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IIUM Engineering Journal, Vol. 12, No. 5, 2011: Special Issue on Science and Ethics in Engineering
Muyibi and Jami
173
THE OPTIMALLY MOBILE MUSLIM EXPERTS IN THE
SERVICE OF THE UMMAH
S.A. MUYIBI AND M.S. JAMI
Department of Biotechnology Engineering, Faculty of Engineering,
International Islamic University Malaysia,
Jalan Gombak, 53100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
suleyman@iium.edu.my
ABSTRACT : This paper presents a proposal on how the Muslim Experts made up of
Academics, Professionals and Entrepreneurs can be made optimally mobile to utilize
their Allah endowed resources to serve the Ummah and mankind more efficiently and
effectively as well as being key players in a world which has become a “Global Village”.
Some case studies are presented to illustrate some of the major problems facing the
Muslim Ummah today in not being able to utilize optimally the human as well as
material resources endowed to us by Allah to enable us fulfill our role as the “best of
Ummah” created for the benefit of mankind and vicegerent of Allah. This proposal
includes the setting up of an International Organization of Optimally Mobile Muslim
Experts (IOOMME). It is envisaged that IOOMME will have a Talent Bank which will
be a database on Muslim Academics and Professionals living and working in both
Muslim and non-Muslim countries with detailed information about the experts, their
areas of expertise and products developed etc. Furthermore professional resource centers
which will be land-based as well as cyberspace or virtual based will be setup made up of
published information (journals, technical reports) and specialized research
equipment/facilities available in Muslim nations where Muslim Academics and
Professionals can have access to for their use as well as for developing upcoming
Muslim Academics and Professionals. It is envisaged that Muslim nations will create the
enabling environment through entry visa and professional short visit regulations for
Muslim academics and professionals to use their Sabbaticals, annual vacations,
study/research leave, professional short visits etc. academic/ professional staff exchange
to go to Muslim nations to render their service to the Ummah.
ABSTRAK: Kertas ini membentangkan cadangan bagaimana kumpulan Pakar Islam
yang terdiri daripada kalangan ahli akademik, golongan profesional dan para usahawan
dibentuk agar dapat berfungsi secara optimum. Kepakaran yang dikurniakan Allah wajar
digunakan untuk berkhidmat kepada umat manusia secara lebih cekap dan berkesan
disamping memainkan peranan penting memandangkan dunia kini telah dikenali sebagai
“Perkampungan Global”. Beberapa kajian kes telah dibentangkan untuk menjelaskan
beberapa masalah utama umat Islam hari ini perlu lalui. Apabila kita tidak menggunakan
secara optima tenaga serta sumber kekayaan yang diberikan Allah, maka kita tidaklah
dapat menunaikan peranan sebagai “umat terbilang” dengan sepenuhnya, yang
diwujudkan demi manfaat manusia serta khalifah Allah. Antara cadangannya
termasuklah menubuhkan Organisasi Sedunia Pakar Islam Optima Bergerak
(International Organization of Optimally Mobile Muslim Experts (IOOMME). IOOMME
dijangkakan akan mempunyai Bank Bakat di mana ia akan mempunyai pangkalan data
ahli akademik Islam dan profesional yang tinggal dan bekerja di negara Islam dan negara
bukan Islam dengan maklumat terperinci mereka, bidang kepakaran masing-masing,
produk yang telah dihasilkan dan sebagainya. Tambahan pula, pusat sumber profesional
yang nyata dan juga di alam siber yang akan ditubuhkan terdiri daripada maklumat
IIUM Engineering Journal, Vol. 12, No. 5, 2011: Special Issue on Science and Ethics in Engineering
Muyibi and Jami
174
bercetak (seperti jurnal dan laporan teknikal) dan alatan/kemudahan penyelidikan yang
khusus. Semua kemudahan ini boleh didapati di negara-negara Islam di mana ahli
akademik dan profesional Islam boleh mengakses demi kepentingan mereka dan juga
untuk kemajuan para akademik dan profesional Islam akan datang. Negara-negara Islam
dijangkakan dapat menyediakan kemudahan menerusi visa masuk dan pas lawatan
singkat profesional untuk ahli akademik dan profesional Islam dengan menggunakan cuti
sabatikal, cuti tahunan, cuti sambil belajar/penyelidikan, lawatan singkat profesional
mereka dan sebagainya. Dalam tempoh ini mereka dapat pergi ke negara-negara Islam
lain untuk berkhidmat kepada umat Islam di negara-negara tersebut.
KEYWORDS: Muslim academician; professional; talent bank; optimally mobile;
service Ummah; resource centers
1. INTRODUCTION
The Islamic concept of knowledge � ilm � must form the basis of the theoretical
and institutional structure of education in Islam. In other words, what makes education
truly Islamic is the fact that it is based on a genuinely Islamic notion of knowledge. The
concept of ilm, as has been argued forcefully in recent years by numerous Muslim
scholars, integrates the pursuit of knowledge with values, envelopes factual insight with
metaphysical concerns, and promotes an outlook of balance and genuine synthesis. This is
the ultimate difference between the western notion of knowledge, which keeps
"knowledge" and "values" in two separate compartments, and does not appreciate any
form of knowledge that is not gained by sense perception. The integral world-view of
Islam, on the other hand, furnishes us with a number of concepts which, when
operationalized and actualized in all their sophistication at various levels of society and
civilization, yield an integrated infrastructure for the distribution of knowledge. In addition
to the core concept of Tawheed, at least five other Islamic concepts — of ilm (knowledge),
Adl (justice), Ibadah (worship) Khilafah (trusteeship), Istislah (social welfare) — have a
direct bearing on education to be pursued in the true Islamic spirit. The all-embracing
Qur’anic concept of ilm shaped the outlook of the Muslim people right from the beginning
of Islam in Arabia. Islam actually made the pursuit of knowledge a religious obligation: by
definition, to be a Muslim is to be deeply entrenched in the generation, production and
dissemination of knowledge [1].
There is a strong consensus that deficiency in Muslim human capital is a major cause
of Islamic countries remaining poor. To render matters worse, when reasonable quantities
of human capital are formed, quite a significant number are lost due to migration leakage.
No wonder then that the concern has been to contain the leakage. In the words of a recent
World Development Report: "Can something be done to stop the mass departure of trained
workers from poorer countries? [2]"
Are the Muslim World today contented to be in the present status quo in which the
systems in trade, education, social and culture, communication, finance, development and
security and defense, are all intelligently dominated, manipulated, distorted and unfairness
dealings by the western powers under globalization [3]?
Even though our national territories are not shrinking, but our minds and thinking are
slowly but surely being exploited, disempowered and technologically colonized by the
powerful mass media and communication networks. The western mass media are experts in
facts manipulation, unfair reporting, bias information and even worst the misunderstood
aspects of Islam are being highlighted, and Muslims are branded by western medias by
many terms which are not accepted in Islam.
IIUM Engineering Journal, Vol. 12, No. 5, 2011: Special Issue on Science and Ethics in Engineering
Muyibi and Jami
175
The balance of trade is forever in the red because of near total reliance on importation
of goods and services from the developed countries more than what they should do among
themselves. Even though Malaysia exports RM 36.8 billion worth of halal food to OIC
countries, that amount is like a drop of water in the ocean when you compare it with the
amount of western goods and services that are being imported into OIC countries [4].
When a highly qualified professional chooses to leave his own country for another,
he/she does so for one or several reasons. Some of these reasons may be due to legitimate
political or economic reasons: peace and security for himself and his family, job
satisfaction, better pay and conditions, access to educational opportunities for self and or
family, a better quality of life and a challenging environment in which they can thrive and
fulfill their potential. Furthermore professionals who trained abroad in certain specialized
areas will become redundant because they have no place to practice the expertise they
have acquired, in their countries of origin, so they have no option but to stay abroad
permanently. There are yet others who returned but because of the lack of systems at their
homes, they prefer going back abroad. A number of developed countries have also
liberalized their immigration policies for the admission of highly skilled professionals.
This paper presents a proposal on how the Muslim Experts made up of Academics,
Professionals and Entrepreneurs can be made optimally mobile to utilize their Allah
endowed resources to serve the Ummah and mankind more efficiently and effectively as
well as being key players in a world which has become a “Global Village”.
2. THE OPTIMALLY MOBILE MUSLIM EXPERTS IN THE
SERVICE OF THE UMMAH GLOBALLY
The optimally mobile expert is that individual or groups of individuals who are
committed to put to use their Allah endowed resources to render their services and
expertise to the Ummah in particular, mankind and all Allah’s creation on earth whenever
the need arise to earn the pleasure of Allah only as part of Ibadat. Such individuals or
groups of Muslim Academicians, Professionals, and Entrepreneurs shall therefore have the
following characteristics or develop these characteristics among others to become
optimally mobile.
i) Be Ummatic: This implies that they love the Ummah for the sake of Allah and
express their Tawhidic ties with other Muslims through networking, sharing of
resources etc.,
ii) Be Patriotic: This implies they should love their respective countries and
contribute to its development. They should maintain a trusted relationship with
political leaders in their parent countries.
iii) Be ethical and principled: This implies the application of Islamic values, moral,
and ethics in all they do throughout their lives on this earth. They should
therefore be always conscious of the fact that as Muslims we find out why and
how of Allah’s endowed resources and use it for the benefit of the Ummah in
particular and all Allah’s creation both animate and inanimate in general. This
will enable all humankind to do Ibadat efficiently and effectively in ways shown
by our beloved Rasul Muhammad (SAW) required by Allah to please Allah. This
will then Insha Allah make their role as vicegerent of Allah to be acceptable to
Allah. Knowledge is the unique faculty of mankind and is an integral part of their
personality and their being. It is knowledge that qualifies mankind to be viceroy
IIUM Engineering Journal, Vol. 12, No. 5, 2011: Special Issue on Science and Ethics in Engineering
Muyibi and Jami
176
of Allah our Rabb and entitle mankind to command the respect and allegiance
even of angels of Allah.
iv) Be strong academically, intellectually, and professionally: This implies that they
should be competent, be knowledgeable, and consider the application of their
knowledge and expertise as Amal which is part of Ibadat and therefore
compulsory.
v) Be holistic in approach to solving problems: This implies seeing the world as
being interconnected spiritually, economically, politically, technologically,
environmentally etc.
vi) Be cooperative: This implies cooperation with Muslims and friendly/sympathetic
non-Muslim individuals and organizations through networking. Positive
interpersonal relations should be observed and promoted through implanting
principles of brotherhood and compassion among those they come in contact
with.
3. STRATEGIES FOR THE SETTING UP OF INTERNATIONAL
ORGANISATION OF OPTIMALLY MOBILE MUSLIM
EXPERTS (IOOMME)
In order to create the enabling environment for the Ummah to have optimally mobile
Muslim Academicians, Professionals and Entrepreneurs, who will provide solutions to the
Ummatic conundrum in all fields of human endeavor like technology, science, law,
commerce, as well as meeting the challenges posed by globalization being imposed on the
Ummah in particular and mankind in general some strategies are proposed to achieve these
objectives.
Setting up a global organization to be known as International Organisation of
Optimally Mobile Muslim Experts (IOOMME). This organization will Insha Allah be
based in Malaysia located at the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) as the
secretariat. It is envisaged that IOOMME will have branches in all OIC countries as well
as non-Muslim nations with large concentration of immigrant and revert Muslim
populations.
IOOMME will develop a website for the Muslim Ummah worldwide which will
contain some of the following information;
A) Talent Bank which will contain information about Muslim Academics,
Professionals, and Entrepreneurs, their location, and area of expertise etc.
available on line with access based on permission being granted by the website
manager or system administrator in consultation with the Academician or
Professional.
B) Information about facilities e.g. research institutes/centers, specialized
institutions like specialist hospitals, technology parks etc in Muslim nations
which can be made available for use by Muslim Academicians, Professionals,
and Entrepreneurs in the service of the Ummah and mankind.
C) Through cooperation and networking among Muslim nations, there will be the
urgent need to create the enabling environment for easy mobility of Muslim
Academicians, Professionals and Entrepreneurs from one nation to another to
render their services to one another for the benefit and development of the
IIUM Engineering Journal, Vol. 12, No. 5, 2011: Special Issue on Science and Ethics in Engineering
Muyibi and Jami
177
Ummah in particular and mankind in general. These objectives can be achieved
through some of the following actions:
i. Introduction of a common K-passport in all Muslim Nations which will
have in built facilities like relaxed work permit, entry visa, and other
immigration requirements for Muslim Academicians. Professionals and
Entrepreneurs . This will encourage Brain Gain from the present Brain
Drain of Muslim Academics and Professionals from Muslim nations to
non-Muslim nations.
ii. Relaxed entry visa, work permit etc. for ease of mobility of Muslim
Academics Professionals and Entrepreneurs from non-Muslim
Nations.Encouragement of migration of Muslim Academics, Professionals
and Entrepreneurs who are citizens of Muslim nations as well as those
from non-Muslim nations with large concentration of immigrant and revert
Muslim populations to get long term temporary residency as well as
permanent residency in Muslim nations whose proximity will enable them
to render more effective service/ expertise to the Ummah.
iii. Muslim Academics and Professionals should be encouraged to go for their
sabbaticals, study/research leave, professional short visit, annual vacations
etc. There should be programs like academic staff/professional exchanges,
external examiners, postgraduate training, receiving Muslim students in
their laboratories etc.
iv. There should be access across all Muslim nations for the use of their pooled
resources like research institutes/centers, specialized institutions like
specialist hospitals, technology parks, data banks, library resources etc.
v. Setting up of Waqf funds in Muslim nations for research and development,
provision of travel grants for visiting scholars and professionals etc.
vi. Provision of competitive salary and fringe benefits.
vii. Consultancy and applied research and technology development/transfer in
public research institutes.
viii. Participating in training or research via the network and initiating research
and commercialization of products.
ix. Facilitating business contacts.
x. Encourage Muslim Academics and Professionals to author books based on
Islamic principles which will imply a paradigm shift, and publication of
scholarly, professional, and application oriented papers in journals.
4. CONCLUSION
In conclusion, even though the brain drain is not a recent phenomenon, it has caused
serious developmental problems in Muslim countries over the last few years. The Muslim
Ummah is losing more skilled people every year. A project like IOOMME can be
invaluable in recapturing some of the lost skills. However, we realize that the success of
IOOMME depends on amongst other factors, the willingness and commitment of the
expatriates, getting trusted relationships with political leaders etc. It is also important to go
beyond just setting up the network, but ensuring that it is self-sustainable and a call from
Allah (SWT) to all Muslim Academics and Professionals that Allah (SWT) will ask every
IIUM Engineering Journal, Vol. 12, No. 5, 2011: Special Issue on Science and Ethics in Engineering
Muyibi and Jami
178
one of us what we did with our knowledge and talent for the service of the Ummah in
particular and mankind in general.
“For him( each ) person , there are angels in succession, before and
behind him. They guard him by the Command of Allah. Verily Allah
will not change the ( good) condition of a people as long as they do
not change their state ( of goodness) themselves ( by committing
sins and by being ungrateful and disobedient to Allah). But when
Allah Wills a people’s punishment, there can be no turning back of
it, and they will find besides Him no protector” [5].
REFERENCES
[1] S. Abdul Latif (1977) “The basis of Islamic Culture” I darah –I- Adabiyat Delhi, India.
[2] World Bank, 1995.World Development Report 1995. Oxford University Press, New York.).
[3] S. A. Muyibi And Abu Zahrin Bin Abu Bakar “THE United Muslim Ummah (TUMU)”.
International Conference on Muslim Unity in the 21
st
Century – Opportunities and
Challenges” Organised by International Institute for Muslim Unity, 1 – 2 October 2003
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Proceedings Vol 1. pp 7 - 34
[4] ""www.arabicnews.com/ansub/Daily/ Day/010227/2001022720.html""
[5] The Holy Quran: English Translation of the meanings and commentary. King Fahd Complex
for Printing of Holy Quran, Madina K. S. A