A Drop of Wisdom(Latest Version).pdf

A Drop of Wisdom
Reflections on the Muslim World
Mohd Abbas Abdul Razak
Salah Machouche
Abdulhamid Abusulayman
Kulliyyah of Islamic Revealed Knowledge
and Human Sciences
International Islamic University Malaysia

By
Salah Ben Tahar Machouche
Introduction by
Sayed Sikandar Shah Haneef

© Mohd. Abbas Bin Abdul Razak, Ph.d
All Rights Reserved © 2023.
No part of this work may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or
transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,
microfilming, recording or otherwise, without written permission from the
authors, with the exception of any material supplied specifically for the purpose of
being entered and executed on a computer system, for exclusive use by the
lectures and students of International Islamic University-Malaysia and other
universities in Muslim World.
e ISBN 978-967-26850-3-6

A Drop of Wisdom
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A Drop of Wisdom
Reflections On The Muslim World
Salah Ben Tahar Machouche
DEPARTMENT OF FUNDAMENTAL AND
INTER-DISCIPLINARY STUDIES
(FIDS)
Abdulhamid Abusulayman
Kulliyah of Islamic Revealed Knowledge and Human Science
2023

4
© 2023
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed,
or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording,
or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written
permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in
critical reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright
law.
First e-pub edition 2023
e ISBN 978-967-26850-3-6
1. Social sciences—Research.
2. Spirituality—Research.
2. Education, Higher--Research.
3. Government publications--Malaysia.
Publisher: International Islamic University Malaysia

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5
‫اﻟﺮﺣﻴﻢ‬ ‫اﻟﺮﺣﻤﻦ‬ ‫اﻟﻠﻪ‬ ‫ﺑﺴﻢ‬
ِ‫س‬‫َﺎ‬ّ
‫ﻨ‬‫ِﻠ‬‫ﻟ‬ ْ‫ﺖ‬َ‫ﺟ‬ِ‫ﺮ‬ْ‫ﺧ‬ُ
‫أ‬ ٍ‫ﺔ‬َّ
‫ﻣ‬ُ
‫أ‬ َ‫ﺮ‬ْ‫ﻴ‬َ‫ﺧ‬ ْ‫ﻢ‬ُ
‫ﺘ‬‫ُﻨ‬
‫ﻛ‬
ِ‫ﺮ‬َ‫ﻜ‬‫ُﻨ‬
‫ﻤ‬ْ‫ﻟ‬‫ٱ‬ ِ‫ﻦ‬َ‫ﻋ‬ َ‫ن‬ْ‫ﻮ‬َ‫ﻬ‬ْ‫ﻨ‬َ‫ﺗ‬َ‫و‬ ِ‫ف‬‫ُو‬
‫ﺮ‬ْ‫ﻌ‬َ‫ﻤ‬ْ‫ﻟ‬‫ِﺎ‬‫ﺑ‬ َ‫ن‬‫ُو‬
‫ﺮ‬ُ
‫ﻣ‬ْ‫ﺄ‬َ‫ﺗ‬
ۗ ِ‫ﻪ‬َّ
‫ﻠ‬‫ﺑﺎﻟ‬ َ‫ن‬‫ُﻮ‬
‫ﻨ‬ِ‫ﻣ‬ْ‫ﺆ‬ُ
‫ﺗ‬َ‫و‬
(١١٠ :‫ﻋﻤﺮان‬ ‫)آل‬
"(O Community of Muhammad!) You are the best community
ever brought forth for (the good of) humankind,
enjoining and promoting what is right and good,
and forbidding and trying to prevent evil,
and (this you do because) you believe in God”
Qur'an, 2: 110
(Trans. Ali Unal)

6
Dedication
We dedicate this humble work of ours to the late Prof. Sikandar Shah
Haneef, Dr. Adil Khan Afridi, and Dr. Osman Chuah who have been
examples of sincerity and hard work for many of us at AHAS KIRKHS,
International Islamic University Malaysia. May Allah SWT grant them
forgiveness and receive them among those who are righteous and
nearest to Him, Ameen.

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About the Authors
Mohd Abbas Abdul Razak Mohd Abbas Abdul Razak completed his B.A. (Hons)
in Islamic Studies from Universitas Ar-Raniry, Aceh, Indonesia. In 1993 he did his
Advanced Diploma in Education and later completed his Master’s in Educational
Psychology at IIUM. In 2011, he completed his Ph.D. by conducting research on the
personality theories of Iqbal and Freud. This research was later published in a
book format under the title ‘Iqbal’s Theory of Personality: A Contrastive Analysis
with Freud’ in Germany. As staff at IIUM, he has taught subjects like Philosophy of
Islamic Education, Ethics, Sociology, Islamic Worldview, Islamic Civilization and
Creative Thinking. At times, he also teaches Psychology and Family Management.
As an academic Abbas actively participates in research works on psychology,
spirituality, globalization and Iqbaliyat. His research works have found publication
locally and internationally. As a social contribution, Abbas joined the National
Blood Bank in 1997 and ever since then he has been actively donating whole blood,
plasma and platelets. He strongly believes that through the philosophy of sharing,
caring and loving, humanity can create a better world.
Salah Machouche a philosophy graduate of Bouzareah University in Algiers,
Algeria; he also holds a master's degree in Islamic Revealed Knowledge and
Heritage and a doctorate in usul al-din and comparative religion from the
International Islamic University in Malaysia. Presently, he is teaching
introduction to philosophy, Islamic worldview and civilization, and creative
thinking and problem-solving. His areas of competence in research include
Thinking in the Qur'an, Islamic creativity, Ibn Khaldun studies, and Early
Islamic education. Salah Machouche is now conducting research on the
impact of Islamic spirituality on health and social life. His writings have
touched on topics such as spiritual intelligence, spiritual health care during a
pandemic, human capital, inquisitive thinking, learning piety through science,
critical thinking, an Islamic spiritual cure for drug addiction, and Islamic
values in scholarship writings. His future plan is to offer simple yet effective
spiritual-cognitive programs and workshops for the Muslim community.

8
Preface
This humble work is a compilation of our short articles that were published
in online news portals. In realizing the importance of the message carried in
the articles, as authors, we have decided to publish them in a book format.
The language of this book has been made easy for everyone’s read, especially
students. The topics discussed in this book are mainly on the contemporary
issues of the Muslim World.
As academicians of the Department of Fundamental and Inter-Disciplinary
Studies at IIUM, we teach subjects related to Islamic Worldview, Islamic
Civilization, Ethics, Creative Thinking and the current state of affairs in the
Muslim World. In many places in the book, you will
f
ind mention of the
Golden Age of the Muslims (750
-
1258) and the reasons behind the fall of the
Islamic Civilization which started with the fall of Baghdad in 1258. From there
on, one after another all Muslim empires fell inviting a host of many other
problems into the Muslim World. After the colonization of the Muslim lands till
today, the Muslim World is lagging behind others in the areas of science,
technolo
g
y and good governance. In order to
f
ix these pressing issues, the
Muslim World needs less politicking and more thinking.
Besides dwelling on the glorious past of the Muslim Civilization, we have
also discussed contemporary issues like the brain drain phenomenon, matters
of spirituality, human rights violation, co-existence, an idealism for world
peace, the political turmoil in the Middle East that led to the Muslim diasporic
community in the West, etc.
Lastly, the aim of this humble work is not to create a reef between Muslims
and others, but it is a call for coexistence that can create a better world for
humanity where people live abiding by the philosophy of loving, caring and
sharing.

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Acknowledgment
First and foremost, the authors would like to express their sincere gratitude
to God Almighty for giving them the endurance needed to successfully
compile all the articles in a book format. The authors would also like to
sincerely express their heartfelt gratitude to Prof. Sayed Sikandar Shah Hanif
who patiently read all the articles and wrote a candid introduction capturing
the highlights of each and every topic of the book. Very importantly, the
authors would like to acknowledge the willingness of IIUM
-
Today, PERKIM,
Islamonweb, and New Straits Times to publish our articles prior to their
compilation. For the unwavering support rendered by families and friends, the
authors pray that your best reward comes from God Almighty.

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The Table of Content
About the Authors..........................................................................................................................7
Preface ................................................................................................................................................8
Acknowledgment ...........................................................................................................................9
The Universal Man ........................................................................................................................13
Introduction.....................................................................................................................................14
My Journey into Iqbal’s Philosophical World.....................................................................22
Muslim World Needs a New Mindset to Face Modern challenges............................30
Reclaiming the Fame and Glory of the Muslim world ...................................................36
Muslim World Should Not Be Too Nostalgic of its Glorious Past...............................44
The Plight of the Diasporic Muslim Community in the West....................................50
An Idealism for World Peace....................................................................................................58
The Brain Drain Phenomenon in The Muslim World....................................................66
Revisiting Lee Lam Thye’s Ideas..............................................................................................72
on Racial Polarisation in Malaysia..........................................................................................72
The Call for Malaysia to Revive................................................................................................78
its “National Ego”...........................................................................................................................78
Malaysia’s Success in Maintaining Peace and Racial Harmony within Its Diverse
Ethnicity............................................................................................................................................88
The Relevance of “Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee” in the Modern Context...90
Everyone is Capable of Leaving a Legacy Behind ...........................................................98
The Commodification of Education in the Era of Globalization ..............................102
Education: An Islamic Perspective........................................................................................106
The Need for Spirituality in our Lives .................................................................................108
Spirituality for Sale in the Era of Globalization................................................................114
The Secret of Childhood by Maria Montessori ................................................................120
‘Free’ Children from the Cyberworld...................................................................................130
A Review on “The Porn Trap”..................................................................................................134

12
A Response to “Last Drinks” ....................................................................................................140
The Tapping and Capping of Human Creativity .............................................................144
Let’s Bind a Friendly Co-Existence with Nature...............................................................152
The Last Cry of Qarun ................................................................................................................156
A Tribute to Prof. Sayed Sikandar Shah Haneef..............................................................160
A Tribute to Almarhum Dr. Adil Khan Afridi ....................................................................164
A Tribute to Almarhum Dr. Osman Chuah ........................................................................166

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The Universal Man
Philosophically Speaking, the Whole World Belongs to Me and
I Belong to the Whole World.
All Countries are My Country.
For This Reason, I Call Myself the Citizen of the World.
If Humanity can be Analogically Described like the Colours of the Rainbow,
Then I am just a Colour in the Whole Spectrum. Nothing More and Nothing Less.
I am Just a Drop in the Ocean of People.
All Good Citizens of the World are My Brothers.
In My Faith, I am a Muslim.
In My Generosity, I am an Arab.
In My Taste for Food, I am an Indian.
In My Spirit of Togetherness with others, I am a Malaysian.
In My Common Courtesy, I am a Malay.
In My Work Ethics, I am a Japanese.
In My Adoration Towards Nature, I am a European.
All in all, I am a Universal Man.
One Who believes in the Spirit of Loving, Caring and Sharing.
A Man who Stands for World Peace and Aspires to Create a Better World.
(Mohd Abbas Abdul Razak)

14
Introduction
It has been an essential task of academia to produce informed and reflective
works in order to discourse on the issues which affect various fabrics of the
society of their time and epoch from many aspects including civilization and
thought, ethics, socio-political, trade, and cultural concerns. The present
book is one such intellectual piece, that fairly contains papers on a plethora of
diverse topics, and a thematic recap of their focal messages I present here.
The paper on world peace maintains that perpetuation of war irrespective
of its motivation and design carried out in nations or at a larger scale always
takes its toll on a civilian population and thus there is a dire need for peace to
prevail over the globe. This is an ideal that the harsh reality of our time
negates. There is constant regional conflict and wars in the world and its pace
may not be slowing, given the well-equipped big powers` propensity to wage
war and instigate it. However, the authors are optimistic that by tapping on
both religious and conventional means of managing conflict peace can be
achieved.
The paper on spirituality in sales elucidates that traders both traditionally
and modern in order to maximize pro
f
it utilize not only secular techniques of
luring customers but also religious means of controlling their minds. In this
context, in the case of people of faith, the service of spiritual masters was
greatly instrumental through their own business enterprises to aid such
traders in return for money and even sex. The age of globalization with its fast
means of reaching people has exponentially improved the ways to offer such
services, especially to the inexperienced segment of the customers both in
urban and rural areas. The paper argues that to prevent victimization by the
fake spiritual gurus, people of faiths must survey the attributes, such as
austerity, knowledge, love, wisdom, selflessness, humility, etc by
which “Jewels of Humanity” such as Maulana Rumi and Thomas Aquinas and
others were trusted and sought for spiritual advice. Although the paper does
not cite any examples of bene
f
iting from such spiritual masters, it underlines
the fact that bogus ones should be avoided.
The paper on brain drain on the part of people from undeveloped/
developing countries to the developed world underlines the fact that experts,
professionals, scientists, and business communities with their wealth migrate

A Drop of Wisdom
15
to the West and America. To curb it, the root causes of such fleets, such as
poor economic conditions, political instability, and scarcity of opportunities
for research and development should be tackled. The authors assume that
once people feel safe and secure in their own families, this will incentivize
them to return to their homelands. But in the case of Muslims who still prefer
to stay on, they have to avoid using their expertise and wealth on morally
hazardous activities at the bidding of their host countries. Their homeland
countries should also vigorously introduce adequate incentives for the safe
return of their intelligentsias and business icons back to their homeland.
However, the paper may appeal to those migrants who are not utterly
secularised/westernized nor culturally alienated.
The paper on creativity emphasizes that creative thinking has become a
buzzword in all disciplines including academic institutions. Generally, it is
construed as doing things in new ways, innovating, and resolving problems
that one faces. In the Western paradigm, humans have to be creative in order
to satisfy certain impulsive base desires or respond to circumstances as they
unfold. In the Islamic paradigm, the real creative thinker is God as He creates
things out of nothingness without being influenced by any external or internal
motives. In the context of creating the whole existence, He has bestowed
humans with this quality of mind making them innately capable of being
creative and innovative to ful
f
il their Divine trust on earth. However, human
creative ingenuity is not a free exercise but is bound by moral and legal
parameters of the Qur`an and Sunnah as a Muslim is not allowed to do
everything in new ways because their old usage does not satisfy the
materialistic and hedonistic demands of Homo sapiens.
The paper on the need for a new mindset to face the modern world argues
that the dismal situation of Modern Muslims is due to their imbalanced
approach to facing their contemporary problems. Things are either
scrutinized from purely religious angles or materialistic perspectives on top of
examining them in a simplistic way. To remedy the situation, a return to the
traditional intellectual legacy of the Golden Age of Muslim civilization
requiring three-pronged approaches of combining the spiritual, philosophical,
and scienti
f
ic minds have been proposed to the effect.
Underlining the point that the integrating and edifying role of the collective
sense of belonging to the country and sustaining it for all generations to come,

16
the paper on reviving the national characteristics of the Malaysian people, the
paper on reviving the Malaysian national ego, among others, reminds people
of this homeland that they should continue to tap on their priced national
values, such as tolerance, hospitality, peaceful resolution of conflicts and
being kind and humanitarian in order to enjoy the harmonious relations
among diverse races in the country. They should not be swayed by their
dogmatic support for political reasons to undermine national values at all
costs. Those in power have to iron out problems that threaten national
harmony through reform of the education system; political parties should
avoid exploiting racial slurs to win votes and commoners should refrain from
using cyberspace to sow hatred and dissension among the masses.
Echoing some issues of concern as far as national integration is concerned,
the authors reflect upon Lee`s elaboration of
f
ixing the existence of racial and
religious polarization in the Malaysian social fabric which to some extent
emanates from the divisive education system at the school, political division
and lack of suf
f
icient opportunities for the young mind to interact and mingle.
It is suggested that there is a need for conducting activities that can enhance
social cohesion and revising school curriculums to encourage racial
integration.
A review of the book by Brown on the unspeakable crimes of genocide
committed by White –Europeans against Native Americans as a factual
narrative is a reminder to humanity that people obsessed with greed to
dominate and subjugate others for the sake of their prosperity were an ugly
character of European occupiers of what is now known as the USA. The
extermination carried out against natives of the past continues till today
against Black Americans in the backdrop of conniving USA slogans of Human
rights and democracy which are nothing but concocted covers for justi
f
ication
of wars that she commits against other nations till today. It is hoped that other
nations do not emulate the USA on this path in spite of following her leads on
other fronts either voluntarily or due to intimidation. The home takeaway in
the case of Muslim Nations of the world is that they should not senselessly
follow the big axis of evil for its dirty wars on the Muslim lands.
The porn trap emanating from easy access to uncensored porn materials has
devastating effects not only on those trapped in the multi-billion dollar
industry- having its largest producer in the USA, but creeps into the mind and

A Drop of Wisdom
17
psyche of the vulnerable across the globe. Its two detrimental impacts include:
f
irst, it promotes a shameful culture that de
f
ies pure human nature and its
digni
f
ied status by wreaking havoc on his mental, physical, emotional, and
psychological wellbeing. Second, in liberal societies, the addiction to porn
leads to becoming part of the porn industry with the sure consequences of
risking one`s well-being and personal degradation. More ominous are its
effects on women whose exploitation in the porn industry is the most
inhumane and demeaning. It is thus incumbent upon sound-natured people of
the world to shun porn material in order to preserve their modesty and help
save those trapped in the industry for the purpose of reintegrating them into
the wholesome community especially when the remorseful among them who
renounces the
f
ilthy work.
The paper on my journey into Iqbal's Philosophy features the author`s
academic engagement with this modern mystic poet on the marriage between
spirituality and modern thoughts his rational eclectic analysis of the concept
of self and human personality which diverges from both Western theory of
personality and the mystic concept of human ego (Khudi). Khudi according to
Iqbal is not a negative human attribute to be subdued but the human potential
to be explored in order to attain balanced human development by integration
of mind and spirituality.
The paper on Montessori dwells upon Maria’s ground-breaking ideas on
child education in tandem with a child`s needs according to his/her own
world as a growing entity. The central theme which impelled Maria to
construct her own model of child education was that there should not be any
imposed/rules-based program for child education and upbringing neither by
the parents, nor teacher and society. It will be detrimental to a child's psyche
and personality if he/she is not allowed to grow according to his/her own
liking, especially during infancy between the age of 1 to 6.
The paper on the need for spirituality brings forth the point that unlike a
secularist cum materialistic view of life, the need to stay connected to God is
an Islamic value that underlines the fact of man as God`s creation with bodily
desires and spiritual yearning and needs. The spiritual aspect of human life
cannot
f
ind solace and contentment except in the remembrance of God and
activities that are spiritual and soul-nurturing. Nevertheless, the search for
spiritual progress does not mean seclusion from the world and shirking one`s

18
responsibility in the pursuit of one`s daily life as God`s vicegerents on earth.
The Prophet was a perfect example of a spiritual model to be emulated.
The paper on legacy argues that everyone is able to leave something behind
which can outlive his/her death in the sense of one`s legacy. It does not have
to be a quanti
f
iably monumental amount of material rich but any meaningful
utility which originates from one`s investment of time, ener
g
y, and effort to
bene
f
it others.
Reclaiming the past glory contends that Muslims during the heydays of Islam
were pioneers of scienti
f
ic innovation and technological development as they
were open to learning from other civilizations and emphasis both spiritual and
scienti
f
ic aspects of Islamic teaching. With the fall of Baghdad and the
European assault on Muslim lands, it was all eroded due to an imbalanced
approach to knowledge, internal conflicts, and continued external
interferences. Thus, it’s high time that Muslim states should resolve to revive
their past glories through constructive national and foreign policies.
Freeing children from the cyber world maintains that intrusion of cyber
material via numerous electronic mediums has supplanted the value-nurturing
traditional space where our children were grown by absorbing positive values
needed for their integrated development as balanced individuals. The current
cyberculture addictively pushes children to the abyss of moral, intellectual,
physical, and psychological annihilation as they are too enmeshed with virtual
activities online. It is suggested that parents, educators, and society are duty-
bound to make disciplined use of the cyber world to save children from both
moral and social degradation.
The commodi
f
ication of knowledge laments the paradigm shift in the goals
for which knowledge traditionally was pursued. The pursuit of knowledge
aimed at the creation of good citizens via a holistic approach to education was
shunned with the ascendancy of a materialistic approach to education during
the industrial revolution in the West. The new paradigm emphasizes a market-
driven approach to education irrespective of the moral worthiness of the
workers which should
f
ill the industries. The migration to globalization rather
than remedying these fault lines in education exacerbated the situation not
only by homogenizing skilled based education across the globe and further
devalued modern education but also led to mushrooming of offshore

A Drop of Wisdom
19
university campuses even in the Muslim world, thus undermining the
indigenous value system of education for local people. Accordingly, the need
for a holistic approach to knowledge has to be ful
f
illed if we desire the
production of good knowledge workers to remedy the situation.
The paper on education from an Islamic perspective maintains that
education from an Islamic perspective in terms of methodolo
g
y hinges on the
holistic development of the human personality involving not only his mind but
also soul and body as well. In terms of philosophy, it aims at creating a good
individual with a universal outlook aiming at the creation of a good individual,
family, and society. In contrast, the prevailing Secular education is concerned
with the development of human intellect for the twin utilitarian purpose of
creating good citizens and catering for the money-making goals of the market.
Documented evils emanating from this perverted approach to education in
terms of wars, corruption, fraudulent banking system, etc. should serve as a
wake-up call at least for Muslims to restore education to its merited position as
perceived by Islam.
Multi-racial and multi-religious Malaysia as an example of people of diverse
cultures living in harmony since its independence offers a reflecting model
which countries plagued by social tension and internal conflict as to how to
iron out differences and maintain social coherence via national, economic,
social and political actions.
Nature in the Islamic perspective is neither God nor an object to be
subjugated to meet the greedy ends of humans without any moral and ethical
boundaries. Nature and what exist in the natural environment are a gift from
God to humans. The exploitation of which has to be moderate, well planned
and responsible. Any kind of destructive behaviour towards nature and the
environment is not condoned by Islam but its teachings emphasise friendly co-
existence with nature and its content. Accordingly, ominous mishandling of
nature and its content which wreaks havoc on the economy, ecolo
g
y and
wholesomeness of the environment in our time could have been avoided had
man maintained a friendly relationship with nature.
The paper on nostalgic Muslims calls for Muslims of today not to be satis
f
ied
with contending that our predecessors propelled the onset of great civilization
on the basis of pioneering scienti
f
ic works of the great luminaries of their time.

20
They have to admit the appalling political, social-economic and intellectual
backwardness which pervades their societies and work on our plans and
policies for overcoming them.
The paper on the plight of diasporic Muslims in the West points to cultural
dislocation, prejudices and tension which Muslim minorities who due to a
variety of reasons have left their home countries experience. Islamophobia
tops the list of reasons which can subject Muslims, who publicly display the
symbolisms of their religious faith, to harm and assault. To thwart and
mitigate such problems, the causes of Muslims` migration to the west should
be removed and for the diaspora to make Western societies as their safe home,
they should learn how to co-exist and survive in such an unfavourable
environment as minorities by learning the Fiqh of minorities.
The comment on Last Drink argues that the momentary clouding of one`s
mind by drinking alcohol is not worthy of its documented health hazards, the
propensity to commit serious crimes in the state of drunkenness and the waste
of one`s hard earnings on alcohol and other intoxicating and toxic stuff.
Meditation and recourse to spiritual sessions are better mind soothing
alternatives for those in need of escapism.
The paper on Qarun is narrating the story of Qarun as to how he in spite of
being the son of a poor farmer by acquiring business and trade skills could
become a proli
f
ic entrepreneur thereby attracting the attention of Fir`aun to
become his close con
f
ide. Nevertheless, ultimately it was his sense of vanity
that caused his downfall according to the Qur`anic anecdote.
All in all, the ideas covered in this book represent reflections, reviews, and
analyses that are compact, concise, and thematically of diverse matters of
interest, the reading of which is not only informative but also thought-
provoking. Accordingly, I congratulate the authors for their meaningful full
compilation and wish their readers, enjoy reading.
Sayed Sikandar Shah Haneef
Former IIUM Professor
September 2022

22
Reflection 1
My Journey into Iqbal’s Philosophical World
M
y journey into Iqbal’s philosophical world dates back to my high
school days. As a young man, I was always on the go searching for
something that can elevate my Islamic spirit. From those days till to
the present moment, I am a person who has a huge interest in topics like,
human nature, God, and spirituality. During my teenage days, as a way to
quench my thirst on such topics, I used to
drop by at secondhand bookshops in the
city in which I was raised. Recommended
by the elders of the shops I visited, I read
Maududi (1903
-
1979), Maryam Jameelah
(1934
-
2012), Hasan al-Banna (1906
-
1949), Ali
Shariati (1933
-
1977), Muhammad Asad
(1900
-
1992) and a few other famous Muslim
scholars.
But my
f
irst encounter with Allama
Muhammad Iqbal’s (1877
-
1938) thought
came when I had the privilege to attend a
lecture presented by an Islamic preacher from the Indian subcontinent. Most
of what I heard on that evening was all about Iqbal’s advice for the Muslim
youth. I have to admit that as a young-spirited Muslim, I felt thrilled listening
to Iqbal’s beautiful poems recited melodiously by the Mavlavi (religious
scholar) that evening.
Muhammad Iqbal (1877
-
1938)

A Drop of Wisdom
23
Personally, for me, that meeting was as if a spark that set me ablaze in the
quest for a deeper understanding of Iqbal. I wanted a personal experience of
reading Iqbal and started asking for books on Iqbal. My long search for a book
on Iqbal
f
inally ended when someone from the Islamic circle in which I was a
member, lent me a copy of Iqbal’s magnum opus “The Reconstruction of
Religious Thought in Islam”.
After getting the book into my hands, I started reading it. After an hour or
so, struggling with the book, all the excitement I had earlier on disappeared
and left me in a state of utter frustration. Wallahi! Unlike all other books I have
read at that time, the Reconstruction was extremely tough for me. I couldn’t
grapple with what Iqbal was saying.
Though I lamented my failure to understand Iqbal on my
f
irst attempt, I did
not give up. Thank God, during my tertiary education, doing courses like
philosophy and psycholo
g
y provided me with the much-needed knowledge to
understand Iqbal’s ideas as stated in the Reconstruction. Towards the end of
my undergraduate studies, I conducted a small-scale research entitled
“Konsepsi Pendidikan Akhlaq Menurut Muhammad Iqbal (Moral Education
According to Muhammad Iqbal)” and passed the Viva (Munaqasah). Later for
my PhD dissertation, I did a more challenging research on Iqbal, comparing
his ideas on personality with the infamous Freudian theory.
Upon completing my postgraduate studies at Kulliyyah of Education, IIUM, I
published my work on Iqbal in a book format entitled “Iqbal’s Theory of
Personality: A Contrastive Analysis with Freud (2013)”. Whether I was right or
wrong with my analysis, one thing for sure is that my humble work was the
f
irst of its kind in the world of research that compared the two scholars; one a
poet-philosopher and the other who claimed himself to be the ‘Godless Jew’;
the founding father of psychoanalysis.
Talking about Iqbal, I have on my own come to realise that the bulk of the
people, who know him, particularly in the Indian subcontinent, are through
his reverberating poems that call for the strengthening of the human ego
(Khudi). Poems like Shikwa (lamentation) and Jawab-i-Shikwa (answer to the
lamentation) explain the plight of Muslims in the modern world. Iqbal’s ideas
were quite different from his predecessors in the world of poetry and Su
f
ism.
Compared to most conventional thoughts on spirituality, be they coming from

24
the Su
f
is, Buddhists, or Vedanta Hindus, all call for the subduing of the ego in
order to be a puri
f
ied soul that can reach the highest pedestal of spirituality
that brings one nearer to God.
Conversely, Iqbal calls for one not to kill the ego but to sink into his/her
psyche to bring out all that is latent in it. To him, the ego has its point of
departure in God and since it has a divine origin, it is embedded with positive
ener
g
y and limitless potentials. As such, a man who explores his personality
must bring out the best that is ingrained in his/her soul and utilise it for the
betterment of oneself and humanity.
By doing so, such a man becomes what has been stated in the Qur’an as the
man of God called in Arabic as Khalifatullah
f
il Ardh (God’s vicegerent on
earth). On the whole, anyone who reads his poems will agree that this mystic
poet of the East has a great message for the whole of humanity. His criticisms
are not only directed to the West, but also to the Muslims. As a poet of
emancipation, Iqbal called for a just world in which fairness and justice
prevail. He was against the Western colonisation of the East.
As a recommendation, for any new reader into Iqbal, it is advisable for him/
her to read the Reconstruction alongside Iqbal’s famous antholo
g
y of poems
called the ‘Asrar-i-Khudi (Secrets of the Self). In the latter, he introduces his
philosophy of Self/Ego/Khudi in a general way without giving detailed
information on the various stages it has to pass through before arriving at the
stage called Insan al-Kamil (the perfect man) a concept spoken by many early
Muslim scholars. While in the former he elucidates the nature of the ego which
consists of two parts; one is the Ef
f
icient Ego and the other is the Appreciative
Ego.
In the Reconstruction also, Iqbal explains the challenges faced by the Ego,
particularly its life in facing the external world. In this book of Iqbal, he
explained that the Ego’s relationship with God, nature and fellow human-
beings (other egos in the society). He is of the opinion that the Ego cannot
develop into its full-blown potentials without its interaction with God, nature,
and fellow human beings. In other words, the Ego cannot develop and reach
the ideal stage of Insan al-Kamil in isolation. As such, the individual should be
brave to jump into the thick and thin of the happenings in one’s life and learn

A Drop of Wisdom
25
to struggle for his/her survival by subduing the forces that try to defeat him/
her.
With regard to how one can understand the Reconstruction, one needs lots
of patience to digest it as Iqbal has written his monumental work at the
philosophical level in the most sophisticated style, putting so many ideas in an
intertwined manner. Once, there was a learned professor who dropped by at
my of
f
ice and saw the Reconstruction nestled in the pile of books on my table,
his immediate reaction was that “how do you manage to understand this
book?”
At that moment, with all humility in the presence of that great man, I
explained that with my background in psycholo
g
y and philosophy, I have
somehow managed to understand Iqbal in my own way. Before I could use the
Reconstruction as my primary reference for my dissertation writing, I had to
read it three times cover to cover. When I have done enough reading, I was
brave to write my understanding on Iqbal’s ideas on personality.
Iqbal who is known as the Renaissance man of the Muslim World provided
many useful ideas of how the Muslim Ummah can regain back its past fame
and glory. For Iqbal, the recipe to bring back the Golden Era of Islam is only
possible when a marriage is made between the “Zikr (spirituality)
and Fikr (science and scienti
f
ic research) mentioned in the Qur’an. Failing to
observe any one of the two, the Ummah will suffer. Without Zikr, moral
decadency, disunity, corruption of all forms, destruction to nature, etc. can
befall upon the Ummah.
In addition, in the absence of Zikr in a Muslim’s life, he/she will be deprived
of felicity in the afterlife. Conversely, without the Fikr, the Muslim Ummah will
be dependent on others for science and technolo
g
y. Deprived of Fikr, the
possibility for the Muslim countries to lag behind others is always there. Such
a situation also can dampen the Muslim countries’ national growth,
particularly in the economic sector. Being poor and dependent on foreign
loans is not an ideal situation for Muslim countries.
Iqbal is a genius who knows well the mindset of people in the East and West.
As a mystic-poet, his poems had a universal appeal. For this reason, some call
him the universal poet. He was equally good as a political
f
igure in

26
championing the rights of the Muslims in the Indian subcontinent of his time.
Iqbal is the one who mooted the idea of a separate homeland for the Muslims
of India. As a result of that, in 1947 the Islamic nation of Pakistan came into
existence nine years after Iqbal’s demise.
In philosophy, he is well-read in ancient Greek philosophers like Plato
(427
-
347BC) and Aristotle (384
-
322BC). With regard to modern Western
thinkers, Iqbal knew too well the ideas of the German atheist philosopher
Nietzsche (1844
-
1900), poet and novelist Goethe (1747
-
1832) who is also a
German, the French philosopher Henri Bergson (1859
-
1941), and countless
many others. Among the great minds of the East, Iqbal was immersed and
knew quite well of the mystical ideas of Rumi stated in the many volumes of
the Masnawi. Though Iqbal and Rumi were separated by many centuries, Iqbal
took Rumi to be his spiritual guide. In fact, Iqbal claimed that it was Rumi who
came in his dream and asked him to write the ‘Secrets of the Self” for the
bene
f
it of the Ummah of the modern world.
Besides Rumi, Iqbal is more too familiar with the ideas of Ibn Arabi
(1165
-
1240), Lisan al-Ghaib Ha
f
iz Shirazi (1315
-
1390), Ghalib (1797
-
1869), Sanai
(1080
-
1131), and many other Muslim scholars, philosophers, thinkers, and
poets. Upon reading the philosophies of the East and West, Iqbal took the
good part of both worlds and merged them with the moral teaching of the
Holy Qur’an and Sunnah. Iqbal carefully and selectively took the good part of
Western ideas and philosophy which he claimed to be the lost heritage of the
Muslims of the past. He made sure that what he had taken was non-
contradictory to the Islam teachings. Through the eclectic approach he
moulded the ideas from the East and West, plus the past Islamic heritage to
come up with his “Khudi philosophy/Ego philosophy/ Self-philosophy".
Unlike many of his contemporaries, Iqbal wanted to see a transformation in
the mindset of the Muslims in dealing with the challenges that came along with
modernity. Driven by the message of the Qur’an and the Sunnah of the
Prophet SAW, not only propelled himself towards being dynamic and
progressive in life but also called upon others to do so. He showed great
vitality for life and in conquering knowledge and establishing the ‘The
Kingdom of God’ in this world; whereby peace, equality, and justice will
prevail. His idealism in life is to create a better world and the enthusiasm he
had for that matter can be seen clearly from the quote below:

A Drop of Wisdom
27
What can I do? My nature is averse to rest;
My heart is impatient like the breeze in the poppy field:
When the eye beholds an object of beauty
The heart yearns forsomething more beautiful still;
From the spark to the star, from the starto the sun
Is my quest;
I have no desire fora goal,
Forme, rest spells death!
With an impatient eye and a hopeful heart
I seek forthe end of that which is endless!
(Iqbal in Abdul Razak, 2013:226).
If we look at Iqbal’s way of thinking, we will discover that he was a man who
emphasised that an individual as well as a nation should have the qualities of
being dynamic, productive, creative, innovative, etc. As such, in his poems,
one can read too often on the aforementioned qualities repeated again and
again. On the contrary, he was opposed to backwardness, a state of
stagnation, non-productivity, being subjugated by others, injustice, etc.
In analysing his pattern of thinking, we will eventually come to the
conclusion that the East and West meet in the mind of this great
Muslim thinker. For many of his great contributions as a modern-day Sufi,
poet, barrister, statesman, philosopher, thinker, etc. upon his departure from
this world, many paid tribute to Iqbal. Below here are some of the beautiful
quotes attributed to Iqbal:
Of all the Muslim thinkers of the modern world, Iqbal is the
greatest of all of them… I acknowledge Iqbal as one of the
Muslim reformers who has managed to formulate a trend
of thinking which is original and complementary. It is a
trend that consolidates the Islamic civilisation with the
good part that comes from the Western culture (Schimmel
in Abdul Razak, 2013: 224).

28
He is a man of his age and a man in advance of his age; he is
also a man in disagreement with his age (Nicholson in Abdul
Razak, 2013:226).
The death of Sir Mohammed Iqbal creates a void in our
literature that, like a mortal wound, will take a very long
time to heal. India, whose place in the world is too narrow,
can ill-afford to miss a poet whose poetry has such
universal value (Tagore in Abdul Razak, 2013:224).
Though the earth may enshrine the precious dust of Sir
Mohammad Iqbal’s body, his imperishable genius will
shine through the ages in undimmed splendour. My
profound homage to his memory
(Sarojini Naidu in Abdul Razak, 2013:224).
Besides the above accolades, Iqbal also had a fair deal of criticism directed
towards him by critics who belonged to the old school of thought in
mysticism. They accused him of being a ‘secular Muslim’ who had been
influenced by Western philosophers and thinkers. Despite the criticism
leveled at him, Iqbal stood firm as a rock and defended his position by
saying the following:
I am the voice of the poet of To-morrow
My own age does not understand my deep meanings,
My Yusuf (Joseph) is not for this market
I despair of my old companions (Iqbal in Abdul Razak,
2013: 32).
Interesting to state here, Iqbal is one of those Muslim leaders who have been
well received by people in the East and West. With regard to the religions of
the world, Iqbal’s mystical ideas on God, man, and Khudi explained in his
philosophy and poetry found great acceptance not only among the Muslims
but also among Hindus, Sikhs, Baha’is, and many other communities of the

A Drop of Wisdom
29
world. In analysing the man and his ideas, it can be safely said here that
Iqbal is an “Ocean of a Person” and no one can claim that he or she has the
sole authority to interpret his ideas. Iqbal who was a multidimensional
personality somehow like the polymaths of the glorious days of the Islamic
civilisation can be analysed from different perspectives. He can be seen as a
civilisational man, politician, philosopher, religious reformer, etc. Anyone
who conducts research on him would be able to understand him according
to one’s knowledge and understanding only. As a reader of Iqbal, with all
humility I can only claim that my knowledge of Iqbal’s ideas is a mere drop
from ‘Iqbal’s Ocean’. Before Iqbal’s blessed soul departed from this world,
this is what he said of him:
The departed melody may ormay not come,
The zephyrmay blow again from Hejaz ornot!
The days of this Faqirhave come to an end,
Anotherseermay come ornot
(Iqbal in Abdul Razak, 2013:223).
Even as I depart from this world,
Everyone will say ‘I knew him’,
But the truth is, alas! that none knew
Who the strangerwas, orwhat he said, orwhence he came!
(Iqbal in Abdul Razak, 2013:223 ).

30
Reflection 2
Muslim World Needs a New Mindset to Face Modern
challenges
I
n a world full of contending ideologies, Muslim communities throughout
the world face an enormous amount of challenges in preserving their
identity, faith and culture.
The world media which is under the control of some powerful western
conglomerates, projects Muslims as an uncultured and backward people. On
many occasions, leadership crisis and other political upheavals that happen in
Muslim countries are blown out of proposition and reported in a
condescending way so that the world would see the Muslims as a problematic
bunch of people. The sort of message it intends to narrate to the world is one
that depicts as though the whole world cries for peace, while the Muslim
world wants war and chaos.
Ever since 9/11, Western media takes an unfriendly attitude towards the
Muslim community by calling them with all sorts of obscure names like
terrorists, extremists, fundamentalists and Jihadis, etc. Western journalists
also use derogatory terms and caricatures to show that the Prophet of Islam as
a warmonger who promotes violence and killing of the innocents.
How to Confront the Situation
In the past, for the many negative media reports and provocations that came
from western media, the global Muslim community has responded with anger,
protest, boycotts on food products from the West, etc. Though the vast
majority of Muslims chose to show their displeasure in a peaceful manner, in
some isolated cases a tiny minority retaliated in a violent manner giving a bad
name to Islam and the Muslims.

A Drop of Wisdom
31
Since all responses from the Muslims come
from the way they digest information and
think, this article intends to call upon
today’s generation of young Muslims to re-
evaluate their mindset and come up with
a new way in dealing with the challenges
that come from the modern world. The
new way should in no means isolate
Muslims from the rest of humanity, but
should be one that calls Muslims to use good
thinking, persuasion, diplomacy, tolerance,
good rhetoric, co-existence, etc.
Moreover, by the good use of the
human intellect, Muslims should not only
be able to preserve their religious heritage and way of life but also be able to
contribute for the betterment of humanity.
The New Mindset
In their effort to defend their faith and to convey the true message and
beauty of Islam, the global Muslim community needs to reprogram their
minds in a three-pronged manner. Through this new approach, the young
Muslim minds should be able to think spiritually, philosophically and
scienti
f
ically. Such qualities of the mind existed in the past during the Golden
Age of the Muslims (750
-
1258) which gave birth to a great world civilisation that
incorporated spirituality, philosophy, natural and human sciences. Polymath
scholars like al-Kindi (801
-
873), al-Farabi (897
-
950), Ibn Sina (980
-
1037), al-
Ghazali (1058
-
1111), Al-Biruni (973
-
1050), Ibn Rushd (1126
-
1198) and Ibn Khaldun
(1332
-
1406) will be a few to name here. It is believed that early Muslim
thinkers, philosophers, astronomers, physicians, and scientists contributed
immensely to the later development of science and philosophy in the West.
An avid reader into the works of Iqbal (1877
-
1938), Malik Bennabi
(1905
-
1973), Said Nursi (1877
-
1960), Jamaluddin al-Afghani, Sheikh Muhammad
Abduh (1849
-
1905) and other past Muslim thinkers will derive at a conclusion
that there is a need for the modern-day Muslims to revive the traditional
Muslim mind in order for them to reclaim back their bygone glory and fame.
Muhammad al-Idrisi (d. 1165) World Map

32
At the moment, though some regions of the Muslim Ummah are affluent
materially, many are lagging behind other communities of the world in terms
of science, technolo
g
y and good governance.
In realising the existence of such problems in the present-day Muslim world,
the following will be a brief discussion on the three qualities of an integrated
Muslim mind that can be a great help in restoring the Islamic civilization to its
ideal position:
1. The Spiritual Mind
The Muslim mind has to be religious for the reason that all of us have come
from Allah and will return back to Him. As such, we should lead a God-
centered life. It is said that the soul entity in man is the “Divine Spark” from
God. For this reason, Man who is the Khalifah (vicegerent) of Allah has to live
by the ethical principles mentioned in the Qur’an and Sunnah (Qur'an, 2: 30).
The spiritual mind is one that demands a Muslim to stay connected with God
in all his/her ups and downs in life. Moreover, the spiritual mind which is
imbued with the quality of love should not only bind a good relationship with
God but also with fellow human beings (Muslims and non-Muslims) and nature
(the flora and fauna). It is true that science is important for the human survival
on this planet. But only believing in science won’t be able to explain to man
the comprehensiveness of life on this planet, particularly on a Muslim’s pre-
existence, death and otherworldliness. Scienti
f
ic knowledge only caters to
explain on how humanity arrived on this planet but fails to explain the
purpose of this life.
Conversely, the spiritual mind of a Muslim explains the questions on why we
are put here and what is expected of us in this life. At times, science can fail to
answer such philosophical questions. In such a situation, man needs greater
wisdom and guidance from God who is the Creator of the Universe to explain
to him/her as to why he/she has been placed on this planet.
2. The Philosophical Mind
The second quality of the mind is that it has to be philosophical, because
there are many verses of the Qur’an that call humanity to contemplate and
reason in what one sees in the grandeur in the creation of the heavens and

A Drop of Wisdom
33
earth, in the form of celestial and terrestrial beings. For this reason, Ibn
Rushd’s argument holds water when he criticized Al-Ghazali for opposing
philosophy. More to say, the mind that is developed in the philosophical
manner would be able to conduct syllogism, thesis, anti-thesis and synthesis in
looking at any given problem.
Additionally, the philosophical mind is capable of looking at an issue from
different perspectives, coming up with an in-depth analysis and perhaps able
to debate on a given topic much more persuasively than of a simple mind. The
last thing that can be said about the philosophical mind is that it is a mind that
is critical, creative, innovative and analytical. It is believed that such qualities
are very much needed in the present condition of the Muslim Ummah.
3. The Scienti
f
ic Mind
The third quality of the mind is that it should be scienti
f
ic in nature.
Compared to the early days of Medieval Christianity in Europe, the scenario in
the Muslim world was diametrically opposite. Ever since the coming of the
f
irst revelation up until the Muslim era of civilization and to the present time,
science was never seen as a rival to religion. In fact, science helps in many
ways to elucidate theories found in the Qur’an more elaborately with its
cutting-edge technolo
g
y. In Islam, except for the atheistic and secular concepts
advocated by modern science, all other aspects of science are well accepted
and celebrated.
Any keen researcher of the natural world will be surprised to
f
ind scienti
f
ic
information on the fetal development in the mother’s womb and other aspects
of embryolo
g
y (Al-Qur’an: 23:12
-
14, 53:45
-
46; 39:6; 75:37), how the universe
was created and other matters on cosmolo
g
y (Al-Qur’an: 13:2; 15:19; 65:12;
21:30; 41:12) sea currents and oceanography (Al-Qur’an: 24:40; 55:19
-
20; 27:61;
25:53), formation of the mountains, tectonic plates and other related issues to
geolo
g
y (Al-Qur’an 24:40; 25:53; 27:61, 81; 55:19
-
20) all mentioned in the Holy
Script of the Muslims.
Iqbal as well as many of the earlier mentioned Muslims thinkers urged the
Muslim Ummah to get on the bandwagon of science and to get interested in
the scienti
f
ic investigations. According to these scholars, such an act will be a
soul-enriching endeavor when one discovers Allah’s mighty hand behind the

34
making of the universe and the secrets found in the natural world. At the
personal level, Iqbal metaphorically praised the scientists for their observation
of nature and the universe at large. According to him, scientists are a sort of
mystic seekers trying to get closer to the Creator by probing the wonders of
the natural world. He calls this act of the scientists a form of ibadah (worship)
in Islam.
Likewise, Iqbal also calls the Muslim Ummah to improve their lives by
utilising science and technolo
g
y to extract the bounties of Allah in the natural
world and use them for their spiritual development.
A precise explanation of what Iqbal says is that Muslims should extract the
natural resources from the belly of the earth and convert them into wealth and
use it to improve the condition of the Ummah. Simply put, a mind that is
interested in science and its calculations and discoveries will most probably
appreciate not only the spectacular beauty in the natural world but also the
precision orbiting of the planets and the presence of God behind all created
matters, including man.
The Bene
f
it of the New Mindset
The human mind is an amazing, beautiful and powerful creation of God
Almighty. A mind that is trained in spiritual practices immersed in reading and
taught in the areas of critical and creative thinking can be a great help in
overcoming many of the insurmountable obstacles an individual has to face. In
the Qur’an, Muslims are encouraged to think, ponder, contemplate, etc. As
such, the following will be some of the bene
f
its we can get if we can restore the
qualities of the traditional Muslim mind:
• It can help Muslim communities to rebut many of the negative
perceptions of non-Muslims with regard to Islam, Prophet Muhammad,
the Qur’an and Islamic practices.
• A well-developed Muslim Mind that uses logic, rhetoric, diplomacy
and persuasion will be in a better position to counter Islamophobia,
racism and prejudice that comes from the West.

A Drop of Wisdom
35
• By and large, a mind that is spiritual, philosophical and scienti
f
ic can
do great wonders in bringing in the much-needed development in the
Muslim World.
The Role of IIUM in Developing the New Mindset
It is the belief of many Muslim scholars that education is the best way to
cultivate, nurture and bring back the qualities of the traditional Muslim Mind.
The International Islamic University Malaysia better known as IIUM, right from
its inception has contributed efforts towards the development of the new
mindset in its students, mainly Muslims, who come from 160 countries of the
world.
As such, students are required to take courses in the areas of basic
philosophy, Islamic and other worldviews, knowledge and civilization from the
Islamic and Western perspectives, ethics and Fiqh of contemporary issues. In
addition to that, they are recommended to take a course on creative thinking.
For those doing postgraduate programs, they will be required to take a course
on Islamization of Knowledge.
The role of the Department of Fundamental and Inter-Disciplinary Studies
(FIDS) that comes under the AbdulHamid AbuSulayman Kulliyyah of Islamic
Revealed Knowledge and Human Sciences, should be applauded into turning
the vision of the university into a reality. Though the teaching staff of DFIDS
comes from many diverse backgrounds and specialization, they are well
grounded on issues pertaining to the Islamic belief system and modern
sciences.
In their classroom teachings, students are well taught and equipped with the
proper understanding on the importance of knowledge and values that makes
the Khalifah of Allah. Moreover, students are also trained to think critically,
creatively and analytically on how to co-exist with others and on how to rebut
the negative media propaganda that comes from the West.
Since the Muslim world is embroiled with countless problems, a return to
their blended and integrated style of thinking is vital. The exemplary model
practiced at IIUM in molding the young minds and personality can be followed
by other Islamic universities around the globe.

36
Reflection 3
Reclaiming the Fame and Glory of the Muslim world
D
URING the Golden Age of Islam (750
-
1258), Muslims were at the
forefront of conquering knowledge through scienti
f
ic research,
exploration and expeditions.
In their pursuit of mastering new
knowledge and technolo
g
y, Muslims were
prepared and open to the idea of learning
all that is positive from the earlier
civilisations. As such, they borrowed ideas
from the Indians, Persians and Greeks as a
way of enriching their own civilisation.
Adopt, adapt and assimilate or integrate
was the approach used by early Muslim
scholars in taking knowledge from those
outside the Islamic faith. This meticulous
and selective approach to taking ideas
from others and adapting those ideas
without contradicting the Islamic
metaphysical framework (aqa’id) in a way
enriched the Islamic civilisation.
At the zenith of the Islamic civilisation, Muslim scholars became great
authorities in the areas of medicine, philosophy, mathematics, chemistry,
astronomy, botany, physical, and social sciences. The booming scienti
f
ic
research and exploration works that took place in the many centres in the
Middle East attracted Europeans to learn from the Muslims.
Aldalusis: Great Mosque of Cordova

A Drop of Wisdom
37
It has been acknowledged by many Western authorities that the scienti
f
ic
works done in Baghdad and Cordova (Muslim Spain) in a way inspired and
gave the impetus to the Renaissance scholars to be scienti
f
ic and critical
thinkers.
This scenario in the Muslim World changed with the fall of Baghdad in 1258.
This era is very important to remember in the Muslim annals as it marked the
decline of Islamic civilisation and intellectualism. The fall of Baghdad created a
chain reaction, as it triggered the fall of the Islamic empires, one after another.
This tragic condition left the Muslims in a pathetic condition, hardly able to
regain the prestigious position that they once held on the world stage.
Since the fall of Baghdad, Muslims were constantly bombarded with
challenges in maintaining their faith, culture and heritage. The era between
the fall of Baghdad and the European colonisation of Muslim lands in the 18th
and 19th centuries kept the Muslim scholars occupied in their own polemics in
the area of Islamic jurisprudence.
The internal conflicts within the ummah also to a certain extent prevented
the Muslims from making any signi
f
icant contribution toward scienti
f
ic
discovery, particularly during the great Industrial Revolution that happened in
the West. The disagreements between Muslim scholars hindered them from
moving forward in their political and social life. The Shia-Sunni problem in the
Islamic world is still an unresolved issue today.
At the time when the Muslim scholars showed signs of intellectual lethar
g
y
due to disunity European scholars who had bene
f
itted a great deal from
earlier research done by Muslims managed to advance many steps ahead in
the areas of science and research, leaving the Muslim world lagging behind.
The Muslims who earlier did many pioneering works in the
f
ield of science
and invention either produced little or showed no progress at all. Concurrent
to the era of European scienti
f
ic discovery was the era of European occupation
of the Muslim territories. Colonisation also brought the feeling of defeatism to
some quarters within the Islamic Ummah. This resulted in them abandoning
the worldly aspect of their lives and
f
inding solace in matters related to
spirituality.

38
In modern times, the effect of Western colonisation and later globalisation
has caused a huge educational and technological gap in the Muslim countries
as compared to the West. At the moment, though all Muslim countries are
liberated and some are even bestowed with rich natural resources, many
f
ind
it hard to be on par with the advanced nations of the world.
One of the reasons for such a situation is the failure of the leaders to allocate
suf
f
icient funds for scienti
f
ic research. In realising the phenomenon of
marginalisation of science at the expense of spirituality, prominent Muslims
like Al-Afghani (1838
-
1897), Muhammad ‘Abduh (1849
-
1905) and Muhammad
Iqbal (1877
-
1938) made the clarion call to the Muslim ummah by stating that
the message of the Quran is not only spiritual but also scienti
f
ic.
Iqbal in his observation of the world noticed that Zikr (spirituality) was
pretty much alive in the East, particularly within the Muslim communities,
and Fikr (knowledge and scienti
f
ic investigations) was overly embraced by the
people in the West at the expense of rejecting religion and God.
For him, the Quran is the revealed book of Allah and the universe is the
open book of Allah. In Iqbal’s view, in order for the Muslims to be dynamic,
proli
f
ic, creative and innovative in the modern world, they have to merge
the Zikr and Fikr found in the Quran.
The scenario in the Muslim world shows that the Muslims have not moved
very far from the conditions they were in during the time they were
subjugated by the Western colonial powers. The riches in many Muslim
countries in the form of petro-dollars given by Allah are not put to good use in
bringing sustainable development by employing science and technolo
g
y.
Many oil-rich countries in the Muslim world use billions of dollars for the
purchase of huge armaments from the West not only for national defence
purposes but at times to be used to suppress and oppress their own citizens.
The situation in the Middle East seems to be more serious than any other
part of the world, as it has been subjected to constant political upheaval as a
result of internal weaknesses and external interferences. It is ironic to state
that though the Muslims control the riches of the world in the form of oil and
gas, they are still lagging behind other communities, in many sectors of life.

A Drop of Wisdom
39
There also exist great disparities between the rich and poor Muslim
countries. At the moment, the ummah is bleeding as it has been torn apart by
sectarian wars, and wars caused by external military intervention. The
disunity among Muslim countries is more serious than ever before, and
Muslims have been labelled by the Western media as terrorists,
fundamentalists and a whole lot of other obscure names.
Pockets of migrant Muslim populations who are living in many European
cities have been ostracised for being alien to the prevalent culture in those
countries. Due to the lack of infrastructure such as scienti
f
ic research centres,
scientists and scholars in the Muslim world migrate to European countries for
their advancement in their areas of specialisation. This brain drain
phenomenon further hinders progress and development in many Muslim
countries.
In realising this situation, governments in the Muslim countries should try to
stem this loss by giving these professionals not only attractive incentives but
also by investing in the much-needed physical infrastructure.
Having such facilities will allow Muslim countries to practise “brain
retention” and stop their young and talented citizens from migrating to the
West. Islamic centres for learning also should not only concentrate on the
revealed knowledge but also establish faculties for study and research in the
areas of human and natural sciences.
The study of science should be given equal emphasis at all levels of
schooling in the Muslim world. It is hoped that by making these necessary
changes, the Muslims would be able to bring back their past glory and fame.
The Brain Drain Phenomenon in the Muslim World
For many decades the Muslim world has been plagued by a number of
national issues. Poverty, illiteracy, leadership crisis, political instability,
economic crisis, etc. The brain drain phenomenon which is one of the many
unsolved issues in most Muslim countries has not been given a serious
attention. Unless the Muslim world tackles this issue, it will not be able to
witness any great development in the areas of science and technolo
g
y. In a
simpli
f
ied manner, what is de
f
ined as a brain drain phenomenon, is the
migration of experts, professionals and intelligentsia from Muslim countries to

40
the developed nations in Europe and America. Research into this topic
explains that brain drain happens for a number of reasons. We would like to
highlight some of the underlying factors that cause the brain drain
phenomenon to happen in the Muslim world such as economic crisis, political
instability and missing opportunity for growth.
Economic Crisis
Poor economic conditions in many Muslim countries encourage the
intelligentsia group from Muslim lands to migrate to countries in the West that
are more affluent. Metaphorically stated as the ‘cream of the society’ these
intelligent people migrate to First World countries in the West in search of
better salaries and other perks for themselves and their families. With the
increase in their source of income, this smart category of people will be able to
enjoy a good quality of life in the West. Things like good education and a good
living environment for their families allure them to migrate. Other than that,
the idea of enjoying four different seasons in a year also makes it appealing for
their migration
Political Instability
The chaotic situation in politics has brought a huge problem in many Muslim
countries, particularly in the Middle East. Leadership crisis that erupts into
wars and sectarian violence with bomb blasts that terrorize not only the lives
of the ordinary people on the street but also the highly professional group in
many major cities in the Muslim world. In seeing no end to these chaotic
conditions in their countries, the highly educated, business community, and
scientists migrate to a safer haven for their families in the West. Besides the
safety and security, countries in the West are able to provide a more lucrative
salary compared to what they used to earn in their homelands. Not only that,
the majority of them are given citizenship to stay in those countries in the
West. As a result of this, any of their latest
f
indings in the areas of science and
technolo
g
y will be accredited to their new homeland and not to their native
lands in the Muslim world.

A Drop of Wisdom
41
Opportunity for Growth
The poor economic condition in the Muslim world somehow fails the
governments to provide the much-needed infrastructure like research centres,
a good collection of books in the libraries, and well-equipped science
laboratories for conducting experiments. To facilitate these great minds from
the Muslim world, countries in the West make available their existing research
centres, laboratories and suf
f
icient grants for research purposes. These
privileges enjoyed by the Muslim professionals and scientists would allow
them to further advance in their areas of specialization and research.
Preventive Measures
If the brain drain phenomenon is left unattended, Muslim countries will be
losing their science intelligentsia to the West. In their effort to curb the brain
drain phenomenon in their countries, Muslim governments must take
preventive measures: Below we have listed a few of such measures that can be
taken:
1. In order to prevent the brain drain phenomenon from happening,
Muslim countries must come out with some strategic plans. One of the
things, that Muslim countries must do, is to stop all wars and terror
attacks that destabilize their countries. When war stops, a large sum of
the national budget now spent on buying armaments can be used on
education and scienti
f
ic research. We strongly believe that is possible as
many Muslim countries in the Middle East are affluent with the sale of
oil and gas.
2. In the effort to stop the young and talented minds in the Muslim
world from being allured by the West, governments in the Muslim
countries should start a “brain retention” program. Through this
program, brilliant students should be identi
f
ied at the university level
and be given scholarships. Governments need to ensure such students
that upon
f
inishing their various specializations, they will be provided
with jobs with good salaries and facilitate them with good research
centres to conduct their “research and development”. Perhaps with
such assurances, the governments in Muslim countries would be able to
stop their students from fleeing away from their native homelands.

42
3. As for those who have settled in advanced countries in the West,
Muslim governments should entice the professionals who have been
working there to come back and utilize the experience gained in their
own countries. For that to happen, Muslim governments should come
up with a program called ‘brain gain’. Through this program, the
governments should allow all professionals and scientists to return back
with their families. If they have wives and children from the West, they
should be granted
f
irst a PR status and later given citizenship in their
new countries of domicile. Furthermore, they should be allowed a tax
exemption for their savings, vehicles and other valuable household
items to be transferred from the West to their native homelands. The
returning professionals should be guaranteed job opportunities with
good salaries.
Ethical Issues in Brain Drain
Muslim scholars and professionals who for some valid reasons have chosen
to settle down in the West, need to abide by some ethical principles. As
Muslims, they should not render their knowledge, expertise and services to
the establishment to which they are attached in the West in producing
weapons of mass destruction; nuclear, biological and chemical weapons. Such
weapons can be lethal in killing a large number of people instantaneously.
History has proven to us that at times of war, the West had unscrupulously
used such destructive weapons against humanity. A case to highlight here will
be the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. Atomic bombs that were
dropped killed between 129,000
-
226,000 people, mainly civilians. An avid
reader of history will discover that during the First and Second World Wars,
roughly 60 million died and again many of them were helpless ordinary
people on the streets. Not only that, the damage caused to infrastructures and
the environment was horrendous. On the contrary, it should be okay for
Muslim professionals and scientists to indulge in
f
inding a new drug that can
prevent deadly diseases and on how to prolong the life expectancy of those
suffering from cancer and other serious ailments. Such a meritorious effort on
the part of Muslim scientists to save humanity is a highly welcomed one in
Islam.

A Drop of Wisdom
43
Another ethical issue that deserves mentioning here is Muslim students who
are studying in Western universities. If they were receiving scholarships from
their countries, then they have an obligation to return back to serve the
people in their homeland for the ethical reason that the money they received
came from the taxpayers in their respective countries. It will be unethical on
the part of such students if they chose to stay in the West while there is a
greater need for their expertise in their own motherland.
Brain Drain from the West to the Third World
Since the West had colonized countries in the East and Africa in the past, it
has a moral obligation to rectify many of its wrongdoings. As compensation to
its former colonies, the West should not only think of aiding monetarily but
also by transferring technolo
g
y. Under the transfer of technolo
g
y program, the
West should send volunteers who are scholars, scientists, biologists, botanists,
environmentalists, etc. to the Third World and Muslim countries. If this
happens, such an act should be considered a praiseworthy one on the part of
the West. In a way, by sharing their knowledge and expertise Western experts
can narrow the economic disparities found in the West and East. Not only that,
people in the East will bene
f
it in terms of getting access to good drinking
water, turning barren lands into fertile farming lands, in the preservation and
conservation of the environment, etc.
Besides that, Western countries should bring young students from their
former colonies and train them to be professionals in the areas of their choice.
Upon experiencing life and completing their training in the West, these
professionals and scientists can return back to their countries to implement
the knowledge gained in the West. If this happens then in years to come, we
will be able to see great changes and prosperity taking place in the East and
Africa.
At the moment, the brain drain phenomenon that happens in most Muslim
countries bene
f
its the West. If governments in the Muslim countries fail to
attend to the brain drain issue, most likely their countries will be like what it is
now for many more decades to come. It will be a smart move on the part of
the Muslim countries if they could take vigorous actions to tackle the brain
drain issue. Implementing the “brain gain” and “brain retention” programs
will de
f
initely bene
f
it the Muslim world.

44
Reflection 4
Muslim World Should Not Be Too Nostalgic of its Glorious
Past
M
any centuries ago, there was a time when the Muslim world was
booming with new ideas in the areas of natural, social and revealed
sciences. Reading the Golden Era of the Muslims, one might come
to realize that there were many centres of learning and research made
available not only for Muslim scholars but for others as well. The main
epicenters for research and learning at that time were located in Baghdad,
Cordoba, Damascus and Cairo. The Baitul Hikmah in Baghdad happened to be
the largest library that housed many hundred thousand books. Many scholars
who were experts in the ancient manuscripts be they Muslims, Jews,
Christians or Zoroastrians were recruited by the Abbasid rulers to teach,
conduct research, and produce works of translation from Greek, Aramaic,
Persian, Sanskrit and other ancient languages into Arabic. Many European
scholars came to study at the Islamic centres of learning. Arabic language was
like what the English language is today, used as the lingua franca for learning
science, mathematics and philosophy. It has been said that Ibn Rushd
(1126
-
1198) who was known as the ‘Prince of Science’ was the
f
irst scholar to
capture Aristotle’s ideas on rational philosophy. Ibn Rush read it in Greek and
translated it into Arabic. Europeans who were struggling for a long time to
understand Aristotle’s philosophical ideas felt helped by reading Ibn Rushd’s
commentaries on his most admired Greek philosopher. Besides Ibn Rushd, the
works of Al- Kindi (801
-
873), Al-Farabi (870
-
950), Ibn Sina (980
-
1037), Al-
Ghazali (1058
-
1111), Ibn Khaldun (1332
-
1406) and many more Muslim

A Drop of Wisdom
45
philosophers and scientists got the attention of the West. It is an undeniable
historical fact that in many ways the Muslim world has contributed a great deal
in providing the rudimentary ideas for the later development of modern
science and technolo
g
y in the West.
The Muslim World Needs to Move on
It is human nature to reflect on past events in our lives. Likewise, as a
community, we become nostalgic for recalling events of the past, namely our
heroic, historical and meritorious achievements. Such events normally linger
in our minds for a lifetime and they are very hard to be deleted from our
memories. Remembering them during special occasions can revitalize our
spirit and, in a way, gives us the impetus to perform better in the future. On
the contrary, using those achievements to defend ourselves from criticisms
that come from others all the time will be an act of counter productivity. In
our observation, we have noticed that for a very long time, in many of our
learning institutions throughout the Muslim world, during presentation time,
The Fall of Baghdad in 1258 CE by Mongols

46
scholars and students keep harping on the great contributions made by past
Muslim scholars and scientists. The names Ibn Sina as the
f
irst doctor who
performed an eye operation and whose books; Qanun
f
il- Tib and Kitab al-Syifa
were used for many hundred years as reference books in most European
universities, Al-Khawarizmi (780
-
847) as the inventor of algebra and
trigonometry, Ibn Haytham (965
-
1040) as the father of optics, Zakariya al-Razi
(864
-
925) who made the distinction between smallpox and measles, and many
more names of Muslim scholars are mentioned again and again. Present-day
Muslims should not be apologetic for failing to perform well in the areas of
science and technolo
g
y by saying that the pioneering efforts in those two
f
ields
came from our scholars. Since we are living in an ever-changing world that
sees groundbreaking research on a daily basis, we should take the challenge to
compete with others in creating a better world. It would not be an ideal thing
for Muslims to be mere spectators, while others are laboriously involved in
research works. As vicegerents of God (Khalifatullah of Allah) we are required
to be actively involved in scienti
f
ic investigation, social work, charity,
volunteerism, etc.
Today’s Reality in the Muslim World
Unlike other communities of the world, the Muslim world is saddled with a
lot of problems. At times, such problems can be seen as obstacles for the
Muslim world from taking a forward march in life. Below here are some of the
problems we think that is holding back the Muslim Ummah:
1. Wars and Sectarian Violence
Ever since the demise of the Holy Prophet SAW there has been a division
among the Muslim Ummah and the matter started to widen during the Four
Rightly Guided Caliphs and got worse after two centuries later when the
Islamic empires started to collapse one after another. With the end of the
Golden Era in the Muslim World, the division of the masses became obvious. It
broke into many fractional groups that quarrelled and disputed over little,
little things which have no real signi
f
icance. Not only that, during the modern
era in the Muslim world sectarianism brought disunity within the Ummah. The
warring parties should realize that war, terror attacks and violence are things
discouraged by the Qur’an. In Islam, war is only approved when the
community or country comes under attack by external forces. In most

A Drop of Wisdom
47
instances, the Qur’an and Prophet SAW approved war for defence purposes
and not as an act of aggression or as a preemptive move. War is only approved
when all avenues for negotiation, arbitration, and peace talk are closed.
2. Lacking in Good Governance
After the death of the Prophet SAW and the Four Rightly Guided Caliphs, the
Muslim world has hardly seen any good leaders, except for personalities like
Imam Hussein (626
-
680), Salahuddin al-Ayyubi (1137
-
1193), Sultan Muhammad
al-Fateh (1432
-
1481) and Tippu Sultan (1751
-
1799). Looking into the pro
f
ile of the
Muslim Ummah, one would realize that for a very long time there has been a
leadership crisis. It is very hard to
f
ind leaders who are committed to their
Islamic principles and give preference to their people more than to their
personal glory. Today’s leaders are occupying the seat of power to ful
f
il their
personal ambition and agendas. Such leaders drag their people into uncalled
wars and clashes with their neighbours. Peace-loving people who are caught
between the warring parties have to leave their homes and belongings behind
in search of a safe haven for their families.
3. Migration to the West
The lives of the civilians in Muslim countries that are ravaged by war and
sectarian violence, migrate to the West for their safety and security. As asylum
seekers, expecting kindness and mercy shown to them makes them indigents
in a foreign land, while prior to that they were living comfortably surrounded
by families, friends, and olive and date palms of their own. The sad thing is
that no one knows what the future holds for them. De
f
initely, as Muslims, they
have to face the cultural shock there and are perhaps forced to adjust to an
alien culture and value system that is very different from their Islamic ones.
Lately, there were several media reports that highlighted to us that many of
the asylum seekers are subjected to ill-treatment and name-calling. Many are
ostracized for their display of Islamic identity; like Hijab, Burka, skullcaps and
beards. Worst still some are called terrorists and pressured to leave the
neighbourhood in which they have been living.
4. Lacking in the Areas of Science and Technolo
g
y
Though once we were the torchbearers in shedding light and acting as an
inspiration for the Renaissance scholars that brought Europe out from its dark

48
ages, at the moment, we are dependent on others in the areas of science and
technolo
g
y. It is an erroneous way of thinking on the part of some affluent
Muslim countries that they can buy everything with their petrodollars,
including technolo
g
y from countries in the West, Japan and Korea. If the initial
stage of buying technolo
g
y is not seen altogether bad for the reason it is
something new, but de
f
initely, at a later stage, those Muslim countries should
negotiate for a transfer of technolo
g
y from the advanced countries. It can be
easily done by getting talented young people in those Muslim countries to
learn and to be trained by the technolo
g
y manufacturing countries. Another
thing that needs to be highlighted here is the fact that Muslim countries are
failing to produce any new, innovative and original ideas of their own. In a
retrospective manner, if we look at the pro
f
ile of the Ummah (Muslim world),
we will be surprised to witness that Muslims who led others into creativity,
scienti
f
ic inquiries and progressive thoughts are now being led by others. In
other words, once we were seated in the driver’s seat, but now we have
become passengers. Worst still, we don’t know where the journey is going to
end.
The Way Forward
In realizing the many pressing issues faced by the Ummah, we call upon the
Muslim leaders and policy-makers to pay attention to the needs of their
people. The government in Muslim countries should make peace and
coexistence their priority in avoiding racial and sectarian clashes. Leaders
should make peace negotiations as a preference in resolving territorial
disputes and misunderstandings among their neighbours. When all the
uncalled wars stop in the Muslim world, then it can allocate a huge budget for
education, scienti
f
ic research and scholarship for their talented and deserving
students.
Teachers at the academic institutions in the Muslim world should not only
talk about the past glory of the Ummah, but should inspire the oncoming
generations to be productive and creative like the scholars of the Golden Era of
the Muslims. By doing so, they would be able to produce the budding Ibn Sina,
Al-Ghazali, Ibn Khaldun, Ibn Rushd and the like of the 21st century.
Leaders in the Muslim world should realize that their nations can be great
not only by economic wealth but also with ideas that can move their nations

A Drop of Wisdom
49
towards a more Islamic and progressive direction. The economic power of a
nation alone doesn’t make it a strong nation. As such, all physical, intellectual
and economic developments in the Muslim countries should strike a balance
with the moral and spiritual developments.
The masses in the Muslim world should not only focus on preparing
themselves for salvation in the afterlife and neglect to take charge of
their worldly affairs. In line with the emphasis of the Qur’an (Surah
Qasas:77), today’s Muslims around the globe should aim for a good life in
this world and the next. A proper understanding of the Qur’an and the
Sunnah of the Prophet SAW demands the Muslim community wherever
they are to be diligent, hardworking, productive, intellectual, critical
and creative in order to face modern-day challenges. Only by taking the
aforementioned proactive actions, Muslim countries and the Ummah
would able to see the much-needed transformation in the Muslim
world.

50
Reflection 5
The Plight of the Diasporic Muslim Community in the
West
E
tymologically diaspora comes from a Greek word, which means
scattered and dispersed. Generally, a diasporic community explains
people who have to leave their homeland for another part, region or
country of the world. In most instances, the act of leaving one’s motherland is
involuntary. Many diasporic communities around the globe are forced to leave
due to unfavourable conditions in their place of origin or driven away by an
invading army or regime. For a very long time, Western media uses the word
diaspora exclusively to describe the Jewish diaspora alone, but in actual fact,
there are many others that be classi
f
ied as a diasporic community. A few
examples to state here will be the Hijrah made by the Prophet of Islam and his
followers, three million Muslims who were expelled from Spain between the
years 1492
-
1610, Africans who were taken away to the Americas under the slave
trade (1776
-
1865), the Palestinians who have to leave their country due to the
Israeli occupation and atrocities, Rohin
g
yas due to the genocide carried out by
the regime in Myanmar, and very recently, the exodus and migration of 6.8
million Syrian refugees have to flee for their safety and security. It is said that
about 1 million Syrians crossed over to Europe as refugees and asylum seekers.
Muslims in Europe and America
The conquest of Persia carried out by the Rashidun Caliphate in the years
between 633 and 653 AD, opened the passageway for the
f
irst batch of migrant
Muslims to enter Europe through the Caucasus region. Later, Muslims entered
Southern Europe with the Umayyad conquest of Hispania, the region

A Drop of Wisdom
51
comprising the Iberian Peninsula in the 8th-10th
centuries. During the Middle Ages, Islam
spread from Spain to neighbouring
Portugal, Sicily and Malta. On the whole,
the Muslims who went to Europe in the
early days were very much diverse in
their origin and historical background.
The majority of the Muslims of that time
settled in the Balkans (Albania, Bosnia
and Herzegovina, Kosovo as well as in
some Russian Republics). While in the
Americas, the earliest Muslims who came
there in the 14th century came from the
Senegambian region of Africa. This group of
Muslims were the Moors expelled from Spain who later went to the Caribbean
and from there they went to the Gulf of Mexico.
In the twentieth century, as a result of the Algerian Independence, a large
number of Muslims migrated to France. In the year 1961, West Germany and
Switzerland opened their doors to migrant workers from Turkey. Likewise,
Muslims who went to Britain were from its former colonies like Pakistan and
Bangladesh.
According to reports from Pew Research Centre say that the EU now is the
home to 2.7% of the world’s Muslim population. In 2017, Pew also predicted
that the Muslim population of Europe would increase between 7% to 14 % by
2050. In terms of the largest Muslim concentration in Europe, France tops the
list with 3.35 million. Next, comes Germany, which in recent times has taken in
1 million Muslim refugees from Syria. In contrast to France and Germany,
Slovakia is the least friendly of all countries in the EU toward Muslims.
The Influx of Muslims into Europe
At the moment, roughly 44 million Muslims have been residing in Europe,
that includes expatriates, students, migrants, asylum seekers, and refugees.
The factors behind the large influx of Muslims in Europe are related to the
political turmoil in the Middle East, the outbreak of war, sectarian violence
and terror attacks on the civilian population, brain drain, Western preemptive

52
war on Muslim lands, etc. Below here is a further elaboration on factors that
cause Muslims to migrate:
1. Political Turmoil: Was the discovery of oil in the Middle East a blessing
or a curse is a thing only known to God alone. Ever since the discovery of oil,
countries in the Middle East became destabilized. The newfound prosperity
through the sale of oil and gas became a temptation for political leaders to
scramble to power. The rivalry in politics has led to a topsy-turvy situation in
the management of the countries. In the past, the Arab world had seen a few
coup d'états. When the government of the day was overthrown and a power
vacuum came into effect, anarchism and the idea that ‘might is right’ became
the order of the day. In witnessing the chaos and lawlessness, the masses tend
to move to more secure regions of the world, like Europe and the Americas.
2. War and Sectarian Violence: When two rival groups of different
ideologies or denominations go into war against one another, with rampant
bomb blasts heard here and there in the cities, civilians in those countries
were left with no choice other than to move away from their homeland leaving
behind their land and property. Impoverished because of the war situation,
they go to the extent of accepting the status of refugees and asylum seekers in
other parts of the world.
3. Terror Attacks: The lives of the Muslim masses are not only terrorized
by the radical groups in their own countries but more so by the invading
armies. The occupiers of the Muslim lands, who entered with the pretext of
restoring democracy, peace and freedom, in reality, come with their
clandestine plan of stealing oil and usurping the wealth of the Muslim world.
To that end, in achieving their planned mission, they recklessly kill those who
resist them. With the latest war machines and drones, they hunt their enemies
at the cause of killing thousands of those who are innocents. They normally
justify the killing of hundreds or even thousands of civilians as collateral
damage. Many times, they suspiciously and mistakenly kill a man and later put
a ‘terrorist’ label on him. Since the world media is under their control, they
control the narrative by saying they are the champions of democracy and
world peace, while the Muslims want war and bloodshed.

A Drop of Wisdom
53
The Challenges Faced by the Diasporic Muslims in the West
In witnessing the chaos, political instability, mismanagement, terror attack
and war in the Middle East and elsewhere in the Muslim world, made the
masses brave themselves to cross mountains, vast desert land and oceans to
make an exodus to the West. In the course of migrating, they have to face
many challenges. There is always a possibility, during crossing the border of a
country to another, they can be killed in a cross
f
ire, a bomb dropped from the
air, step on a landmine, die of exhaustion or drowned in the high sea. There
are many reported cases of the drowning of children and women while
making an escape using small and unreliable boats. According to the 2021 UN
report, over 3,000 refugees drowned or went missing at sea while making
attempts to enter Europe. For those who succeed in making it into Europe,
their sufferings are far from over. Over in Europe, they have to face some new
challenges. Below here, we have listed a few of those challenges:
1. Different Culture and Values System
Being present in Europe, make the newly arrived Muslims feel that they are
exposed to a new culture and value system that is very different from their
Islamic one. Normally, it takes some time for them to get used to the new
lifestyle in a foreign land. Though they live in a safe environment, it is very
dif
f
icult to rid their hearts and minds of thinking about their homes and others
they have left behind. Some refugees will take the given opportunity in the
Western countries and try to adapt themselves quickly.
2. Islamophobia
Despite the Western governments’ willingness to accept refugees and
asylum seekers into their countries, there are voices heard in those countries
to drive away the newcomers (who are the unwanted guests) back to their
countries of origin. This group of protesters use the internet and social media
as their platform to garner support for their movement. Through their
propaganda message, they use derogatory names like terrorists,
fundamentalists, extremists, jihadis, etc. against Muslims. Not only that, but
they also attack the personality of Prophet Muhammad SAW. Besides Muslim
men, the women who observe the Islamic dress code are harassed and
embarrassed in public places and on social media. The very extreme

54
Islamophobes, organize Qur’an burning campaigns, terrorize the mosque
community and sometimes even kill Muslims. Over the decade, many shooting
incidents happened in Western countries targeting the Muslim community.
The ones that happened in Norway and New Zealand seem to be the biggest in
terms of the number of people killed.
Things the Diasporic Muslims Should Avoid in the West
Muslims who for one reason or the other, ended up in the West must abide
by certain moral principles. Since they are on foreign soil and have to survive,
Muslims should be careful in dealing with matters that relate to the local
authorities there. The following will be some of the things they should avoid
doing:
‣ They should respect the law of the countries of their domicile.
‣ At no time during their stay in the West, they should threaten the local
authorities by saying that they will change the country into an Islamic one
and implement the Syariah law in the midst of the European society.
‣ All throughout their stay in the West, they should use the democratic
channel to voice their complaints to the authorities and not give in to
violent means to show their resentment.
‣ Muslims should not isolate themselves completely from Western
society. In matters that do not violate the Syariah and Aqidah principles,
they should join in with others, especially on issues related to the public
interest. Muslims have a valid reason from the Syariah perspective for not
supporting LGBT and other anti-Islamic movements.
‣ Overzealous Muslim scholars and evangelical organizations, should
avoid touching the sensitivities of other religious groups living in the
West. They should avoid belittling what they believe and worship.
Recommended Mannerism for the Diasporic Muslims in the West:
‣ Muslims should learn to coexist with people of other civilizations.
‣ Muslims should look into the commonalities between them and the
Europeans and avoid all religious and racial conflicts.

A Drop of Wisdom
55
‣ If there are any differences of opinion, they should apply the principle
of “Agree to Disagree”.
‣ Take the opportunity to learn all that is positive and allowed in Islam
and at the same time share their concept of spirituality when there is an
opportunity available to do so.
‣ Highly encouraged to participate in interfaith dialogues. During such
meetings, do not disparage other people’s faith and their concept of God.
‣ For scholars who want to promote Islam to people of other faiths, in
their communication they should apply a lot of diplomacy and
persuasion. Besides that, their behavior should reflect the ethical values
emphasized in the Qur’an and Sunnah.
‣ They should bind a good relationship with their immediate neighbours
in the locality in which they live.
‣ Muslims who take citizenship in Western countries, should
demonstrate their loyalty and respect the laws of those countries.
What the Muslim World Needs to do?
‣ To stop the mass exodus of Muslims to the West, by all means,
countries in the Middle East should avoid conflicts and wars.
‣ Dialogues and negotiations should be the
f
irst preference in resolving
differences between two countries.
‣ To avoid all political tension in the Muslim World, power transitions
should happen in a democratic manner.
‣ Leaders should put public interest above their personal interest.
‣ Leaders should think of providing good health care services, education,
job opportunities, and other basic necessities of life to their people.
‣ In running their countries, leaders should open the democratic channel
for public opinions to be heard, no violation of human rights, and no
racism and religious prejudice toward minority populations in their

56
countries. All citizens, Muslims and others should be given their human
rights and dealt with in the spirit of “fairness and justice”.
‣ In order to bring the much-needed peace and prosperity to the Muslim
World, leaders should be at the forefront of propagating the philosophy of
“Less Politicking and More Thinking is Needed” among their subjects.
‣ When a refugee crisis happens due to war in the Middle East,
neighbouring countries that are affluent and have vast land reserves
should temporarily take in the refugees until peace is restored in the
country of the refugees.
What Countries in the West Should do?
‣ To avoid the mass migration of Muslim refugees into Europe and
America, countries in the West should stop their interference in the
politics of the Middle East. Their greed for the control of oil and gas in the
Muslim World, should not cause them to destabilize Muslim countries.
‣ The West has to understand that when it disturbs the region of the
Middle East, people from that troubled region of the world are going to
come to Europe and ask for help. Like what people say, “What goes
around, comes around”. As a consequence of the Western atrocities in
the Middle East, European has to face the burden of the influx of Muslim
refugees.
‣ The West should abandon the idea of bombing countries in the Middle
East. By now the West should have realized that by bombing you cannot
stop terrorism. True to the saying, ‘terror breeds terror’, by terrorizing
the people in the Middle East, the West is going to produce more
terrorists and the vicious circle is never going to stop. Instead of bombing,
the West should try other diplomatic means of solving conflicts in the
Middle East.
‣ The West should leave all matters related to the Muslim World to be
dealt with by the OIC member countries.

A Drop of Wisdom(Latest Version).pdf

A Drop of Wisdom(Latest Version).pdf

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A Drop of Wisdom(Latest Version).pdf