54 the Importance of Technology in the Development of Islamic Countries

8/6/2019 54 the Importance of Technology in the Development of Islamic Countries

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The Importance of Technology in the Development of Islamic Countries

Written by Shaykh Muhammad Hisham Kabbani

What was the means by which the Prophet developed the Sahaba, their community and theentire Ummah? He taught them:

Seek knowledge even if it be in China. [1]

It was through a cultural ethos informed by the Qurnic order to seek Gods Signs in Hiscreation and to ponder on them, that the sciences were built in Islam on the foundations ofrational inquiry and logical thought while simultaneously seeking the philosophical andtheological underpinnings to their observations. In this way, the Muslim world quickly surpassedits counterparts in developing science and research methodology, practical experimentation,and methods of confirming theory with observation - methods that are still followed today inmodern laboratories and technical institutions.

The hadith:

Seeking knowledge is an obligation upon every Muslim [2]

was applied in every sphere of life from the religious to the most outwardly secular, for in Islamnothing was considered outside the realm of Gods Divine Command and thus every aspect ofexistence was considered addressed by the order seek knowledge

Due to this zeal for knowledge inspired by the Prophet in the hearts of his followers literally

millions of books such were authored and disseminated across the Muslim world.

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It was such inspiration as provided by the Prophet through Sayyidina Al and his school andthe other Companions and their schools that evolved the sciences of astronomy, physics,

chemistry, optics, pharmacology, botany, zoology, geology, mineralogy, medicine, dentistry, andsurgery, as well as the more abstract fields like logic, mathematics and philosophy. From theseschools came the likes of Jbir ibn ayn, father of modern chemistry who studied under Jfara-diq; Muammad Ibn Ms al-Khawarizm, who founded modern mathematics - includingthe fundamentals of algebra - in the early 800s, and studied the sciences of astronomy andgeography with his renowned contemporary al-Kind who did research as well in physics, music,psychology and medicine. Al-Birn is credited with founding the modern scientific method. IbnSn, known in the West as Avicenna, was renowned not only for his contributions to medicalscience, for which he was known as the 'doctor of doctors.' In particular his work the Canon(al-Qnn

) became the fountainhead of Western medicine in the early Renaissance, influencing the likesof Da Vinci and displacing Galen as the primary source of medical knowledge. Ibn Rushd(Averroes) was known for his tremendous contributions to the science of astronomy in the formof the book theAlmagest, used by the Europeans long after Islamic civilizations twilight.

I could go on and on naming the great Muslim scientists and technologists but the point has

been made science, research and technology are a natural part of the Islamic value-system.And just as attention to matters of religion have declined in the last half-millennium, so too hasthe attention to these finer aspects of the faith. It is thus no wonder that with the decline in thereligiosity of the Ummah as predicted by the Prophet, the material aspects have faded as well,so that today the Ummah is a mere shadow of its former greatness. We thank Allah that anillness once known can be treated, as the Prophet informed us, Allah has not made a diseasewithout appointing a remedy for it, with the exception of one: old age, [3] but misdiagnosis atthis late stage will result in mistreatment and further degradation. For today, our Ummah isunder an illness and only with inspiration from Allah and guidance from the Qurn and Sunnahcan a remedy be found.

The scientists that developed in Islams civilization knew the importance of knowledge anddiscovery. The Qurn repeatedly admonishes the believers to study Allahs Creation:

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And He has subjected to you, as from Him, all that is in the heavens and on earth: Behold, inthat are Signs indeed for those who reflect. [4]

Whoever delves deeply into the understanding of many verses and adththat revealinformation about todays discoveries cannot fail to understand that Islam builds up the nationand addresses the importance of stretching the boundaries of knowledge and itsimplementations.

We can see this in the teachings of the Prophet in Qurn and hadith regarding the importanceof science and seeking knowledge. All such discoveries will eventually lead to the development

of technology in its various forms directed towards building the well-being of the Nation and foruse in promoting God-consciousness taqw.

For if we truly believe in Islam and in the Holy Qurn, we must follow the Prophet. Allah said:

Say: If ye do love Allah, Follow me: Allah will love you and forgive you your sins: For Allah isOft-Forgiving, Most Merciful. [5]

The Prophet left us his Sunnah - his way and an essential part of that Sunnah is to encourage

the development of science, research and technology. That is why, knowing as he did theimportance of technology, he encouraged its development in many adth.

The adthwhich I intend to explain in the remainder of this paper demonstrate the importanceof science and the importance of developing the Ummah. At the same time the Prophetsteachings related to the wealthy and their relationship with the poor are an essential componentin the life of the Ummah.

Zakat Obligation of Individuals, Communities and Nations

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One of the principal teachings of Islam is the obligation of zaktand the voluntary donations inthe form of saaqah. From this

individual requirement for Muslims to help the poor, whether individually or collectively throughthe Baytal-Ml ,one can derived a societal requirement: the importance of wealthy have Muslim countries tosupport the poor have not ones in order to improve their conditions and raise their livingstandards. It is only through establishing such relationships, that the Ummah can bereconstituted after the fragmentation of the last century.

What better example of this than in the practice of the Prophet and his Companions? Whatcomes to mind is when as caliph, Sayyidina Umar used to go out at night in disguise, lookingfor those in need. He would take food and distribute it to the needy. One time he found poorwoman late at night preparing stone soup for her children who were crying for want ofsomething to eat. Not realizing that the man she was speaking with was Sayyidina Umar , shecomplained about her condition and that the caliph was not doing his job. ImmediatelySayyidina Umar brought her food and helped to prepare it for her hungry children. [6]

Such was the concern of the early Muslim leaders for their people: for them it was not the job ofthe state to help rather it was a personal responsibility on them as the leader to see that eachperson was fed, sheltered and safe.

For this reason, Sayyidina Ab Bakr a-iddq said, The weak among you shall be strong withme till God willing his rights have been vindicated; and the strong among you shall be weak withme till, if the Lord wills, I have taken what is due from him.

Today we are fortunate to see such kind of leaders emerging from within the Ummah yet again.We see nations like Indonesia and Malaysia, where the leaders have a strong sense of civicduty and feel the obligation to help each and every individual to obtain a decent life.

It is the duty of the rich Muslim countries to help the poor ones to build civic society and to buildtheir standard of living for having an excellent life. The Prophet always sought refuge in Allah fr

om poverty saying O Lord I seek refuge in Thee fromkufr

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(unbelief) and poverty,[7]for according to another hadith, Poverty, in all probability, leads to unbelief (kufr

).[8]

Allah has granted tremendous wealth to the Muslims. He gave them oil, gold, natural gas andminerals. Those possessed of such an overabundance of wealth cannot say to the poor nations,many of which consist of nothing but deserts and mountains and possess no resourceswhatsoever, and tell them, Build yourselves! Rather, it is the responsibility of the rich to assistthe poor. The Qurn states categorically,

And in their wealth the beggar (or needy) and the deprived (who does not beg but neverthelessis needy) had due share. [9]

Simultaneously, Allah ordered zaktas an obligation. Why is it then that the Muslim countriesdo not take zaktfrom their money, at a minimum 2.5%,and give it to the poorer Muslim nations? How much oil and natural gas do the Muslim countriespossess? Does it not have a zakton it?If there is 100 billion barrels of oil reserves, what is itszakt?

We cannot cheat in Islam by saying, It is in the earth. If you have gold in your possession, thenfrom year to year you must pay zakton it - min hawl ila al-hawl. If you have gold in your houseyou know how much zaktmust be paid on it.On the other hand gold which is in the form of reserves requires a process for extractionbecause it is mixed within the soil and thus is not subject tozakt. But oil is something that comes ready from the ground it requires no extensive process to be

used. It is therefore subject tozakt

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.

A nation is analogous to a house controlled by a government, particularly if it is owned bycertain people. And today by means of technology it is possible to ascertain exactly the quantityof oil present in reserve. Zaktmust be paid on that oil,just as with dates, with processed gold and with mines. Consider: thezakton the Muslim nations oil reserves is more than sufficient to provide the entire Muslim world thewealth to build their nations to maturity and an advanced level of civilization and technology.

:

The Prophet said, People are partners in three things: water, grazing and fire. [10]

Fire here can be considered to represent all sources of fire, whether wood, oil or natural gas;and in these the people must be partners. Rich countries must share with the poor countries it

is not that Allah gave it to one nation and it is not available for the others, who are in need.Allah made the Ummah of Muhammad one nation where He said:

Verily, this community of yours is a single community, and I am your Lord and Cherisher:

therefore serve Me. [11]

and thus regardless of which country it belongs to, the wealth of oil, gold and other valuablesmust be shared within the entire Ummah.

So we come to a poor nation and say build yourself. The question is not should they, but how,

for they have nothing. Allah said:

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And hold fast, all together, by the rope which Allah (stretches out for you), and be not dividedamong yourselves. And remember the blessings which God has bestowed upon you [12]

So this applies to the entire ummah. If all are holding tight to the rope of Allah , it is a cause for

unity. The Muslims are like one body, if one part is sick the whole is sick. The ummah is onebody. If we have problems in one part the whole body becomes sick.

And Muslims are brothers and sisters to one another. That is why it is the responsibility of thewealthy nations to help the poor countries to develop their technological bases.

But today we see the poor become poorer and the rich become richer. This is because there isno sincerity, except for a very small number who are helping the underdeveloped countries. It isthe responsibility of the rich countries to help the underdeveloped ones. Instead of investingmoney with people and we are not taking benefit from the interest given on it, it is better toinvest in Muslim countries and give the benefit to the poor ones.

Presented at a conference of Muslim scholars held by under the auspices of Nahdlatul Ulama inIndonesia, 2003.

Renowned Scholars of Science and Technology Scholar Dates (CE) Residence Fields of Contribution

Jabir Ibn Haiyan Died 803 Kufa medicine, alchemy, che

Yaqub Ibn Ishaq Al-Kindi 800-873 Baghdad philosophy, mathematic

Mohammad Bin Musa Al-KhawarizmiD. 840 Baghdad mathematics, astronome

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Thabit Ibn Qurra 836-901 Baghdad mathematics, astronomy

Ali Ibn Rabban Al-Tabari 838-870 Merv medicine

Mohammad Ibn Zakariya Al-Razi864-930 Ray, Baghdad music, mathematics, ast

Abu Abdullah Al-Battani 868-929 Raqqa, Iraq astronomer, mathematici

Abu'l-Abbas Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Kathir al-FarghaniC. 860 Cairo, Samarra astronomy, engineering

Abu Al-Nasr Al-Farabi 870-950 Baghdad, Damascus, Cairo, Aleppo science, philosophy, logi

Abul Asan Ali Al-Masu'di D. 957 Traveled extensively, Cairo geographer, physicist, hi

Abu al-Qasim Khalaf bin 'Abbas Al-Zahrawi936-1013 Cordoba surgery, medicine, Opht

Abul Wafa Muhammad Al-Buzjani940-997 Baghdad astronomy, mathematics

Abu Ali Asan Ibn Al-Haitham965-1040 Cairo, Spain Physics (Optics), mathe

Abu Al-Asan Al-Mawardi 972-1058 Baghdad political science and soci

Abu Raihan Al-Biruni 973-1048 India astronomy, trigonometry

Ibn Sina 980-1037 Jurjan, Hamadan, Isfahan Medicine, physics, math

Abu Hamid Al-Ghazali 1058-1128 Baghdad, Damascus philosophy

[1] adth Hasan Mashhr. Narrated from Anas by al-Bayhaq in Shuab al-mnand al-Madkhal , IbnAbd al-Barr inJami Bayn al-Ilm, and al-Khtib through three chains at the opening of hisal-Rila f alab al-adth

(p. 71-76 #1-3) where Shaykh Nr al-Dn Itr declares it weak (daf

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). Also narrated from Ibn Umar, Ibn Abbs, Ibn Masd, Jbir, and Ab Sad al-Khur, allthrough very weak chains. The adth master al-Mizz said it has so many chains that itdeserves a grade of fair (asan

), as quoted by al-Sakhw inal-Maqsid al-asana. Al-Iraq in hisMughn anh aml al-asfarsimilarly stated that some scholars declared it sound (sa) for that reason.

[2] A fair (asan) narration in Ibn Mjah because of its many chains as stated by al-Mizz,al-abarn in al-Kabr, ibn Ad in al-Kmil, al-Bayhaq in Shuab al-mn,while Dr. Muammad Ajj al-Khtib in his notes on al-Khtib'sal-Jmi(2:462-463) declared it sound due to its witness-chains (sa li ghayrih).

[3] Ab Dwd. Other similar narrations: There is no disease that Allah has created exceptthat He also has created a treatment ( Sa Al-Bukhr, 7:582) and There is a remedy forevery malady, and when the remedy is applied to the disease it is cured with the permission ofAllah, the Exalted and Glorious" ( Sa Muslim, 5466) and The one who sent down the disease sent down the remedy. (Al-Muwa,50:5:12).

[4] Sratu l-Jthya [The Crouching], 45:13.

[5] Srat li-Imrn [The Family of Imrn], 3:31.

[6] Many incidents of this nature were reported from the Khulaph ar-rshidn, the four

rightly-guided caliphs.

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It is related that a blind old woman lived in a suburb of Madina and had no one to support her.Umar used to go in disguise to the house of the old woman, but was always surprised to find

that someone else had anticipated him and had supplied the wants of the old woman. One nightUmar went to the house of the old woman earlier than usual and hid himself to watch as towho attended to the wants of the old lady. He had not to wait long for soon a man arrived whoattended to the needs of the old woman, and this man was Ab Bakr .

[7] Ab Dwd.

[8] Bayhaq, al-abarn.

[9] Sratu dh-Dhriyt [The Winnowing Winds], 51:19.

[10] Arabic: : ,Bukhr, Kitb al-buyu.

[11] Sratul-Anby [The Prophets], 21:92.

[12] Srat li-Imrn [The Family of Imrn], 3:103.

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54 the Importance of Technology in the Development of Islamic Countries

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