I wish to firstly, promise you that I will keep this talk very short and direct because when it comes to beating around the bush, I neither have any talent nor do I possess any skills in that. And I believe that if you kick the ball too much, the other person on the other side has to counteract it with as much force as those forces which are affecting the ball’s instability to put it to rest. So forgive my not-mincing-words type of address.
Over the past week, I have been hearing the tag of war between the professionals from secular sector and professionals from Islamic side. All what they were fighting for, is who is superior over the other. Anyway, that’s not an issue but let me go straight to what has made me scribble this article.
I call upon professionals (and by professionals, I mean those in both secular and Islamic fields) to at least lend me their ears and after that, should try to put their brains to work. Life is too short to keep on repeating the same old mistakes. One of the recurring mistakes that we have is “disunity and jealousy” between secular and Islamic professionals. We, the ‘laymen’, are tired of this because it affects us directly and indirectly. I would even be quick to say and admit that currently, we are but left with one nerve of patience for professionals and as if it was not bad enough, they are continuously leaning on it.
If you were to ask any Muslim the definition of ‘Islam’, I‘m sure among the definitions given, “Islam-is-a-way-of-life”, would be among them. Of course, we quickly and automatically give out this answer because we only hear(ed) or read without pondering over its heaviness. Undeniably, a ‘way’ of our lives will have to automatically decipher into secular and spiritual aspects of our lives (because that’s the reality of this world).
But before someone pronounces me a ‘non-believer’, let me make it veeery clear that by ‘secular’ (which may mean ‘not having any connection with religion’-which of course is a phrase I don’t intend to mean here) but I, on the contrary, firmly intend to mean ‘scientific advances’. For example, Islamic scholars use printing press to print their books, which (the printing press), I’m sure was not invented by Islamic scholars. Through the Islamic books printed by the printing presses, our access to Islamic knowledge has been highly accelerated.
In short, for Muslims to develop, we need to acknowledge that the recipe for our success lies in the Islamisation of scientific advances (or Islamisation of modernity) which can only be done by embracing a good amalgam of secular and spiritual professionals.
Having said that (though in a clumsy way…), I would like to then request the MAM and other Islamic organisations or associations to appoint or involve the ‘secular’ experts in positions that require ‘secular’ expertise or professionalism. The same applies to our Muslim brothers and sisters with secular expertise and who have formed organisations or associations, that they too, should include and consult our Islamic professionals for directions. Just as our ‘secular’ experts are needed for development, the need for our Islamic scholars is equally the same.
Lastly, we understand that running an organisation or leading people is not an easy task and that at times you, in both parties of professionalism, really try your best to produce the intended results(May Allah reward you abundantly for that). However, if you are to favour your grudges and jealousy (this applies to those who have these qualities) due to your personal interests or something of that sort, which then results into disunity…then know that Allah is ever-watching and he does not like the corrupt ones.
I leave you with the words of our Lord;
“And hold firmly to the rope of Allah all together and do not become divided…” Qur’an 3 V 103.
The views explained in this article are solely for author and does not in anyway necessarily represent the views of this website.
