Technology in the Islamic State

Mobile phones, TVs & DVDs in the Islamic State?

What will technology be like when Islam comes back as a complete way of life? Will there be SMS or will we just have to shout at each other? Will we have to give up Wave motorbike and ride camels instead? Will the brain drain become worse as people rush to leave for jobs abroad? Why is the Islamic world so far behind the West in terms of technology? Some hold the view that Islam is a religion that came 1,400 years ago and has nothing to do with today's world. This view states that to become modern and progressive means to cut back on Islam. This view also holds that bringing Islam back means to become ancient and backwards. Such a view is wrong, read on to find why.

Islam is not just for 1,400 years ago
Firstly, Islam is not a religion it is an ideology There is nothing that it does not speak about. It did not come just to talk about us as individuals. It talks about us as a society too. Islam has its own unique economic system, education policy, ruling system, foreign policy and social system. We just have to look. Secondly, Islam did not just come 1,400 years ago, it was revealed by Allah (swt). Allah (swt) knows the nature of humankind better than we know ourselves. He (swt) also knows the potential He put within the material things that can be developed into technology. Truly, His (swt) Deen came for all time. His (swt) Final Prophet and Messenger, Muhammad (saw), showed us the way. When the Islamic State was established in Madinah he (saw) undertook many actions through which Muslims became ahead in technology. These actions are important to understand as his (saw) Sunnah is an example for us.

The Islamic view on technology
When Islam came for the first time as a complete system, RasulAllah (saw) sent Muslims on a special mission to ash-Sham (modern day Syria, Jordan and Palestine). At that time ash-Sham was not ruled by Islam and was dominated by a Superpower of that time, the Romans, who were Christians. These Romans were very skilled in military technology and had developed the dhababa and dhaboor, two special catapults (manjaneek). Also, the Muslims acquired trench technology from the second Superpower of the time, the Persians, via Salman al-Farsi (ra) and used it in the Battle of the Trench. This is allowed in Islam because the Muslims did not go to take their ideology from the Persians and Romans. They did not take on their beliefs, values and systems of life. They took only the technology from them , which in fact did not come from a particular belief and is for all human-beings to find, by the grace of Allah (swt). Furthermore, the Muslims used this technology in the way of Allah (swt), not in the way of the kuffar. RasulAllah (saw) by his Sunnah, showed us that technology in its origin is permitted (mubah) in Islam, but it must be put only to halal use. So a surgeon's knife can be used to heal, but not abort an innocent baby. TVs, internet and DVDs can be used to propagate the Truth but not to exploit women as material objects.

The Islamic state builds an industrial base
The Muslims mission was not only to acquire this technology but also to develop it in the Islamic State. The knowledge was not left as knowledge only, but converted to skills and a domestic industry. By this Sunnah, in a very short space of time there was a turn around in the Muslims military capability. In the Battle of Badr, the Muslims had such poor means that many had to share shields as there were not enough to go around. Rapidly this picture changed. The Muslims began manufacturing their own catapults and other technologies and eventually took over both the Romans and the Persians, to become the sole Superpower for centuries. By the 15th Century, Sultan Muhammed built the biggest cannon known to man. Islam did not hold them back because they implemented it as an ideology. In fact for centuries the Muslims of the Khilafah were world leaders in many fields of technology, ranging from agricultural science to medicine. People came from around the world to study in the universities of the Khilafah.

The Khilafah reverses the brain drain
 

We have become dependent on the West solely due to the absence of Islam as a ideology. The IMF has wrecked our economy with policies that have exposed the resources and the wealth of the Ummah to western multinationals and crippled our domestic industries. Water and electricity prices have risen due to the privatisation of what in Islam is the Ummah's property. Our youth travel to the West to seek knowledge and return to no jobs as there is no industrial base here. This doesn't need to be the way and won't be the way once the Khilafah comes back and through it Islam returns as an ideology. The Khilafah is obliged to teach every individual, male or female, Muslim or non-Muslim, those things that are necessary to proceed in life. The Khilafah should provide libraries, laboratories and educational facilities both outside and inside universities and colleges. The Khilafah will target to create an abundance of ulema, inventors and creative thinkers in the Khilafah as was the case for centuries. The Khilafah must undertake a policy to rapidly acquire the latest in nuclear, star wars and stealth technology, to strengthen the state, so that it protects the dignity and honour of the Ummah. It has to supervise agricultural production, to ensure that it accomplishes full utilisation of the land at optimal efficiency. It must oversee industry so that the Muslim Ummah becomes a world leader again. By doing so the Khilafah will use the resources of the Ummah efficiently to create jobs, expanding her labour force, which in turn will boost her economy yet further.

Bring Islam back so technology is used correctly
The world is again in great need of Islam to return as a Superpower. The West has technology but their ideology is not from Allah's (swt) guidance. So they put technology to incorrect and destructive use. They do not use the internet to propagate the Truth, rather they use it to degrade the honour of women and men. They do not use weapons to defend the weak and establish the Truth on the earth, rather they use it to oppress, terrorise and kill the weak. Right now, we are in prime position to take over from the West. Allah (swt) has given us huge resources, not the least of which is a young and energetic population. All we need is the Islamic system so we can use all of this in the productive way. Today we have to work to bring Islam back, so that once again we can become the shining example to humankind. We love Allah (swt), we love the Last Prophet Muhammad (saw), let's work to bring Islam back. Indeed Khilafah is indeed the need of the hour