Oleh/By : DATO SERI DR MAHATHIR BIN MOHAMAD
Tempat/Venue : MANAMA, STATE OF BAHRAIN
Tarikh/Date : 21-04-2002
Tajuk/Title : THE 31ST INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE
OF INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION
OF TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT
ORGANISATIONS LTD. (IFTDO)
Versi : ENGLISH
Penyampai : PM
"THE POWER OF KNOWLEDGE IN THE NEW ERA"
I would like to take this opportunity to thank the
organiser, the Bahrain Society for Training and
Development, for giving me the honour to address the
distinguished delegates and participants to the 31st
International Federation of Training and Development
Organisations (IFTDO) World Conference and Exhibition.
2. We are observing increasing hype about the
significance of knowledge in an era characterised by high
levels of uncertainty and inability to predict the future.
Knowledge is of course the source of power for promoting
self and for influencing others. As such, the more
knowledgeable you are the greater is your power to
influence others, or even other nations. While other
sources of power such as legitimate power, connection
power, representative power and coercion power can be
removed from you, nobody can take away the power based on
your knowledge once it is ingrained in us. Thus, with
this distinctive attribute that is far superior to any
other sources of power, knowledge contributes to the
ultimate underpinning for success.
3. The history of the world has witnessed the
superiority of knowledge to bring power to the earlier
civilisations. Knowledge obviously plays a prominent
role in the establishment of powerful civilisations.
The people poor in knowledge were invariably
subjugated by the civilised knowledgeable people.
This is still true today. The greatest powers
dominating the world are the nations with the greatest
amount of knowledge at their command.
4. Knowledge is somehow transmitted through the
generations. The children of knowledgeable people
seem to inherit the knowledge of their forebears and
to be more clever than their parents as they grow
older. But beyond this natural transmission the
capacity to store knowledge was developed by the
relatively advanced people. This takes the forms of
writings using various symbols and then on to the
development of the alphabets which spells out the
sound of words, thus reducing the need for having
thousands of characters as with Chinese writing. Thus
in Arabic we have 28 alphabets while in English 26
alphabets can be combined in various order to spell
words which can be written and permanently store the
knowledge that has been acquired. The total sum of
knowledge increased tremendously through using
alphabetical symbols rather than memory and picture
characters.
5. Clearly the smaller the number of symbols the
greater is the amount of knowledge which can be stored
and transmitted currently or in the future. But now
we come to the smallest number of symbols and the
amount of knowledge stored and transmitted has
multiplied by thousands of times as a result.
6. Today we use the binary system consisting of just
0 and 1 and we know that this digital system has made
transmission of knowledge not only easier but more
accurate. Thus digital recording of a coloured
picture can be preserved indefinitely, will never
fade, and will never deteriorate. The digital
combination, which spells out the data including
colour will not change over time. And so more
knowledge can be stored, recalled, transmitted and
updated without any loss of clarity or any distortion.
7. It would seem that symbols, which are less
complex, smaller in number are more powerful than the
huge multiplicity of symbols that the old
civilisations invented. In their time they were more
knowledgeable because of the ability to record
knowledge and transmit it between themselves and
between generations. But today because of the
application of binary symbols the old advanced
civilisation seems primitive. Digital technology
based on binary numbers seems to be the ultimate in
transmission of knowledge across space and time.
8. Symbols and words are merely means of communicating
ideas and the subjects involved. Nevertheless they were
venerated and the scribes who inscribed them and those who
record knowledge on stone or on leaves and parchment were
looked up to as learned people with mysterious powers.
These people even locked up their knowledge in the books
they produced. But more important than the actual records
are the knowledge that are contained in the writings. The
records are important only if the knowledge in them can be
deciphered. The more people there are who can decipher
the records the more knowledgeable and advanced will be
the society and the civilisation. But once the ability
to decipher is lost the civilisation would regress.
9. The Egyptian hieroglyphics and many other systems
of writings have been largely lost and we know that
these civilisations had withered and disappeared
together with their knowledge. The people became
primitive. Sometimes the loss is due to misguided
people fearing the knowledge, or suspicions of the
knowledgeable people and the mystery which surrounded
them. The illiterate feared the power of the learned
and in many instances these people were killed.
Acquisition of the skills to read was made unlawful on
pain of death. And so great civilisations would
disappear as those with brute strength but lacking in
knowledge rid themselves of the usually frail learned
people from among them. In recent times there is at
least one country which massacred the learned people
in their midst because they feared the knowledge that
these people possessed. Fortunately the killing of
these people was not complete and many remain to
revive the knowledge and culture of the people.
10. Knowledge is obviously important to the progress
of a civilisation. When Islam was embraced by the
Jahilliah Arabs and learning was encouraged a great
civilisation which was to last 1300 years was started.
The Kitab, the Al-Quran, which the Prophet brought,
contained a complete guidance for life and death. One
of the most significant guides in the Quran was
regarding the acquisition of knowledge.
11. In Surah Al-Baqarah Verse 164 the believers are
enjoined to observe Allah's creation, the sky and the
earth, the rain which falls bringing water for us to
drink and making the land fertile stimulating the
growth of plants. The bountiful growth because of the
rain provided food for the animals, which in turn
serve as sources of food, and for our transportation.
12. The exhortation by Allah in the Al-Quran to
observe all these cannot be in order to glory in
Allah's power only but it must also be because the
observation will add to the knowledge of Man about
Allah's creations and how they can contribute towards
the well being of Men. Thus from the observation of
what some would call natural phenomena came the
knowledge of agriculture. Instead of just waiting for
grass to grow and animals to eat, the intelligent
observers soon deliberately plant and grew the grass
and the fruit trees, gathered herds of cattle, horses
and camels and so provide food and sustenance and the
transportation for the community of Men.
13. From that simple beginning we have today the
great agricultural industry based on the knowledge
from observing Allah's creations in ever-greater
minuteness and with this knowledge improve the
productivity of agriculture so to feed the 6 billion
people of this earth. Without the knowledge gained
from the observation of Allah's creations that the Al-
Quran enjoins us to do there is no way we can feed the
billions of peoples of the earth today. And those
who do not observe and apply the knowledge from their
observation are condemned to poverty, backwardness and
even starvation and death.
14. The early Muslims obeyed this injunction of Allah
and studied and observed their surrounding. They also
learned to decipher the knowledge contained in the
writings of other people in the past, the work of the
Greeks and the Persians and the Chinese. This
knowledge enabled them to understand better the things
they observe by themselves. From the knowledge they
acquired they, these early Muslim scholars or ulama,
were able to contribute new knowledge and cause the
Islamic civilisation to expand and to prosper, to
testify to the greatness of Islam. It was these
Muslims who created such new learnings as Algebra,
Astronomy, Algorithm; invented the astrolabe to guide
ships in the vast ocean out of sight of any landmarks,
to understand metallurgy and so produce the Damascene
steel, the sharpest and most durable sword and a host
of other new products. These knowledge made the
Islamic world the centre of learning, the great
civilisation which gave Islam and the Muslims an
honourable place in the world.
15. The Europeans and others flocked to Muslim
centres of learning in order to access the knowledge
of the Muslim scholars. The European Renaissance or
Rebirth would not have been possible without the
accumulation of knowledge by the Muslims, without
their great libraries in Cordoba, Baghdad, Cairo and
elsewhere. The present European progress is due to
the knowledge they gained from the Muslims, knowledge
which they expanded and deepened in order to counter
the dominance of the Muslim civilisation.
16. Then the period of fear of knowledge descended on
the Muslim world. The injunction to seek knowledge
was interpreted as seeking religious knowledge only.
Other kinds of knowledge not related to religious law
in particular, to the creed and practice of Islam were
not only discouraged but were actually prohibited.
The knowledge obtained from the old non-Muslim
civilisation were proscribed and regarded as haram
even.
17. Because of the fear of being labelled kafir or
infidels, the Muslim intellectuals avoided knowledge
other than that of religion. The great Muslim
mathematicians, scientists, geographers and navigators
were no longer revered but were ignored. No new
knowledge was pioneered and non-religious knowledge
became so alien to the Muslims that the great Muslim
scholars were actually lost to the non-Muslim world,
lost principally to the Europeans. Thus Ibnu Sina
became Avicenna; Ibni Rusdi became Averroes etc. Al
Khwarizmi who invented the Algorithm was ignored by
the latter day Muslims and yet without the mathematics
based on Algorithm modern computers and the
programming of the microchip would not be possible.
18. Because of the narrow interpretation of what
constitutes knowledge in Islam, the Muslims became
more and more ignorant with the passage of time.
Their knowledge of the creations of Allah decreased to
the point where they became unable to apply these
gifts of Allah to mankind for the good of the Muslims.
We did not participate in the development of
scientific and technological knowledge, which lead to
the great industrial revolution. We not only missed
the industrial revolution but attempts were made to
reject the products of the industrial revolution. We
condemned the use of the printing machine, an
instrument for the better recording of knowledge and
its spread, for a very long time. The Turkish
Government which acquired one printing machine was
forced not to use it and for a long time it was hidden
away.
19. Electricity were rejected as being against Islam
and mosques in particular were not allowed to use
electricity to light up. Indeed one Islamic state
banned electricity completely and continued to use oil
lamps and candles until about 30 years ago only. In
Malaysia in the 60's TV sets were thrown into the
river because of someone's fatwa that moving pictures
were haram. That we have been watching the movies
since the 1930's did not seem to affect the thinking
of these people. Motorised vehicles were not allowed
for funerals as they were considered unIslamic, the
products of the infidels.
20. Today we are broader minded and prepared to use
practically all the products of the so-called
infidels. But we are the users only, not the
producers and certainly not the inventors of these
products. We are unable to invent or to produce
because we lack the knowledge. We are told that such
knowledge is secular and the only knowledge that we
need to acquire is knowledge that are directly
concerned with the religion of Islam.
21. But is it true that knowledge that is apparently
not religious is secular and its acquisition is
prohibited or discouraged by Islam?
22. We remember the well known hadiths of the
Prophet, peace be upon him, to seek knowledge even in
China. What was the knowledge available in China at
the time of the Prophet? Certainly there could not be
more knowledge about Islam than there was in the
birthplace of Islam, in Mekah and Madinah and in
Arabia. The knowledge that could be acquired in China
would be non-religious knowledge. At that time China
was already advanced in papermaking, ceramics,
explosives, the art of administration and of war etc.
Clearly Islam wants the Muslims also to learn subjects
which are not specifically linked with religion even
if the source of knowledge is not Muslim.
23. And the Al-Quran stresses the need for Muslims to
be always prepared to defend themselves and the
religion. At the time of the Prophet, defence
involved possessing warhorses, swords, bows and arrows
and lances. Many Muslim teachers stress these ancient
weapons rather than the need to defend the ummah
effectively.
24. In our times we need guns, rockets, tanks,
fighter planes and warships. We can buy these but we
will always be held to ransom by the people who make
these things. To defend the ummah we must not just be
able to produce these defence equipment but we should
be able to invent, design and produce new ones. How
can we do this if we are not knowledgeable in physics,
chemistry, design and production technology and a host
of other subjects?
25. Ever since the demise of the Ottoman Empire we
have not been able to defend ourselves. Look at what
is happening to Palestine. We are constantly begging
the world to stop the carnage. We know we are weak
and unable to defend the ummah, defend Islam even.
There is not a single Muslim nation among the
developed nation. We are all developing nations
dependent on the charity of non-Muslims. Is this what
Islam wants us to be?
26. In Bosnia-Herzegovina, in Russia, in South Asia,
in Africa Muslims are unable to protect themselves.
It is sad but while we can blame the aggressors we
cannot claim that we are free from blame. Our
religion enjoins upon us to prepare to defend
ourselves but by rejecting the knowledge needed to be
able to obey the injunctions of Allah s.w.t. we are
incapable of defending ourselves. We are also to be
blamed. I would go further and say that we have
sinned. We may carry out all the other ibadah but we
would still have to pay for our sins, in this world
and the next.
27. Today we are being dragged literally screaming
into a new world, a world of Information and
Technology, a world that is fast globalising, a world
where national borders are no more the barrier for our
national integrity, for our defence. Guns and tanks,
airplanes and warships cannot stop information from
crossing our borders. But knowledge can.
28. We have a grave need to master the new knowledge
about science and technology, to pioneer this
knowledge even, to be at the cutting edge. It is not
enough for us to learn from the knowledge pioneered by
others, but like the great Muslim scientists and
mathematicians of the past, we must improve and add to
the knowledge that is available. It is only when we
are ahead in knowledge that we will be able to defend
ourselves.
29. Muslims are inclined to think that catching up
and surpassing the people who are ahead of us now is
not possible. This is a defeatist attitude unworthy
of the followers of the greatest religion, the chosen
of Allah, the Khalifahs on earth. We have the
capacity and the talents. We can do what the others
can do if we realign and apply our intellect. We need
not be irreligious, atheistic or hedonistic. We can
keep our faith. But we must balance between the
exigencies of this world and the akhirat. Indeed in
every prayer we ask that we be given "Hassanah" in
this world and in the hereafter, not just in the
hereafter.
30. We need not miss any of the compulsory ibadah
when we are pursuing the knowledge of science and
technology. There must be from among us those who
specialise in the study of religion in great depth so
that religious knowledge remains with us. But we have
to allocate our manpower more wisely; we have to have
more people pursuing essential worldly knowledge so
that we may not be ignorant, left behind and
hegemonised by others.
31. The process of acquiring new knowledge is not
going to be easy, and certainly it is going to take
time. But Allah has enjoined upon us to be patient.
Innallaha maassabirin. We have to be patient but
Insyaallah we will be able to catch up. Even if it
takes us a century or more we have to do this, we have
to pursue knowledge in every field, we have to take
the first move. The Prophet did not convert all to
Islam on the first day.
32. Knowledge is power. It is not only in the new
era that knowledge means power. Knowledge means power
since the dawn of human civilisation. The brave and
powerful savage has always to submit to the will of
the civilised men, the men with knowledge. In modern
times it is not always that the strongest army or the
most powerful country, which triumphs. The
knowledgeable strategist skilled in deploying and
directing his forces can quite often defeat this brute
strength of a powerful enemy. But he must have the
forces at his disposal.
33. Today knowledge is even more powerful. Knowledge
cannot be confined to one field only. In a community
there must be division of labour where mastery of
knowledge is concerned. As much as there must be
those learned in the religion there must be in every
field of modern knowledge a sufficient number learned
in the multitude of other subjects which a society
wishing to survive and to avoid domination needs.
34. Knowledge can be dangerous when wrongly applied
but simply because of the need to avoid this
possibility should not lead us to stop the search and
acquisition of knowledge. Certainly if we as Muslims
curb the quest for knowledge we will be the losers
because others will carry on the quest anyway and they
may apply their knowledge against us.
35. In all kinds of work today we no longer depend on
the skills of manual workers, or craftsmen. The
marvellous electronic products that we use today, the
automobiles and aircrafts, are not built by craftsmen.
They are built by average workers using the machines
designed and built by knowledgeable engineers and
scientists.
36. But for the Information age we need knowledge
workers more than ever before. In the IT and
Multimedia Industry knowledge workers will outnumber
the skilled workers more and more. They will produce
the software, the contents and the processors, which
will then be used to program the automated machines
and robots to do all the tedious repetitive work.
Artificial intelligence can only be used if there are
intelligent people, knowledgeable people inventing,
progressing and updating the algorithm and the logic
all the time.
37. Knowledge is power more than ever before. We
ignore the need to seek, acquire and improve and our
mastery of knowledge at our own risk, at our own
peril. What happens to the Palestinians today may
well happen to all of us.
Thank You.
Sumber : Pejabat Perdana Menteri
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