Making it to the Top
Once again as I scanned the newspapers when the Nobel Prize winners were announced there was nary a Muslim name. Alas! The experience was a bitter disappointment. And so it was for numerous other Muslim observers expecting a miracle.
At this point in time Muslims constitute about 22 percent of the world’s population though not even one is talented or skilled enough to become a Nobel Laureate. No doubt it says a lot about the state of education in the world of Islam as it does on the intellectual orientation among Muslims.
Brain development is not exactly a popular idea in the Muslim world and very few people are willing to make sacrifices for the sake of their children. One mullah I met recently said that “Muslims should have lots of children.” Who will take care of them, I blurted out. “God will provide for them and educate them.”
The Nobel Prize began to be awarded at the beginning of the twentieth century to recognize the extraordinary contributions in scientific disciplines and in the world of ideas. Since its inception only a handful of Muslims has been able to win the coveted honor. At present they number less than 0.01 (one-tenth) of one percent.
The world famous Dr. Abdus Salam of Pakistan was one of the first Muslims to be so honored. His field of specialty was in physics and the research for the award was conducted at the University of Cambridge in Britain and the (UN) International Center of Theoretical Physics that he founded in Trieste, Italy.
At his acceptance of the honor in Stockhom he appeared in shalwar and kameez to convey the dignity of his religious tradition. He also wore dignified turban characteristic of Punjab complete with specially designed shoes popular in the Islamic historical times.
Since that time no one has appeared at one of the Nobel ceremonies dressed in Islamic garb. Subsequently, all the other Muslim recipients of the award emulated the “master” and tried to fit-in.
Muslims have long ways to go in the field of learning, with innovative and seminal ideas, before they are invited to be present at Nobel events. Education, including scholarship and research, continues to be short-changed in just about every Muslim country perhaps with minor exceptions.
Whenever I am at a Muslims gathering I am frequently reminded of the greatness of Muslims and meet or see people who claim to be great. However, they can never provide me with any tangible evidence of their claim. Like their leaders ranging from Abdel Gamal Nasser to Muammar Gaddafi to Saddam Hussein they are good at making bombastic claims but usually have nothing to back them up. Much to the embarrassment of many Muslims they continue to engage in this irrational behavior endlessly.
Almost thirty years ago I presented a paper at an academic conference in Pakistan on the topic of the status of education in the Muslim world. Among other things it showed that the rate of illiteracy among the Muslims was one of the highest in the world and rate of school attendance one of the lowest. Respected academics at the conference were up in arms at my allegations and would have gone after my hide for the preposterous (for them) claims. Thirty years later not much has changed when we look at schooling in Afghanistan or Somalia or Yemen or Iraq or Pakistan and elsewhere.
However, many people believe that Muslims are currently at the top and are destined to remain at that perch. After listening to my diatribe on education one maulavi said to me at a gathering: “Brother, are we not in America?” “Are we not building mosques? “Isn’t it possible, today America and tomorrow the world!”
But the real question is: are we giving our children meaningful education and are we inculcating in them relevant values, including many from the Qur’an that dwell on to “think and to ponder.”
In America, there is at least one religious/ethnic group among whom the lack of college background is considered a sign of failure. At least two others are close second. Even the recent arrivals, such as the Vietnamese, are developing this cultural attitude.
Muslims in general and Pakistanis in particular are quite satisfied being taxi-drivers and factory workers. America is too complicated for them to understand and to negotiate as it is for many well credentialed Muslims educated back home. In contrast, Indians from India have made real breakthroughs into the corporate world, the media, academics and the world of finance.
Muslims have yet to develop an intellectual tradition, respect for learning and a desire for knowledge. These exist nowhere in the Muslim world and its consequences show up everywhere, including America.
