Organisation of Islamic Cooperation
The Collective Voice of The Muslim World
Date: 28/10/2007
DUBAI - STATE OF THE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES 16-17 SHAWWAL 1428 H (28-29 OCTOBER 2007) Bismillahi Arrahmani Arrahimi, Au Nom de Dieu, le Tout Miséricordieux, le Très Miséricordieux, In the Name of God, Most Compassionate, Most Merciful Your Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashed Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates, Governor of Dubai, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, Assalamu Alaikum Warhmatullah Wabarakatuhu, I am very happy to be part of this gathering of eminent icons of Arab and Islamic thought specialized in the field of knowledge, who are meeting today upon the gracious invitation of the Mohamed Bin Rashed Al Maktoum Foundation, in order to deliberate on an issue of major concern for the Arab and Muslim worlds at this historical juncture, which is the future of knowledge work therein. Today’s meeting comes in response to the urgent need and burning desire of every Arab and Muslim citizen for over two centuries to keep up with the march of advanced nations and gain access to new prospects of human progress and development. In this invitation, there is so much innovation, renewal, and creativity, such an accurate diagnosis of our ills, and such a quest for recovery and healing that I am compelled, along with everyone else, to commend this creative initiative, which is not only expected to bear fruit for the Muslim world by promoting its prosperity, progress, and influence but also to benefit the State of the United Arab Emirates by strengthening its pioneering role and favoring its blissful abundance, good name, and well-established heritage in the service of the Arab and Muslim worlds. The benefits of this initiative are indeed sure to spill over in favor of the whole world. That is why we must thank the Mohamed Bin Rashed Al Maktoum Foundation for organizing this First Knowledge Conference that is to deliberate on the present reality and future prospects of knowledge work in the region. In addition, the objective of this conference is to recognize the challenges and opportunities of this work and identify optimal modalities to tackle them on the basis of an objective approach rooted in firm foundations of science and knowledge. So, thank you, thank you for this historic initiative. Our deep appreciation and gratitude go to His Highness Sheikh Mohamed Bin Rashed Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates and Governor of Dubai, for announcing the Dubai Cares Campaign in September 2007 aimed at sponsoring the education of children in the poorest countries of the world. Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, The human race has entered the first decade of the new millennium, the age of the new and incredible advances driven by the engine and momentum of state-of-the-art information technology so much so that those who have knowledge and information today are capable of proving themselves and even imposing their will upon those who do not. The price of ignorance has been costly and can only be offset by the highly rewarding dividends of knowledge. Experience has shown that there is a close correlation between progress in science and knowledge in a given country and its level of development to such an extent that these two indicators have become inescapable correlates, just as the living reality has shown that there can be no progress or prosperity in the absence of freedom of thought or without interacting and keeping up to date with international advances. Therefore, think tanks and innovators have become a national asset that should be protected and fostered by providing the fertile ground needed for their growth and prosperity in their original environment. We in the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), as we prepared for the Third Extraordinary Islamic Summit in Mecca Al-Mukarramah in December 2005, undertook a comprehensive assessment of the role of science and knowledge in the development and prosperity of nations throughout the ages and we showed that the Muslim Ummah was master of the world, when it was the first incubator of science and knowledge. A team of eminent Muslim scholars, thinkers, and seasoned statesmen and politicians, just like yourselves, who helped to prepare for that Summit reached results and conclusions rather akin to the premises upon which the Mohamed Bin Rashed Al Maktoum Foundation has been established, particularly for the purposes of its strategic themes and mission to “bring about a renaissance in the spheres of knowledge and education; revolutionize the cultural reality of the Ummah; and achieve a world-class performance in business and job creation”. A programme of work, known as the OIC Ten-year Programme of Action, was adopted by that Summit, which is being implemented over the course of ten years in order to achieve the development of the Muslim Ummah and empower it to recuperate from its present state of lethargy. That large-scale reform programme is based on a new vision to confront the challenges of the 21st century that addresses both the intellectual and political domains yet strengthens the bonds of Islamic solidarity in action and caters for the call for moderation, good governance, and human rights. The programme - in its Science and Technology part—is based on improving and reforming educational institutions and curricula; encouraging Research and Development (R&D) programmes by allocating at least 1% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of each country to that end; encouraging national government and private research centers and institutions to invest in technological capacity-building; and reviewing the performance of university institutions in the OIC Member States. In this context, the OIC is working to enhance the ranking of twenty universities in the Muslim world to that of 500 world-distinguished universities, among other things, by accommodating outstanding, highly-qualified Muslim scholars and keeping them within the Muslim world through a comprehensive strategy to benefit from their competence and the institution of a scientific excellence awards programme. Even so, that programme did not overlook the issue of women and youth emancipation and of enhancing and promoting their role. Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, Through this brief account of the OIC efforts in this context, I wanted to allude to the meeting points of our action with the commendable activities and mission of this forum in this auspicious day that heralds the birth of an enlightened era. Today, it is high time for the Muslim Ummah to catch up with the accelerating pace of modern global civilization that we have had the merit to help build up. Yet we do now lag far behind in many of the domains of this global revolution, latest of which has been the revolution of knowledge and technology that is creating an ever-increasing Digital Divide between nations. We must not repeat the same mistake we made when we lagged behind the industrial revolution of the 19th century, for which we are still paying a heavy price. Suffice it to mention the facts revealed by human-development reports in the Arab and Muslim worlds published by international organizations. Among the bitterest and most disturbing of these facts is the spread of illiteracy and ignorance in our worlds as well as the growing number of illiterates in today’s world compared to the situation prevailing in the last century. The reports of specialized OIC institutions indicate that 36 out of the 57 OIC countries are suffering a poverty rate of 20 to 60% while illiteracy is spreading in 36 of these countries at a rate of 20 to 81%. The knowledge situation in the Muslim world—in its various forms—shows us the great hidden potential of our societies to create a quantum leap in the scientific field. Thus, whereas we find one European country with a population of no more than four million, publishing technical and scientific journals equal to those produced by one third of our countries, we find, in contrast, that one of the OIC countries has been able in recent years to climb up on the scale of scientific publications to surpass many European countries to the ranking of 18th and earn a position among the top 20 countries in the scientific citation index, which shows objectively and statistically the knowledge world ranking of countries in terms of innovative scientific production. In this way, this Muslim country has multiplied the scientific citation index by a factor of 46 and at the same time increased the number of scientific publications by a factor of 25 in the last 25 years. These facts compel us to reconsider our knowledge reality and human potential and perform an objective diagnosis of our situation, away from any of the ideological influences that contributed to shaping the cultural pattern of the Muslim world and molded the intellectual and cultural system prevailing therein in the recent past, thus exacerbating the backwardness of our civilization as it failed to adequately address the need to draw up development projects and programmes to suit the countries of the Muslim world. Hence, scientific research and development projects, vocational education institutions, and technical colleges, which represent the middle link in the chain of industrial, agricultural, and commercial production, have simply been overlooked. The objectives we aspire to achieve thanks to this gracious initiative have already been achieved by many countries and nations that have succeeded in keeping up with advanced nations. We should therefore study their experience in order to seek inspiration from their certain strengths and avoid any of their possible weaknesses. The road ahead for the desired renaissance has become clear and its requirements rather well-known. Among these requirements there are the following: Work to cerate the will for a comprehensive change for the better within the body of the Muslim Ummah in a way that makes this a collective demand. Develop a comprehensive study on the detailed vision of the humanitarian and global message that this initiative seeks to achieve in the service of the Ummah’s prosperity and civilization. Maximize on the intellectual and rational capacities of the Ummah so as to achieve civilizational excellence. Develop human resources and potential and harness them for development and progress because the minds of the Ummah are its capital. Make use of powerful incentives that stimulate innovation and renaissance. Mobilize the greatest number of researchers, experts, and innovators and recruit such specialists from other countries to work on innovative studies and research and develop existing research materials. Inculcate the spirit of selfless sacrifice in young generations so as to empower them to catch up with their peers in advanced countries and stimulate competitiveness to motivate great scientific conquests. Identify development issues and marshal sciences, knowledge, and innovative technologies for implementation in prescribed fields. Identify priorities in development fields and allocate budgets according to predefined priorities. Ladies and Gentlemen, We are a nation that has started its history with the divine commandment: “Read!” and the principle: “Allah has taught man what he knew not”. On these parameters of the quest for knowledge and going on the learning journey wherever learning may be offered, our nation has been built. It is therefore incumbent upon us and of imperative necessity that we should rise above this crisis. Today, as we meet in this august assembly, we do so in order to transcend our past and bridge the deep Digital Divide that separates us from those who have forged ahead of us by fostering the fertile ground needed to attract scientific brains, keep them, and create the right climate for excellence and innovation and for scientific research by specialized institutions as well as for the realization of real development and prosperity. All this we do owe to this pioneering institution that is hosting this conference and before that to the perspicacious intellect and vision behind the foundation and behind this initiative. To the magnanimous and noble generosity of the leaders of this country who have showed their selfless dedication for the sake of their Arab and Muslim Ummah’s present and future, have proved their loyalty and unique skills in the management of public affairs, and demonstrated unsurpassable know-how in the process of progress and development as well as infinite skill in correctly reading the rationale and dictates of this day and age; to all of them we owe this much and we say again thank you, we appreciate you and we wish you total success and continued prosperity. Thank you for your attention. Wassalamu Alaikum Warahmatullah Wabarakatuh.
