BUT, BUT, MR. PRESIDENT, WHATEVER HAPPENED TO IBN-KHALDUN, AVINCENNA AND AVERROES?

It was approximately three years ago, when I heard President Barack Hussein Obama intone a plea for a new governmental program, namely a project at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to "...make Muslims feel good about themselves and mathematics and science."

My initial reaction was to wonder about Southern Baptists, Methodists, Hindus, Confucians, Roman Catholics,

AVERROES

 Jains, Buddhists and others.  Shouldn't all those folks feel good about math and science, too?  Then, I asked myself, if a tax-supported governmental entity should engage in making people of a particular religious persuasion feel good about themselves?  Just where was our president wanting to go with all this?

Eventually, I thought about all of those Muslim scholars that I covered a generation ago in civilization courses, when I was "professing" as an associate professor at a state university in Alabama. Indeed, I regaled students with all the particulars on el-Farabi, ibn-Khaldun, Avicenna, Averroes, et. al.  All in all, those Muslim scientists, medical doctors, men of letters and philosophers and theologians were a pretty impressive lot.  Why couldn't Muslims feel good about themselves and science and mathematics with those illustrious figures in their past?

AVICENNA

If one considers the Ummayads at Damascus, the Abbasids at Baghdad and the caliphate of Cordoba, the epoch of Muslim scholarship persisted for more than 500 years, from the 8th century through the middle of the 13th century.  And, indeed, this may very well be the problem, as Muslim learning, by the early 14th century, began a long process into decline

IBN-KHALDUN

In any history of the development of universities, al-Azhar University in Cairo, dating from the late 10th century, is generally given credit, for being first.  As the intellectual jewel of Sunni Islam, it was and is noted for studies in Islamic jurisprudence, religion and culture.Its scholars today are famed throughout the Muslim world for their fatwas pertaining to disputes within the religion and for their various works on right conduct for Muslims.  But, although there are a few secular departments in the university in the 21st century, it is true that al-Azhar has never been distinguished in the "hard sciences."

AL-AZHAR UNIVERSITY

If there is, as has been suggested by our president, a Muslim disconnect with math and science, one need only peruse the list of Nobel Prize laureates. Since 1901, there have been 10 Muslim winners, half of them coming in the 21st century.  Of the 10, 6 have been awarded peace prizes.  The world Muslim population is about 1.5 billion

By contrast, although constituting 0.25% of the world population, Jews or  individuals of Jewish descent have garnered 170 Nobel Prizes.  In science, Jews have taken 19% of the world total in chemistry, 28% in medicine and physiology, and 26% in physics.

So, the president's notion began to make more sense; and, at this point, please keep in mind that President Obama is himself a Nobel Prize winner. And, then, there it was: "AHA AND EUREKA!" It came to me! I understood, and it was absolutely brilliant!  All those Muslims throughout the world are are depressed and must feel terrible about themselves and math and science, especially when they think about the hated Jews.  If there were just some way to raise Muslim esteem, what a difference it would make!  Perhaps all of that "Allahhu-Akbaring" and beheading business would cease!  Maybe Muslims would stop calling Jews "monkeys, pigs and apes!"  Suicide bombings would end!  Even honor killings and genital mutilations might stop!  Your local Mullah could join the community Lions or Rotary Club! And, miracle of miracles, the Arab/Israeli conflict could finally come to an end!

PRESIDENT BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA, YOUR INTELLECT IS NOTHING SHORT OF DAZZLING!