Talib or simply a “seeker of knowledge” was once a highly revered title in the scholarly world of Islam. It was an accolade passed on to a person with the unsatiated desire to gain knowledge. However, over the years, the meaning of the word has changed significantly. Today, it is interchangeably used to describe a person who is a member of a terrorist organisation. Interestingly, the turn of the tide has not come about in isolation, rather, it has brewed slowly to full boil over the years through systematic propagation of western thought and ideals.
During the 14th century, newly emerging European powers went through a period of tremendous reforms and progress. This resulted in massive economic growth that allowed these powers to expand their cultural, social and political etiquette to the rest of the world.
Inspired by the prevalent economic thought, these powers believed that the true wealth of the nation laid in the natural resources they owned. Therefore, a massive drive for colonisation ensued across the world. During the first wave of colonisation, in the 16th century, the Ottoman Empire, ruled by a Muslim ruler, had a dominant position in the Eurasia region. This often gave her the power to dictate her terms to weaker European powers, levy heavy taxes and block the waterways leading to trade routes to the Indian subcontinent and the Middle East. To bypass this, European powers attempted to explore an alternate route to the markets. After a prolonged and a consistent effort, the sailors in these attempts, rather than finding a way to India, accidentally stumbled upon a landmass that today we know as the Americas. Ironically, much of the historical accounts from the time attribute the discovery of the Americas to the wonderful marvels of Christopher Columbus. However, what is often ignored, in the so-called factual accounts of history, is the truth that when Europeans landed in the Americas, there was a population of 18 million indigenous native Americans already occupying the land. They had an established habitat and a system in place for economic, social and political affairs of life. Therefore, to portray that Columbus discovered America is a statement in perspective only. If we shine the adventures of Columbus through the lens of today’s world, his rather magnificent introduction would be limited to a humble description of him being amongst the first few migrants to the lands of Native Americans from Europe.
Likewise, in literature the adventures of the British Raj in the Indian subcontinent depict a similar position. Through, system propagation of the British educational system, honourable titles of the Muslim world, like, Maulana, Wali or Alim were gradually discredited and replaced by titles of the British “masters” like, Sir, Lord or baronets to name a few. The imperialist adventure in the Indian subcontinent did not stop there; to systematise the dominance of western ideals, the educational system was designed to create an intellectually impotent population of Indian people.
Unfortunately, the prolonged degeneration of Muslim’s intellectual capacity and abundance of skewed historical accounts of Muslim achievements in academia left a hollow space for misrepresentation to emerge. Even to date, majority of the research that is consumed in the Islamic world comes from the west. According to estimates, around 2 million research papers are published annually around the globe, out of which, a little over 55 percent of the publications come from Europe, USA and other English-speaking countries.
In Pakistan, the situation is no different, there is little to no resistance to the foreign ideals being systemically absorbed and uncritically adopted by the masses. The schools heavily rely on the western text where they preach and teach the content created by foreign authors. Similarly, the youth is bombarded with concepts like conservative to mean a person who adheres to Islamic cultural and social norms, and a liberal person to be more acceptable because that person follows a western lifestyle. Likewise, much of scientific knowledge today is attributed to the wonderful work of Greeks and the work of Europeans, the Galileoes, and the Newtons. Altogether, skipping the contribution made by the great Muslim scholars like Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi, the father of Algebra, Ibn-e-Sina, who is well regarded to have laid the philosophy of Ethics and moral conduct in a society and many others like them.
Muslim thought has a rich and profound contribution to the emergence of science in the world. However, these efforts are scarcely highlighted in literature or popular media. Nonetheless, nations derive their strength from their heritage and cultural value system. Therefore, it is essential that we develop a clear distinction between foreign and local value systems. This will allow for us to develop a future generation that has the ability to think independently, contemplate and form a practical and critical outlook towards life.