By: Shafeen Mahmood
Source: Muslimvillage
Although there are narrow-minded people who try to undermine the effort by Muslims in shaping the world we live in today, history has always slapped those who prefer opinion in the face of facts. Talk about Abbas Ibn Firnas who was the first person in history to attempt flight, or about Al-Khawarizmi whose contribution to Algebra was beyond accolades [1], or think about Fatima al-Fihri whose university of Al-Karaouine [2] is the oldest and continually operating educational institution—there is simply no way anyone with the ability to reason would quibble about Muslim intellectuals or their works to assist humanity.
Is there anything that, despite all the negative media coverage and commentary, we could be proud about at present? Is there anything that could actually bring up a smile on our face amidst these turbulent times of trials and tribulations? Well, let us look up some achievements and benchmarks which the mainstream media choose to ignore…
1) Muslims are the most charitable- According to a recent research, Muslims in the UK were seen to be the most charitable people. Nearly £371 each, Muslims topped the count of religious groups who gave to charity. Many of the charitable donations were made online [3]. Moreover, our charities across the globe range somewhere between US $200 billion and US$ 1 trillion. At the low end of the estimation, the figure is fifteen times greater than the global humanitarian aid contributions [4]. This is the scenario when many of our Zakat contributions are used ineffectively or mismanaged. Just imagine what would happen if Zakat was applied in its authentic form!
2) Princess Nora Bint Abdulrahman University (PNU) – Although dignitaries of “developed” nations often scream their hearts out regarding women’s rights in the middle east, the world’s largest women-only university is situated in the capital city of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia [5]. Diplomas, bachelor as well as post graduate degrees are offered by the public university. Their campus spreads over more than eight million square meters, which is equivalent to 26 million feet, and 50,000 thousand students at maximum can be hosted in its 15 departments. Paperless work policy, exquisite lodging facilities, medical features, etc. make PNU stand out from the crowd.
3) The globe’s largest natural flower garden- Haven of 45 million flowers stretched over an area of 72 thousand square meters, Dubai Miracle Garden is something the world has hardly seen. Floral displays are said to change each season so that visitors and tourists may enjoy a new experience every time they visit. Alongside conventional flowerbeds, the garden features topiary-style displays with blooms choreographed into the shapes of pyramids, igloos, hearts, stars, and so on and so forth [6]. However, I personally didn’t like the fact that the garden was inaugurated on Valentine’s day.
4) Wadi Al-Salaam (the Valley of Peace) – Although Islam is the fastest growing religion, we all know that Islam is yet not the world’s largest religion. But what we do know is that the world’s biggest graveyard is located in the city of Najaf, Iraq [7]. The ancient Islamic cemetery is around 1400 years old. It is situated close to the grave of one of the ten promised paradise who’s also the fourth caliph of Islam—Ali Ibn Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him). An approximate number of 500,000 additional corpses are buried in this graveyard every year, while the figures have risen during recent wars. The cemetery is also on the Tentative list of UNESCO’s world heritage sites [8].
We Muslims have clinched several world records as well. For example, Palestinian Muslimah Iqbal As’ad who started medical school at the age of 14, and later showed the world what Muslim women are made of by becoming the officially certified, Guinness accredited youngest doctor in the world in one of the professions which require lengthy periods of education as well as practice [9]. Moreover, ‘the largest same name gathering—first name’ was achieved by 1,096 people named after Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) in Dubai, and that’s another record [10]. Furthermore, the world’s largest ‘kurta’ of 101 feet was made by Pakistani craftsmen [11], and that’s another world record!
At the end of the day, dear Muslim, we all know that the present Islamic world is not all rainbows and butterflies. We all have hideous skeletons in our cupboards, and, like you, I am also furious about the hypocrisy of most Muslim politicians and lawmakers. However, this article was inked simply to state that although our drawbacks are inevitable, we should also remember that it is not all doom and gloom. I wonder if you even heard of any of the aforementioned achievements from the mainstream media. I urge my brothers and sisters in faith to not look down upon the Islamic world of today because we are advancing in all aspects of life. I sincerely believe that practicing Muslims will assist humanity a great deal as they did in the pages of history. But the question remains… are we practicing Muslims?
References:
1) http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/meast/01/29/muslim.inventions/
2) http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/oldest-university
3) http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/07/21/muslims-give-most_n_3630830.html
4) http://www.irinnews.org/report/95564/analysis-a-faith-based-aid-revolution-in-the-muslim-world
5) http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/05/15/149218.html
8) http://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/5578/
9) http://www.worldbulletin.net/news/138738/palestinian-girl-the-youngest-doctor-in-the-world
10) http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/largest-same-name-gathering-first-name/
The views expressed in this article are the author’s and do not necessarily reflect those of MuslimVillage.com.
