Why Muslims lag behind as a nation?
The one and only that describes Muslims lagging behind in the race of nations is education. Education is what has deprived Muslims of glory and magnificence. In the wake of 20th century, everything in the world changed. Industrial revolution was knocking at the door of human civilization. Alongside the revolution was rising the need for higher and technical education. World Wars were going be fought over these assets and only educational superiority was going to win the world and that has been proven by the rise of America after World War I and II. They were technologically superior because they were investing in research and education of master minds and that was the decisive factor.
Muslims, on the other hand, were living off the fruits of sultanship in the era. The thought process had not much developed in Muslims so as to understand the magnitude of the change hitting the world. Muslims of this era were lagging in technical education, social sciences, general sciences and political studies. The sultan remained mainly aloof of the new world order and the vicious alliances in Europe of the day, hence, the last empire of Muslims came crushing down only because Muslims could not perceive the situation due to lack of proper understanding of international scenario.
Muslims had lagged behind after the fall of Baghdad and the tradition has never left them since. Even after the fall of last empire, Muslim world remained un-interested in the promotion of education, no special attention was paid on this sector, and this still is true for almost all Muslim countries. Right now Muslim world’s educational budgets are one of the lowest despite the overwhelming wealth that the oil rich countries own.
Another very basic problem is the mode of education in the Muslim world. The education sector has denied the concept of innovation and freedom of expression in the education and that has resulted in the stagnancy of the whole nation’s thought process. Consequently the Muslim world suffers from lack of development and progress, things that had belonged to Muslims once!
