Azam 64A : Idea is what makes a man/woman.

steadyaku47 comment : A good write and read by my schoolmate Azam 64A

A verse in the Quran says every group i.e. tribe, race or nation will have its day. If we look at history this is true. The first civilizations on the Nile, Tigris/Euphrates were by brown people. China and India had early civilizations by yellow and darker complexioned people.

The first white achievement of note was by the Greeks. Their ideas shape the present developed world, ideas on democracy, their philosophical method of questioning and reasoning. Rome followed with its vast empire that lasted a few decades.

The Muslim civilization came about after the Prophet(pbuh) brought Islam. Not a new religion but a continuation of past revelations. It was to remind people on how to conduct themselves in this world and they will be questioned in the next for that. People got converted to this idea, they became energized, made achievements in all fields of human endeavor. Empires were also created, by people of various races and in different parts of the world.

In the middle east it was the Umayyad and Abbasid. After that the centre shifted to Egypt and N Africa by the Fatimids. They crossed into Europe, Muslim Spain was the centre of civilization and learning for a few centuries. Islam spread to south of the Sahara. There were large Muslim kingdoms in present day Nigeria and E Africa. Timbuktu, although now a by word for remoteness was a centre of learning.

There are many ancient Muslim texts still surviving there. They were created by people whose skin was black. Black is beautiful. Great Muslim centres and empires came up in present day Iran and N India and even S India, in Hyderabad. The Taj Mahal which stands for beauty (politicians say they stand for duty) is testimony to Muslim architecture, engineering. There can be no doubt to the greatness of past Muslims.

After the 14th century, something happened in Europe and also in the Muslim world. In Europe their thinking process changed, they rediscovered the Greek philosophers.  They began questioning the church, why their prayers and bible was in Latin, a language they did not understand. They wanted to read God's message in a language that they understand. Man must question all of his actions and also what is going on around him in nature. The answers must be understood by everybody, and everybody must be able to replicate. This brought about the scientific process.

In the Muslim world, ideas became rigid, they were not encourage to question. God

had sent His message through His prophets. Man is to accept them, in the form understood at that time. Muslim ideas became ossified as to that time. As far as human ideas are concerned, time had stood still. Sharia is a v big thing to Muslims, with that comes Hudud. To Hj Hadi and Pas these are God's commands on humanity. They have to implement them, no compromise.

Prophet Muhammad did not made or say Sharia to be in the form that it is now. It came about, evolved many years after him. It was created by people of various generations, mostly well intentioned as to their time. But it need not be rigid. Allah's message is for all people of all time and places. Human affairs never remain static.

The whites are dominant only after the renaissance in Europe, a short time in human history. If we Malays are backward (not all are), it is not because of our color, our genes, but because of our ideas, how we understand Islam. Time to read Allah's message from its original source, from the Quran and Hadith in a language that we understand. Not all that had been opined and taught about Islam are what the message was to be. The Chinese will endeavor to improve their lot, by hard work, honest and dishonest means because the idea is ingrained in their culture. The Anglo Saxons, N Europeans respect authority, the constitutions of their states, civic minded because their culture, education implant the idea in them.

Idea is what makes a man/woman.

azam 64A