Published on Feb 08 2010 by Tommy Kallon, Sadr Majlis Khuddamul Ahmadiyya UK

Most worthy Chairman Majlis Khuddamul Ahmadiyya Research Association, Respected Naib Sadr Majlis Khuddamul Ahmadiyya Switzerland, distinguished scholars, my dear brothers Khuddam.

Assalamu Alaikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuhu.

Although I am delighted to have been invited to this first Majlis Khuddamul Ahmadiyya UK Research Association Conference and I am honoured to deliver this concluding address, I must confess I am slightly overawed to be speaking in front of so many academics and intellectuals while I do not consider myself competent enough, scholastically, to pitch an address at such bright and learned minds.

Perhaps I can begin by congratulating Mohtamim Amoor-e-Tuluba, Mansoor Ahmad Sahib, and especially Dr Tauseef Khan Sahib, Chairman of the Majlis Khuddamul Ahmadiyya UK Research Association, and his team on the successful conclusion of its first ever Annual Research Conference. That you had participation from outside the UK is a measure of your enterprise and industry. It gives me great pleasure to welcome Rashid Waraich Sahib, Naib Sadr Majlis Khuddamul Ahmadiyya Switzerland, to the UK and to this Research Conference.

It is truly wonderful to see this hall filled with so many colourful academic posters each of which provides meaningful insights into intriguing areas of research. I pray that herein lie the colours of progress; where many Ahmadi Muslim brains come together not only to display their academic prowess but to apply it to achieve progress in service to their Creator.

Progress comes in many forms. It is the desire to recognise and extract the genius from within us that necessitates the seizure of a problem and the application of a uniqueness of thought and approach; a focus on outcomes that discards prejudices and preconceptions, and challenges, with relish and gusto, accepted interpretations and common understandings. I believe, without doubt, that it is by partaking of Divine knowledge passed on to us by the Holy Prophet (saw) and the Promised Messiah (as) that we can establish in practice what the poet Ezra Pound once said, “Genius…is the capacity to see ten things where the ordinary man sees one.”

Common amongst all geniuses is free thought. It is that thinking; that search for knowledge and its intrinsic connection with Islam that I want to speak to you about today.

The natural intelligence that underlies genius is one of the most profound of human faculties and probably our most important. Deriving from the Arabic word “aql”, its Islamic significance stems from the essential obligation of every Muslim to see and understand truth. Some of those truths require thought; some are self-evident.

Take, for instance, the concept of Unity of Allah. Rooted in the pre-eminent and paramount undertaking that every Muslim makes, that there is none worthy of worship save Allah, our intellect induces a recognition of the Unity of Allah as the dominant force behind all things good. This universal truth, self-evident to every Muslim scientist, dispels the so-called contradiction between Islam and science.

Many thinkers, admittedly outside of this conference and outside of our Jama’at, would ask how the alleged dichotomy of science and religion can in any way be resolved so let me attempt to deal with that.

Whereas the scientific society may suggest that, for instance, Fourier’s Law of Heat Conduction, or Bernoulli’s Law of Fluid Dynamics are human theories that determine the conduction of heat, or the pressure and flow speed of liquid respectively, a Muslim scientist’s intellectual recognition of the existence of Allah, itself a self-evident truth, obviates this fallacy. A Muslim scientist is able to apply these scientific laws, whether they be Fourier’s Law, Bernoulli’s Law or indeed Newton’s Law of Motion, not as a determinant dreamed up by secular scientists, but rather the evidence that these laws represent some of the many wonderful manifestations of Allah’s Will.
 
And Allah has made such will clear, rewarding man with scientific understanding in the Holy Qur’an itself. There is not enough time today to discuss these in detail but let me present before you a couple of examples.

The Holy Qur'an says:

“And we made of water every living thing. Will they not then believe?” (Ch.21:V.31).

The relationship between water and all living organisms is readily understood. Science has now determined beyond doubt that, in line with this Qur’anic declaration, living organisms indeed are largely constituted from water.

The Holy Qur’an also notes in the same verse:

“Do not the disbelievers see that the heavens and the earth were a closed up mass then we opened them out?” (Ch.21:V.31).

Science has now demonstrated that the universe was developed from indistinct mass. We now know that the fundamental particles in the universe and those found in earthly matter are of identical constitution.

Whilst my examples are few, they are cogent and decisive. They demonstrate that Islam is entirely consistent with science because science, at its root, is in fact the study of Allah’s work.

For centuries Muslims pushed the outer envelopes of accepted thought, introducing the world to concepts that would underpin the development of science beyond boundaries thought humanly possible at the time.

Islam’s rapid spread during the time of the Holy Prophet (saw) and under the leadership of the Rightly-guided Khulafa precipitated what is commonly referred to as the Golden Age of Islam – a period which ushered in immense contributions to philosophy, science, engineering and governance.

An expansion of Muslim dominance spanning the Middle East, and stretching as far as Europe and North Africa brought the widespread implementation of modern science by some of the most outstanding scholars that the world has known.

The development of modern medicine, astronomy, mathematics, the refinement of algebra and trigonometry and the physical use of optics were legacies from an Islamic era. Muslim scientists brought both knowledge and application into inventions that remain central to modern life today. Everything from simple tools such a scissors to complex water powered pumping machines and standardised weighing scales are all contributions from Muslim science.

Indeed their legacy lives on, not only in machines but words too. Many words today retain their Arabic origins: “algebra”, “algorithm”, “zenith”, “alchemy” to name but a few.

With this in mind, it is heartening to know that this quest for truth and scientific knowledge has been fostered by the Majlis Khuddamul Ahmadiyya UK Research Association. In fulfilment of the purpose for which I established it under the Amoor-e-Tuluba department within Majlis Khuddamul Ahmadiyya UK, with the blessed approval of Hadhrat Ameerul Mumineen, Khalifatul Masih V (atba), the Research Association appears to have taken strident steps in satisfying its search for knowledge.

A case in point is a more one hundred thread long email exchange among its membership that included an exegesis on the Holy Qur’an discussing the application of Qur’anic injunction through numerology and the meaning of Muqatta'at using Abjad values. Muqatta’at, as you know, is the combination of Arabic letters at the start of certain chapters of the Holy Qur’an, for example, Alif Laam Meem.

This study of the Holy Qur’an is central to scientific research. Indeed the development of life, both in human and others forms, is specifically addressed by the Holy Qur’an. Revealing the possibility of more advanced creation with sensory perceptions beyond the five human senses that we currently know and understand, Hadhrat Khalifatul Masih IV (ru) challenged those who presented the proposition that evolution might have been blind and inadvertent. In his book, Revelation, Rationality, Knowledge and Truth, with both wisdom and prescience, he expounded the understanding of the Almighty Creator as set out in the Holy Qur’an. Among other jewel-esque contributions, through his inspiring study of the Holy Qur’an, he demonstrated how it predicts the ultimate transformation of mankind into a different entity. Discussing Chapter 14, verse 20 of the Holy Qur’an which states “Do you not see that Allah created the heavens and the earth with Truth. If He so pleases, He can do away with you, and bring a new creation”, Huzur (ru) said:

“The verse under discussion does not speak of replacing man with others like him. It clearly mentions the bringing into being of a new creation ‘khalq’ and speaks of the whole of mankind to be changed into a different entity… Quite distinct from the subject of life after death, the Holy Quran also speaks of a different form here on earth which will supersede humans… Thus, the Qur'an raises the possibility of more advanced forms of creation developing, with superior faculties or even new senses in addition to our five.”

(Revelation, Rationality, Knowledge and Truth, pp.487-488)

His avant-garde engagement with the complex issue of evolution looks beyond historic analysis of origin, looking more to the future in an approach that seeks to address conduits of scientific thought often considered difficult to evaluate. It is studies like these that form the starting point of greater understanding; it is studies like these that constitute higher learning, the dissemination of which should be pioneered by this Research Association.

Last September’s challenging and thought provoking discussion on atheistic tradition as propounded by Richard Dawkins seem also to have been a catalyst for thought, encouraging the Research Association to identify ways and means of countering atheistic arguments. With this in mind, thought should also be given to the erroneously supposed paradox between the concept of Divine predetermination and that of human free will. Although the Holy Qur’an beautifully deals with this point when it says “whatever good comes to thee is from Allah and whatever of evil befalls thee is from thyself” (Ch.4:V.80) this common and infectious argument among atheists levelled at all Abrahamic monotheistic religions is suggestive of false and derisory notions about Allah that are worthy of serious and intellectual challenge.

These and other challenges should not be a source of nervousness or apprehension. As mentioned before, for hundreds of years after the Holy Prophet (saw), challenge was the staple diet of Muslim scientists. Supported by injunctions in the Holy Qur’an to seek knowledge, the Holy Prophet (saw) once said:

“He who issued forth in search of knowledge is busy in the cause of Allah till he returns from his quest.” (Tirmidhi).

It was the gravitational pull of Khilafat that precipitated the rapid progress of Islam during its Golden Era. Once Khilafat ended, the dominance of Islam also began to ebb.

Today, we see a renaissance of Islam in the form of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama’at. This is no mere axiom. Under the Divinely-inspired leadership of Khilafat, that gravitational pull is restored and the Golden Era of Islam is once more within sight. Here lies before you an attainable goal in which Khuddam and Atfal in the UK, who stand in the epicentre of the physical presence of Khilafat, can strive for.

And so, whilst it is my prayer that Allah blesses the Majlis Khuddamul Ahmadiyya UK Research Association for its efforts so far, these are not yet achievements that warrant respite. This is a time to march forward, to reinstate that Golden Age of Islam, to once again establish a dominance of Muslim intellectual contributions to society.

During his opening address at the first Jalsa Salana of the Khilafat Centenary year in Ghana, Huzur Aqdas (atba) said,

“Excel others in hard work. Excel others in education. That should be the hallmark of an Ahmadi. Allah told the Promised Messiah (as) that the people of your Jama’at will progress in knowledge. Therefore, I advise the youth: Immerse yourself in studies to the exclusion of everything else. Advance so much in every field of education that your minimum target is a Nobel Prize.” (Hadhrat Khalifatul Masih V, Opening Address, Jalsa Salana 2008, Ghana)

The Nobel Foundation in their biography of Professor Abdus Salam, the first Muslim to receive a Nobel Prize in Science, said of him:

“Abdus Salam is known to be a devout Muslim, whose religion does not occupy a separate compartment of his life; it is inseparable from his work and family life. He once wrote: "The Holy Quran enjoins us to reflect on the verities of Allah’s created laws of nature; however, that our generation has been privileged to glimpse a part of His design is a bounty and a grace for which I render thanks with a humble heart.”
(http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1979/salam-bio.html)

It is that dedication and contribution to Islam and society that should be the benchmark which this Research Association aims to emulate. It is those Nobel Prize winners that will be the measure of your success.

To bring about unity among man under the canopy of Allah’s mercy was the challenge set for us by the Promised Messiah (as), the Holy Founder of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. Raised to illumine those whose hearts and minds had become darkened, to re-elevate Islam to its proper station, he sought to instil in all those who choose to avail it, the true understanding of Islam.

That task transcends his lifetime and it is now for us to propagate that message and to engage in intellectual dialogue and discussion with both determination and resolve. With that, ignorance and indifference must become the first casualties of our intellectual struggle, a struggle in which each of us plays an active and pivotal part.

Let me close with this. Frederic Nietzsche once remarked, “A man of genius is unbearable, unless he possesses at least two things besides: gratitude and purity.”

I admonish you to be grateful to Allah for whoso is grateful is grateful for the good of his own soul. May we serve His great cause with a purity of mind and spirit that ultimately elevates our spiritual station to ever loftier dimensions. Ameen.

Thanks for having me. Wassalam.