Islam and Society

The promise that the 21st century will be one where tolerance and co-existence would subsist, irrespective of differences in race or creed is continuously reiterated by world leaders. A new era, they call it, of freedom to think, do or say whatever you wish.

In turn, the media continues to question whether or not Islam can contribute to the Western world, latching onto a new issue every week. The latest being made by the Evening Standard, a British newspaper in which they compile a study, titled 'Is Islam good for London?'

In the interest of balance, let us look at this question in a broader essence. Let us ask, Is Judaism good for the Western world ? What about Christianity, Hinduism and Buddhism ? Are they a religion which is more coherent with the Western society of the 21st century. This sounds irrational and has enabled us to look at this question in a different light.

This shouldn't be about Islam, infact it shouldn't be about religion at all. It is deplorable that a society that prides in it's tolerance of other faiths is now raising a question of whether a single religion is good for its social platform. Surely, each and every being should be probed for their individual contribution towards the better-ment of society, rather than judging them by their religious beliefs.

If a crime has been committed, than an individual has committed it, not a person of a certain religious orientation. How can one focus on working towards the improvement of a society if they are constantly being ostracised for the actions of a minute few ?

Fortunately for us muslims, the constant barrage of anti-islamic views that are being publicly demonstrated have actually drawn people towards our noble faith, whose simple message is the peace and salvation of mankind through submission to the Almighty God.
Larry Mack, a Christian socialist, said, "There are many practising Christians, Jews and believers of other faiths, but the Muslims have reminded us of the essential societal value of total submission to the Lord and complete will to improve society"

Muslim contribution towards the fields of science, mathematics, medicine, astronomy, chemistry and philosophy have been immense. But this has all been ignored by todays media, in preference over juicier stories that depict only the violence and terror associated with Islam. A few examples of muslim contribution are explained below;

[1]Algebra, originates from the word 'Al-Jabr'. This came from the title of a book, Hidab al-jabr wal-muqubala, written in Baghdad in about 825 A.D by the Muslim mathematician Mohammed ibn-Musa al-Khowarizmi. This book was used as a principal textbook in European universities until the 16th century. He also developed sine, cosine and trigonometrical tables, which were later translated for the West. Al-Khawarizmi also helped introduce Arabic numerals, the decimal position system, and the concept of zero. Algebra and Algorithm are in fact a corruption of his work and name.

[2]Abu Ali al-Hussain Ibn Abdallah Ibn Sina, universally known as Avicinna (980-1037), wrote 246 books in his lifetime, including, Kitab-al Shifa (The Book of Healing) consisting of 20 volumes and Al-Qanun fit Tibb (The Canons of Medicine) . The Qanun was the chief guide for medical science in the West from the 12th to the 17th century. Dr. William Osler, who wrote The Evolution of Modern Science, remarks "The Qanun has remained a medical Bible for a longer period than any other work". Containing over a million words, it surveyed the entire medical knowledge available from ancient Muslim sources.

[3]Another great physician was Abul Qasim al-Zahrawi (963-1013 AD) who is known as Albucasisto the West. He was a famous surgeon and students and patients flocked to Arabia from Europe for his advice and treatment. He wrote the medical encyclopedia al-Tasrif li manajaz an-il-talif, which contained 30 sections of surgical knowledge and illustrations of 200 surgical instruments, most of which he designed himself. The Encyclopedia was not only a standard for physicians, but even five centuries later it was being used as the standard textbook on surgery in universities in Europe. He also performed many delicate operations such as Cesareans and was also the first to use silk thread for stitching wounds.

[4]Abu al-Hassan al Haitham (965-1039 AD) was one of the most eminent physicists, whose contribution to optics and the scientific method was immense. He contradicted Ptolemy's and Euclid's theory of vision that objects are seen by rays of light emanating from the eyes. According to Haitham, the rays originated in the object of vision and not in the eye. Through this kind of extensive research on optics, he has been considered the father of modern Optics. Roger Bacon and all medieval Western writers on optics based their work largely on his Opticae Thesaurus and it even influenced Leonardo da Vinci, Johann Kepler and Newton. Haitham also studied the phenomena of sunrise and sunset and explained rainbows through the principle of reflection. He was known for the earliest use of the camera obscura as well.

These are to mention but a few of the contributions, that great muslim thinkers have had to the world. Without these scientists, the development of science and civilisation would have taken a very different turn.

I hope that the Muslim influence to the world does continue as it has been over the last decades. Let us all join hands and better our understanding of Islam, re-evaluate and challenge stereotypes in others, and more importantly, within ourselves.