The most recent Israel-Palestine flare up, with all the spotlight and global media attention it got, still remains quite fresh in public memory. While the episode led to lots of overt and covert international wheelings and dealings, accentuated by the raucous commentaries of supposedly knowledgeable International Affairs experts and pundits, the one thing that passed completely under the radar was the conversations this event ignited amongst common folks, friends, online acquaintances and even families.
Since we Indians love a rousing, robust, rambunctious debate at the drop of a hat, it came as no surprise to me that I found myself, I have no idea how (there might have been some spirits, of the liquid not the ethereal kind, involved), in the midst of such a passionate argument amongst a group of friends and family during a social get-together. With the passage of time (and of said spirits) the debate seemed to move away from superficial ‘they-did-this-but-they-did-that’ whataboutery arguments and delved deeper into the actual nature of the actual people involved. Once that Pandora’s box was opened, inevitably, out came this following question that actually set me thinking.
When I finally penned down the answer and re-read it, in my opinion, it seemed to encapsulate the core, underlying cause for the current clash of civilizations that we see being played out globally, with the Israel-Palestine conflict just one of the faces of this hydra of Islamic Jihad. I don’t know how to address and solve this problem, but if fully understanding a problem is the first step to solve it, maybe this answer of mine that sprung up from a few friends basically shooting the breeze could contribute towards achieving that. The question that came up, and my subsequent answer, was –
Q. Why are there so few Nobel laureates from among the 2+ billion global Muslim populace while the Jews, less than 1/100th that number, have almost 200?
Because of a thing called ‘CULTURE’…. The thirst for knowledge and the love of books is ingrained in the Jewish culture over millennia. That has resulted in a nation and people that give paramount importance to scientific inquiry and technological advancements. Contrast that with the attitude established and perpetuated right since 11th century by the Ashari under Imam Al-Ghazali, who declared only study of religious texts, Koran, Hadiths and such, permissible. Even proclaimed that “manipulating numbers is the work of Satan“ , and there and then lay mathematics, buried and dead in the Islamic Ummah. With over 10 centuries of “KNOWLEDGE-O-PHOBIA” in the Islamic world, what can one expect?
With over 2 BILLION plus global population, how many Muslim Nobel laureates do you have in the Sciences (Peace is meaningless and Literature is…. meh)? THREE!! FREAKING THREE!! And here is the kicker… The 1st ever muslim scientist to win the Nobel (in Physics) was Dr. Abdus Salam, a Pakistani Ahmaddiya muslim. So how do you think that country rejoiced and celebrated such a national treasure ?? In 1974, the Pakistan parliament made a constitutional amendment that declared Ahmadi as non-Muslims, and then proceeded to hound Dr. Salam out of Pakistan. After his death, the headstone at his burial place initially read “FIRST MUSLIM NOBEL LAUREATE”.
However, the Mullas wouldn’t even leave him to die in peace. Under pressure the word “MUSLIM” was removed from his epitaph. So now just think, how many potential brilliant minds in the Muslim world must this sordid saga have discouraged and turned away from rational and scientific thinking. As has been happening for centuries, Muslims are the worst enemy of Muslims. The present Governor of the Indian state of Kerala Dr. Arif Mohammad, a well-respected, erudite, patriotic and logical-minded Indian Muslim – which makes him a rarity among Indian Muslims today – had once narrated a story found in one of the Hadiths. Moses, called as Musa Nabi among muslims, is a prophet in Islam as well. It was said that he could converse with God, just like a father and son talking.
One day, in his solitude, he was conversing with God as was his wont, when he said, “O Almighty, I just have one request that I’d like you to grant me. Promise me that if ever you are angry at my people, you can take away their wealth, their loved ones, their lands, their health.., anything that you want to take away as punishment, but please…. don’t take away the ability to think and reason.“ In reply, God said, “My dear Moses, if ever I am that angry at your people, the only thing of theirs’ that I’ll need to take away is the ability to think and reason. Everything else you listed…, health, riches, love, everything…, will follow on their own. “. And that has been, and continues to be, the tragedy of the Islamic world. They revere terrorists and reject scientists.
