New Delhi, March 19: The hope for Muslim societies lies with the future generations, Islamic scholar Dr Abdul Hameed Ahmad Abu Sulayman said here today. He was delivering a lecture on “Parenting and Child Development” at the Institute of Objective Studies (IOS) auditorium.

He said the nearly 60 OIC countries, generally referred to as the Muslim world, were wallowing in backwardness because they had lost their “worldview”.

“The result is there for all of us to see: the Japanese economy is 11 times bigger than the whole Muslim world’s economies put together”. He pleaded for Muslims to reclaim the pristine Islamic worldview to get their rightful place under the sun.

To him one way of doing that was to raise future generations on the virtues and values of Islam as propounded in the Quran and exemplified by the Sunnah (the Prophet’s [PBUH] ways).

Dr. Suleiman emphasised the simplicity and directness of the Quranic message which was “alloyed with all kinds of philosophies and fantasies over the generations”. That destroyed the strength of Islam, according to him. “The influence of the convoluted Greek philosophy wreaked the worst havoc”.



Another factor that distorted the Islamic worldview was the Arab reversal to their pre-Islamic tribal ways. That undermined the very edifice of thought, belief and practices that was known by the first generation of Muslims as Islam.

He ended the discourse on a warning: “If you do not raise your children on the Islamic principles to live as Muslims of the future, rest assured you are going to live the lives of slaves for another 300 years”.

He said the ulama (Islamic scholars) did not know social sciences, and the Muslim social scientists did not know the scriptures. A blend of the two would help restore the Muslim perspective. Future generations of Muslims had to be comfortable with both.

His lecture was followed by an interesting question-answer session.

The programme began with a recitation from the holy Quran by Maulana Abdullah Tariq. IOS General Secretary Prof. Z.M. Khan presented a brief account of activities of the IOS and its programme for its 25 anniversary celebrations next year.

The IOS Chairman Dr Mohammad Manzoor Alam proposed a vote of thanks.