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EDITORIAL
Ways of Serving and Advancing Islamic
Civilization
By Dr. Abdulaziz Othman Altwaijri
Islamic civilization is not a fossilized heirloom,
or a thing of the past without any link with the present. Rather, Islamic
civilization is the fruit of the culture, history, thought, inventiveness and
originality of a people, who have never and will never cease to offer it as a
gift to mankind.
President Alija Izetbegovic, the President of the
Republic of Bosnia-Hercegovina, an Islamic thinker who links in his person both
science and culture, both the liberation of his homeland and the liberation of
his people's emotional and intellectual life, says : "Civilization is the
process of continually changing the world. It is the art of working, exercising
dominion, and crafting items of intricate workmanship. The bearer of culture is
man, while the bearer of civilization is society. Culture means that power over
oneself which achieves development. Civilization is power over nature by the use
of science. The tools of civilization are thought, language and writing."
This dynamic role for civilization in our era,
which is spelt out by this European Muslim thinker, and responsible statesman,
is exactly the practical role of civilization that was spelt out by Ibn Khaldoun
in the eighth century A.H. In his Muqaddima, we find him making the link, with
total clarity, between civilization, theoretical and applied science, the latter
of which we today call technology. As Ibn Khaldoun expresses it, civilization is
"God's secret way for man to gain knowledge of theoretical and applied science".
Ibn Khaldoun attributes the blossoming of
civilization, in those Islamic regions where it blossomed in the eighth century
A.H., to the presence of "a significant deposit of theoretical and applied
science". He gives the example of contemporary Egypt, which he describes as "the
mother of the world, the sanctuary of Islam and the spring of theoretical and
applied science".
As we all know, Ibn Khaldoun is a powerful mind,
acutely perceptive, and sharp of wit, and the expression which he coins here, "the
spring of theoretical and applied science", is very exact. It is true that
civilization is the spring of theoretical and applied science, and it is natural
for springs to bubble up, gush forth and spread out. Islamic civilization is
continuous, with its roots going back uninterrupted into history, and its
message continuing into the future. According to President Izetbegovic,
civilization is the continual pursuit of progress.
Civilization is the sum of human effort in terms
of work and creativity. Our forefathers spent their lives working and creating,
and pressing on to perfect what they had created. They conquered countries,
brought the earth to life, and liberated the will of man from coercion and
slavery. They liberated the mind of man from superstition and delusion, and
blasted open the springs of science to assuage man's thirst for knowledge. In
this way they built a lofty civilization which we have termed today 'Islamic
Civilization'. This is the common heritage of peoples and religions and sects
who have all lived together in the shade of the Islamic nation in love, mercy
and forbearance.
Islamic civilization has a distinctive character,
springing from the doctrine of tawhid. It springs from the message of Islam, and
draws its special characteristics and unique features from the spirit of this
generous religion. As Dr Muhammad Ammara says, the prophetic programme, which
became the programme of a civilization, is what distinguishes our civilization
from others. These distinctive features are themselves the criteria for the
renewal of this civilization when it ossifies, and the principles for renewal
when it is attacked by the viruses of decay.
As the Swiss Muslim thinker Roger Dubet Skwaya
says, "Islamic civilization possesses the ability to transform the environment
into which it reaches, to blossom within it and to induce conditions for life of
a type which many of our contemporaries long for, even those who live in the
most developed countries. In addition, its spiritual character generates a
sacred atmosphere which strengthens the deep meaning of social life." He also
says, "The sciences have formed a broader and more varied field for Islamic
civilization than the arts and their sources have multiplied. In their epochs of
greatness, Muslims have shown an extraordinary appetite for science. They have
not separated them into different compartments. Rather, they have continued to
link them in an organized unity, and one scientist may display his genius in
different sciences."
In his valuable book translated into English by
Cambridge University, and whose translation into Arabic has recently appeared
under the title Izhar Al-Islam, Roger Dubet Skwaya wonders, "What is left of
this pure civilization, with its great balance and integrity? In addition to
defining man as the beauty of the world, it has given him every opportunity to
triumphantly and progressively realize his inner calling."
In response to this deeply challenging question,
we reply once again that Islamic civilization is not just another heritage, or
just an isolated episode in history, but the past that lives within us, the
present with which we interact and the future from which we are made.
In Islamic civilization is embodied a wisdom which
has kept it from extravagance. Islamic civilization does not deify Nature, but
respects it and lives in harmony with it. By contrast, contemporary materialist
civilization gives absolute value to the created world, while being unable to
read the signs of God in it, stripping it of any sacredness, and ending up by
destroying its balance.
The impetus to rebuild the edifice of Islamic
civilization so that it can resume its historic role and continue its benevolent
contribution to mankind, can only spring from firmly rooted doctrine, a deep
conviction of the necessity of intellectual renewal according to true
principles, and the necessity of undertaking a process of self-criticism, so as
to be able to see the ways in which we can guide civilization aright, and to
discover what effective actions the present era demands of us.
There is no way of reviving Islamic civilization,
except by taking over the means required to release it, in awareness,
open-mindedness and responsibility, following the guidelines of the fixed stars
of our civilization, the factors working for change in the present, and the
possibilities for the future. The conditions for all this are continuous
scientific excellence, uninterrupted technological development, and continuously
radiant cultural and artistic creativity. All this must be accompanied by
self-aware guidance of social and political life on the basis of principles of
truth, justice, equality, participation and coexistence.
The correct way to regulate the path of
civilizational renewal and the effective ways to realize this plan, which is the
longing of all of us, can be summarized under the following points :
1. To strengthen the bases on which the
educational process rests in Islamic countries, to modernize teaching curricula
and improve teachers' conditions. In this way, this segment of society can be
raised to the appropriate level in terms of salary and training. In the Japanese
experience, we have an example of the utmost significance, and of great
attractiveness. Teachers, whatever their seniority, and whatever the level at
which they teach, are given precedence over all other social classes. This is
because the whole educational process is based in the first instance on the
efforts of the teacher.
2. To adopt the most modern methods and techniques
to develop curricula for the teaching of pure and applied sciences and to give
total support to scientific research so that scientific values prevail in
society and scientific logic prevails over the generality of human activity, and
so that science becomes our guide to enable us to raise the level of economic
and social life. All this must be within the framework of deeply-rooted Islamic
values, which do not conflict in any way with science.
3. To truly communicate with other people's
cultures and national civilizations, interacting with them, influencing them and
taking from them, so that a civilizational atmosphere might develop conducive to
the blossoming of talents and of creativity in the various fields of thought,
culture, literature and art.
These efficacious means of achieving
civilizational renewal will not succeed in bringing about the desired effect so
long as they are not accompanied by an atmosphere of political stability, social
justice, and intellectual and cultural security. All this is dependent on
adopting Islamic principles and values, which encourage man to seek a life of
liberty and dignity, and encourage him to undertake honest work, which will
benefit him, his family, his society, and his nation.
The comprehensive and indefatigable efforts which
we exert in the fields of development, economics, trade, industry, and
agriculture, in the fields of education and scientific research, and on the
intellectual, cultural, media, artistic, and creative levels, all of these
efforts, whatever the sum of them today, and whatever their effects at this
stage, require a comprehensive framework within which they can be organized and
co-ordinated, and a spirit pulsing with Islamic values and principles which can
make it a movement of change, development and transformation, which can serve
and advance Islamic civilization, renew its blood, invigorate its spirit, and
enrich its present and future contribution to the Ummah. Perhaps I am not
exaggerating if I say that the Islamic Ummah is today passing through one of the
most powerful and most dangerous periods of its history. With the burdens of
estrangement and sulky hostility which are weighing on its shoulders, and faced
with the great challenges which confront it, it is in danger of losing its
ability to resist the ills of the times, and pillars which have stood firm
through successive centuries in the face of every mishap and act of aggression,
are in danger of collapsing.
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