Lagging

We wonder why Islamic nations are lagging behind in knowledge and development compare to other societies especially the West. In general, Islamic societies were strongly influenced by Arab and Persian cultures which are strong in oral literature. The wisest and most acclaimed of people in the society are the poets. These form of culture spread out onto the Malay archipelago where poetry or sajak seemed to be at its heights in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Some of the poetry work in our country and the region are really mesmerising. However, most of the knowledge and literature were passed down the generation orally and hardly being written. So the society lives through a culture of oral transfer or memorization of knowledge. Not many books were written or read that could move the society further. There were instances in Islamic Spain when major progresses in science were made by Islamic scholars but that is more an exception.

Contrast this to other societies particularly the Western world. The key difference is that knowledge are written into millions of books compare to only thousands in the Islamic societies. Through books, knowledge are transferred and enhanced. The culture of writing and reading books became a norm. Intellectuals and scientists were born. This is the reason that we are lagging behind. Unless the culture of reading and writing is really pushed in our society, we will still lag behind in knowledge and ideas.