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Recently I was asked to do a seminar on called "Quanitative Literacy and Social Justice".
The seminar had many speakers from Undergraduate Mathematics/Engineering/Biology/Chemistry/Physics majorsto Graduate students to PhD candidates to Professors to professionals in various fields.
The essential premise of the seminar dealt with the condition of the general public possessing inadequate skills and conceptual understanding of quantitative subjects (science and math) asides from the rudiments of arithmematic. Such a state leaves the general public handicapped and unable to combat the exploitation of large powerful companies and interests groups who are in effect wresting peoples liberties and and disempowering them by manipulating their decisions or impeding them. This happens with everything from buying/purchasing consumer goods, health, vehicle and property insurance, medical industry, finance (stocks/bond prices and trading) to even how misuse of science itself is used to sway or control public opinion.
The analogy of how scientific and quantitative illiteracy becomes an issue of social justice for the North American public, is analagous to the disparity and destitute condition of the Muslim World.
To say that the causes of the Muslim world's despair are the products of a few elements alone is inaccurate. However we can see how scientific and quantitative illiteracy has had numerous impacts on the fortitude of Muslim society for centuries.
Muslims are at the lowest rung of any objective standard of viability. Muslims are constantly invaded and subjugated; subject to political manipulation, puppet governments and decimation; even the Muslim resistance to these things is virtually incompetent; they must depend on solely guerilla tactics to retaliate, suicide bombings end up killing more civilian Muslims than imperialist occupying elements. Disabling any aggressive infrastructure is scarce if any.
This is directly due to having Muslims who don't know how to build competent weapon faculties; from having Muslims untrained in mathematical techniques of accurately hitting occupying military infrastructure. This is directly due to lacking the technology to develop sophisticated weaponry, which is related by lack of knowledge of science, , lack of knowledge of mathematics.
Muslims are constantly being economically exploited; Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and UAE having billions of dollars of resources at their disposal, combined have an economy smaller than Spain (granted GDP and GNP measurements are themselves defined by imperialistic control). The billions of dollars of architectural infrastructure often itself being economically, environmentally and materially inefficient is made almost purely of external resources, brain power to build them is from mainly non-muslim engineers and labor force. The financial drain of even building and maintaining such unnecessary, inefficient and impractical facilities will cost billions. This too is due to lack of knowledge regarding mathematics and economics, lack of knowledge regarding a quantative understanding of the demands such ventures would require. Mistribution of resources which could be used to fortify society are being used and squandered to make symbolic show pieces.
Muslims are also suffering from severe health crisis, common ailments which are easily treatable are not being treated and medical resources unavailable. Child Mortality is high in Muslim societies and women's as well as male health concerns are not being addressed. The animus against Biological Sciences and the Theory of Evolution has stifled crucial research to treat ailments and develop cures, assess public health issues and apply plans to improve public health.
Other poignant examples from Environmental Health amd Conditions, to Energy usage, domestic technological facilities and economic independence can be traced back to this condition.
In numerous ways we can see how the lack of quantitative and scientific literacy is not only crippling Muslims but keeping Muslims in a perpetual state of impairment. Muslims who are talented and gifted in quantitative and scientific knowledge often end up leaving their societies culiminating into a brain drain for Muslims societies. Ultimately they become assimilated into the economic and techonological fabric of these societies and their work is not credited to them but rather the societies they migrate to.
The lack of quantative and scientific literacy in Muslim societies leads to other baclkash Muslims who are mathematically and scientifically talented end up dependent on external support because of lack of material support in their respective societies which and are left gullible to accepting the ideologies and doctrines which they associate with external corruptions; similarly Muslim societies as a whole being dependent on external factors for technological and scientific resources, end up exploited and under the mercy of external facilities; which leaves them susceptible to adopting and internalizing the corruptions originating from these societies.
The Islamic Scholarship have proven themselves incompetent in providing a sufficient solution and resistance against these problems and in fact have set the conditions for the problem to persist. Their preoccupation with beard length and pants being rolled up instead of promoting knowledge has left society stagnant. Let's be honest what is more important, health or beard length, is the one who is more knowledgeable the one who can roll up his pant legs or use a miswak or the one who can calculate and apply math which can provide sufficient water to homes and electricity into facilities without having outages and inconsistent current? The paradox is this lack of emphasis on quantiative literacy/scientific literacy is in fact engendering what the Islamic Scholars are trying to misguidedly prevent; the corruption of Muslims to Unislamic beliefs and ideologies; because of the lack of sufficient self reliance in quantitative literacy as stated earlier opens the opportunity for unislamic indoctrination and conditioning. Indeed international educational assistance in Muslim societies which often do provide some degree of scientific literacy do so under the premises of encouraging and promoting their sociocultural values into Muslim youths; hence keeping the vicious cycle alive.
While technology and science does not itself make Muslims stronger; a Muslim can be scientifically literate and ideologically corrupted and lost; however it is without a doubt that scientific literacy is a crucial method and tool for regalvanizing and strengthening Muslims. We will never win any war, never defeat immorality and corruption with erratic tactics like suicide bombs, we will never be able to resist military occupations by rolling our pant legs and growing long beards. for Islamic revolution to be successful we need scientific literacy.
If we ever want to create social justice for Muslims this is a crucial Must; and we must act now.
The seminar had many speakers from Undergraduate Mathematics/Engineering/Biology/Chemistry/Physics majorsto Graduate students to PhD candidates to Professors to professionals in various fields.
The essential premise of the seminar dealt with the condition of the general public possessing inadequate skills and conceptual understanding of quantitative subjects (science and math) asides from the rudiments of arithmematic. Such a state leaves the general public handicapped and unable to combat the exploitation of large powerful companies and interests groups who are in effect wresting peoples liberties and and disempowering them by manipulating their decisions or impeding them. This happens with everything from buying/purchasing consumer goods, health, vehicle and property insurance, medical industry, finance (stocks/bond prices and trading) to even how misuse of science itself is used to sway or control public opinion.
The analogy of how scientific and quantitative illiteracy becomes an issue of social justice for the North American public, is analagous to the disparity and destitute condition of the Muslim World.
To say that the causes of the Muslim world's despair are the products of a few elements alone is inaccurate. However we can see how scientific and quantitative illiteracy has had numerous impacts on the fortitude of Muslim society for centuries.
Muslims are at the lowest rung of any objective standard of viability. Muslims are constantly invaded and subjugated; subject to political manipulation, puppet governments and decimation; even the Muslim resistance to these things is virtually incompetent; they must depend on solely guerilla tactics to retaliate, suicide bombings end up killing more civilian Muslims than imperialist occupying elements. Disabling any aggressive infrastructure is scarce if any.
This is directly due to having Muslims who don't know how to build competent weapon faculties; from having Muslims untrained in mathematical techniques of accurately hitting occupying military infrastructure. This is directly due to lacking the technology to develop sophisticated weaponry, which is related by lack of knowledge of science, , lack of knowledge of mathematics.
Muslims are constantly being economically exploited; Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and UAE having billions of dollars of resources at their disposal, combined have an economy smaller than Spain (granted GDP and GNP measurements are themselves defined by imperialistic control). The billions of dollars of architectural infrastructure often itself being economically, environmentally and materially inefficient is made almost purely of external resources, brain power to build them is from mainly non-muslim engineers and labor force. The financial drain of even building and maintaining such unnecessary, inefficient and impractical facilities will cost billions. This too is due to lack of knowledge regarding mathematics and economics, lack of knowledge regarding a quantative understanding of the demands such ventures would require. Mistribution of resources which could be used to fortify society are being used and squandered to make symbolic show pieces.
Muslims are also suffering from severe health crisis, common ailments which are easily treatable are not being treated and medical resources unavailable. Child Mortality is high in Muslim societies and women's as well as male health concerns are not being addressed. The animus against Biological Sciences and the Theory of Evolution has stifled crucial research to treat ailments and develop cures, assess public health issues and apply plans to improve public health.
Other poignant examples from Environmental Health amd Conditions, to Energy usage, domestic technological facilities and economic independence can be traced back to this condition.
In numerous ways we can see how the lack of quantitative and scientific literacy is not only crippling Muslims but keeping Muslims in a perpetual state of impairment. Muslims who are talented and gifted in quantitative and scientific knowledge often end up leaving their societies culiminating into a brain drain for Muslims societies. Ultimately they become assimilated into the economic and techonological fabric of these societies and their work is not credited to them but rather the societies they migrate to.
The lack of quantative and scientific literacy in Muslim societies leads to other baclkash Muslims who are mathematically and scientifically talented end up dependent on external support because of lack of material support in their respective societies which and are left gullible to accepting the ideologies and doctrines which they associate with external corruptions; similarly Muslim societies as a whole being dependent on external factors for technological and scientific resources, end up exploited and under the mercy of external facilities; which leaves them susceptible to adopting and internalizing the corruptions originating from these societies.
The Islamic Scholarship have proven themselves incompetent in providing a sufficient solution and resistance against these problems and in fact have set the conditions for the problem to persist. Their preoccupation with beard length and pants being rolled up instead of promoting knowledge has left society stagnant. Let's be honest what is more important, health or beard length, is the one who is more knowledgeable the one who can roll up his pant legs or use a miswak or the one who can calculate and apply math which can provide sufficient water to homes and electricity into facilities without having outages and inconsistent current? The paradox is this lack of emphasis on quantiative literacy/scientific literacy is in fact engendering what the Islamic Scholars are trying to misguidedly prevent; the corruption of Muslims to Unislamic beliefs and ideologies; because of the lack of sufficient self reliance in quantitative literacy as stated earlier opens the opportunity for unislamic indoctrination and conditioning. Indeed international educational assistance in Muslim societies which often do provide some degree of scientific literacy do so under the premises of encouraging and promoting their sociocultural values into Muslim youths; hence keeping the vicious cycle alive.
While technology and science does not itself make Muslims stronger; a Muslim can be scientifically literate and ideologically corrupted and lost; however it is without a doubt that scientific literacy is a crucial method and tool for regalvanizing and strengthening Muslims. We will never win any war, never defeat immorality and corruption with erratic tactics like suicide bombs, we will never be able to resist military occupations by rolling our pant legs and growing long beards. for Islamic revolution to be successful we need scientific literacy.
If we ever want to create social justice for Muslims this is a crucial Must; and we must act now.
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