On the eve of 205th birthday of the great Muslim thinker and philosopher, Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, Prof Dr Muhammad Zakaria Zakar, the renowned sociologist and Vice Chancellor of the University of Poonch Rawalakot, while talking to faculty and students, highlighted the importance of implanting culture of science and rationality in our society.
Dr Zakar stressed the need of uprooting the culture of superstition and irrational beliefs. He argued that scientific thinking was essential at individual and collective levels for establishing stable democracy and prosperous economy. “If individual is overwhelmed by superstitious behavior such as magic, good or bad luck or other forms of nonscientific thinking, society cannot progress. More than a century ago, Sir Syed emphasized the Muslims to come out of glorious stories of the past and live in present by courageously facing the reality”, observed Dr Zakar.
He further told that Sir Syed also advised the Muslims not to believe in conspiracy theories and learn from other cultures especially the Western civilization. He said, “Sir Syed further advised the Muslims to learn scientific knowledge and meet the challenges of the contemporary world. In today’s Pakistan, more than anything else, we need to seriously adhered to the philosophy of Sir Syed Ahmad Khan and empower our youth by imparting state of the art scientific knowledge. We should also train our youth in such a way that they strictly follow rule of law and be responsible global citizens by respecting other cultures and meaningfully contribute to world economy.”
