Contemporary Intellectual Challenges Facing Muslim … Contemporary Intellectual Challenges Facing...

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Contemporary Intellectual Challenges Facing Muslim Ummah: Some Ways Out to Consider Page | 0 http://www.san-pips.com/download.php?f=181.pdf Contemporary Intellectual Challenges Facing Muslim Ummah: Some Ways Out to Consider Dr. Abdul Mu’ti Views from Indonesia

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Contemporary Intellectual Challenges Facing Muslim Ummah: Some Ways Out to Consider

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Contemporary Intellectual Challenges Facing

Muslim Ummah: Some Ways Out to Consider

Dr. Abdul Mu’ti

Views from Indonesia

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About the Speaker

Dr. Abdul Mu’ti is the Professor at the State Institute for Islamic

Studies (IAIN) Walisongo, Semarang, Indonesia. Besides his major

profession, Mu’ti serves as Secretary of the Central (National) Board

of Muhammadiyah, a modern Islamic movement in Indonesia. Before

his current position, Mu’ti was the President of the Central Board

Muhammadiyah Youth and Secretary of the Council of Primary and

secondary education of the Central Board Muhammadiyah. His recent

publications are Christian-Muhammadiyah: Convergences of Muslim

and Christian in Education, In-culture of Islam: Seeding Humanity,

Equality and Solidarity of Islam, Editor with Umar Hadi, Islam in

Indonesia: A to Z Basic References.

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Islamic texts have undoubtedly encouraged the constant emergence of

intellectuals within Muslim community. The words ‘read’, ‘ponder’, ‘reflect’

and ‘think’ (in their various forms) are among the most oft-repeated calls or

catchwords in the Quran. The words ‘pen’ and ‘book’ are also found

everywhere in the Quran. And, if an intellectual is someone who has to ‘act’,

this word is so plenty in the Quran. Moreover, the Quran, the narrated

traditions from the Prophet and the sayings of respectable Muslim scholars,

all have often emphasized the respectable position of those who develop their

intellectual capability, spend much time in their life to study and assume the

responsibility of keeping Muslim life inspired by knowledge.1

Throughout Muslim history, the role of intellectuals is undeniably important,

being responsible for the level of achievements the community can attain. It

can be said that at its zenith, Muslim civilization was a civilization of

intellectuals. It might also be argued that without the curious and open-

minded intellectuals, Muslim civilization is inconceivable. Of course, there

were some instances when intellectuals faced hard challenges from within the

umma, particularly from the rulers,2 but generally they have been supported

and at the same time influential.

However, today most of Muslim societies are in crisis – politically,

economically and culturally. One of the striking features, as well as arguably

one of the main causes, of this crisis is the deficiency in Muslim science and

technology. The Muslim world has disengaged from science and the process of

creating new knowledge – though they were world leaders in science and

technology a millennium ago. By any index (from publication of research in

established journals, expenditures on research and development, numbers of

research scientists, role played by science and technology in the national

economies, high technology exports, to the quality of higher education), the

Muslim world generates a small amount of scientific output.3 And, most of

this little output has been contributed by not more than seven to ten Muslim

majority countries (of about 50 Muslim majority countries).4 Furthermore, of

this low level of productivity, we would not be confident enough to talk about

the quality. On the other hand, Muslims are sometimes said to have a

mentality of buying science and technology, rather than producing it.

This is one important aspect of intellectual challenges facing contemporary

Muslim scholarship. On the broader level, Muslim thought being largely

marginalized in the modern world is a reality that we should acknowledge –

especially if we agree that any reform need to start with recognition of the

world as it is. Most of discussions of Muslim thought seem to show it as

serving as a mere appendage of Western thought.

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As Muslims still lag behind in science and technology and struggle with

developing Muslim thought, it is important to discuss how contemporary

Muslim scholarship can give birth to a living, dynamic, thriving Muslim

civilization of the future. At least there are four important things we have to

consider for contemporary Muslim scholars to be able to empower Muslim

societies, flourish science and technology in Muslim countries, and reduce

their dependency on the current dominant civilization.

First of all, networking is a must. Today’s world has been characterized with

interconnection and interdependence – not only between peoples or

institutions but also between academic disciplines or sciences. Everything is

now seen to be connected to many things else and is dependent on

developments in other areas. Therefore, if we wants to succesfully introduce,

promote and develop sharia economics for instance, we have to engage not

only experts on Islamic jurisprudence and experts on conventional economics

but also those who will help us promote relevant and necessary legal, political,

social, educational and technological reforms.

Responding to contemporary intellectual challenges, we need therefore to

develop our networking among Muslim scholars and collaborate on a regular

basis in joint projects. In this regard, we also have to be always ready to

engage with, to inspire and be inspired by, scholars from other fields of study

or other socio-cultural backgrounds. Through this networking, we would be

able to break disciplinary boundaries, allow disciplines – either ‘secular’ or

‘religious’ – to merge and cross-fertilize, and at the same time ensure that

‘Islamic world-view’ is more often brought into conversation in more diverse

forums.

Through networking, we can mutually inspire. It is not impossible for

specialists on Quranic studies, for instance, to inspire specialists on quantum

physics or microbiology, and vice versa – just like experts on psychology and

experts on education can inspire each other. With the richness of Islamic

traditional academic disciplines, as well as the all-encompassing nature of

Islam, Muslims have a great potential to have their science and technology

advanced, unique and appropriate to their needs and circumstances.

It is important to note here that for Muslim networks to be effective, we have

to set aside our sectarian or ethnic or ideological divisions, and territorial or

geopolitical boundaries. We need to convince each of ourselves that we are

capable of taking much advantage from our perceived differences, making it a

strenght, rather than a source of conflict. Instead of focusing on what divides

us, we should focus on what unites us. Building upon common grounds is

much more fruitful than arguing for justifying our own position.

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Secondly, developing multiple approaches to solving problems is necessary. In

our world, diversity has been the essence of survival. In Ziauddin Sardar’s

word (1988), “it is not the fittest who survive, but those who use plurality of

means”. Therefore, monolithic approaches to reform would be insufficient

and lead to disappointment. When it comes to the development of sciences,

developing various approaches could mean that we need to take several paths

simultaneously; from Islamization (or dewesternization) of sciences,

integration of Islam(ic studies) and (general) sciences, ‘scientification’ of

Islam(ic studies), dialogue between Islamic faith and modern science, to

Muslims’ (mere) acquisition of Western science.5 If Muslim scholars divert

their focus of concern away from debating which path is the best onto

maximizing their energy to benefit from all paths, we could potentially help

flourish science and technology in Muslim countries more rapidly.

Developing multiple approaches could also mean that we have to engage

people from diverse fields and backgrounds to address our common

challenges, including civil society activists, business people, journalists,

politicians, religious leaders and interfaith organizers. The diversity of actors

might contribute to the level of success we would able to achieve.

Thirdly, positive changes take time. For science or any civilizational project to

flourish in Muslim countries, long-term continuities are required. We have to

ensure that reforms are on their way, but we should never turn to taking

violent, radical measures to try to produce sudden, major changes. In

response to current intellectual challenges, Muslim scholars have to use what

Sardar once calls ‘the methodology of the Prophet’ (of transformation): “by

consistent and planned work, step by step, allowing time for adjusting to

change, taking stock of the changing situation, occasionally side-stepping for

strategic reasons, with unshaking will and determination”. The nature of

Islamization over centuries in Indonesia (which is largely peaceful and relies

much upon education, rather than military or political measures), the

development of Indonesian Muslim organizations like the Muhammadiyah

(which is now one century-old) with its emphasis on education and social

activities (rather than political like some other Indonesian Muslim

organizations established in early 20th century), as well as the process of

Indonesian Reform starting in 1998 (which leads to peaceful, evolutionary

democratization), might be some of good examples of how gradual, peaceful

transformation yields many positive results in the long run – despite some

obvious shortcomings – which might not be able to achieve through

revolutionary actions (either taken by authoritarian regimes or by oppositions

or others).

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Last but not least, to respond to contemporary intellectual challenges, Muslim

community has to enable the (re)emergence of a great deal of responsible,

independent, devoted, creative intellectuals from within the community itself,

particularly among youth and women – who have been increasingly capable of

being active, leading actors in society partly due to much better access to

training and education facilities.6 The Muslim world today is sometimes said to

be devoid of intellectuals (people who pose, define, analyze and solve

problems in society), partly because many of Muslim societies seem to be

anti-intellectual, dominated by ‘blind imitation’ of the past or Western

civilization. Intellectuals are the group of people in a society who are able to

move away from the confines of specialism or professionalism to see

problems in their wider, holistic perspective. Producing intellectuals (organic

ones, rather than ecclesiastical) is surely a much heavier task than producing

mere print scholars, researchers, professionals and specialists. It should be

noted, however, that allowing the emergence of intellectuals is much more

difficult in countries severely suffered from ‘brain-drain’ (migration of the

highly educated people to developed nations). To enable their emergence, at

least we have to alter ‘brain drain’ affecting many Muslim countries to ‘brain

circulation’ or ‘brain gain’ – particularly by improving education, economic

opportunities, good governance and living standards for scientists. If the flight

of human capital from Muslim countries continues to grow, the efforts to

increase the competitiveness of Muslim economies and sciences would always

be seriously hampered.

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Notes

1For Quranic verses, see for instance Q 2: 269, 3: 7, 12: 111, 39: 9, 58: 11. Q 58: 11, one of popular

Quranic verses among Indonesian students, states that, “Allah will raise those who have believed

among you and those who were given knowledge, by degrees.” A narrated hadith says that a

knowledgeable person is far more valuable than a devout person. Another hadith says that those who

pursue a path in search of knowledge, God will surely make it easy for them to pursue the path to

heaven. An Islamic saying – reportedly derived from al-Shafi‘i – states that anyone who wants the

world, he should be knowledgeable, and anyone who wants the hereafter, he should be

knowledgeable, and anyone who wants both, he should be knowledgeable. These are just few

instances among so many available in Islamic sources.

2It is like the mistreatment facing such scholars as Ahmad ibn Hanbal and Ibn Taymiyah.

3Some anecdotal reports suggest that predominantly Muslim countries combined, with more than 20

percent of the world’s total population, generate less than 5 percent of the world’s science. Some

even mentions less than 2 percent (below India and Spain). In terms of the number of

scientists/researchers, the 57 countries of the OIC have only 8.5 scientists, engineers, and technicians

per 1000 population, compared with a world average of 40.7 according to a 2007 report, and 649

researchers per million people, compared with a world average of 2,532 according to a 2010 report.

And in terms of expenditure, availabe data show that OIC member countries’ spending on research

and development activities is significantly lower than the world average and still far away from the

implied target of 1% of GDP by 2015 (according to Data Centre, UNESCO Institute for Statistics).

4Countries constantly listed among these seven or ten most scientifically productive Muslim countries

include: Turkey, Iran, Malaysia and Pakistan. Indonesia, Egypt, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Algeria,

United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Jordan, Kuwait, Bahrain and Nigeria are among countries often

alternately listed – depending on the criteria employed.

5Within Muhammadiyah, my organization which runs not less than 172 universities and colleges, a

choice to allow all or some of these alternatives developed in combination has been made by some

universities like UHAMKA University in Jakarta. Even though we still have to wait for the long-term

results, this choice can engage more scholars in pursuit of exploring and applying sciences suitable for

Indonesian Muslim needs.

6It is important to consider that it has often been reported that the Arab Spring (just like Indonesian

Reform) owes very much to youth activism. It has also often been reported that the percentage of

women graduates in science and engineering out of the total science and engineering graduate

population, or that of women researchers out of the total researchers, in many of Muslim countries is

higher than that in some developed countries like Japan, Republic of Korea, and even United States –

though in all OIC members combined, the figure is slightly lower than the world average (according to

UNESCO Institute for Statistics).

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