Under development has remained a major challenge for the World of Islam throughout the modern ages. In general, the Muslim World has lagged behind the developed world in many social and economic development indicators since the close of 18th century. There are several causes of the underdevelopment of the Muslim World in the modern times. Some of them are exogenous such as oppressive and exploitative colonial rule over large swathes of the territories of the Muslim World in Asia and Africa, the trepidations of the two World Wars, the costs of involvement in the Cold War between the US and the USSR in the twentieth century and the stress and exigencies of the Global War on Terrorism through the first quarter of the twenty-first century. All of them took a very heavy toll on the developmental potential and prospects for the Muslim World in Asia and Africa. Many conflicts and wars simmering in the Muslim World today are direct inheritances of these exogenous pressures brought on the World of Islam by the big powers – and the so-called Super Powers – of the past three centuries.
Alongside these exogenous causes many endogenous factors too have been the causes of the underdevelopment in the Muslim World. Science and rational thinking has been a major factor behind remarkable development in many parts of the world over the past five centuries. For a diverse array of cultural, sociological and political reasons, the Muslim civilization did not espouse rational thought, science and modern technologies on the right time over the past five centuries. The Muslim world was a beacon of scientific research and innovation for humanity through the Mid-to-late Middle Ages. It became increasingly obscurantist and regressive as Renaissance and the Age of Enlightenment broke out in the West.
All material achievements in the history of the human civilization have been preceded by intellectual attainments. Scientific and technological prowess follows the train of rational thought and logical intellectual rigors. Culture, politics and religion, all, staggered and regressed in the Muslim World, after the Middle ages, to the points where they stifled the prospects for the evolution and growth of rational thinking and intellectual enlightenment. Technologies that might have spread mass awareness and education, such as the printing press, were not welcomed by either the political or the clerical elite of the Muslim World. They posed a challenge to the established structures of power and patterns of cultural and social thoughts. Any ideas or technological innovations that could potentially cause a shift in the power equation within the autocratic, obscurantist and tribal-feudal power equation of the Muslim societies were vigorously and, often, violently opposed by the power elite of the Muslim World over the past five centuries.
Resistance to rational thought and modern science was a short-sighted and self-defeating attitude of the elite of the Muslim world. It led to serious reverses for the Muslim world in the great power competitions of the post-Medieval international order. It led to the falling of the large parts of the Muslim World, as an easy prey, to more than three centuries of European colonial rule. At the grassroots, and higher up the societal ladder, the Muslim world suffered from a spread of mass religious superstitions and fanaticism during this time.
The European colonial rule in the Muslim societies, in general, supported and encouraged some of the very conservative, obscurantist and reactionary elements of the times. They also revived and resucitated the organically dying feudal-tribal and autocratic structures of power in the Muslim World. This trend has continued throughout the twentieth and twenty first century. Even today, the developed world defined, determined and sustained structures of international order is seldom friendly to asertive progressivism in the Muslim societies. More often than not the developed world of the twenty-first century ultimately supports and backs some of the most reactionary, misgoverning and anti-development forces, structures and systems in the Muslim World of our times. This has mostly been the case with the political dispensations and Economic and Cultural structures of power across the Musim World from Morrocco in North Africa, the Sub-Saharan Africa, the Arab World, the Central Asia, the South Asia and on to the South East Asia.
Today, behind many badly governed states, autocracies, fundamentalist movements and violent and extremist outfits in the Muslim World, one clearly sees the backing of the developed world support and direct or indirect assisstance.
The progressives of the Muslim World have not only got to work out a new cultural, social, political and governance revival based on Science, reason and fair play in their societies; they also have to resist and defeat the transnational backers and abettors of reaction, obscurantism, crime and violence in thier homes. Only through such educated, informed and organized struggle can we rescue the societies of the Muslim world from underdevelopment, obscurantism, misgovernance and violence.
Author: Fawad
I Want to develop my people.
Educational backwardness is one of the biggest challenges facing the Muslim World today.
Education, learning and Intellectual attainments have been the elementary building blocks of the Islamic civilization since the days of the Holy Prophet (PBUH). The Muslim World must learn and educate itself in order to attain its due status and place in the global arena in the twenty-first century. All the 57 member countries of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation suffer from academic and educational weaknesses of diverse and complex nature. Our schools, colleges and Universities have yet to develop enough to compete with the rest of the civilized world. The research culture in the Muslim societies, in general, is not at par with that of the rest of the educated and civilized world. Our annual production of quality books does not compare well with even the modestly developed world regions such as the Latin America, the Eastern Europe or the ASEAN region.
Science and technology are the basis of economic and developmental breakthroughs in the modern world. The quality of scientific education imparted in the Muslim World does not measure up even to the average international standards.
Information Technology, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and the IOT (Internet of Things) are the twenty-first century’s vital areas of academic and educational attainments. They are the immediate successors and counterparts of the late twentieth century scientific and technological breakthroughs in the computers and Bio-Technology. They are going to be the elementary requirements for attaining major develoomental successes in the twenty-first century.
Apart from a few exceptions, almost all of the 57 Muslim countries lag behind the rest of the developed and developing world in these latest areas of scientific and technological prowess.
The education systems of the Muslim World have certain fundamental structural and qualitative problems.
Schools lie at the base of the educational and academic pyramids in any education system. The Universities and institutions of higher learning lie at its apex. You can never have a strong and vibrant apex of Higher Studies without a robust and solid base of schools at the bottom end of the education system. Most schools in the Muslim World are weak by international standards.
Good teachers and quality teaching are the life blood of any schools system. Most schools in the Muslim World suffer from poor to modest quality teaching. School children in the Muslim societies often do not get quality education in the fundamentally important subjects such as Mathematics, Science, Information Technology, Economics, Finance and Essential Life Skills for a decent modern existance.
A rapid overhaul and enhancement of the schools across the length and breadth of the Muslim World is a dire need today.
Clerics hold an unusually influential place in the Muslim societies. Most of them tend to be very conservative. Their attitude towards rational thinking, science and technology ranges from ambivalence to hostility. They have historically viewed most of the modern education as an instrument of cultural imperialism by the Western countries. The clerics of the Muslim Societies have to be conivnced and encouraged to accept and promote modern scientific education in the interest of developing and empowering the Muslim World.
Most of the Muslim societies are gender biased when its comes to imparting education. Women and girls do not get the education which men and boys do. This educational discrimination against the women has led to structural instability and underdevelopment in the Muslim societies. We shall discuss the subject of gender discrimination in education in the Muslim Societies at length in our forthcoming opinion pieces.
Muslim World simply can not afford to stay illiterate, uneducated or academically backward compared to the rest of the world. Education is the key to development in the twenty-first century. Some Muslim countries such as Malaysia, Turkey, the Arabian-Persian Gulf Countries, the Central Eurasian countries and Egypt are relatively better educated than the rest of the Muslim World. Even their education systems, however, need a lot to be desired. Their success in educating Muslim societies are valuable lessons. We have to emulate, and learn from, their experiences in how to best educate Muslim Societies. The setbacks these countries, and the rest of the Muslim World, have faced in their attempts to educate masses and run good education systems are important lessons in develomental studies. The Muslim World can learn from the developed world for meeting its educational challenges. The developed world and some pockets in the rest of the world have attained decent success in educating their societies. Japan, South Korea, Scandinavian countries and the Germanic Soziale Marktwitshaft models are good examples to follow in crafting education policies and systems for the Muslim World. Our Muslim World can take a leaf from their book as we hope to attain major educational breakthroughs in our socities.
Muslim countries of the Central Eurasia have an unusually important role to play in the cultural revival, economic development and security of the Muslim World and the Central Asia, South Asia and the Middle East.
The Muslim Central Eurasia consists of six countries i.e. Kazakhstan, Kyrgystan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan. Besides these six countries, the Chinese autonomus region of Xinjiang is also a part of the Muslim Central Eurasia. China’s friendly disposition and economic, political and security interest in the region adds to the international significance of the Muslim Central Eurasia.
Connectivity with the rest of the world is the most important need of the region in order to tap its actual economic, political and security potential. Afghanistan and North Western and Western Pakistan are the closest, contiguous adjacent regions of the Muslim Central Eurasia. A good transport and communications infrastructure shall play a critical role in connecting the whole place. Cyber connectivity shall be of a vital significance in this regard.
A huge potential for Intraregional trade has been established by recent scholarship. Fossil fuels, energy, minerals, agricultural products, livestocks are one important set of tradeable goods in the region.
Trade in services offers another vital area of exchanges. Tourism, Science andTechnology, culture and educational exchanges, again, hold a huge potential for intraregional cooperation.
Financial coonectivity has been relatively modest. More intraregional banking and fnancial networks can enhance the prospects for economic cooperation and integration in the region. The ASEAN, the EU and the GCC are good models to emulate for this purpose. The 10 member Economic Cooperation Organization, the ECO, is a reasonably good organization but it has been operating with fits and starts. It needs to be extended, enhanced and empowered more in order to meet the challenges of the twenty-first century.
The region faces some common transnational challenges such as climate change, water insecurity, deforestation, environmental pollution and ecological degradation.
Similarly, terrorism, militancy, extremism, political violence, drugs trade and organized crime are other transnational problems of common interest and concerns across the region. Only more intraregional connectivity, cooperation and exchanges can lead the various peoples and nations of the region to address these challenges.
People to people contacts are an elementary bedrock on which to build regional and transnational cooperation in our modern times. The internet and information age technologies offer excellent tools and instruments for connecting people across regions today. Central Eurasia, Afghanistan and Pakistan have a large youth population who are internet savvy and good at using information age technologies. These young people should be linked with each other in order to better connect the whole region. The regional academia, media people, influencers and the civil society, at large, has to play its due role in this regard. The Muslim countries of Central Eurasia, Afgahnistan and Pakistan have all a glorious history of achievements. They hold a tremendous potential for economic, cultural, political and scientific attainments. Regional connectivity and cooperation are the fundamental needs for tapping this potential. As denizens of this very promising region, we sholud take all measures to better understand and connect with each other.
The world of Islam awaits its over due Renaissance. At the start of the second quarter of the twenty-first century the Muslims of the world, in general, have yet to modernize and develop themselves culturally, socially and materially. This under-development and backwardness is not in keeping with the historical evolution of the World of Islam over the past Millennia and half.Through the first millennium of their history, the Muslim societies adopted scholarship, promotion of learning, culture, science, technology and a progressive attitude towards life and cultural attainments as their cardinal values and pursuits. Progressivism lay at the heart of the Muslim cultural, scientific and intellectual attainments through the glorious days of the Baghdad of the Abbasids (750-1258), the Hispanic Al-Andalus (711-1492), the Fatimids (909-1171), the Khawarzamians (1077-1231), the Ottomans (1299-1922), the Saffavids (1501-1736), The Delhi Sultanate (1206-1526), the Mughals (1526-1857) and the Sultanate of Malacca (1400-1528).
This cultural, intellectual and scientific expertise and dynamism brought, early on, extraordainary wealth and material prosperity to the Muslim societies through these glorious centuries. Within the three centuries of the arrival of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) the Muslim World became a global power to reckon with. By the Middle- Middle Ages, Muslim civilization offered rare cultural, scientific and technological achievements to the humanity. This was the Golden Age of the Muslim civilization.
Even a cursory look at the fundamental elements of social organization in Muslim societies, through these glorious centuries, offers valuable lessons in how nations rise.
Justice, respect for human dignity, pluralistic egalitarianism and a relentless pursuit of knowledge and cultural achievements lay at the heart of the glorious achievements of the Muslim societies in the Medieval and Early Modern Eras.
Like the rest of the world at large, the Muslim societies of the Medieval to Early Modern Eras were autocracies. But even these autocracies provided a good social and economic justice to their subjects. Cultural tolerance and racial integration among various and diverse people has remained an important teaching of Islam since the age of the Holy Prophet (PBUH).
The exalted places held by the non-Arab venerable companions of the Holy Prophet such as Venerable Sulaiman Al Farsi, an Iranian, and Venerable Bilal, an Abyssinian slave, attests to the egalitarian complexion and structure of the Muslim societies of the age.
A more detailed analysis also reveals that Muslims of those times lived far healthier, organized and cleaner lives.
Degeneration and decadence did creep in, every now and then, but the vital spirit of the teachings of Islam and the intellectual, cultural and physical energy of the Muslim communities would arrest them before they brought serious disruptions or decline.
The Muslim World has witnessed an unstoppable decline through the past three centuries. This has been in stark contrast to the historic trend of the evolution of the Muslim societies. Intellectual and scientific decline and moral decadence have been the fundamental elements of the decline of the Muslim World over the past three centuries. Wester imperialism has been a huge contributor towards the decline of the Muslim World. The central causes of the decline, however, lies within the Muslim societies and cultures.
We are, ourselves, responsible for our decline in the Modern age. Our intellectual, moral and social regression has been of our own making.
The responsibility to improve our fortunes too lies with us. In our forthcoming debates we shall discuss how can we improve the cultural, social and material conditions of the Muslim World in the present. We shall also explore what role can the teachers, intellectuals, scholars, media and the various groups of the Muslim societies, “the youth in particular,” play in bringing about a twenty-first century Renaissance in the World of Islam.
پختونخواہ کے نوجوانوں کی تعلیمی ضروریات پوری کرنے کے لیے جامع منصوبہ بندی کی ضرورت ہے۔ خطے کی آبادی کا 66 فی صد اُن افراد پر مشتمل ہے جن کی عمریں ١٨ اور ٣٥ سال کے بیچ ہیں ۔ ان کے مستقبل کا فیصلہ ان کی تعلیمی استعداد کرے گی ۔ ہم نے ان کی تعلیمی استعداد کی جانچ مندرجہ ذیل پیمانوں سے کرنی ہو گی:
١)ان کا شرح خوندگی کیا ہے؟ شرح خواندگی کی بین الاقوامی اور پاکستانی تعریف کیا ہے؟ کیا معاشرہ ان کی خواندگی اور مناسب تعلیم کی ذمہ داری پوری کر رہا ہے یا نہیں؟
٢) پختونخواہ کے نوجوانوں میں مطالعہ کی کتنی استعداد اور رجحان موجود ہیں؟ وہ زیادہ تر کس زبان میں مطالعہ کرتے ہیں؟ وہ عموماً کس طرح کی کتابیں پڑھتے ہیں؟ انھیں کس طرح کی کتابیں پڑھنے کی ضرورت ہے ؟وہ کونسے عوامل ہیں جو پختونخواہ کے نوجوانوں کو مطالعے سے روکتے ہیں؟ پختونخواہ کے نوجوانوں میں مطالعہ کے شوق کو کیسے فروغ دیا جا سکتا ہے؟
٣) پختونخواہ کے نوجوانوں کے لکھنے اور مناسب پیرائے میں بولنے کی کتنی صلاحیت ہے ؟ پختونخواہ کے نوجوان کن کن زبانوں میں مناسب اسلوب اور طریقے سے بات چیت کر سکتے ہیں؟ پختونخواہ کے نوجوانوں کو کون کون سی بینالاقوامی زبانیں بولنا آتی ہیں یا وہ اُن میں لکھ سکتے ہیں؟
٤) Mathematics, Computers, Basic Science, Basic Finance, Artificial Intelligence, Time Management, یہ سب دور جدید کے ضروری علوم اور مضامین ہیں ۔پختونخواہ کے نوجوان دور جدید کے ان اہم ترین مضامین میں کتنی استعداد اور دسترس رکھتے ہیں؟
٥) آپ کے خیال میں پختونخواہ کے نوجوانوں کی تعلیمی استعداد اور قابلیت بڑھانے کے لیے کونسے چھ اہم ترین اقدامات اُٹھانے کی ضرورت ہے ؟
ہماری رائے میں پختونخواہ کے نوجوانوں کے تعلیمی مسائل کاحل ان بنیادی سوالوں کے جوابات میں مضمر ہے۔ آئیے مل کر ان سوالوں کے جواب ڈھونڈیں اور اپنی سمجھ بوجھ اور اجتماعی فہم کی روشنی میں اپنے نوجوانوں کے تعلیمی مسلے کو حل کریں ۔
گزشتہ ربع صدی میں پختونخواہ کو انسانی ترقی کے میدان می میں تباہ کن زوال اور بحران کاسامنا کرنا پڑا ہے ۔ صاف سھری خوراک تک رسائی , تعلیم, صحت, صفائی کا جامع نظام,ٹرانسپورٹ, جرائم اور بد عنوانی کاخاتمہ, فعال عدلیہ, شفاف ادارے, یہ سب انسانی ترقی کی بنیاد ڈالنے والی اکائیاں ہیں ۔ ان کا انحصار اچھے انتظام پر ہوتا ہے ۔ جدید ریاستی امور کی اصطلاح میں انھیں گڈ گورننس یا اچھا انتظام کہتے ہیں۔ ہم نے دہکھنا ہے کہ پختونخواہ میں انتظامی صورتحال کس طرح کی ہے اور گزشتہ ربع صدی میں اس پر زوال اور بحران کیسے آئے۔ کسی بھی معاشرے میں اداروں اور انتظام کی بہتر کار کردگی کے لیے بیدار, منظم اور, جتنا ممکن ہو, تعلیم یافتہ عوام کاہونا ضروری ہے ۔ غیر منظم,غافل اور ان پڑھ عوام کو آسانی سے دھوکہ بھی دیا جا سکتا ہے اور ڈرایا دھمکایا بھی جاسکتا ہے ۔ اس طرح کی عوام کے حقوق چوری کرنا کسی بھی اشرافیہ کے لیے بے حد آسان ہوتا ہے ۔ ایسی عوام کی مثال جانوروں کی ایک تابع اور محکوم ریوڑ کی سی ہوتی ہے جن پر بھیڑیوں اور زیادہ طاقتور جانوروں کاکوئی بھی غول یا جتھہ آسانی سے حملہ آور ہوسکتا ہے ۔ ایسی عوام ایک محکوم اور مغلوب رعایاتو بن سکتی ہے لیکن کوئی محترم, خود مختار اور ذمہ دار شہری نہیں۔ ریاستی اداروں سے اسطرح کی رعایا مناسب خدمات اور اچھی کارکردگی نہیں حاصل کر سکتی ۔ ایسی رعایا پر مشتمل معاشروں میں ریاستی ادارے وفت گزرنے کے ساتھ عوامی خادموں سے بدل کر افسر شاہی بن جاتے ہیں۔ یہ عوام الناس کی خدمت کرنے کی بجائے ان پر حکومت اورچان سےلوٹ کھسوٹ کا بازار گرم کر دیتے ہیں۔
بدقسمتی سے گزشتہ چند دہائیوں میں پختونخواہ کے عوامکواسی طرح کی صورتحالکا سامنا کرنا پڑھ رہا ہے۔ اداروں کی کارکردگی کا بحران پختونخواہ میں انسانی ترقی کے بحران کی ایک بڑی وجہ بن کر ابھرا ہے ۔ پختونخواہ میں اداروں کی اصلاح , فعالیت اور خطے میں انسانی ترقی کے بحران کےخاتمے کے لیے ایک جامع منصوبہ بندی کی ضرورت ہے ۔ عوامی بیداری, تنظیم اور جدوجہد ایسے کسی بھی منصوبے کے بنیادی اجزاء ہوں گے۔ نوجوان پختونخواہ کی آبادی کا اکثریتی حصہ ہیں ۔ ان کی تربیت اور تنظیم کسی بھی بڑے معاشرتی مقصد کے حصول کے لیے بے حد ضروری ہے۔ پختونخواہ میں انسانی ترقی کے بحران کے خاتمے اور اداروں کی اصلاح اور تشکیل نو کے لیے نوجوانوں پر مشتمل علاقائی سطح پر منظم جدوجہد وقت کی سب سے بڑیضرورت بن چکا ہے۔ ہم نے دیکھنا یہ ہےکہ ہم اپنے نوجوانوں کو کتنی جلد ایسی جدوجہد کے لیے تیار اور منظم کرکے میدان میں اتار سکتے ہیں ؟ یاد رکھیں مہزب, شریف, منظم اور تربیتہ یافتہ نوجوان ہی پختونخواہ کے مسائل کے سب سے اچھے حل نکال سکتے ہیں۔ اس جدوجہد میں ان کی رہنمائی,تنظیم اور مدد کرنا ہم سب کی اجتماعی قومی ذمہ داری ہے
بلوچستان میں ٹڈی دل کے حملے کے نتیجے میں صورتحال انتہائی مخدوش ہیں۔ قومی ادارہ برائے انسدادِ قدرتی آفات کی اطلاع کے مطابق بلوچستان کے ۳۱ اضلاع میں فصلوں کو نقصان پہنچا ہے۔ بلوچستان کی زراعت پہلے ہی آبی وسائل کی کمی، کسانوں کی غریبی، زرعی زمین کا مستقل جغرافیائی انحطاط اور حکومتوں کی طرف سے خاطر خواہ توجہ نہ ہونے کے سبب پسماندگی کا شکار ہے۔ حالیہ ٹڈی دل کا حملہ بلوچستان کے کسانوں کو شدید بحران میں ڈال گیا ہے۔ صورتحال سے نمٹنے کے لیے وفاقی اور صوبائی حکومتوں کو بروقت جامع انسدادی کاروائیاں کرنے کی ضرورت ہے۔ آفت زدہ علاقوں میں اسپرے کرایا جائے، کسانوں کے نقصان کا ازالہ کرایا جائے اور اُن کی معاشی صورتحال مزید خراب ہونے سے بچانے کے لیے متاثرہ اضلاع کے کسانوں کے لیے جامع معاشی امداد فراہم کی جائے۔
