Christine Ortiz is taking a leave from her prestigious post as a professor and dean at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to start a radical, new nonprofit university that she says will have no majors, no lectures, and no classrooms.
0 Comments
Population increase isgenerally considered to be the main cause for overall poverty and backwardnessof a nation. Is population increase a real problem? Or is it just a myth. Weneed to scrutinize the whole matter judiciously. The Quran teaches us that itis Allah who has so aptly furnished the earth for human habitation and tosupport life.
“Itis He who made the earth a resting place for you and the sky as a canopy, andsent down water (rain) from the sky and brought there with fruits as aprovision for you. Then do not set rivals unto Allah (in worship) while youknow (that he alone has rights to be worshiped)” (Quran-2:22) “Andsurely, we gave you authority on the earth and appointed for you there inprovision (for your life). Little thanks do you give”. (Quran-7:10) The role of the man, on thisearth, is to purify, to refine and to transform the available resources intouseful means. This requires intellect and diligence. The proper usage of thesefactors is the human obligation of creation. It is the duty of government toconserve and use the resources in, of course, in a “creative” way and plan thisproperly so that they advance the welfare of all creation, human, animal andplant, and all other aspects of creation. Because these duties of governmentand people have been neglected, indeed, denied by both, population is seen as‘the problem”. Its increase is, therefore projected as the biggest globalcrisis we ever face. The first work on“population increase” that generated fear in the minds of people was that ofthe Darwin influencing British Rev. Thomas Robert Malthus (d. 1834). Notsurprisingly a professor of history and political economy at, the infamouslyrapacious East Indian Company College. His treatise ‘An Essay on the principleof population was written against the utopian philosophers, like WilliamGodwin, Marquis de Condorcet and also Jean Jaques Rousseau. These philosophersbelieved in the perfectibility of the society. Similarly, in 1968, Paul Ehrlichpublished ‘The Population Bomb’, who predicted that in 1985 the world as weknow it would end based on population progression, famine would spread uncontrollably,oceans would dry up, most of the western lands would transform into deserts andthat the average life span of man would fall to 42 years. These predictions, ofcourse, failed, as have those of his preceptor Malthus. In 1798, when Malthus was writing his book,world was roughly 900 million. In just two centuries, it has risen to about 7billion. What has afflicted humanity more in this period, the meteoric rise ofuntold prosperity or the Malthusian collapse into a dearth of resources? Has wealthor meagerness been the boon of man? Of course the answer is prosperity ofwealth. The fact is that the increase in population directly leads humanity toprosperity and no do poverty. Neither Malthus predictions nor Ehrich’sprophesies over materialized. Their calculations may have been right, but theywere on the status quo and technologies of their times. How many technologicalrevolutions took place after Malthus wrote? How much advancement was there inknowledge after Ehrich. These were not accidentaloccurrences. As population increases, our Creator provides man with bothadvancement in science and technological excellence, as well as having richlyresourced the earth to support life, period. The words the Quran said to theignorant Arabs who did not have the slightest hesitation about killing theirchildren for fear of poverty, remain notable for the great tribes of our time,who continue the logic of Quraysh unabated. “Anddo not kill your children for fear of poverty. We provide them and for you.Indeed, their killing is ever a great sin”. (Quran-17:31) Earth’s population in 1850was 1,262 million. If humanity presence on earth is at least 2 million yearsold, as anthropologists tell us, then something like 110 billion people haveever lived on earth and a hundred thousand generations have come and gone. Yetby 1850, the population count reached only 1,262 million. Whathappened after that? From 1830 the period required for the rise of every onebillion of people has been published in the UN world population prospectus in1998. Even though it required one century for the population to rise from 1 to2 billion, it took only 30 years to rise from 3 to 4 billion in 15 years,reached 5 billion in the next 12 years and another 12 years to strike 6billion. The space available to ustoday is the same on which man began 2 million years ago. Yet UN HumanDevelopment Report make clear that in 1950 when world population was 2,406billion, the food grain production on earth was 6.24 billion tons. In 1990,when population rose to 5.1 billion, food grain production had risen to 18 billiontons. What had happened here? Population doubled, yet food production tripled.If facilities were available for the distribution of food grains, then in 1990when population doubled, each man would have got 1.5 times the amount ofcereals than those in 1950. Allah says in Quran: “Weshall provide for them (children) as well as for you” (Quran-17:31) No better proof is needed torender Allah’s promise in these verses true. Then if our ingenuity andthe earth’s capacity are not in question with regard to food supply, then whatis. Noble prize winner Amartya Sen in his book “Poverty and Famines: An essayon enticement and deprivation’, has made clear that the main factor leading tofamine is not population but corrupted politics. The best example is thefamine that struck Bengal in 1943. The British government lays the blame ontorrents, tempests, World War II and importing limitations. Citing thegovernment records, Amartya Sen proves this wrong. He also proves that therewas more tonnage of cereals available in 1943 than in 1941 and the steps thatthe British government took in fear of war with Japan was the actual reasonthat led to the famine that took the lives of an astonishing and criminal 1.5million people, according to the official records. Even though the amount ofgrains and cereals required for the people of Bengal were available there, thepolitical play of the British caused the vulnerable to be suddenly afflictedwith poverty and deprived of money to buy food. Amartya Sen also shows that thegovernment records on this famine are not trustworthy, since it actually tookup to 2.5 million of lives. Thus the real enemy of human welfare is clearly notincreased population but immoral politicians. Malthus and Ehrlish also putforward the argument that population increases so does diseases. The argumentcontinues today by depopulation zealots. But the factual records prove thiswrong. The chart published by the institute of Applied Manpower Research, whichrelates increased population and average Indian lifespan obviously says that,life span increases with increase in population. What is the reason behind this?With the rise in population the standard of living increased. This led tobetter health and a decrease in the death rate of youth and children from thedisease. This is sufficient to understand the baselessness of the argument putforward by Malthus and his successors that population explosion leads todisease and tribulation. The argument that increasedpopulation results in increased population density thus decreasing the netannual income is also fallacious. If we analyse the population density and percapita income datasheet published 2002 by the Population Reference Bureau, itsays, in places like Congo ,Somalia, Tanzania, Gambia and Mali where populationdensity is much less, the net annual income is also much less and far less thanthe world average per capta income of 87,140. But Singapore and Hong Kong wherepopulation density is very high, the net annual income is thrice that of theworld average. The fact that income in places of highpopulation density is greater than that of low density region is obvious. AMacanese receives only 1/100th of an acre on average. An Australianreceives an average of 82.5 acres. But the income obtained from 1 sq km of landin Macao is 7,300 times more than that from Australia. World average income is$ 12,769. It is 469 times greater in Macao. Where population density is at itspeak. Records make famous that the income obtained from 1sq km of Macao is 386times greater than from oil opulent Saudi Arabia. This teaches us that wealthis not tied to natural resources or geographical areas of earth. Rather, it isthe people who are the real producers of wealth. The fact is that the moneyis earned using human ability to produce resource and that advancement andwelfare are, therefore, products of increased population. Decreased populationis thus not the reason for economic development of rich Western countries. Theresource of wealth is drawn from two sources Money earned through weapons salesExploitation of their actual and implied ‘sovereign’ rule in the world, that is to say, hegemony. These are the sources of their economic growth. We, therefore, must lookvery skeptically at the largely western driven commandments to control thepopulation of what used to be called the Third world. Population control is, ingimmick for continuation of the western hegemony in our rich ‘poor’ countries. Thereis genuine fear that these population-rich communities will begin to understandthe association of their human resources and their capacity to generate realwealth and sovereign independence and begin to determine their own uses andland productivity, making agricultural and ecological advances in scientific andtechnological fields and that this and not the mere rise of their populationmay be the reason behind the false threat of population explosion. Islam teaches that like worldlyresources, offspring and wealth are adornment of earthly life. “Wealthand children are the adornment of the worldly life. But the enduring good deedsare better of your lord for reward and better for one’s hope” (Quran-8:46) Those crying out for fearpopulation explosion are the same who wax loquacious about the improvement ofthe reproductive health of cattle and broiler chickens through geneticmodifications. Yet the stewardship that man can provide, earth is much morethan the contribution that to be made by cows, hens and goats. Man is theproducer of wealth by the permission of his Lord. It is nothing other thanfoolish to think of reducing his number to attain progress. As for those whoproduce deliberately misleading and terrorizing reports on poverty and whoargue for population control, Allah has started in His Quran about the originof such a trumped up peril: “Satanthreatens you with poverty and orders and you to commit evil deeds. WhereasAllah promise you forgiveness from Himself and bounty and Allah is allsufficient of His creatures’ needs and all knowing”. (Quran-2:268) It is irony to note that once thetorch bearers of knowledge and wisdom, The Muslim World nowadays does notcontribution to science or contributed anything substantial to technology. Itremains today in a state of gloom and anarchy where leaders inherit theirthrones for life and ensure the population remains in poverty with little carefor the educational needs of the people.
The report confirmed that the regionhas only invested about 5% of GDP and 20% of government budgets in educationover the past 40 years. Some developments have occurred in countries such asthe Gulf States and Egypt, where many children have benefited from compulsoryschooling, and opportunities to continue their formal education. Learningoutcomes in these countries have improved from what they were previously. However, the region as a whole has not made the best use of its accumulatedhuman capital. Unemployment is particularly high among graduates, and a largesegment of the educated labour force is employed by governments. Notsurprisingly, the link between human capital accumulation and economic growth,income distribution, and poverty reduction in the region is weak. What is very clear is that the Muslim rulers are intellectually bankruptwithout any vision for the Muslim world and have in fact implemented policiesthat have contributed to the multitude of problems in the Muslim lands. The royal family in Saudi Arabiaspends millions every year on shopping malls and family trips abroad. In EgyptHosni Mubarak spends more on building palaces than his people, whilst Jordanspends more on renewable energy than on welfare. Education just isn't apriority for the Muslim rulers. As a result a very small skilled workforcespends more time working abroad than in the Muslim world. In the West, the Educational curriculums were developed in line with theirsecular values. For the US and Britain specifically, it was necessary for theirdevelopment to have a skilled pool of workers who could contribute to thenations domestic and foreign policy objectives. The Muslim world historically excelled in education and made huge contributionsto science and technology. It was the Abbasids that first formalised educationin the Muslim world setting in motion what is considered the golden age ofIslam by historians, where substantial development occurred in many scientificspheres. The Khulufaa' attracted totheir courts men of science, poets, physicians and philosophers whom theysupported. Learning progressed and developed with differences of creed, colour,race and tribe being no barrier to learning. The Mosque served as the fundamentaleducational institution of the Khilafah. However, as the demand for learninggrew, the Madrassah - modern day college began to appear. Prior to thisperiod education was taught in mosques in an informal manner. At this earlystage, people seeking knowledge tended to gather around certain knowledgeableMuslims - shaykhs; and these shaykhs began to hold regular religious educationsessions - majalis. With the creation of Madrassah'sthe Jamia (university) emerged. The Guinness Book of World Recordsrecognises the University of Al-Karaouine (Jami'at al-Qarawiyyin)in Fez, Morocco as the oldest university in the world founded in 859.[1] Al-Azhar University, founded inCairo, Egypt in the 10th century, offered a wide variety of academic degrees,including postgraduate degrees, and was the first fully-fledged university. The Islamic form of education, was eventually emulated by the Europeans - ofwhich many of the similarities stand till this day - the term Chair in auniversity, reflects the Arabic Kursi, upon which the ‘alim(teacher) would sit and teach his students. The modern doctorate in Latin is termed "a licence to teach"and had already developed long before it was transmitted to Europe, being adirect translation of the Arabic Ijazat at tadris. A permission toteach was granted by an ‘alim, who had studied with an ‘alimafter he had resolved a problem by issuing a fatwa, then defending it infront of a panel of ‘alims. Even the modern day graduation ceremony resembles the Islamic ceremony. Therobes worn today, were called Jubba tul faqih, and were given when an ‘alimreceived his ijazah. The Khilafah also created the first public hospital (which replaced healingtemples and sleep temples) and the psychiatric hospital, the public library andlending library, the academic degree-granting university, and the astronomicalobservatory as a research institute (as opposed to a privateobservation post as was the case in ancient times). The first universities that issued diplomas were the Bimaristan medicaluniversity-hospitals, where medical diplomas were issued to students ofmedicine who were qualified to be practicing doctors of medicine from the 9thcentury. Sir John Bagot Glubb wrote "By Mamun's time medical schools wereextremely active in Baghdad. The first free public hospital was opened inBaghdad during the Caliphate of Haroon-ar-Rashid. As the system developed,physicians and surgeons were appointed who gave lectures to medical studentsand issued diplomas to those who were considered qualified to practice. Thefirst hospital in Egypt was opened in 872 AD and thereafter public hospitalssprang up all over the empire from Spain and the Maghrib to Persia." Madrasahs were also the first law schools, and many have suggested thatthe "law schools known as Inns of Court in England" may have beenderived from the Madrasahs that taught Islamic law and jurisprudence.[2] The basis of the education system in Islam is to culture people with Islam inorder for them to have conviction in it and then carry it to the world. Islamobliged Muslims not simply to profess the shahadah, but to develop thereading and studying of Islam. The Muslims of the past studied and acquiredIslamic culture deeply with full awareness and a clear vision. This knowledgebroadened their horizons and developed their perception, which enriched theirmentality, making them teachers of others. In summary, the Muslims excelled in the past by making Islam the centralmotivating factor for their development. This resulted in them becoming thesuperpower of their day, contributing hugely to the field of educational andscientific disciplines. The only way forward for the Muslim world is to learnfrom its history and understand what the early Muslims understood - that theirsuccess in this life and the next is only through Islam. It was a chilly afternoon when I came to visit my friend in the hospital whose wife was expecting a baby. After an hour when ward boy informed us that baby has been born, we rushed to the interior with smile on our faces. I was greeting everybody to cheer the newcomer but i was anxiously surprised to see the pale faces and cold behaviour from the receiving end. The female corner was mourning and chilly sobs were increasing my surprise. I did not understand anything what was happening there suddenly a middle aged lady wispers “Alas! He again became the kori moul (a daughter’s father). This is second in his family.”
The environment is the medium in which a human being lives. Mother's womb is the first environment for a child. Home is an environment. School is an environment, the place where we live is an environment, the earth is an environment and the whole universe is an environment. The roots of Islamic environmental practice are to be found in the Qur’an and the guidance (sunnah) of Prophet Muhammad (SAW).
Modern age is the age of Science. For the lasttwo centuries, advancements in Science and technology has over-shadowed allother attainments and feats in human civilizations. Such developments havetaken place in parallel to the development of the West, reaching levelsunparalleled in history. This monopolisation of technological and scientificinventions has led to the belief that liberal values are a pre-requisite fordevelopment.
In the modern world, Islam is seen as many things, but rarely is it viewed as a source of inspiration and enlightenment. World media largely portraits Muslims as ignorant, far from the knowledge of Science and barren minded with research attitude. Colonialism, the institution of the Western educational model, along with Euro-centrism often portrays Islam as backwards, incompatible with science and technology and anti-educational. Muslim school children never learn of their glorious past and often the only thing passed on to them is the inferiority complex of the generation before them. Our text books on science are only glorifying the contributions of Einstein, Newton, Darwin, Watson, Crick etc. only but we hardly find name of any Muslim scientist there. Such a narrative omits a number of historical developments that are not Western and shows how the West continues to view its history as the history of the world. Such a narrative also conveniently omits what the West took from previous civilisations and especially the Islamic civilisation. Historically all civilisations have been characterised with some form of technological and scientific development. The West has documented the contributions the Romans made to the discipline whilst the Islamic world in the 8th - 10th century translated the works of the Greeks in the area. It is true that presently Muslim countries are, in general, lagging behind in research, including the research in science and technology, despite their collective material and human potential. However, it is very ironic, noting that Muslim Scientists of the past were the pioneers of scientific and medical research and were the first to employ scientific experimentation. Islam nurtured and preserved the quest for learning. There are several Qur’anic verses and traditions of the Prophet (SAW) to this effect. The first revealed verses of the Qur’an state: “Recite in the name of your Lord, Who created. He created man from a leech-like structure. Recite and your Lord is Most Generous, Who has taught by the pen. He taught Man that what he knew not.”(Al-Alaq-1-5) The Islamic golden age is considered to be theperiod from the 8th century to the 13th century. During this period, engineers,scholars and traders in the Islamic world contributed to the arts, agriculture,economics, industry, law, literature, navigation, philosophy, sciences, andtechnology, both by preserving and building upon earlier traditions and byadding to them. Howard Turner, an expert on medieval history mentioned in hisbook ‘Science in Medieval Islam,': ‘Muslim artists and scientists, princes andlabourers together created a unique culture that has directly and indirectlyinfluenced societies on every continent.' There were a number of specificelements within Islam that were the driving engine which motivated Muslims toexcel in this field. The worship of Allah was one such factor that ledto a number of inventions. The times of the five daily prayers, the directionfor Qibla and the beginning and ending of Ramadan required accurate readings ofthe positions of the stars and the moon. It was due to this that Muslims beganto invent observational and navigational instruments. This is why mostnavigational stars today have Arabic names such as Acamar, Baham, Baten Kaitos,Caph, Dabih, Furud, Izar, Lesath, Mirak, Nashira, Tarf and Vega. Muslims made a number of contributions toAstronomy and eventually to the development of the astronomical clock. AMechanical lunisolar calendar with a gear train and gear-wheels was invented byAbū Rayhān al-Bīrūnī in the 10th century. Based on such designs Taqi al-dininvented the mechanical clock in the 15th century. The need to ascertain theQibla led to the development of the compass, which itself was based upon thefindings Muslims astronomers had collated. Muslims developed the compass rosewhich displayed the orientation of the cardinal directions, north, south, eastand west on a map and nautical chart. Allah says in the Holy Qur'an:"And itis He who ordained the stars for you that you may be guided thereby in thedarkness of the land and the sea." [TMQ 6:97] This motivated Muslims to begin to find betterobservational and navigational instruments. Such instruments were used toexplore the world, which many Muslim geographers collated into manuals. Theywere driven by the ayah in the Qur'an where Allah says: "And wehave placed in the earth firm hills lest it quake with them and we have placedtherein ravines as roads that happily they may find their way."[TMQ 21:31] Early Muslims understood that Islam views all thematerial matters which include the sciences, technology and industry, as merelythe study of the reality and a study of how matter can be manipulated toimprove the condition and living standards of humanity. As many lands cameunder the fold of the Islamic civilisation, urbanisation led to a number ofdevelopments. The Arabian Desert had scant water springs making most of theregion uninhabitable. This was overcome by Muslim engineers developing canalsfrom the Euphrates and Tigris rivers. The swamps around Baghdad were drained,freeing the city of Malaria. Muslim engineers perfected the waterwheel andconstructed elaborate underground water channels called qanats. This led to thedevelopment of advanced domestic water systems with sewers, public baths,drinking fountains, piped drinking water supplies and widespread private andpublic toilet and bathing facilities. Muslims thinkers, scientists, engineers andexperts made significant contributions to science as well as many otherdisciplines. Many of these contributions were later used by the West who madefurther contributions to the field. The nature of science as a universalsubject means no single civilisation can lay claim to inventing it but rathermost civilisations have documented their contributions throughout history whichacted as previous information when experimentation was carried out by lattercivilisations. Prior to the emergence of Islam in the Middle East the hostpopulation made no contribution to science. When the very same people acceptedIslam they made contributions which later generations utilised to invent newitems which today still remain with us. Islam rather than being an obstacle to sciencewas the catalyst that drove Muslim's contribution to science. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |