Islamic Renaissance

Ibrahim B. Syed, Ph. D. 
President
Islamic Research Foundation International, Inc.
7102 W. Shefford Lane
Louisville, KY 40242-6462, USA
E-mail: IRFI@INAME.COM
Website:  http://WWW.IRFI.ORG

TEXT OF ADDRESS DELIVERED BY Dr. IBRAHIM B. SYED, Ph.D PRESIDENT OF ISLAMIC RESEARCH FOUNDATION AND CONVENER INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ISLAMIC RENAISSANCE: ACTION  PLAN FOR THE 21st CENTURY, MALCOLM X COLLEGE, CHICAGO,  MAY 26, 1995 IN HIS WELCOME ADDRESS TO THE CONFERENCE DELEGATES. 

Assalamu Alaikum: 

Dear brothers and sisters, sons and daughters in Islam and ladies and gentlemen. I cordially extend to you all a very warm and hearty welcome to this International Conference on Islamic Renaissance, perhaps the first in North America and the world. 

I would like to personally and on behalf of the Islamic Research Foundation gratefully acknowledge the voluntary services of Sr. Mazhar Ahmed and Br. Hamid Ahmed and Br. Majeedullah Khan in making this Conference a reality. Last but not the least, I am very much indebted to Professor Seyyed Hossein Nasr, for so graciously consenting to become the Chairman of the this Conference. Also it would have been extremely difficult to hold this Conference without the generous support of our 55 individual and organizational Co-sponsors. 

One of the missions of the Islamic Research Foundation is to accelerate the momentum to achieve Islamic Renaissance. To me Islamic Renaissance means the intellectual growth of the Muslim Ummah. Intellect is the greatest gift of Allah (SWT) to mankind. Intellect grows through thinking or Tafkir. There are several Ayath in the Qur'an which mention the word " Yatafakkaroon." We are interested to encourage young Muslims to learn and apply research methodology to interpret the Qur'an and Hadith in the light of modern knowledge. To conduct essay writing competitions to the Muslim youth to make them aware of our rich Heritage. Muslims in the western world as well as Muslims in the Muslim lands ruled by colonial powers have been deprived of the knowledge of the achievements of our ancestors. Gravitation, Evolution, spherical trigonometry, blood circulation and thousands of discoveries in the areas of science, technology and medicine were known to our ancestors at least 800 years before they were re-discovered by the Westerners. During the golden age of Islamic civilization, Europe was in the dark and undeveloped. The orientalists have acknowledges that it is the Muslims and their achievements in all the branches of knowledge that paved the way to Renaissance in Europe. Our model for Islamic Renaissance is not European Renaissance but the golden age of Islamic civilization.  

The decline of Islamic Civilization started with the loss of Muslim Spain or Andalusia in 1492. Earlier there were setbacks due to external attacks such as the Crusades and the Mongol invasion during the eleventh and thirteenth century. However a major cause of this decline is Obscurantism. The Western society advanced in

sciences and technology when they rebelled against their religion. On the otherhand, the Muslims fell down from their illustrious

achievements in science and technology when they moved away from the Noble Qur'an. 
 

 The first word revealed to Prophet Muhammad(Peace be upon him) was "IQRA" which means to read and not "Allah", "Rasool", "Salat","Siyam", "Zakat" or "Hajj". Both the Qur'an and the Hadith have laid great emphasis on Education. However today the Muslim Ummah is 1.2 billion, but unfortunately the literacy rate is between 25 to 35 per cent, and among rural women it is only 2 per cent. The highest literacy rate is 92 per cent among the Muslims of Kerala state in India. Ibn Khaldun said 700 years ago that a nation that does not respect Education will not make progress. Today education is a "must" for the survival of Muslims as Muslims. Investment in education is the best investment. The hallmark of any civilization is its intellectual achievement. Without education there can be no intellectual achievement. The Islamic Research Foundation supports all educational institutions and organizations such as the Iqra International Educational Foundation. Intellectual freedom is the bedrock of intellectual growth. Alhamdulillah, there are over 60 Muslim countries. But how many countries promote intellectual freedom? The answer is ZERO. The Islamic Research Foundation publishes a humble Newsletter called "ILM". I am proud to inform you that it is the only Muslim publication in the world with a motto which says "stimulating intellectual growth through differing viewpoints." The editor, Dr. Syed Eqbal Hasan strictly adheres to this policy. 
 

Poverty is the greatest enemy of mankind. Vast majority of the Muslim Ummah is in this state. Poverty killed more than 20 million people in 1993, says the World Health Organization(WHO). These people died of infectious disease-malaria and tuberculosis, or from prenatal, neonatal and maternal causes, all consequences of poverty in the form of poor sanitation, lack of clean water and malnutrition. Impoverished conditions also contributed to the deaths of 12.2 million children less than 5 years old in 1993. Of 5.6 billion people in the world, half lack access to the essential drugs, more than one fifth live in extreme poverty, and almost one third of all children are malnourished. These are shocking figures! Let us reflect-honestly and realistically. In this Conference we will be addressing to the issues of poverty alleviation, Islamic financing and nutrition. 

Our ancestors established an integrated society by integrating religion, science, politics and administration-all inspired by the same Islamic ideal-the Islamic ideal of Balance and Compassion- Adl and Ihsan (justice and good). There is a need to achieve a balance between Islam and modernity through Ijtehad(creative interpretation), the un-utilized methodology and foundation of our Sharia, after the Qur'an and Hadith. We need to rebuild our Educational System, Human Rights, Law and Order, Entitlements of women and minorities and to close the gap between the rich and the poor. 

It is suicidal or will result in enslavement if Muslims do not utilize modern science and technology. Muslims should adapt to modernity. Islam is not against modernity. This neglect of modernity resulted in the colonization of Muslim lands. For example in the last century Imam Shamil of Chechnya fought with swords and spears whereas the Russians fought with machine guns and artillery imported from Europe. Russians defeated Imam Shamil and annihilated his army and the whole Central Asian Muslim Republics.

Like Tipu Sultan of Mysore in India, Imam Shamil stood alone, Muslims never helped him. When Shamil was on his way to perform the "Hajj" in Arabia, the Ottoman Sultan offered him his right hand to shake, Imam Shamil, in turn, put out his left hand. "When I needed you in my fight against the Russians and I stretched out the right hand you offered me nothing" he said. 100,000 British controlled and ruled 300 million people in India. Through modernity, 5 million Jews effectively kept at bay 200 million Arabs. 
 

In the last 100 years people like Imam Muhammad Abduh, Jamaluddin Afghani, Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, Allama Mohammad Iqbal and others tried to uplift the Muslim Ummah and emphasized the importance of modernity. We must continue their mission and improve the quality of life of the Muslim Ummah. We cannot solely depend on the Muslim rulers and governments. This movement should start from the grass roots. Ibn Khaldun predicted that when the Rulers become corrupt, then they will be swiped out from the forces that come from the rural areas. The Iranian revolution is a good example of this. We must start our revolution with our dedication to FreeThinking, Education, Objectivity, Critical Thinking, Freedom of statement, Courage to seek proof, Courage to challenge falsehood and corruption. 

Let us solve the problem of celebration of Eid days and the sighting of the Hilal through critical thinking and critical analysis. Let us not become a laughing stock in the eyes of non-Muslims. Let us aim to establish high quality educational institutions including Universities with all the disciplines and faculties catering to the spiritual, physical and intellectual needs of Muslims. 

If there are any short comings and deficiencies in holding this Conference, then I take the blame and all the good things go to Allah(SWT) and we thank Him for His blessings and rewards.  
 

"DON'T FIND FAULT, FIND A REMEDY."