WHY ARE MUSLIMS SO POWERLESS?
According to Dr. Farrukh Saleem, there are an estimated 1,476,233,470 Muslims on the face of the planet: one billion in Asia, 400 million in Africa, 44 million in Europe and six million in the Americas. Every fifth human being is a Muslim; for every single Hindu there are two Muslims, for every Buddhist there are two Muslims and for every Jew there are one hundred Muslims. Ever wondered why Muslims are so powerless?
Here is why: There are 57 member-countries of the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC), and all of them put together have around 500 universities; one university for every three million Muslims. The United States has 5,758 universities and India has 8,407. In 2004, Shanghai Jiao Tong University compiled an ‘Academic Ranking of World Universities’, and intriguingly, not one university from Muslim-majority states was in the top-500.
As per data collected by the UNDP, literacy in the Christian world stands at nearly 90 per cent and 15 Christian-majority states have a literacy rate of 100 per cent. A Muslim-majority state, as a sharp contrast, has an average literacy rate of around 40 per cent and there is no Muslim-majority state with a literacy rate of 100 per cent. Some 98 per cent of the ‘literates’ in the Christian world had completed primary school, while less than 50 per cent of the ‘literates’ in the Muslim world did the same. Around 40 per cent of the ‘literates’ in the Christian world attended university while no more than two per cent of the ‘literates’ in the Muslim world did the same.
Muslim-majority countries have 230 scientists per one million Muslims. The US has 4,000 scientists per million and Japan has 5,000 per million. In the entire Arab world, the total number of full-time researchers is 35,000 and there are only 50 technicians per one million Arabs (in the Christian world there are up to 1,000 technicians per one million). Furthermore, the Muslim world spends 0.2 per cent of its GDP on research and development, while the Christian world spends around five per cent of its GDP.
Conclusion: The Muslim world lacks the capacity to produce knowledge.
Daily newspapers per 1,000 people and number of book titles per million are two indicators of whether knowledge is being diffused in a society. In Pakistan, there are 23 daily newspapers per 1,000 Pakistanis while the same ratio in Singapore is 360. In the UK, the number of book titles per million stands at 2,000 while the same in Egypt is 20.
Conclusion: The Muslim world is failing to diffuse knowledge.
Exports of high technology products as a percentage of total exports are an important indicator of knowledge application. Pakistan’s exports of high technology products as a percentage of total exports stands at one per cent. The same for Saudi Arabia is 0.3 per cent; Kuwait, Morocco, and Algeria are all at 0.3 per cent while Singapore is at 58 per cent. Conclusion: The Muslim world is failing to apply knowledge.
Why are Muslims powerless? Because we aren’t producing knowledge. Why are Muslims powerless? Because we aren’t diffusing knowledge. Why are Muslims powerless?
Because we aren’t applying knowledge. And, the future belongs to knowledge-based societies.
Interestingly, the combined annual GDP of 57 OIC-countries is under $2 trillion. America, just by herself, produces goods and services worth $12 trillion; China $8 trillion, Japan $3.8 trillion and Germany $2.4 trillion (purchasing power parity basis).
Oil rich Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait and Qatar collectively produce goods and services (mostly oil) worth $500 billion; Spain alone produces goods and services worth over $1 trillion, Catholic Poland $489 billion and Buddhist Thailand $545 billion (Muslim GDP as a percentage of world GDP is fast declining).
So, why are Muslims so powerless?
Answer: “Lack of education”.
Sayed Attallah said,
November 22, 2006 at 10:47 pm
I would like to thank the person who wrote this article. As a Muslim, I always believed that “Education” is one of the key elements to put Muslims back to the right track, enabling regaining our glory as a powerful nation enjoying at once “Power, honesty and Justice”.
However this is not the whole issue. Education and knowledge are not the only things we lack of! We possess Satellite channels and modern media but we’re talking to ourselves, nothing is designated to the majority of the earth who know nothing positive about Muslims and Islam; thus nothing can help to stop this war against Muslim. We cannot continue to live in these circumstances.
The other problem is how these Muslim countries are governed? How these countries were and continue being stolen with the aide of native traitors and corrupted systems? How popular movements and good leaders are tortured and assasinated in their own societies? …. This problem has nothing to do with diffusing knowledge or lack of education!! Most of those corrupted people are well educated and well prepared to serve their Muslim world, but they don’t, because they are corrupted, hypocrites; and they forgot that we are the best nation that god gave the humanity (much better than saying “Elected people” like Jewish interpret their message). Simply Muslims look for what is better for themselves and forget about every thing else. No organization and no care about 1.5 billion Muslim on the face of the earth.
Muslims react badly, sometimes with violence and some other times with passive attitude!! We lack more than education and ability to diffuse knowledge, we lack the ability to construct global objectives or global interests; instead of sinking in individual quarrels, Arab Muslims could not agree on a simple issue that they are deeply in concern! Look at Jewish who lie to the whole world, they never forgot that they are the elected people and the objective is the domination of the humanity, and more. They are well planned for their objectives with education, organization, military power, solidarity, complete human (Jewish) development …., and more and more. In fact, Muslims lack so many things; a whole process of human development is required for Muslims and Muslim countries!!! Is there a hope?
jameswillisisthebest said,
September 8, 2007 at 11:03 pm
This is my first post
just saying HI
Sama Hayat said,
October 1, 2007 at 3:04 pm
this is one of a very nice articles opening the eyes of Muslims.This arlticle really helped me in conducting of my research work of masters
Thankx
Azmat said,
July 3, 2008 at 3:52 pm
Salam Alikum
I do agree that education is key element but unfortunately, Muslims are unaware from the knowladge of Quran and sunnah.We are the same Muslims who had ruled the world around 1000 years and were most educated people of every field at that time.The only diffrent was that early muslims had submitted their will to Allah and had competely followed Holy Quran and Sunnah.It was early and true muslims who had brought civilization and education by invention of science.If we start following islam then Inshallah we can become the most powerful nation.We have to prevent ourself from watching movies,songs,looking non-mehram women and other things which are haram in Islam because these are the major sin which prevents muslim to gain education and to come on straight path.We all sholud consider on our education, should be honest,should pary 5 times a day and should read Quran and Sunnah for more guidence.
If there is any kind of question regarding my comments then my brothers and sisters can e-mail me for that.
Thanks
sandrar said,
September 10, 2009 at 1:06 pm
Hi! I was surfing and found your blog post… nice! I love your blog. :) Cheers! Sandra. R.