ISLAM

Civilization which created a continental super state

“We are unaware of our indebtedness to Islamic civilization”:

Carly Fiorina, the ex-CEO of Hewlett Packard, gave a speech in October 2001 defining the relevance of leadership in today’s world. Here is the quote from the final part of her speech.

“There was once a civilization that was the greatest in the world. It was able to create a continental super-state that stretched from ocean to ocean, and from northern climes to tropics and deserts. Within its dominion lived hundreds of millions of people, of different creeds and ethnic origins.

One of its languages became the universal language of much of the world, the bridge between the peoples of a hundred lands. Its armies were made up of people of many nationalities, and its military protection allowed a degree of peace and prosperity that had never been known. The reach of this civilization’s commerce extended from Latin America to China, and everywhere in between.

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.

And perhaps we can learn a lesson from his example: It was leadership based on meritocracy, not inheritance. It was leadership that harnessed the full capabilities of a very diverse population-that included Christianity, Islamic, and Jewish traditions. This kind of enlightened leadership - leadership that nurtured culture, sustainability, diversity and courage - led to 800 years of invention and prosperity.

In dark and serious times like this, we must affirm our commitment to building societies and institutions that aspire to this kind of greatness. More than ever, we must focus on the importance of leadership- bold acts of leadership and decidedly personal acts of leadership.”

Experience the beauty of Islam

The most striking point of Islam and its history is that Islam completely changes those who accept it, no matter how ignorant, rude, and ill-mannered they were before, into embodiments of almost all virtues and human values.

The intellectual, religious, cultural, and socio-economic decadence of the pre-Islamic nomadic Arabs is known. Islam alone elevated them to be humanity’s guides and teachers for centuries, and models for every age.

The manner displayed by the Muslim envoy and his speech to the Sassanid commander-in-chief at the Battle of Qadisiya (636) shows how Islam changed “stones” into “gold” or “diamonds,” a point that by itself proves Islam’s Divine origin.

Rabi’ Ibn ‘Amir was brought up in pre-Islamic Arabia’s dark polytheistic climate, where life was considered to consist of killing and plundering to eat. However, his embrace of Islam transformed him into one of the “immortal” guides of humanity. He entered the Sassanid commander’s richly ornamented tent, dressed in a loose white garment, wearing a turban, and holding a spear.

Dismounting from his horse in the tent, he seized the pillow upon which the enemy commander was reclining, tore a hole in it, and tied his horse’s reins to it. Not bowing before the commander, he began to roll up the carpet and then sat cross-legged on the ground.

He did this to show Islam’s dignity and how Muslims renounce their lives for the sake of their sublime cause.

When the bewildered commander asked about their cause, he replied:

Our cause is to raise humanity from the dark pits of worldly life to the high, boundless realm of the spirit; from the humiliation of worshipping false and usually human-made divinities to the honour and dignity of worshipping the One God, the universe’s sole Creator and Sustainer; and to free humanity from the oppression and depressions brought about by false religions into the luminous and peaceful climate of Islam.

This is the testimony of one who experienced Islam’s beauties and how high Islam elevates its adherents culturally, intellectually, and spiritually.

Islam is responsible for major human developments, among them are:

* Turning human thought away from superstition, love for the unnatural and inexplicable, and monasticism and toward a rational approach, a love for reality, and a pious and balanced worldly life.

* Inspiring the urge for rational and scientific research and proofs to verify the truth of established convictions.

* Opening the eyes of those accustomed to identifying God with natural phenomena.

* Leading people away from the path of baseless speculation and toward that of a rational understanding and sound reasoning based on observation, experimentation and research.

* Defining the limits and functions of sense-perception, reason, intuition, and spiritual experience.

* Engendering a rapprochement between spiritual and material values.

* Harmonizing faith with knowledge and action.

* Showing the path of spiritual evolution, moral emancipation, and salvation through active participation in this world’s daily affairs.

* Emphasizing that no person could claim holiness, authority, or over lordship as a birthright, and that no one was born with the stigma of untouchability, slavery, or serfdom.

* Inspiring the thoughts of humanity’s unity, human equality, and real freedom. Many principles of good behaviour, culture and civilization, purity of thought and deed owe their origin to Islam.

For example, Islam’s social laws have infiltrated deep into human social life, its economic principles have ushered in many movements and continue to do so, its laws of governance continue to exert their influence, and its fundamental principles of law and justice continue to form a perpetual source of guidance for humanity.

* Establishing a practical framework for all aspects of international relations and regulating the laws of war and peace. This framework, the first of its kind in history, established an ethical code of war and foreign relations based on the ground of common humanity. Islam, as Arthur Leonard says, has left such an indelible mark on the pages of human history that it can never be effaced ... that only when the world grows will it be acknowledged in full.

* Founding one of the most brilliant civilizations in history. This should come as no surprise, since the first revealed verse of the Qur’an was: Read: In the Name of your Lord Who creates (96:1). But why does the Qur’an order read when the local people have almost nothing to read? Because they-and humanity-are to “read” the universe itself as the Book of Creation, of which the Qur’an is the counterpart in letters or words.

We are to observe the universe and perceive its meaning and content so that we can gain a deeper knowledge of the beauty and splendor of the Creator’s system and the infinitude of His might. Thus we must penetrate the universe’s manifold meanings, discover the Divine laws of nature, and establish a world in which science and faith complement each other so that humanity can attain true bliss in both worlds.

Otherwise, as Bertrand Russell says, “unless man increases in wisdom (and faith) as much as in knowledge, increase of knowledge will be increase of sorrow,” and “Science teaches man to fly in the air like birds, and to swim in the water like fishes, but man, without faith, cannot know how to live on the earth.”

Why Allah uses problems

The problems you face will either defeat you or develop you – depending on how you respond to them. Unfortunately, most people fail to see how Allah wants to use problems for good in their lives. They react foolishly and resent their problems rather than pausing to consider what benefit they might bring. Here are five ways Allah wants to use the problems in your life:

1. Allah uses problems to DIRECT you.

Sometimes Allah must light a fire under you to get you moving.

Problems often point us in a new direction and motivate us to change. Is Allah trying to get your attention? “Sometimes it takes a painful situation to make us change our ways.”

2. Allah uses problems to INSPECT you.

People are like tea bags.... if you want to know what’s inside them, just drop them into hot ever water! Has Allah tested your faith with a problem? What do problems reveal about you? “When you have many kinds of troubles, you should be full of joy, because you know that these troubles test your faith, and this will give you patience.”

3. Allah uses problems to CORRECT you.

Some lessons we learn only through pain and failure. It’s likely that as a child your parents told you not to touch a hot stove..... But you probably learned by being burned. Sometimes we only learn the value of something... health, money, a relationship.... by losing it.

“It was the best thing that could have happened to me, for it taught me to pay attention to your laws.”

4. Allah uses problems to PROTECT you.

A problem can be a blessing in disguise if it prevents you from being harmed by something more serious. Last year a friend was fired for refusing to do something unethical that his boss had asked him to do.

His unemployment was a problem – but it saved him from being convicted and sent to prison a year later when management’s actions were eventually discovered. “You intended to harm me, but Allah intended it for good....”

5. Allah uses problems to PERFECT you.

Problems, when responded to correctly, are character builders. Allah is far more interested in your character than your comfort.

Your relationship to Allah and your character are the only two things you’re going to take with you into eternity.

“We can rejoice when we run into problems.... they help us learn to be patient... And patience develops strength of character in us and helps us trust Allah more each time we use it until finally our hope and faith are strong and steady.” Here’s the point: Allah is at work in your life – even when you do not recognize it or understand it. But it’s much easier and profitable when you cooperate with Him.

Eternal guidance to peace

Book which meets the fast changing needs of modern society :

The South Indian Author Dr Thahira Iqbal has been a mute witness all her life to the injustice meted out to the Muslim women in the name of Islam.

Realizing that the Holy Quran is the perfect Law book which has answers including ways for a peaceful life in this world, she has been doing extensive study and research for the past 15 years about what the Quran and Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) really tells us.

Is it only a book with only morals which lead you to Heaven, or has it any relevance to the way of life here in this world?

She found that it has answer to all the problems in life, if only one follows it diligently.

The Eternal Guidance to Peace is the outcome of her research of so many years and has taken seven long years to perfect it for easy reading for the general public.

It gives us an insight for what really Islam is and how it shows the way to save oneself from most of the evils of the world. Many books have been written about the duties of women or only rights of women. Here the emphasis is laid that only if both man and woman realize their rights and duties can a family survives in Peace.

The book also gives answers to many doubts the general public has about

1. Is woman really subjugated?

2. Can woman go to work?

3. Is marriage necessary and why?

4. Why are women always half clad, and men fully dressed

5. Why is intoxicants banned and yet flourishing in today’s world?

6. What is AIDS? Can Condoms prevent AIDS?

7. What is Sex education and is it necessary?

8. Why should we wear Hijab?

9. Is Abortion allowed in Islam?

10. Does Islam really propagate polygamy?

11. Why did Mohammed (pbuh) marry more than 4?

12. Is Triple Talaq allowed in Islam?

13. What is Love and infatuation?

14. Why are we getting half of what men get as inheritance?

15. Why are there no female prophets?

16. Is Dowry allowed in Islam?

17. Why is housekeeping, the responsibility of women?

18. Is Education necessary for Muslims?

19. Why should we not marry from other religions?

20. Is circumcision for Women Islamic?

21. Was Beebi Ayesha (ral) really only nine years old when married?

22. Why are all these being wrongly explained by some Imams?

It is a book worth reading and has been recommended by many eminent scholars “as a must have” in every house!

Compiled by Latheef Farook E mail [email protected]

Islam’s contributions to scientific developments

Obeying the Qur’an’s injunctions, Muslims studied both the Book of Divine Revelation (the Qur’an) and the Book of Creation (the universe), and founded a magnificent civilization. Scholars from all over Europe and elsewhere benefited from the great Muslim centres of higher learning at Damascus, Bukhara, Baghdad, Cairo, Fez, Qairawan, Zaytuna, Cordoba, Sicily, Isfahan, and Delhi. Historians liken this Muslim golden age, in full flower when Europe was enduring its dark Middle Ages, to a beehive. Roads were full of students, scientists, and scholars travelling from one centre of learning to another.

Such “Renaissance” men and women as Jabir Ibn Hayyan, Ibn Ishaq al-Kindi, Muhammad Ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi, al-Farabi, Ibn Sina, Abu al-Hasan al-Mas’udi, Ibn al-Haytham, al-Biruni, al-Ghazzali, Nasir al-Din al-Tusi, and Abu Bakr al-Razi were shining like stars in the high sky of science. In his monumental Introduction to the History of Science, George Sarton divided time into chronological chapters and named each chapter after that period’s most eminent scientist.

From the mid-eighth century to the mid-eleventh century, each of the seven 50-year period carries the name of a Muslim scientist: “The Time of al-Khwarizmi,” “The Time of al-Biruni,” and so on. Within these chapters we have the names of about 100 important Islamic scientists and their main works. John Davenport, a leading scientist observed:

It must be owned that all the knowledge whether of Physics, Astronomy, Philosophy or Mathematics, which flourished in Europe from the 10th century was originally derived from the Arabian schools, and the Spanish Saracen may be looked upon as the father of European philosophy. Bertrand Russell, the famous British philosopher writes:

The supremacy of the East was not only military. Science, philosophy, poetry, and the arts, all flourished... in the Muhammadan world at a time when Europe was sunk in barbarism. Europeans, with unpardonable insularity, call this period ‘The Dark Ages’: but it was only in Europe that it was dark- , for Spain, which was Mohammedan, had a brilliant culture.”

Robert Briffault, the renowned historian, acknowledges in his The Making of Humanity:

It is highly probable that but for the Arabs, modern European civilization would have never assumed that character which has enabled it to transcend all previous phases of evolution. For although there is not a single aspect of human 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 course of its victory-natural sciences and the scientific spirit...

What we call science arose in Europe as a result of a new spirit of inquiry; of new methods of investigation, of the method of experiment, observation, measurement, of the development of Mathematics in a form unknown to the Greeks. That spirit and those methods were introduced into the European world by the Arabs.

For the first 500 years of its existence, the realm of Islam was the most civilized and progressive portion of the world. Studded with splendid cities, gracious mosques and quiet universities, the Muslim East offered a striking contrast to the West, which was sunk in the night of the Dark Ages. It retained its vigor and remained ahead of Christian Europe until the terrible disasters of the thirteenth century.

During the 10th century, Muslim Cordoba was Europe’s most civilized city, the wonder and admiration of the time. Travellers from the north heard with something like fear of the city that contained 900 public baths and 70 libraries with hundreds of thousands of volumes.

Yet whenever the rulers of Leon, Navarre, or Barcelona needed surgeons, architects, dressmakers, or musicians, they applied to Cordoba. The Muslims’ literary influence was so vast that, for example, the Bible and liturgy had to be translated into Arabic for the Christian community’s use. Even non-Muslim Spaniards were attracted to Muslim literature: