I just read Science and the Islamic world --- The quest for rapprochement by Pervez Hoodbhoy and the article was so good I had to post about it here. In fact, the article was so well-written that it reminded me of Alexis de Tocqueville's Democracy in America. The two main differences, of course, are: Tocqueville was an outsider looking in, Hoodbhoy is an insider looking out. Tocqueville didn't face death threats upon the publication of his work. The entire article is a good read. I could quote excerpt, but there really are too many good sections to quote just a few. Take a read!
Give us the gist of it please as its quite a boring article. It seems like another anti-Islamic rant.
No. Do you homework or remain ignorant. The author is a professor of Nuclear Physics at Quaid-i-Azam University in Islamabad Pakistan.
Interesting article, Will. I fear it falls on deaf ears, however, and I fear for him. A courageous man. Curious - what about it reminds you of DeTocqueville's work?
Mydomainoffer, I'd recommend you read the article Will linked to before posting. The article addresses the brilliant contributions made by Islamic scholars, under enlightened Caliphs; but such contributions were made in a time of religious and cultural tolerance, not a climate of religious fundamentalism. The inventions your link cites are from centuries ago, now. Dr. Hoodbhoy's concern is over what contributions are being made now.
I agree, it's an interesting article.. dunno what makes people think it's 'Anti-Islamic' 'rant'... Poor ignorance...
Pervez Hoodbhoy is one of my favorite authors, do have a read of his "Why Couldn't Scientific Revolution Happen In Islam" (I think it's available on chowk). The sharing above is no doubt an indepth analysis and if compared with "Democracy in America" the first difference sounds more authoritative. Regards,
A very good article. Thanks for sharing. Some muslim are so... stubborn and ignorant, they still live the old ways. When having lunch, a muslim friend eat with his hands, while I eat with a spoon. He said to me, why I didn't eat with my hands? because prophet eat with his hands too.., it's sunnah he said. I said to him, did you come here with a camel or horse? because prophet ride a camel or a horse too. It's around me. They need to be waken up. WAKE UP!!! I believe that Islam and Science can live along together. Prophet once said that we should learn from the day we are born until the last second before we die. Even the first verse in Quran is Iqra... translate Read it. Islam actually tell people to learn how to read...
Your correct that Islam says to seek knowledge. I don't agree they need to be waken up.. Your friend was eating with his hands, so you think it's backwards? He tells you to eat with hands because it's sunnah. And it is sunnah. So why tell him to ride a camel then? Just listen and see what makes sense. I eat with my hands, no problem. It's actually healthier if you eat with your hands. Also, you think your "advanced" by eating with your forks and spoons? I laugh at you man. Fighting like a little child in first grade. Anyways bro, learn to live with different cultures, American culture doesn't dominate the world. Again, I agree with on the part of knowledge. Knowledge is the second most common word you will find in the Quran.
Civilized? Yes and so is eating with hands. Maybe you need to mature a bit before joining these kinds of discussions.
you can eat with whatever you want, it's your life not mine. if you eat with your hands than good for you, just don't tell me how to eat. sunnah? prophet eat with hands because back then there is no spoon. that why i tell my friend that prophet ride a camel because back than there is no car or plane. should we follow that too? Is it haram to eat with spoon? if I choose to eat with spoon so be it, that will be my problem not other people problem. they don't need to be waken up??? most of muslim live in the third world country. why? because they are not well educated. example, in afganistan only man (cmiiw) that can go to school when woman are not allowed to go to school. this must be change. muslim woman should allowed to go to school too. in Indonesia now they teach arab and english even japanese languages and also computer in muslim school, they don't want to lef behind. before, they only learn about Islam, how to read quran, sunnah etc not formal knowlegde. luckily, they already waken up now. But many people in Indonesia still think that woman should not have to learn as high as man, because woman will finally become somebody else wife. This is also wrong. Man and woman can learn as high as they can.
Mostly it was the "feel" of the work, caused by the depth and breadth of understanding on the part of the author. There is almost no relation between "knowledge of the will of Muhammad", which the Qua'ran teaches, and "scientific knowledge." Any attempt to equate the two amounts to little more than subterfuge for the purpose of propaganda. The collective Gross National Product of the all Muslim countries stands at $1,200bn, that of Germany alone is $2,500bn and that of Japan $5,500bn. This is a direct result of Islamic intolerance for rational scientific investigation. The Islamic world is focusing on the past, on the words of Muhammad. To succeed in the modern world, Muslims are going to have to focus on the future -- on science. Every moment a student spends memorizing the words of some dead guy is another moment that student does not spend learning scientific knowledge which he (or she) could use to improve their world. The Islamic world is full of religious teaching institutions, but is almost empty of institutions which teach students how to create new scientific breakthroughs. Is it any wonder that the U.S. issues over one hundred thousand patents a year, while Iran and Saudi Arabia both issue fewer than ten? Pakistan, the home of the author, is one of the brightest spots in the Muslim world in this regard. And they have made this so without the economic and geographical advantages of nations like Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Turkey. A large number of other predominantly Muslim nations could learn from Pakistan's experience.
YES YES YES Muslims are very bad , Muslims have nothing to do with science. YES YES YES You can kill us , you can occupy our land - take the oil etc , you can bring us your so called democracy without REMORSE. This is what is all behind this Anti-Islam propaganda you have remorse.And want to get rid of it. Read some history.
There was no spoon back then? Read up on some history.. InshAllah you will understand what I was trying to tell you. I didn't say eating with spoon is haram.
So, M5love, you eat with your hands foods such as a juicy salad ? Spaghetti ? Rice ? Whatever floats your boat, man.
M5Love - Please take these as a couple of sincere requests. I do not know why the idea of eating with your hands is considered a superior way to eat food. You indicated "it's healthier," and I cannot see why. Metal does not have have the nucleation sites/substrate for germs that living skin does, so I find this curious. Do you have a source? Secondly, pease help me to understand - you say the use of utensils is not haram; if it is sunnah, this means as it was in the tradition of word or action established by Muhammad, eating with your hands is prescribed, or is it a more fluid thing, subject to modern adaptations? If the latter, you don't use a spoon because you consider it less healthy? Please amplify - I'm sincerely curious.
Eating with your hands is not something practiced by a civilized society. I mean, people eat some things with their hands like cookies, pizza, toast, etc. But you don't see people eating soup or salad with their hands. Unless of course they are a baby child. But anyway, I'm going to get back to maturing some, I'll be back in a jiffy.
I wouldn't go that far. Personally, I think we have removed ourselves about as far from the essential nature of food as we can - it's a foreign object we place in our bodies, not something to nourish us and give us pleasure. So while I don't see as a question of "civilized" v. not, I do wonder about this process, in terms of M5Love's beliefs. But I asked him in sincerity, and I am hopeful he responds. By the way, my Avatar shows me butchering a bunch of beef ribeyes, off the export rack. I hate latex.