What is the reason behind the Muslims’ slow development in contemporary technology?

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds.  I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.

There are many reasons behind the Muslims’ slow development in modern technology, the most important of which is their reluctance to adhere to the Quran and Sunnah (Prophetic tradition). There is no better proof of that than recalling the great achievements that were made when they truly adhered to the teachings of Islam. At that time, they conquered states as well as hearts and were the leaders in all fields.

Above all, they were devoted and sincere in their adherence to the Quran and Sunnah (Prophetic tradition) and in their pursuit of necessary means. This is the reason why they made great discoveries and remarkable inventions, upon which the West has built its modern civilization, even though Westerners deny this fact and claim otherwise.

However, after that time of glory the Muslims unfortunately became much less committed to the teachings of their religion and, unlike others, lost their devotion in seeking progress. They started to lag behind. In a valuable lecture, Dr. Naasir ibn Sulaymaan Al-‘Umar clarified a number of reasons behind the Muslims’ slow development in modern civilization, some of which were:

•        The downfall of the Islamic caliphate

•        Separating religion and state

•        Defeatism

•        Ignorance

•        Corruption in the name of reform and development

•        Establishing parties and the rise of partisanship

Moreover, Dr. Al-‘Umar only mentioned some of the ensuing consequences, including:

•        Intellectual deviation

•        Corruption of some educational curricula

•        Social disorder

Dr. Al-‘Umar presented a number of means to treat the problem of slow development, the most important of which were the sincere return to Islam, developing high self-esteem, independence, freedom from defeatism and emphasizing the role of scholars in society and granting them positions of leadership.

Allaah Knows best.