Grieving Abdus Salam and the Muslim age of darkness

[Solomon2]

"The superiority of the learned man over the devout worshipper is like that of the full moon to the rest of the stars."

 

[sady]

this reasoning is precisely why societies do not advance. if the westerners chose to not learn from arab scholars simply because they were infidels, they would not have achieved the scientific progress that they have today.
who is saying may or may not define that person, but what is being said is always of utmost importance. sometimes you can learn good lessons even from the words of your worst enemy, as long as you are willing to listen, that is.

That is why I wrote 'sometimes' not 'always' because it saves time as well as a useless debate like for example I resisted a useless long theistic/atheistic debate with you knowing well where you come from sort of meta analysis of billion such debates. I can predict step by step all your arguements and honestly it bores me now.

 

[Cookie Monster]

the most popular faith for scientists of any repute these days (as in the past few centuries) is that of no faith. only followers of islam can be found clinging to their dogmatic beliefs in this day and age. in such a scenario where critical thinking and inquisitive nature are inhibited early on in life with muslim children, it is hard for them to produce any scientists of great calibre. Pakistan's heyday in scientific development was when it was largely secular and distant from religion, i.e, in the 1960s and 70s, when it was the leader in R&D among muslim countries.
the future, as it is now, seems very, very bleak.

I do not agree with that assessment. Historically there have been many scientists that held fast to their religious beliefs and made great contributions to science. This is true today as well even though the percentage of atheist scientists has grown. Religion and science do not have to interfere with each other.

 

[sparten]

Typical liberal nonsense. Abdus Salam was honoured many times by the GoP.
http://wiki.qern.org/ahmadiyya/myth-and-reality-of-dr-abdus-salam

• Abdus Salam School of Mathematics at GCU
• Abdus Salam Chair in Physics at GCU
• Abdus Salam Museum at the National Center for Physics
• Sitara-e-Pakistan for contribution to science in Pakistan (1959)
• Nishan-e-Imtiaz for outstanding performance in Scientific projects in Pakistan (1979) - Highest Civilian Honour
• On arrival in Pakistan in 1979, he was treated as a state guest and a government helicopter brought him to Rabwah, where I was one of those present to receive him
• Abdus Salam Prize at Centre for Advanced Mathematics and Physics
• Numerous symposia and conferences
• Stamp in commemoration

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[Optimus_Prime]

Dont want to sound apologetic but i beilieve there are many factors to consider here. It goes in waves.
While the western civillization is at its peak (or may just have passed its peak), the Islamic world is at the bottom of valley. Take europe a millennia ago. The situation was the exact opposite.

I think science and deep inquiry is a product of luxury. Its a product of free-time and boredom. Without money and technology most people struggle to just stay alive and survive. See China and India, two other great civillizations that also produced little (during the period of western scientific revolution that is) until very recent years.

The ulema is possibly the biggest obstacle here. They are so rigid on religious doctrines that very little deviation is alllowed before someone is labeled a heretic. Its not a coincident that the enlightened Mutazili movement (which was given official patronage by caliph Al Mamun, Al Mutasim and Al Wathiq) was opposed by the very same clerics and this was indeed a major turning point in Islam.

The Ulema has to change. It must be more open and embrace scientific revolution. We have to make them understand that our beloved Prophet (PBUH) was very much in favour of inquiry and knowledge. He told us to " seek knowledge, even if you have to reach China to obtain it".

 

[ADIL SHERDIL]

He was one of the few great people this country has ever produced and ironically the only noble prize winner other than Malala from the 7th nuclear power of world and yet Physics resea department in QAU cant be named after him because of someone have proven themselves to be more pious and true representative of Islam. Even his tombstone wasn't left alone it was vandalized many time by the people who should be kept inside Mosques not roaming outside spreading hatred against Shia qadyani etc.