NNI: President General Pervez Musharraf has called for harmonizing Islamic education with modern knowledge to enable the Muslim Ummah to face the present day challenges. He was inaugurating a national exhibition of rare quranic manuscripts and the holy relics of Hazrat Muhammad at the International Islamic University here Wednesday.
| One of the biggies. We're talkin' Pak Ivy League here... |
On display at the exhibition are the world's smallest and largest in size hand written Holy Quran by Qamar Sultan, a calligrapher. The exhibition also displays Jubba [Depends] of the Holy Prophet SWAS worn by him during the battle of Oadh and his hair.
| Oooh! Mom! Take me there! |
President point out that without integrating Islamic education with the latest trends in knowledge, we cannot progress. He said this will not only ensure the economic development of Pakistan but also that of the entire Ummah. He said we the Muslims were ahead of all others in all respects four centuries ago but now lag behind in progress and development from other communities because of ignoring knowledge of science and technology.
| Ummm... Make that five centuries. No, make it seven... Nine? |
He said what a pity it is that the collective GDP of 57 Muslim countries today is 1200 billion dollars as against 2500 billion dollars of Germany and 5500 billion dollars of Japan. In order to rectify this situation, it is must for the Muslim Ummah to promote education of science and technology.
| Either that, or that they should become agnostics or Lutherans or Mormons and stop wasting all their time and resources on jihad and cutting each other's heads off and dropping walls on men who accost them in the bathroom... For that matter, they might want to work on getting indoor plumbing, avoiding marriage to close relatives, and hitting themselves and others on the heads with swords... |
President acknowledge the role of Maddras [madrassahs] as the biggest NGOs, taking care of poor students and turning them into cannon fodder, urged them to integrate their education with modern knowledge. This, he said, will help their students to make a still greater contribution for the society. General Pervez Musharraf was happy to note that the International Islamic University had successfully harmonized the education of the Holy Quran, Hadith and Fiqah, economic, law besides imparting knowledge in science and technology.
| Does that mean they've stopped teaching that djinns are responsible for chemical reactions? |
He also appreciated the fact that students belonging to various Islamic schools of thought were being provided with education in Deen under the same roof without indulging in any controversy.
| Other than a few fistfights, of course. And the occasional shooting, hardly ever fatal. Except when there are explosives involved... |
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