Islam with Technology

 

No one can deny the state of Islam within Muslims and the state of Muslims in the world. The biggest reason for this is the understanding of the essence of Islamic teachings in people both in Muslims and non-Muslims. In an Islamic society, the main source of Islamic education is staff that is appointed in Masjid (Mosques) like Imam, Muazans, and Khatibs. Electronic media is also coming up nicely with its share in Islamic education. Thanks to rapid growth of radio and TV channels. Due to lack of staff (Imams, Qarries and Muazans) in our Msajid (Mosques) and funds allocated to Msajid (Mosques) are not able to perform their duties.

Factor influencing the quality religious education available is lack of trust among Maktaba-e-Fikr. There is a need to realize the fact that we all are Muslims, and we have to work for mutual betterment of ourselves and Din-e-Islam. Msajid (Mosques) are an integral part an Islamic society, which are not only the (Jaay-Namaz) place of prayers for Muslims five times a day, but the place of social interaction and integration.

In countries like Pakistan a good majority of Msajid (Mosques)staff is only limited to the Imam only. Msajid (Mosques)staff is supposed to be one who is guide for society an expert on religious and social issues and setting the example in society. However, most of the time Msajid (Mosques)staff is responsible for all sorts of housekeeping chores for Msajid, which is shameful.

I witnessed this when I happened to spend three days (Sehroza) in Tabligh and visited a rural Masjid (Mosque) in the outskirts of Lahore. Their poor Imam-e- Masjid (Mosque) was doing all sorts of work like cleaning of the Masjid, supervising the ongoing repair work, conducting the prayer and Nazra (Quranic) education of community kids. On top of all, he was doing a part-time job to make both ends meet, because he is not being paid enough to survive in today’s economics, which affects their ability to do his duty but sometimes even to live a respectable life.

If I am not wrong, the average salary of an Imam would hardly meet the minimum wage set by the government. In big cities, the conditions are a bit better, where there is at least one Muazan to accompany the Imam-e-Masjid. In fact, being a religious scholar, he is supposed to spend his time studying Islam, modern sciences and Ghoor-o-Fikir and public education.

One most important factor of this is to make sure that staff of Msajid (Mosques)are paid reasonably so that they can perform their duties with full attention. At the same time, this will be an incentive for other well-educated Alims to join Msajid, who will not do so under existing circumstances due to what is paid to them now.

Appointment of capable staff in Msajid (Mosques)can only be made possible if they are paid in accordance with the existing economic conditions. This will make sure that staff of Msajid (Mosques)can live respectable lives and do not need to look for other sources of income for themselves which will affect their primary duties. This will create an environment of merit-based appointments in Msajid, so that best capable scholars are appointed there. The key to this lies in best education and enough resources. We cannot deny the sincerity of teaching staff of Islamic institutions, but financing of well-educated teachers is still a concern. Most well-educated Alims will not join traditional Islamic educational institutes (Madrasas) and go into the mainstream education system where they are paid accordingly.

One solution to this lies in modern technology. During the rapid growth of the telecom sector lots of mobile antennas towers of telecom companies are popping up every few 100 yards in the cities. Sometimes these mobile antenna towers are installed on rooftops of houses without proper structural analysis of the buildings and mobile antenna towers themselves. This can be observed while standing on the rooftop of a house, it can be easily understood when many mobile towers will be limiting the boundaries of your vision. Which not only reflects bad planning, but also causes health and safety risks to people living nearby.

I spent around 3 years in England for my studies and job before I came back to Pakistan. The advancement in the fields of technology was obvious even just visually. If one is to estimate the technological gap between Pakistan and England by observing the mobile antenna towers visible from one place, England was a clear loser, because one can hardly find any mobile antenna towers visible within the vicinity of the cities. Nevertheless, this conclusion would be totally false. There they had implemented a very clever solution to this problem, the mobile antennas are not installed on the purpose-built mobile antennas towers but are installed on high rise buildings. This solution is not only cost effective but also does not spoil the visual outlook of the cities, is easy to set up for the mobile companies and does not cause health and safety risks.

Now consider implementing same solutions here in Pakistan. The question is where to mount these mobile antennas? Because historically we don’t have many high-rise buildings. Yes! the answer is on Minarets of Masjid. We had a Masjid (Mosques)every few 100 yards. Masjids not only had tall structures in the form of minarets but also are examples of the best architecture of the time, both in terms of quality and in terms of quantity. If we can install loudspeakers on the minarets of the Masjid, then why not install the mobile antennas on them. This will not only look pleasant but will be cost effective to the mobile companies. Biggest benefit of this will be the Masjid (Mosques)itself, because this will be a good source of income for them. Income generated in this way will be used for the development of Masjid (Mosques)and betterment of religious scholars appointed there. This will also make sure that staff of Masjids are paid properly, and they need not to look for alternative sources of income which will not only affect their duties as religious scholars but also affect their Ghor-o-Fikr in Islamic and social issues.

Our religious scholars and government departments like the Department of Religious Affairs, Department of Environment, Department of Health and Safety, Department of Town Planning and Masjid (Mosques)governing bodies should strive together to take the lead in formulating rules and regulations in implementing such a solution. At the same time this should be made sure that income generated in this way is properly utilized in a transparent way. In addition, this should be made sure that these funds are not wasted in cosmetics of the Masjid (Mosques)but the education and development of the religious scholars appointed in the Masjid.