Muslims make up 22% of the world's population, according to the United Nations' Arab Human Development Report: " Half of Arab women cannot read; One in five Arab live on less than $2 per day; Only 1% of the Arab population has a personal computer; and only half of 1% use the Internet; 15% of the Arab workforce is unemployed; 60% of Muslims are illiterate". Only two Muslims have won the Nobel Prize in a scientific field - Dr Abdus Salam, in 1979 for Physics and Dr Ahmed Zawail, in 1992 for Chemistry. Dr Saam a native of Pakistan, is not considered to be a Muslim in his home country as he follows the Ahmadiyya sect of Islam.
Over 600 universities service a Muslim population of 1.2 billion in 57 countries. Half the universities concentrate on teaching Islamic education and science. India has 8,407 universities for 1 billion people and the United States has 5,758 universities for 280 million people. The combined annual GDP (purchasing power parity basis) of the 57 Muslim countries is under $2 trillion. The U.S. produces goods and services worth $10.4 trillion, China $5.7 trillion, Japan $3.5 trillion, India $3 trillion and Germany $2.1 trillion. The oil-rich states Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Qatar collectively produce goods and services worth $430 billion; Thailand alone produces goods and services worth $429 billion. The average growth rate of the per capita income during the preceding 20 years in the Arab world was only one-half of 1% per annum, worse than anywhere, but sub-Saharan Africa.
The world's poorest countries include Ethiopia, Sierra Leone, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Albania, Cambodia, Somalia, Pakistan and Mozambique. At least six of the poorest of the poor are countries with a Muslim majority.
The Malays are considered Muslims. The reason why these animist Malays became Muslims because their rajas (rulers) embraced that faith. Before Islam came to the Malay Archipelago, the Malay rajas were Hindus, so were the Malay masses. Since the Malays practiced feudalism, they respect their rajas. In a feudal society, if the rajas fail, there is little hope for the masses. The Malay rajas and leaders can lead the way (if they want to) with certainty that they will be followed by the masses. Feudalism can be beneficial if it facilitate change for the better of the masses. Therefore, if the Malay rajas and leaders of today can institute change and such a change would spread rapidly. But almost all of these elites are selfish and they let the Malay masses rot, poor and illiterate so that they can "zombie" the Malays forever while they are in power.
Malay civilization has brought up a comprehensive and formidable code of behaviour and forms of ceremony, called "adat", or custom. "Adat" itself was influenced by the past and present religious beliefs of the Malays, but there is a considerable portion of it which appears to be unique - quite unrelated to any religion or faith.
The kind of knowledge which is revered by the Malays is religious knowledge (Islam). The emphasis is on a saintly life, a life free of sin, a life which is most likely to result in a happy after-life. That is what they have been taught by their religious teachers (imams). The religious knowledge acquired is to lead a life of piety. The good Malay is always unobtrusive and self-effacing, unwilling to impose his will if it conflicts with others, and ever willing to compromise. Time and again, the inability or unwillingness to measure the odds against them has led the Malays to defeat and disaster in their long history of existence.
Another weakness of the Malays is to disregard for time and punctuality. When there is no awareness of time, there can be no planning and work is never reliable. It is one of the most important factors that handicap the progress and competitive abilities of the Malays. They are being used by their leaders as stepping stones for self interest.
DR ILYAS
