Muslims and the Elusive Nobel Prize
By Dr Ghulam M Haniff
St. Cloud, Minnesota
Once again Nobel Prizes have come and gone with nary a Muslim name up for awards to be called for presentation. Alas! Muslims had expected at least a token though nothing showed up on their itching palms. In desperation the Pakistani communities in Europe as well as in Gulf submitted the name of Malala Yusufzai, who had survived an assassin’s bullet, but nothing showed up in her empty hands either.
No one expected a tangible or a big reward but the name submitted carried some weight. Under normal circumstances the name submitted would have been significant to catch someone's attention. This game played was among the grown- ups and therefore involved different rules.
Many people expected the name of Malala to be a draw but even though the name is popular in some parts of the world it had no drawing power where it counted. The name belonged to a person less than grown-up. The name had appealed but not enough to make it into the consciousness of Nobel awardees.
The name of a young person growing up as Malala was popularized by the younger set, mostly by girls and younger women. They shared numerous attributes of the young people and dreamt of setting the record right at the dawn of the next generation. They hoped that their dreams would capture the world of tomorrow. It was of course Malala, who appealed to the young, the unconquerable and the bold. Unfortunately, Malala’s name did not have that kind of magic and could not draw sufficient people to her cause.
As usual ten scholarly papers were given the Nobel Prize and those included the following disciplines: Economics, Physics, Medicine, Chemistry and one in Literature. The formal presentation of the awards will take place next year and those in charge will have to wait until that time. The magical appeal will be dramatized on a stage at that time.
Muslims have talked a lot about the awards and how they intend to compete in this task effectively. Many have taken up the cudgel seriously in order to enter the competition and break the barriers that had kept them out. Some Muslims have built outstanding schools and developed habits to stay at the top. But their scholarly achievement leaves much to be desired since their curriculum effectiveness is lacking and virtually all suffer from a steady supply of competent teachers. The university system also has similar problems which affects the high schools although the authorities are busy rectifying them. The problems of high schools show up forty or fifty years later when the student is looking around for a variety of ways in which to apply initiative or innovation. By that time, it might be too late.
Therefore, good education from the beginning is a major incentive for a person who intends to excel throughout his life. Challenge and response has to be a constant factor for an individual intending to excel in this academic competition.
At the moment those nations which pulled through have all excelled at high levels and include China, India, United States, Brazil and Pakistan. All are among the most populous countries as well as the largest ones. Among these the only populous country which has not received an award was Indonesia.
Islam’s encounter with the Christian West began over the controversy involved in the planetary movements as well as the path of earth on the solar system. The whole issue of paradigm led to each side clinging on to its own and it remained that way for the longest time. Owing to the crude nature of the construction of observatory and defective aspects working tools the Christian and Muslim measurements could not be reconciled. One of the greatest scientist, Al-Battani (born 858), had correct theory though the measurements presented left somewhat to be desired.
Among the Muslim scientists several were well known in Europe though the Christians tried to hide their identity as much as possible. Though telescopes were crude they preserved the Greek traditions in order to maintain the unity of the scientific discipline. One of the first scientists to work on this problem was Al-Battani and much of his work was copied by Nicholas Copernicus. The two-volume work is still preserved at the Library of the University of Padua.
This is what Muslim students and scientists have to do in order to excel in scientific enterprise once again. The Muslim scientists, whether Al-Battani, Al-Haytham or Al-Tusi, were all brilliant and employed the most innovative enterprise. Muslim students, at all levels, have to employ similar caliber of sophistication that others obtained in order to get ahead in their endeavors.
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