred of Islam in Europe is the
phenomenon known as orientalism. This concept
was first articulated by Edward Said in his landmark
book Orientalism, which is now considered required
reading for anyone studying Middle Eastern culture
or history. Orientalism is the result of the
elaboration of the imaginary distinction between
East and West: geographically, culturally, morally,
and intellectually. The result of orientalism are
claims that go along the lines of " ‘We’ are like this,
but ‘they’, for unexplainable reasons, are
fundamentally different, and in due course,
inferior." This in turn serves as justification for "Us"
to rule "Them", to exploit "Them", to guide "Them" to
our enlightened ways. Academic orientalism gave
rise to arrogant, seemingly humanistic ideals which
drove imperialism, whose effects are felt very
painfully in the Muslim, as well as most of the third,
world.
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One may ask after looking at the reasons why Muslim scholars are
vastly undervalued in Western books is "Why should we care now?"
The scholars are dead. The ink in the history books has dried. What
good will it bring Muslims, besides a headache, to raise this issue
now? It is done to restore confidence to the Muslim Ummah, to remind
believers what is needed to be great again. The Muslims ruled from
France to India, not only because of being blessed with the true
message, but also of being superior to the conquered people in all
other "worldly" ways. The Muslims would have never conquered the
Persians without superior military planning and tactics. The people of
the Roman Empire in greater Syria and North Africa would have
never converted to Islam if the Muslims were not materially superior
to the Romans. The Khatib who gives the Friday sermon, who believes
that Muslims will become great again once they start using their
miswaks more often, is missing the whole story. Islam does not spread
through prayer and piety—people go to the Jannah through prayer
and piety. Islam provides a system that allows individuals to reach
their fullest potentials in this life, and to encourage worship that
allows individuals to reach their fullest potentials in the next.
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Studying the lives of the Muslim scholars also provides modern-day
Muslims with a portrayal of the prototypical modern scientist. He is one
who devotes his efforts to discovering Allah’s signs in this world and
who tries to direct his or her discoveries those that produce social
benefit.
For the Westerner, it is important to change these historical inaccuracies
to help improve the relations between the West and the Muslim world
by finally acknowledging the enormous debt owed to the Muslims.
However, as the celeritous progress of Western science pushes on, it is
more likely that the increasing arrogance and faith in Western science
with its purely Western (Greek) origins will keep this overdue apology
from occurring. While a historian may mention "Avicenna" or
"Averroes" fleetingly in one of his or her books, the problem is that what
is left out is far greater than what is told. The eminent historian George
Sarton criticized those who "will glibly say ‘The Arabs simply translated
Greek writings, they were industrious imitators…’ This is not absolutely
untrue, but is such a small part of the truth, that when it is allowed to
stand alone, it is worse than a lie."
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It is obvious that the thought of the Ummah
as it stands at present is in need of reform. It is
equally obvious that the psychological
makeup of the Ummah as it stands at present
is defective. Even if individuals and even
entire generations are capable of ingesting
new information and ideas, that intake will be
superficial and significantly different from the
processes involved in true character-building.
"The best of you in Islam are the best of you in
Jahilyah, so long as you acquire an
understanding of Islam," said the Prophet. It
was for this reason that the free and daring
Arabs of the desert, after they converted to
Islam, were able to achieve so much in a
remarkably short period of time.
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The civilizational horizons attained by the Ummah in the past
were clearly the result of the overwhelming impetus provided by
the early generations of Islam. Yet the spark had to fade
eventually, and the movement had to come to a standstill
sometime. Times and circumstances changed. But the Ummah
truly lost both its way and its ability to renew itself when its
political leadership became separated from its intellectual
leadership. This spilt so encouraged literalism, taqlid, indulgence,
and superstition that they soon became the order of the day. The
Ummah lost its ability to give birth to new ideas, to update its
institutions, and to produce the planning, means, and policies
essential to further progress at the civilizational level.
Since the time of this separation, the Ummah has lived on the
ruins of the broad societal foundations laid by the early
generations of Muslims. Yet at the same time, the agents of
political and intellectual decay have spread throughout the
Ummah and its leadership, a trend that has resulted in the virtual
disintegration of the historical Islamic social structure.
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The crisis in the Muslim mind is one related to the
achievement of Islam's higher objectives and the
embodiment of Islamic values. It is therefore a
crisis of thought in its essence and its approach,
and a crisis of the methodology, which the Ummah
lacks, in the social sciences. The crisis of Muslim
thought is one of the establishment of those social
sciences that can assist the Ummah with its
thought, organization, institutions, and policies.
When we speak of the social sciences, we refer to
the fields of methodological study, without
reference to any specific (Western, leftist, Eastern
or whatever) theories or schools. Certainly the
Muslim mind, with its complete and
comprehensive sources of knowledge, will have
much of value to contribute to such sciences and
disciplines.
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The role of the present generation of
Muslims is first to understand the
nature of the present environment,
assess the range of possible activities
and available capabilities, and then
propose workable and worthwhile
ideas. For this to happen it will first be
necessary to build exemplary schools
for the young in which they may
develop strong characters and
unshakable faith in the objectives and
precepts of Islam.
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If the future of the Ummah of Islam is to depend
upon the degree of success it achieves in reforming
its methodology, thought, education, and
organization, as well as laying the foundations for
new Islamic social sciences, then the future of all
bewildered and threatened humanity rests on the
degree of success achieved by Muslims in
presenting a living example of Islamic teachings.
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Should it be the will of Allah,
the Ummah will take over
with the work of building for
the future and progressing
toward new horizons.
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How Islamic inventors changed the world
The first person to realise that light enters the eye, rather than
leaving it, was the 10th-century Muslim mathematician,
astronomer and physicist Ibn al-Haitham.
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Dr. Maurice Bucaille said in his book "The Bible, the Qur'an and
Science", which was published by the American Trust Publications
1979:
"Thanks to its undisputed authenticity, the text of the Qur'an holds a unique
place among the books of Revelation, shared neither by the Old nor the New
Testament. In the first two sections of this work, a review was made of the
alterations undergone by the Old Testament and the Gospels before they were
handed down to us in the form we know today. The same is not true for the
Qur'an for the simple reason that it was written down at the time of the
prophet".
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When we read authentic knowledge
of Islam and other useful
knowledge needed to develop our
total personality, we become
among the believers who do
righteous deeds, enjoin what is
right and forbid what is wrong. We
become among those, who in the
Sight of Allah as mentioned in the
Holy Qur'an (i.e., 3:110, 4:122 and
9:72), are the best among mankind
(hence, outstanding Muslims) —
who deserve His eternal reward,
the Supreme SUCCESS.
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Where are Muslims in this coming new
world and new frontier of space?
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( 1 + x ) N = 1 + Nx + N(N − 1) x 2 + N(N − 1)(N − 2) x 3 + ...
2! 3!
N = 1: 1
N = 2: 1 2 1
N = 3: 1 3 3 1
N = 4: 1 4 6 4 1
N = 5 : 1 5 10 10 5 1
N = 6 : 1 6 15 20 15 6 1
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It is the responsibility of the Ummah's thinkers
and scholars to concentrate their energies on
reform of the Ummah's thought, on clarifying its
vision, and on presenting these to the Ummah in
such a way that its institutions may derive benefit
from them.
20
Caricatures in cartoons recently published in Denmark have
caused great distress in the Muslim world. However, it is all
too obvious that the figures pictured in these caricatures are
the artists themselves.
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Our Prophet Muhammad (saas) possessed such superior moral
values, and communicated the message of Islam—a religion of
peace, love and brotherhood—that it is impossible to equate him
with caricatures of this kind. Like the other messengers sent by
God—such as Prophets Abraham, Moses and Jesus (peace be upon
them all)—our Prophet Muhammad (saas) was a superior, benign
and exceptionally beautiful individual. All Muslims are aware of
this fact and all publications of this kind are totally in vain.
Clearly, atheistic materialism can never overcome
Islam by such cheap means.The consequences of daring to mock
the prophets are revealed thus in the Qur'an:
Messengers before you were also mocked, but those who jeered
were engulfed by what they mocked. (Qur'an, 6:10)
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"If a man like Mohammad were to assume the dictatorship of
the modern world, he would succeed in solving its problems
that would bring it the much needed peace and happiness.“
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"My choice of Muhammad to lead the list of the world's most
influential persons may surprise some readers and may be
questioned by others, but he was the only man in history who
was supremely successful on both the religious and secular
level."
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"History makes it clear however, that the legend of fanatical Muslims
sweeping through the world and forcing Islam at the point of the
sword upon conquered races is one of the most fantastically absurd
myths that historians have ever repeated.“
"And any one who chooses a way of life other than Islam, it will
not be accepted from him and in the hereafter he will be one of the
losers." (3:85)
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The Prophet Muhammad (p.b.u.h.) said: "No servant will be
let go on the day of judgment until he is asked about the four
matters: His lifetime: How did he spend it? His knowledge:
What did he use it for? His money: Where did he gain it from
and what did he spend in it? And his body: In what did he
wear it away?" (at-Tirmidhee) Have we used our bodies for
fasting, praying, enjoining good and forbidding evil or have
we used them up by succumbing to our desires?
28
The choice of Arabic as the language of the Qur'an is
explained very simply and clearly (translation follows)
29
Get Rid of Psychological Diseases by Quran