By Manzar Bilal, TwoCircles.net,
Patna: A two-day international conference on ‘Crisis in the Muslim Mind and contemporary world’ began today here at A.N. Sinha Institue of Social Studies, Patna. The conference is being organized by Institute of Objective Studies (IOS), New Delhi with the association of Forum for Literacy Awareness and Muslim Education (FLAME) Patna.
L-R (second) Dr M. Manzoor Alam, H. E.Debanand Konwar (Governor of Bihar), Dr Ahmad Abdul Hai, Prof. Abdu Hameed Abu Sulayman, Dr. Mashadi
“Islam teaches peace, brotherhood, kindness and respect of the humanity. Likewise other religions also give the same teachings but today there is not only crisis in the Muslim mind but also crisis in the mind of humanity at large. People are lacking knowledge even about their own religions which leads to misunderstanding. All religions should be treated nicely and justly because it will help to grow the civilization” said governor of Bihar H.E. Debanand Konwar while delivering the inaugural speech at the conference.
He appreciated the organizers for selecting the timely subject for the conference. “This is the important topic over which Muslim intellectuals, analysts and scholars should discuss because Muslims have given a lot to the world in every field who can forgets Umar Khayyam-the mathematician, philosopher, scientist and artist at the same time. But why Muslims are behind today it should be found out.”
In his welcome speech, Dr. Ahmad Abdul Hai, president of FLAME, said: “It is one step toward thousands miles journey to work for humanity. Islam is peace and blessing for humanity and the future of humanity lies in Islam. So, there is a need to stand up with the teachings of Islam and to call all to come for understanding the Islam.”
Chief Guest of the occasion Prof. Abdul Hameed Abu Sulayman, former rector, International Islamic University, Malaysia, spoke in length on the reason of crisis in the mind of Muslim with the references from the Quran, Hadith and history.
“Quran is guide for the humanity in all spheres of the life till the existence of the world but we have to find out that guidance. When we look at the period of the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) and his Caliphates especially the first two, we find that they were applying Islamic teachings in all their activities directly. But with the passage of time, people became lazy and left to think deeply over the Islamic principles to apply them in their lives. Thus they drew distance from Islam practically” he said.
“Four Imams used their minds to find out the solutions from the main sources of knowledge-Quran and Hadiths-confronting the people of that time. In fact many of their (Ijtehad) researches are applicable even today. Today we also need to go back to the Qur’an to find out the solution for our masaiel because philosophy for international peace is Islam
The conference was started with singing the national anthem followed by recitation of the Glorious Quran. The program was attended by intellectuals, scholars, educationists from across the city and outside of it.
In his presidential speech Dr. Manzoor Alam, chairman, IOS, highlighted the theme and objective of the conference.
“I do not feel any hesitation to say that there are crisis of thoughts among Muslims which came from the lack of knowledge. The conference has objective to create awareness among Muslims to deepen their knowledge” he said.
“You are the torch-bearer for the humanity and you can not do that unless you are knowledgable. You have sources of knowledge in the form of Quran and Sunnah you have to refer to them. If you are not just with yourselves then how you will be just with humanity at large” he urged.
Many intellectuals and educationists presented their papers on the theme of the conference including Prof. Z. M. Khan, secretary general, IOS, on “Dimensions of crisis in Muslim mind in contemporary world,” Prof. M.T. Khan on “Cognitive approach to the understanding of crisis in Muslim mind” and Prof. Syed Jalaluddin on “What confronts Islam and Muslims in India?.”