 |
Al-Ahram Weekly 15 - 21 June 2000 Issue No. 486 
|
||
Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
| ||
|
Al-Ahram Weekly 15 - 21 June 2000 Issue No. 486
|
||
| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
| ||
Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Features Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters And God said, 'Read'
By Amina ElbendaryMuslim delegations from far and wide joined local dignitaries to attend the 12th General Conference of the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs held from 11 to 14 June at the Cairo Marriott Hotel. "Islam and the Mutations of the Epoch" was the theme, part of a larger "Civilised Project for the Renaissance of the Muslim World." Presented papers dealt with ways and means of promoting scientific research and technological advancement in Muslim states.
Held under the auspices of the Ministry of Al-Awqaf [religious endowments] and the Council's vice-president, Abdel-Sabour Marzouq, the conference was inaugurated by Al-Awqaf Minister Mahmoud Hamdi Zaqzouq. The opening session was attended by many dignitaries, including Mufid Shehab, minister of higher education and scientific research, Esmat Abdel-Meguid, secretary-general of the Arab league, Pope Shenouda III of the Coptic Orthodox Church and Sheikh Mohamed Sayed Tantawi, grand imam of Al-Azhar Mosque. Participants included delegations from all Muslim and Arab countries, as well as representatives of Muslim minorities in non-Muslim and European countries such as Germany, Britain, France and Spain.
In his address to the conference -- read out by Minister Zaqzouq -- President Hosni Mubarak struck a poignant note by arguing that Muslims cannot hope to conquer technological illiteracy without first conquering alphabetical illiteracy. Indeed, the rates of illiteracy in most Muslim states remain shamefully high for a people to whom God revealed Himself in the Qur'an by the command "Read."
The president also stressed the need for technological co-operation and integration among Muslim states. Indeed, the need to coordinate between Muslim scientists and institutions was a theme that came up all too often in the conference, with many participants calling for the initiation of joint research projects between scientists from different Muslim states.
l-r: Hamdi Zaqzouq; Sheikh Mohamed Sayed Tantawi; Esmat Abdel-Meguid and Pope Shenouda III
photo: Abdel-Wahab El-Sehiti
Gaafar Abdel-Salam, Jordanian minister of Al-Awqaf and Muslim holy sites, pointed out that technology is not the creation of individuals, and that this is even more sharply the case with the revolution in information technology. He emphasised several principles and values -- upheld by Muslim ethics -- that needed to be promoted and encouraged within Muslim societies to ensure the existence of a "technological environment," one suited to the needs of the new age.
Chief among these is teamwork. Kuwait's Abdel-Rahman Al-Awadi argued that individual Muslim institutions alone cannot compete with the advanced world. Instead, they need to coordinate their efforts and work closely together.
Mohamed Yusri Mohamed Mursi, president of the Egyptian Academy for Scientific Research, called for the activation of the many existing "Islamic" institutions and structures rather than the creation of new ones. The proliferation of institutions curtails the prospects of coordination between them. Abdel-Aziz Al-Tuweigri, president of the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation [ISESCO], lamented the fact that the percentage of national income directed towards scientific research in Muslim countries does not exceed 1 per cent, while in Israel, for example, it reaches 13 per cent. He called on Muslim states to increase their budgets for scientific research to at least 3 per cent of national income.
Mubarak's speech also stressed the need for consolidating Muslim mores and values to serve as a ceiling for scientific freedom. The need to reconcile Muslim values and principles with the demands of scientific research and the technological revolution was the overriding concern of many speakers. Gamal Aboul-Sorour, a professor of gynaecology at Al-Azhar university, expounded several moral principles that should guide any scientific or medical research, especially research conducted on human beings with the clear objective of benefiting mankind. Research that does not aim to produce better treatment should not be carried out, he argued. On the other hand, the presentation by Murad Hofmann, representing Germany, highlighted the practical irrelevance of this position. He stressed that with the advent of globalisation, Muslims can no longer protect themselves from what is going on in the rest of the world by using protectionist methods of control. He implied that if Muslims refuse to carry out some sort of research, someone else will. He added that "whatever can be done, will be done," including research in gene technology.
And the answer for Muslims? A path of modernisation that falls short of Westernisation, an emphasis on intact families and a system of education keyed to morals, values and Islam. If that sounds too vague, it is because none of the participants really dared to address the philosophical and deep epistemological implications of their proposed plans of action. At the heart of their position was the deeply-entrenched, self-perpetuating presumption that it is possible to master the tools of modern technology without appropriating the morals and values -- the culture -- that gave rise to it, a presumption that led many to talk about "modernisation without Westernisation."
In a remarkable presentation, Sheikh Ikrema Sabri, the mufti of Jerusalem, urged Muslim governments to focus on the teaching of the Arabic language as fundamental to the study of Islam. In the Internet age, when knowledge has become instant, condensed and mostly Anglicised, the failure to master the Arabic language makes the corpus of Islamic heritage practically inaccessible to new generations of Muslims. Sheikh Ikrema strongly advocated "the opening of the doors of ijtihad [exegesis]" so that Muslims can stand up to the "winds of change."
Yet, unfortunately, the conference's agenda did not deal with contemporary Muslim jurisprudence. The enormous advances made in technology mean that new questions are constantly being raised and that Muslim theology faces new challenges.
Similarly, while all participants and speakers talked about the Internet, none addressed the challenges which Internet Web sites and chat rooms posit to traditional fiqh [jurisprudence]. There is a whole new generation of Muslims from diverse cultural backgrounds who are discussing all sorts of theological issues on-line. These are not the traditionally educated faqihs [Islamic scholars] well-versed in ussul al-din [fundamentals of religion], and yet they are in effect reformulating Islamic jurisprudence. The Egyptian Ministry of Al-Awqaf has joined these debates by establishing its own Web site, www.islamic-council.gov.eg, which is also linked to the Al-Azhar site. In a sense, therefore, these traditional institutions are now competing with institutions and agencies from all over the world, creating an ever-vibrant Muslim discourse. Perhaps that could be the topic of next year's conference: Muslims in Cyberspace?
