ISLAMABAD, Nov 11: The Muslim world today needs renaissance and reformation, which brought about incredible changes in Europe, said Prof Khawaja Masood while delivering a lecture on “Role of Mathematics in Renaissance and Reformation” at the Quaid-i-Azam University on Tuesday.

Commenting on the state of affairs of the Muslims, he said Muslim Ummah was passing through a state of stagnation. During the last a couple of centuries not a single astronomer, physicist, chemist or philosopher has been produced, as such Muslims all over the world have taken a back seat in acquiring scientific knowledge. This has resulted in their subjugation to those who progressed in science and technology, he added.

“As such, the Muslims of today have lost their relevance to the contemporary world.”

Commenting on as to why the Muslims were left behind, Prof Masood said Muslims had got hold of Imam Ghazali’s work “Refutation of Philosophy” while success in Europe came when the Europeans adopted Ibn-i-Rushd’s work contradicting Imam Ghazali’s. This enlightened them and their minds expanded, he added.

“Even the Indians today have left Pakistan far behind in the field of knowledge.”

“In Pakistan, priority is given to atom bombs instead of knowledge. Pakistan ranks 144th among 162 countries in terms of education, health and other fields. If the struggle to produce more bombs continued, Pakistan will move to 150th”.

He said knowledge was increasing at tremendous speed. “Even maths of ten years ago is obsolete today. Success in Europe came from understanding what they read, we do not know what we read”.

“The Ummah has failed to understand that knowledge is power. The only reason the US won the cold war was its supremacy in technology.

Renaissance placed emphasis on man and nature and the Italians produced some of the greatest works of art because the artists shifted the emphasis from heaven to earth.

He said reformation, the direct relation with God, was established because the priest was thrown out. Here the priest must speak and we must listen and follow. What made the difference was that we followed Imam Ghazali and the Europeans studied Ibn-i-Rush’s “Refutation of Refutation” and learnt that reason was supreme and thereby they brought about the change.

Prof Masood urged students to read Allama Iqbal and not only concentrate on his poetry but also his six lectures on the Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam.

“We must establish direct relationship with God. Try to understand the spirit of religion and combine it with the knowledge you have. It is time to change ourselves and do not ask the world to change to our likings. Know yourself to change yourself and this is only possible through knowledge, he added.