Despite repeated appeals in the Quran for believers to acquire knowledge the “Muslim Ummah,” declared Pervez Musharraf recently, “is backward, illiterate, the most poor and the weakest” segment of the human community. Such Quranic teachings as the quoted title (20:114) are routinely ignored and the enterprise of education is neither understood nor promoted in the Muslim world. Not surprisingly, men and women of intellectual accomplishments are rarely accorded recognition and given a place of honor in Islamic societies.
Against this background it was uplifting to notice that the Muslims of Southern California recently bestowed honors on two scholars at a formal awards ceremony with presentation of plaques and laudatory speeches. Both of these men, Farouk El-Baz, a gifted scientist, and Shabbir Mansuri, a distinguished educator, are well known to many in the community and are looked upon with pride.
The Islamic Center of Southern California and MPAC are to be commended for having taken the initiative in recognizing the contributions of men and women laboring on the frontiers of knowledge. Farouk El-Baz worked on many projects at NASA and identified underground water in Egypt and North Africa. Shabbir Mansuri revolutionized the curriculum content on Islam in books used by schools in California.
The Southern California Muslims obviously are in the forefront of developing a meaningful tradition for the future of Islam. In the long run their efforts would contribute immensely to the revival of learning and scholarship that was the hallmark of the Islamic civilization for a thousand years. Islam, once again, needs to be identified with knowledge instead of all with those nefarious activities reported in the media.
Learning is a cherished activity in America formally involving everyone. There are no exceptions. This country invented the universal compulsory schooling. It created the mass education that makes the nation stronger. Those who excel in their areas of learning are applauded and bestowed with honors.
Among Muslims giving recognition to men and women who have pioneered in a particular field is not looked upon with favor. Such individuals are viewed with suspicion. Scholars, scientists and other intellectuals are routinely picked up, tortured, imprisoned and even put to death. The example of Ibrahim Saadedin, a well-known sociologist and human rights activist, is a case in point. He languishes in prison today on trumped-up charges brought on by the Egyptian government.
Not to be outdone Saddam Hussain has killed dozens of scientists and scholars despite the fact that he needed their talents to build his country into a modern state. Early in his regime he put to death Ahmed Sharestani, a noted nuclear scientist, who could have given Saddam his bomb.
The well-known translator of the Holy Quran, Abdullah Yusuf Ali, lived for years in Britain pursuing his literary work without anyone ever paying him attention. The indignity of his tragic death on the sidewalks of London and a non-Muslim burial was avoided only when a passerby took pity and delivered him to the Pakistani diplomatic representatives. Needless to say, he was never recognized for his monumental task.
Equally grim is the tragic tale of M. Hamidullah who spent his entire life in Paris writing and publishing on Islam. When he wound up penniless at the ripe old age of ninety in the US he was a broken man whom Muslims had ignored despite his widely circulated works. Belatedly, ISNA organized a ceremony to honor the scholar for his accomplishments.
Today, Muslim scholarly individuals are in short supply. Many requests for speakers go begging because knowledgeable people on Islam, and Muslim topics, are so few. Universities advertise far and wide to fill positions in Islamic and Arabic studies and wind up hiring non-Muslims for those positions.
The demand for Muslims to participate in interfaith dialogues is at an all-time high. Barely a handful of these exchanges are carried out. One such exchange was recently televised on C-SPAN in which three Muslims participated. A few minutes into the start of the session it became clear that the Islamic speakers were no match for their well-educated, well-trained, polished, Christian and Jewish counterparts.
The Muslim panelists simply did not have the depth of knowledge or the ability to tackle critically some of the complex historical and religious questions. The lack of skilled scholarly individuals among Muslims is a real setback for the community.
From this perspective Southern California’s budding initiative, to recognize and to honor men and women of learning, is a step in the right direction and needs to be nurtured and supported. It may be the first step in the long awaited revival of Islamic learning.
Email: haniff@stcloudstate.edu