When the Qur’ān was being revealed in Makkah and Madinah, the Arabs were generally not educated. In Makkah there were only a few dozens who used to know how to read and write.
Yet when the Qur’ānic verses dealing with historic events related to the struggle between Pharoah and Moses (Prophet Musa) were revealed, the Arabs were not unfamiliar with this historic tussle which took place thousands of years before them and in entirely alien land.
Similarly, when the Qur’ān discussed the history of Bani Israel (The Children of Israel) or messages of previous Prophets or even Hakim Luqman’s advice to his son, the Arabs, in general, were able to pick it up – it is another matter whether they accepted it or not. While Pharaohs were the emperors of far-off Egypt and the deluge during the era of Prophet Noah took place thousands of kilometres from Hejaz, where Makkah and Madinah are situated, Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be to him) did not need to hold a special class to explain the history to the people. Whether the Jews, the Christians or even the non-believers, they were, more or less, accustomed to these facts and the right-thinking among them eagerly embraced the message of the Qur’ān.
There were hardly any trace of written history yet the Arabs came to know these events through oral tradition and religious teachings of Prophets prior to Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be to him). In fact, reading and writing were extremely difficult those days. Even if there were some traces of written history and literature, the people in general were not literate enough to read and understand. Yet they were not totally ignorant about these facts.
Compare it with the situation over 1,400 years later in this knowledge society and the era of information explosion. Not to speak about the struggle in Palestine or plight of Muslims in Xinjiang (eastern Turkistan) in China, an overwhelming number of high school and college-going Muslim youths, especially the girls, do not know the perpetrators who brought down Babri Masjid, what actually happened in Gujarat in 2002 and what is actually happening in their home towns and cities.
No, this is not only the condition of poor slum-dwellers who cannot afford the television or buy newspapers or are literate enough to teach the next generation, but that of the so-called middle- and lower-middle class population. Yes, they have TV sets, but only to watch soap operas and films. A handful of them sometimes do watch some ‘Islamic channels’ or listen to speeches of clerics in some religious congregation but they fail to understand much because the issues discussed are beyond their comprehension.
Yes, many of our youths are right-thinking. Though they offer prayers, know some duas yet they are completely ignorant about history and what is going on in their vicinity and what is the plight of their own community – not to speak of others. Not only that there is a widespread campaign among Muslims to keep them ignorant and aloof from all these activities and just concentrate on few religious rituals and practices.
There is complete absence of creative discourse among the overwhelming number of Muslim educated families. True, they have become more career conscious yet notwithstanding rise in opportunity to develop historic sense they are going back. If in the past decades people were largely ignorant about the historic and political developments, it was because of the lack of wherewithal and opportunity. Today everything is available yet, for example, none of the about 20-odd Muslim girls of Class-VIII, whom I interviewed some months ago, could answer the question as to who is the chief minister of Gujarat. Obviously, the question was asked outside Gujarat and the students were certainly of the CBSE medium school.
When a cursory survey of some high school boys was made as to which country the city of Makkah is situated – not about Jerusalem –there were many blank faces. Then one came up to say in Arab. When asked further, in which of the 20 Arab countries, he could not answer Saudi Arabia. Some of these questions were even put up before the college graduates and they all faltered for answer.
It is not that they are totally ignorant about other affairs. They know the name of each and every film actors and actresses, cricket players, the mobile companies offering cheapest rate and what not.
In the modern world so much information explosion is being bombarded to them that the younger generation learns what comes to them easily. The parents and grandparents – now there is less number of joint families and more nuclear families – have no time or are themselves not equipped to pass on even the basic information to the younger generation. So the upcoming generation might be knowing everything except the own root.
Many of our scholars and religious leaders giving sermons and lectures to the people in mosques, at religious gatherings or even on television channels think that they have done their duty, but the truth is that they fail to communicate because of the low standard of the audience and listeners. These youths may end up saying that Islam is the best religion; they may clap and jeer when their own ‘man’ wins a religious debate with others. But the truth is that they themselves may end up knowing nothing save a few things taught to them by Hafiz Saheb or Moulvi Saheb in the tender age.
The tragedy is that a huge percentage of youths have become tongue-less – cannot read, write or understand any of the language, except may be computer – and have no time to go through it. Some of them have a smattering of idea that Americans are doing wrong in Iraq and Afghanistan and that Israel is our greatest enemy. Yet they are totally confused and largely unaware of the actual situation. It is this lot of people who can be easily beguiled by forces within the community or outside for any ulterior objective, yet they would not understand what they are doing.