by Shoaib Khan
To reach the top of a global market a top of the line strategy is needed. Presuming that we are trying to strategize as Muslims; then we have to start from some harsh basic truths. People within the fold of Islamic religion constitute around 30 % of 6.5 billion population of the world. But only six Muslims of the world have been recipients of the Nobel Prize so far.
Only three Muslim countries namely Malaysia, Kuwait and Iran occupy some positions in academic excellence among 41 Muslim nations. (How many Muslim majority countries are there - Ed?). So the climb up is very steep indeed. Let us therefore look for the best options and techniques available.
Technique -1: Use of Attachment Theory:
We are bundles of genes and environment. Attachment theory which originated in studies of the mother-infant relationship is widely viewed as having applications across the life span. Parents have more impact on their child's IQ than any other persons or institutions. Armor's research shows the importance of another set of influences: early family environments. Let us first maintain stimulating family environment in the Muslim households.
Technique 2 : Understand Learning:
There are two different methods of learning: by memorizing and by understanding. The first belongs primarily to the perceptual level of a human consciousness, the second to the conceptual. The first is achieved by means of repetition and concrete-bound association with no regard to content or meaning. This form of learning is shared with man by the higher animals. The second method of learning—by a process of understanding—is possible only for human beings.
What do we learn depends on how we learn? Some scientific concepts are discussed below:
a. Ability to connect: How well do we remember anything depends on how richly connected it is to other things we know. There are many methods of connecting one item or one system to another. Apparently “Three is to four” can be represented as 75 paise out of a rupee (100 paise); Three quarters of a rupee; 75%; 3/4th etc., yet it can take years for a child to see the connection between all of them.
b. Discerning Pattern: If we give you a string like- abababababababababab, you can summarize that by saying it is “ab” repeated 10 times. The series, 1 3 6 10 15 21 28 36 45 has a pattern which can be represented by the general formula n(n+1)/2. By recognizing the pattern of given conditions in a problem, we make a table and generalize the emerging pattern to find a general formula as an answer to any problem.
c. Use of Analogy: Analogy is a sort of similarity which we observe with our senses. Analogy pervades all our thinking, our everyday speech and our trivial conclusions as well as artistic ways of expression and the highest scientific achievements.
With reference to learning, there yet is another question, ‘why do we learn?’ This leads us to the next technique:
Technique 3: Use of Motivation: Motivation is a set of reasons for engaging in a particular behavior. The reasons may include basic needs (e.g., food, water, shelter, self-esteem) or an object, a goal, a state of being, or an ideal. Motivation accentuates concentration power.
A falcon at a distance of 8 kms and flying with a speed of 200 mph can target its prey (fish in the sea water) with its high power of concentration. Motivation of self-esteem has been a significant factor in transforming hundreds of world famous personalities (Michael Faraday was a book binder in his childhood, Charles Dickens used to do boot polishing, our own Ex-President Dr.APJ Kalam had to work as a newspaper hawker). Let us place these facts before our sons and daughters as sources of motivation and inspiration. Once Iqbal said “ dekha wah husne aalam soz apni chashme poornam ko…. Jo tarpata hai parwane ko rolwata hai shabnam ko.
Shoaib Khan, IPS, is a retired DIG and an active member of Patna Chapter of Bihar Anjuman. (shoaib_khan567@yahoo.com)
Manzurul Haque"
In Islamic theology, there is a strong directive for the Muslims to look for Signs in the phenomena of nature. Sadly this strand of thought has not struck deep roots in the Muslim consciousness. Life perhaps would have been different if we did look for Signs and draw necessary lessons from those Signs.
The extreme rigidity of our ideological moorings, leading to conflicts with those who do not share views with us, describes a stalemated situation. We may say that we are followers of the Prophet (PBUH) but the times of the Prophet had witnessed the movement forward of Islam at the highest possible speed.Today in the name of Islam one group of Muslims is hitting hard at the other group because that other is an ideological deviant. Surely, this is no way of propagating an ideology.
The art of miniature painting is different from the art of painting a wall. The reason for this difference lies in the size of the canvas. Evidence of this logic is found in the Creation of Allah itself. Fundamental laws of physics which operate at the existential level in apparently immutable ways, undergo remarkable transformation at the sub-atomic level. Can we take a cue from this, to be able to handle our private issues of the miniature canvas, independently from the public issues of the large canvas, without of course giving up either of them?
Because of the habit of mind, for a long time physicists could not convince themselves that the laws of mechanics do not hold good in the world of subatomic particles. Then finally with some training of mind, they were able to accept the coexistence of both the sets of laws, both being equally fundamental. After all if nature is the perpetrator, who can have the grudg?
When a question is thrown at me in secular India about the position of Islam, which stands for the abrogation of the Hindu way of life, I cannot coax myself to deny this position, because it is true. At the same time, when I probe my mind about my relationship with a Hindu, I honestly do not find myself antagonistic to him. How do I reconcile these contradictory facts of life? My answer is that it can be explained by the canvas theory which may not remove the contradiction, but which may lay down the ground work for co-existence, being intrinsic part of the design of nature.
It is possible to disagree with this line of argument, but as an intelligent follower of Islam, one is perhaps obliged to accept the centrality of co-existence, taking cue from the Signs hidden in nature. The ability to accept the principles of co-existence lies in the understanding of the fundamental laws of nature. I must take pains to explain that our aim should not be to regress into a situation of tearing apart larger canvas of our ideological life merely in order to accommodate our relationship with other humans. In reality no such tearing apart business is needed, if we can be convinced to accept both these apparently contradictory realities as equally sacrosanct. A person with true understanding of the naturalness of the two sets of laws governing the two levels of human existence would not be unduly affected in his personal relationships, because of his ideological differences.
In the above, all that was required to be said has been stated. In simple words, the idea is, that as Muslims we should have no difficulty in developing an attitude of tolerance towards some persons or some families, who are not entirely like us. The paramount need is to learn to co-exist. Everything else will follow. And the good news is that this approach is fully sanctioned by Islam.
Manzurul Haque is Chief Editor of this magazine (manhaq@yahoo.com)