Who speaks for Islam?

EXTREME UNDERSTANDING Years after 9/11 are we any closer to knowing what makes a radical? In the wake of the terrorist attacks on 9/11, US public officials seemed to have no idea how many of the 1.3 billion Muslims across the world supported the bombing.  The result was the largest most comprehensive study of its kind.  Organised by Gallup, taking six years and representing 90% of the world's Muslim community, the report Who Speaks for Islam?  What a Billion Muslims Really Think, was not only illuminating but surprising. On Wednesday 24 March, co author Dalia Mogahed, a member of a key advisory council to Barack Obama, will talk on the findings of this ground breaking research.  In her lecture she will show that conflict between Muslims and the Western world is not, as often thought, inevitable and in fact has more to do with policies than principles.  She will illustrate how Muslims and Americans are equally likely to reject attacks on civilians as morally unjustifiable, and also reveal what most Muslims think is the most important thing Westerners can do to improve relations with their societies. To conclude, Mogahed will look to the future with a caution, as in the book, that "until and unless decision makers listen directly to the people and gain an accurate understanding of this conflict, extremists on all sides will continue to gain ground." Who Speaks for Islam?  What a Billion Muslims Really Think by John L Eposito and Dalia Mogahed was published in 2008.  It is an important book that challenges conventional wisdom and sheds unprecedented light on what motivates Muslims worldwide. Who Speaks for Islam?  is on Wednesday 24 March from 6.00-7.00pm at the Royal Society, 6-9 Carlton House Terrace, SW1Y 5AH.  The event is free to the public and registration is not required.  The lecture will be introduced and chaired by Henry Hogger CMG, Chairman of the Council for British Research in the Levant and a former British ambassador to Syria, who specialises in Middle East affairs. The Lecture is linked to an international symposium on Islamic Studies in Europe, talking place at the British Academy in conjunction with the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), on 23-24 March. Dalia Mogahed is Executive Director of the Gallup Center for Muslim Studies in Washington DC and co-author of the book What a Billion Muslims Really Think (2008). She leads the collection and analysis of Gallup's survey of worldwide Muslim opinion, and directs the Muslim­West Facts Initiative, in collaboration with the Coexist Foundation, which disseminates the findings of the Gallup World Poll to key opinion leaders in the Muslim World and the West. The British Academy, 10 Carlton House Terrace, London SW1Y 5AH Tel: 020 7969 5200, Fax: 020 7969 5300, Web: www.britac.ac.uk

The Current Economic Crisis and Islamic Finance with Mr Iqbal Khan

Title: The Current Economic Crisis and Islamic Finance
Speaker:  Mr Iqbal Khan
Date and time: 12th March 2010 6.45 - 8.30pm
Venue: Abrar House, 45 Crawford Place, London W1H 4LP (nearest tube, Edgware Road)

The City Circle is pleased to present a discussion with Mr Iqbal Khan, Chief Executive Officer of Fajr Capital and previously Founding CEO of HSBC Amanah.  Mr Khan will give a history and overview of the global financial crisis and consider the impact of the global financial crisis on the OIC economies.  He will discuss the ethical perspective of the financial crisis and consider whether Islamic finance can stem the tide of the global financial crisis and the way ahead.

Mr. Iqbal Khan serves as the Chief Executive Officer of Fajr Capital.  Previously, he was Founding CEO of HSBC Amanah, where he built the business and team over eight years as one of the fastest growing and most successful emerging businesses in the HSBC Group.  Mr. Khan was a member of the Boards of Directors of HSBC Bank Middle East, The Saudi British Bank, and HSBC Investment Bank (Saudi Arabia).  He reported directly to the HSBC Group Holdings Group CEO and now Chairman, Stephen Green.  Mr. Khan has been associated with the launch of leading Islamic financial services institutions such as Meezan Bank, Citi Islamic Investment Bank, and IDB Infrastructure Fund, and has overseen a wide range of business lines, including retail banking, corporate finance advisory, treasury and risk management, wealth management, private banking, and private equity.  He is active in a large number of Islamic financial services industry initiatives, serving as an advisor to government initiatives in the UK, the UAE, and Malaysia. Mr. Khan has received a number of industry commendations, including a special award from Euromoney in 2006 for his "Outstanding Contribution to Islamic Finance."

All welcome. Free Entrance and no need to pre book.
For further information contact Rabia at rabia.malik.cc@gmail.com or 07733932134

Forthcoming course: The Islamic History of India

Assalamu 'alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu,

Please find details our forthcoming Islamic History of India
course and please forward to all ! 

First held last year in London, it was a massive
success, hence the need to repeat it and benefit
those missed it and those who live outside of London.

Places are limited, booking required and prices
increase after deadline.

BOOKING DEADLINE: MONDAY 18TH JANUARY 2010

Trailer: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jr70qalhp2o

Profits from the event will go towards the Al-Hijrah Trust (Charity
Registration No: 1015880), established in 1988 to address the educational
needs of Muslim children in the UK. For more information please
visit www.alhijrahschool.co.uk

Islamic Circles presents:

INTRODUCTION TO THE ISLAMIC HISTORY OF INDIA

with Professor Francis Robinson (University of London)*

Date: Saturday 30th January 2010
Time: 9.00 am - 6.00 pm
Venue: Al-Hijrah School, Cherrywood Centre,
Burbidge Road Bordesley Green Birmingham B9 4US

The Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) said: "I feel a cool breeze from Al-Hind
(India)." (Sunan Abu Dawud)

With over 1000 years of Islamic presence in the Indian subcontinent
(India, Pakistan, Bangladesh), over a third of the Muslim world today
is based in this region, and it is also area from which the majority
of the Muslims in the UK originate. However, very little structured
learning about Islam in India and its contribution to wider Islamic
civilisation is readily available in the UK. Moreover, in the light
of recent events, some of today's critical issues, both in
the UK and the Indian subcontinent, can be traced back to historical
events in the region, and perhaps therein lie some of the solutions.
As we progress further into the 21st century, global powers continue
to shift eastwards, and India is fast becoming a regional superpower.
If there is to be any concrete change or revival within the global
Muslim community, the Indian subcontinent is likely to play a very
important role.

This introductory course looks at the following areas: Early Islamic
Contact with India; Umayyad conquest of Sind through Muhammad bin
Qasim (rh); Abbasid period: Delhi and Deccan Sultanates; Mongol era
(Timur) and later emergence of the Mughals; Rise and fall of the
Mughals; Relationships with other Islamic states such as Ottomans
and Safavids; Muslim contribution to culture, art and science in
India; Relationship of Muslims with Hindus and other religions;
From the position of leadership to minorities and majorities;
What the future holds and the lessons that may be learned.

* Professor Francis Robinson CBE, is one of the world's leading
experts and historians on Islam in South Asia. Based at the Royal
Holloway and Bedford New College London, where he has served as
Senior Vice-Principal, he is currently Professor of South Asian
History at the college as well as a fellow at the Oxford Centre
for Islamic Studies and a visiting professor at the Faculty of
History, University of Oxford. He has been heavily involved in
promoting scholarship in relation to Asia and was President of
the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain & Ireland. Professor
Robinson's research interests focus on religious change in the
Muslim world, particularly in the context of the history of
Muslims of South Asia. Amongst his publications are: Atlas of
the Muslim World since 1500 (1982); Islam and Muslim History
in South Asia (2000); The 'Ulama of Farangi Mahall and Islamic
Culture in South Asia (2001); The Mughals (2007); Islam, South
Asia & the West (2007). Professor Robinson is also the editor
of The Islamic World in the Age of Western Domination: A New
Cambridge History of Islam, Volume 5 (2008).

The courses are open to all but spaces are limited.
Entry is through prior registration only.

For bookings and further information please contact:
Tel: 07956 983 609 / 07504 336 911
E-mail: info@islamiccourses.org
Website: www.islamiccourses.org

CREATIVE THINKING AMONG TODAY’S MUSLIMS: BARRIERS AND BREAKTHROUGHS

Dr. Jamal Ahmed Badi
Abstract:
Creative thinking and problem solving is of extreme concerns in
the Western research for the last half century. The findings of these
researches are being implemented and applied in all walks of life:
education, administration, leadership, etc. Not only that, it is used in
political mobilization, advertisement, propaganda, mind-leading,
influencing attitudes through perceptual manipulation and even as a
powerful tool to promote Globalization throughout the whole World.
Compared to the above and by looking at the situation in the
Muslim World today, we find awkwardness, backwardness, and
narrow-mindedness. Many intellectuals who observed such
dangerous negative phenomenon raised questions and inquiries.
What has happened to the Muslims of today? What are the reasons
∗ The author is a lecture at the Department of General Studies, International Islamic
University Malaysia.
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behind all these traits and qualities? Why Muslims – who are
considered as one of the builders of civilizations -are no longer
creative and initiative? How to reactivate creative potential in
Muslims so as to revive the vibrant Islamic Thought and reestablish
the Islamic Civilization?
This paper aims to explore the external barriers and obstacles
that hinder creative thinking among today's Muslims. Environmental,
Educational, and Intellectual barriers will be analyzed and discussed
thoroughly. Ways, means and strategies to overcome such barriers
will be highlighted. An analytical and critical approach will be used
in dealing with issues related to the topic. Both inductive and
abductive reasoning will be combined in discussing the abovementioned
barriers. Views of some contemporary Muslim scholars
such as Malik Bin Nabi, Iqbal and Abdul Karim Bakkar, to name a
few, will be introduced and examined.
It is of significance and importance to relate and compare
findings with the Western perspective, which had been established
and improved for the last three decades. The researcher will include
his input based on his experience in teaching the subject of Creative
Thinking at IIUM for the last eight years.
It is highly expected that the findings of this paper will be
beneficial to the Muslim community and it is hoped that it will
contribute to the development of the Contemporary Islamic Thought
which possibly can –in turn- contribute to the development of the
Muslim "Ummah".
CREATIVE THINKING AMONG TODAY'S MUSLIMS: Dr. Jamal Ahmed Badi∗
3
The researcher will use the Western research findings on
creativity with special regard to environmental, cultural, and
educational barriers to creativity, as a unit of analysis to evaluate the
situation in the Muslim World. This is due to following reasons:
1. The accumulation of research done on creativity in the West
for the last three decades or more;
2. Major similarities in educational system, in both the Muslim
World and the West to a certain extent, where most if not all
the Muslim countries adopted UNESCO educational settings
after decolonization.
However, the researcher will not use the above said criteria
in a passive and submissive sense, especially in discussing cultural
and environmental barriers, where there are more differences than
similarities. The findings of the Western researches will be
thoroughly examined in their application to the Muslim context.
In an attempt to overcome these barriers, the paper will
introduce the views of some eminent Muslim scholars and examine
these views in the light of the paper's findings as a way of
concluding and reaching the final resolutions.
1) Introduction:
The early writings on creativity in the West focused on barriers
to creativity. James Adams was one of the authors who wrote on this
issue and his book entitled "Conceptual Blockbusting"(1) can be
(1) Addison-Wesley, USA, 1974, 76, 79, 86 and 1993.
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considered among the first efforts. According to Adams, barriers to
creativity can be generally classified into perceptual, emotional,
cultural, environmental, intellectual and expressive. Based on his
view, one has to break through all these barriers in order to
conceptualize freely and to be creative.
Gary Davis who wrote 20 years later classifies barriers into
internal and external: "Barriers are blocks, internal or external, that
either inhibit creative thinking and inspiration or else prevents
innovative ideas from being accepted and implemented. Most
barriers result from learning. They may originate with one's family,
peers, community, or educational environment, or from others in the
culture or business organizations."(1) Davis stresses:
"Because of their insecurities, well-learned habits, or an
unsupportive or even repressive environment, most people do not use
the creative abilities with which they were born" (2).
Barriers according to him are habit and learning, rules and
traditions, perceptual, cultural, emotional, and resource barriers
"shortage of people, money, time, supplies, or information".
Although he considers Learning and Habit, as necessary
capabilities for humankind in directing our daily behavior, however,
they are the most obvious barriers; they both are a blessing and a
(1) Gary Davis: Barriers to Creativity and Creative Attitudes, Encyclopedia of Creativity,
1999, ACADEMIC PRESS, vol.1. p. 165.
(2) Creativity for Ever. P. 18. The author lists the ten barriers to thinking as pinpointed by
"Von Oech, 1983": A Whack on the Side of the Head. See p.p. 27-31. He elaborates on
the tenth barrier "self-squelcher". Pp. 31-35.
CREATIVE THINKING AMONG TODAY'S MUSLIMS: Dr. Jamal Ahmed Badi∗
5
curse. He explains: "The most obvious barriers to creative thinking
and innovation simply is habit – our well – learned ways of thinking
and responding. It begins early. We learn "correct" responses,
routines, and patterns of behavior. We learn language habits and
conceptual categories. We learn "the way things have always been
done" and "the way things are supposed to be done." Over the years
it becomes difficult to see and create new possibilities – to break
away from or suppress our creativity- squelching habits."(1)
Next come Rules and Regulations: "As with learning and habit,
social groups – from one's family to educational, corporate, national,
and international groups – could not function without the rules,
regulations, policies, and traditions that guide personal, social, and
institutional conduct. However, "guide" often means restrict, inhibit,
or prohibit."(2)
It is clear that barriers are of two types: Internal and external.
However, this paper will concentrate on discussing and analyzing
external barriers, and finding ways and means to overcome them, for
the following reasons:
1. External barriers are more influential for they affect the
individual as well as the whole community.
2. Overcoming external barriers to creativity will lead to
promoting creative culture and can help individuals to
overcome their internal barriers.
(1) Gary, Encyclopedia of Creativity, ibid, p.166.
(2) Ibid. p.167.
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Based on previous quotations taken from studies and research work
done in this regard, cultural, educational and environmental barriers
are the main and the most influential barriers that hinder creativity. In
the following discussion the paper will analyze, elucidate and
highlight these barriers one by one.
Cultural Barriers
Culture here is regarded as a broader aspect of the social
environment. According to Gary Davis again: "Cultural barriers
amount to social influence, expectations, and conformity pressures
which are based on social and institutional norms. Cultural blocks
include habit and learning, rules and traditions, and more. They
include conforming to the ways we think others expect us to behave
and a fear of being different. The result is a loss of individuality and
creativity" (1).
He gives the following examples: the traditionally perceived
role of females, we learn not to ask too many questions, and that
fantasy is a waste of time, and if cooperation is an accepted cultural
or institutional goal, many people will temper their creative ideas in
order to "fit in" and ignoring monumental cultural differences in
creative attitudes and personality, creative productivity, creative
opportunity, and general self-actualization where the culture itself
becomes the greatest cultural barrier.
(1) Gary. Ibid p. 168.
CREATIVE THINKING AMONG TODAY'S MUSLIMS: Dr. Jamal Ahmed Badi∗
7
There are differences between cultures in terms of
importance and significance given to creativity. The more a culture
allows, promotes, and encourages creativity the more this will
influence attitudes of that culture citizens to become creative. Dacey
says:
Cultures vary in the relative importance given to creativity.
Also, Wonder and Blake "1992" argue that the Eastern view
centers on artistic, poetic, and everyday life domains of creative
activity because people can draw upon their own experiences in
these domains(1)
Islam in this sense highly values and encourages deep
thinking, contemplation, reflection and pondering. The Qur'an used
more than eight terminologies for thinking while calling and
encouraging all its readers to exercise it. This is mentioned in
hundreds of verses. Both the Qur'an and Sunnah used more than
fifteen different thinking styles in communicating their message.
Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) highly recommended
innovating something which is good and beneficial to the
community.(2)
A culture may encourage creativity in specific domains but not in
other ones."Culture encourages creativity in some situations and for
(1) Handbook of Creativity pp.340-341
(2) Badi, Jamal and Tajdin, Mustapha: Creative Thinking: An Islamic Perspective. IIUM
Research Centre Publications. Second Edition, Jan 2005. Chapter one.
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some topics but discourages it for others. For example, Mar'i and
Karayanni "1983" observed that many Arab students' responses to
the question, "What would happen if mules and other animals which
help us plow the farm cease to exist?" were elaborate and original!
However, a religious question "What would happen if worship places
cease to exist?" yield shallow responses or those that rejected the
question."(1)
Mar'i and Karayanni argued that in Arab cultures males tend to
perform better than females on creativity tasks. They attributed this
observation to females' submissive social role, limited occupational
choices, and/or limited schooling opportunities in Arab culture.
"Differential opportunities for schooling may be particularly
important to consider when examining gender-based differences in
creativity because schools familiarize students with testing
situations."(2)
In my opinion, what Mar'i and Karayanni attributed the Arab
students' shallow responses when asked about worship places seems
to suggest that creativity is not linked to religion in many Muslim
countries. There are among teachers who teach religious subjects
who believe that there is no link between Islam and creativity to the
extent that some of them think that Islam is anti-creativity. I was told
(1) Handbook of Creativity P. 342
(2) Ibid Pp. 343-344.
CREATIVE THINKING AMONG TODAY'S MUSLIMS: Dr. Jamal Ahmed Badi∗
9
by some Muslim school teachers' participants in the 8th International
Conference on Thinking in Singapore in June 1997 that, even though
they were willing to promote and teach Creative Thinking at their
universities, the most objection and opposition to the project was
surprisingly coming from religious oriented lecturers.
A culture may favor a gender over another in terms of
educational opportunities and setting the role they ought to play in
the community. "Mar'i and Karayanni "1983" have argued that in
Arab cultures males tend to perform better than females on creativity
tasks, which may be attributed to females' submissive social role,
limited occupational choices, and/or limited schooling opportunities.
Differential opportunities for schooling may be particularly important
to consider when examining gender-based differences in creativity
because schools familiarize students with testing situations."(1)
It is sadly true that females have much less educational
opportunities in the Muslim World, where being educated may not
be regarded as part of their human rights. Many recent International
institutes' findings and statistics prove that this fact still stands true
until today! According to UN statistics, in 2003, an estimated 44
million adult Arab women were illiterate. (2) In other Muslim
(1) Ibid Pp. 343-344.
(2) www.escwa.org.lb/gsp. See also alarming facts at: www.alesco.org.
2007 م / 1428 ه فلسفة العلوم ، ( تفكُّر ، مجلد ( 8) ، ا لعدد ( 1
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countries the situation is more or less the same. UN statistics division
data shows that the percentage of illiteracy among females in
Bangladesh is up to 80%.
This can be looked at as part of the female role in many
Muslim cultures and subcultures. In some Muslim communities
females are raised up to be ready for getting married one day and
take care of their children, husband and home. Unfortunately, this
image is being promoted through media and movies as a source of
entertainment! However, there are many other related factors behind
such disaster some of which are the following:
1. Poverty where there are millions of Muslims who live in a
status under the poverty line. In rural areas family prefer to
send their male children to school and request female children
to stay home and help the family to survive.
2. Wars and political instability in some Muslim countries such
as Palestine.
3. Insufficient planning and lack of schools and colleges in many
rural areas in some Muslim countries where it is easier for
male students to go and study in the city or town.
As part of the culture, language plays a very important role in
promoting creativity. Modes of expressions, choices of terms, the
way of understanding or looking at the world, and even definitions of
specific concepts are all influenced and shaped through language. In
CREATIVE THINKING AMONG TODAY'S MUSLIMS: Dr. Jamal Ahmed Badi∗
11
this respect mastering more than one language is considered a
blessing.
Related to the effects of culture on creativity, described
earlier, is the channeling influence of language on creativity, Whorf
"1956" proposed that language shapes thought. Language structures
categories and expresses a culture's understanding of the world
"Lakoff & Johnson, 1980". Language as a vehicle of culture can
therefore be expected to shape creativity. Several studies have
assessed the effect that language has on creativity by contrasting
monolingual and bilingual groups. A recent review of 24 studies –
"but not including all studies" -concluded that a majority of the
studies show a positive link between bilingualism and creativity."(1)
The Worldview related to a culture may cause it either to promote or
hinder creativity. "In addition to culture's role in channeling
creativity toward certain domains or social groups, culture may
influence the overall level of creative activity. Creativity may be
stimulated or hindered by cultural features such as worldview and
the value placed on conformity or tradition.
Worldview refers to a culture's broad conception of the nature
of the world and people's role in the world "Sadowsky, Maguire,
(1) Ibid, P 344. The article states that this did not occur consistently
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Johnson, Ngumba, & Kohles, 1994". For example, the U.S.
worldview has been characterized, in part, as emphasizing
individualism, a work ethic of accomplishment and achievement, and
a belief in progress and a better future "Spindler & Spindler, 1983"(1)
Asking the reader to consider each component with regard to
creativity, the writer continues:
'Individualist cultures value independence, self reliance, and
creativity, whereas collectivist cultures emphasize obedience,
cooperation, duty, and acceptance of an in-group authority'
The writer then illustrates the impact of the work ethic of
accomplishment and achievement on fostering creativity in the West.
"Concerning a work ethic of accomplishment and achievement, we
have already seen how the Western definition of creativity focuses
on tangible creative products. The value placed on being active and
productive should foster creativity as measured by Western
standards."
Highlighting few beliefs related to the Western World View,
the writer shows how these beliefs can inspire people to work on
improving the World. "With regard to a belief in progress and
optimism toward the future, theorists have proposed that cultures
(1) Ibid, p 345.
CREATIVE THINKING AMONG TODAY'S MUSLIMS: Dr. Jamal Ahmed Badi∗
13
with such beliefs empower people to work on improving the world
"Arieti, 1976; Trachtman, 1975". These beliefs imply a cultural
acceptance of change, growth, and movement from the status quo.
Those cultures that do not maintain faith in progress and have a
pessimistic view of the future are believed to stifle creativity in
general."(1)
It can be argued that the Islamic worldview with its main
components of: comprehensive interpretation of worshiping Allah
"'Ubudiyyah", to establish civilization on earth "khilafa", the call for
doing things with perfection, tastefulness, competitiveness, and in a
complete manner "Ihsan", is an ideal worldview for promoting
creativity. It is a unique worldview, which is misunderstood or
misinterpreted by its followers and opponents as well.
Fate is one of the most important elements in the Islamic
Worldview However, believing in Fate in a positive way is a missing
dimension in Muslims' beliefs and practices. Most Muslims fail to
understand the Islamic stand with regard to fate. Islam emphasizes
responsibility, planning, and action. It abandons recklessness,
carelessness, and laziness. Though Islam calls for collectivity, unity,
obedience and cooperation; it never neglects, ignores or eliminates
individuality.
(1) Ibid.
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Cooperation means community solidarity, teamwork,
supporting one another in whatever is good and beneficial but not
submitting to the will of others. Islam safeguarded the practice of
this concept positively by making it obligatory to exercise mutual
consultation, giving advice "Nasiha", encouraging what is good and
discouraging what is evil. Obedience means respect and appreciation
rather than authoritarianism. It is the misunderstanding and
misinterpretation of these concepts that cause anti creativity.
In addition to varying worldviews and related to the
individualism-collectivism dimension, cultures vary on the extent to
which they value conformity and tradition. A few cross-cultural
studies show links between levels of conformity or dogmatism/
open-mindedness and creativity.(1)
Usually and in most cultures, tradition is preferable to change.
Many individuals value tradition more than the do change. This
attitude has a negative effect on good conceptualization.
Culture can be either unselfconscious or self-conscious. The
unselfconscious culture is tradition oriented, whereas in a selfconscious
culture very high value seems to be placed on
innovation.(2) "The problem arises when individuals become so
(1) Ibid p.345
(2) Adams: Conceptual Blockbusting. P. 63
CREATIVE THINKING AMONG TODAY'S MUSLIMS: Dr. Jamal Ahmed Badi∗
15
universally in favor of tradition that they cannot see the need for and
desirability of change in specific area."(1) Another cultural issue,
which influences creativity, is political stability. The more stability
there is the more chances for creativity. "Political fragmentation
"measured by the prevalence of independent nations", for example,
had a catalyzing effect on creativity across historical periods in
Western, Islamic, and Indian civilizations."(2)
Islamic contemporary history, after the decline of Othmanite
Emperor and a long period of Western colonization shows a great
deal of political instability, fragmentation, disunity and poverty. This
adds to the barriers to creativity in the Muslim World. It led to
migration of thousands of well-educated Muslim intellectuals and
professionals to the West where there is a better chance for living.
Culture can set up people preferences, and thus certain
intellectual concepts and attitudes are favored, "Reason, logic,
numbers, utility, and practicality are good; but so, too, are feeling
intuition, qualitative judgment, and pleasure especially if you are
conceptualizing. This block against emotion, feeling; pleasure stems
from our puritan heritage and our technology-based culture… One
cause for this block, which has complicated matters in the past but is
hopefully dying out a little, has been the assigning of various mental
activities and qualities to either the male or the female. In the past, it
(1) Ibid p. 64
(2) Handbook of Creativity p.346
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has been the female who was to be sensitive, emotional, appreciative
of the fine arts, and intuitive. The male was to be tough, physical,
pragmatic, logical, and professionally productive. Adhering to these
constraints severely limits both sexes."(1)
Arieti proposes nine features that he believes are essential to
the creativogenic society: the availability of culture and certain
physical means, openness to cultural stimuli, stress on becoming not
just being, free access to cultural media for all citizens, without
discrimination, freedom, or even moderate discrimination, after
severe oppression or absolute exclusion, exposure to different and
even contrasting cultural stimuli, tolerance for and interest in
diverging views, the opportunity for interaction between significant
persons, and the promotion of incentives and awards.(2)
Educational Barriers
Some researchers relate the lack of creativity in society to
education.(3) It is astonishing to see how many well-known creative
people hated school or did poorly in it. Besides, there is a
surprisingly high proportion of very creative adults who had
miserable educational experience.(4)
(1) James Adams: Conceptual Blockbusting, 3rd Edition, p. 58
(2) John S. Dacey: Fundamentals of creative Thinking, Lexington Books, NY, 1989. pp.
219-220.
(3) Arthur, J. Copley: Creativity in Education & Learning, Kogan Page, U.K. 2001. p. 133.
(4) Teresa M. Amabile: Growing up Creative p.89
CREATIVE THINKING AMONG TODAY'S MUSLIMS: Dr. Jamal Ahmed Badi∗
17
Dacey states that 'schools suppress creativity'.(1) He argues
that students after they have attended school for a while become
more cautious and less innovative. Worst of all, they tend to change
from being participators to being spectators."(2)
These researchers assume that appropriate learning conditions
can promote at least some elements of creativity in many if not all
children. Universities, schools, and other education institutions
therefore, must promote flexibility, openness for the new, the ability
to adapt or see new ways of doing things, and courage in the face of
the unexpected. It is hoped that this will help people to adapt to a
changing world. (3)
Early researches show that teachers prefer courteousness,
punctuality, obedience and receptiveness to other people's "teachers"
ideas. In the area of thinking, high skill in memorization and accurate
recall are often preferred to critical thinking or independent decision
making. These researches mention Nigeria and Turkey where this
teacher bias has also been demonstrated.(4)
Based on my eight years of teaching Creative Thinking
subject at Iium to students of Kulliyyah of Islamic Revealed
Knowledge, and Human Sciences; I noticed that the students have
(1) John S. Dacey: Fundemental of Creative Thinking, Lexington Books, 1989. p.200
(2) Ibid
(3) Copley: p. 135.
(4) Copley p. 137.
2007 م / 1428 ه فلسفة العلوم ، ( تفكُّر ، مجلد ( 8) ، ا لعدد ( 1
18
difficulty in absorbing and visualizing the creative thinking concepts
and skills. This might be due to the teaching methods used in their
previous schools which might prefer spoon feeding approach and
usually depend on memorizing and recalling information from ready
to put hands on materials or notes for final exam. Many of those
students fail to read additional recommended materials and reluctant
to do extra exercises even when they encouraged and asked to do so.
Besides, they prefer group over individual assignments, where some
of them will be dependent on the other group members. We cannot
blame them rather the culture that produced such negative intellectual
behavior.
Amabile names four methods for what she calls killing
children's creativity in school. They are namely: evaluation, reward,
competition, and restricted choice. Children who expect frequent
teacher evaluation of their work will tend to be less motivated and
creative. If children come to feel that these rewards are the main
reasons for doing what they do, their creativity will be undermined.
Competition encompasses both evaluation and reward. Competition
occurs when people feel that their performance will be evaluated
against the performance of others and that the best will receive some
reward. It is a daily fact of life and, unfortunately, it can murder
creativity. Finally, learning and creativity could not be promoted by
force in a highly restricted environment. It is surprising that most
teachers unwittingly undermine creativity by restricting children's
choice even in areas where they could allow more autonomy.(1)
(1) Teresa M. Amabile: Growing up Creative, The creative Education Foundation, Buffalo,
N.Y. 1989 pp. 72-87.
CREATIVE THINKING AMONG TODAY'S MUSLIMS: Dr. Jamal Ahmed Badi∗
19
Under Teacher Attitudes Amabile says that 'Research shows
that teacher's orientation toward control can have a significant
impact on children's intrinsic motivation. In one study, children
showed low levels of motivation if their teachers were controlling,
and high levels of motivation if their teachers allowed them more
autonomy. It makes sense, then, to expect that there will be lower
levels of creativity in classrooms with control-oriented teachers'.(1)
Professor Adams holds similar view in this respect, "Students
from a school system in which grading is extremely important, and
in which the professor or teacher is an extreme authority figure,
sometimes have difficulty in adapting to design courses. They are
often preoccupied with "What is the answer?" and "How do I ensure
that I will get an A?" – as well they should be, since their
background has been exclusively oriented in such directions. The
tragedy is that many foreign countries that need capable designers
and problem-solvers suffer from such blocks. Academic risk-taking
is somewhat of a taboo."(2)
The problem can be in the way information is processed,
Amabile explains, "It is possible, though, for creativity to be stifled
by knowledge that is stored in the wrong way. One of the wrong
ways for knowledge to be stored is rote learning, or memorizing
facts without any sense of how they connect to each other. Such
(1) Ibid P.87
(2) Adams: Conceptual Blockbusting, p. 65
2007 م / 1428 ه فلسفة العلوم ، ( تفكُّر ، مجلد ( 8) ، ا لعدد ( 1
20
knowledge may be very useful for getting grades on multiple-choice
tests, but it will be nearly useless for turning out truly creative
work."(1) Also: "Teachers are not the only creativity killers in school.
Children can undermine each other's creativity through pressure to
conform."(2)
According to Dacey, it is deduced from researches that
teachers' personality are characterized by 'authoritarianism'.
'Authoritarian want instant obedience from those "below" them...
Dominance and subordination are the key factors in life for them'.(3)
'The whole educational system is involved. In addition, the question
of why some school teachers are so authoritarian "and thus anticreative"
still remains'.(4) 'Clearly, some people go into teaching in
order to dominate others, and some people do it in order to help their
students to flourish. That there may be more of the former seems to
be evidenced by the decline we see in creative scores the longer
children are in school'.(5) 'What are parents and teachers to do when
their potentially creative children chafe within the school system?
One answer is to try to change that system, to make it flexible
enough to accommodate a variety of learning styles and interests'.(6)
(1) Teresa M. Amabile: Growing up Creative, The creative Education Foundation. P.88.
(2) Ibid . P.89
(3) John S. Dacey: Fundemental of Creative Thinking, Lexington Books, 1989. p.201
(4) Ibid. p. 202
(5) Ibid p.202
(6) Teresa M. Amabile: Growing up Creative p. 90
CREATIVE THINKING AMONG TODAY'S MUSLIMS: Dr. Jamal Ahmed Badi∗
21
Teachers should be trained to cultivate creativity in their
students. Dacey reasoned that the teacher's inability to cultivate
creativity probably results from deeply learned attitudes and values,
and thus it would take substantial time and effort to overcome these
unconscious biases."(1) "In more recent studies Oral and Guncer
"1993" reported that highly creative children were seen by Turkish
teachers as being belligerent and defiant."(2)
According to Copley, creativity-fostering teachers are those who:
• Encourage students to learn independently;
• Have a co-operative, socially integrative style of teaching;
• Do not neglect mastery of factual knowledge;
• Tolerate 'sensible' or bold errors;
• Promote self-evaluation;
• Take questions seriously;
• Offer opportunities to work with varied materials under different
conditions;
• Help students learn to cope with frustration and failure;
• Reward courage as much as being right.(3)
One of the strategies to enhance students' thinking in the West
is to teach thinking skills to students. However, the most important
strategy in my opinion was to infuse creative and critical thinking in
(1) John S. Dacey: Fundemental of Creative Thinking, Lexington Books, 1989. p.207.
(2) Copley p. 137
(3) Copley: Creativity in Education p. 138, and more details on fostering creativity in
classroom pp. 147-150.
2007 م / 1428 ه فلسفة العلوم ، ( تفكُّر ، مجلد ( 8) ، ا لعدد ( 1
22
both classroom and Curricula. The 8th. International Conference on
Thinking was dedicated to promote this mission in Singapore June
1997. Moreover, too many books were published for the same
purpose. Among the good ones that I came across is, "Techniques for
Teaching Thinking" by Arthur Costa and Lawrence Lowery.(1)
In their book, Costa and Lowery emphasize the importance of
structuring classroom for thinking, teacher-initiated questions and
directions that elicit thinking and learning, teacher response
behaviors that support and extend thinking and learning, and using
thoughtful language in the classroom.
In structuring classroom for thinking, it is of extreme
importance that lecturers need to be aware of individual differences
where different students need different classroom organizational
patterns, "Some students learn best individually; some learn in
groups." Not only that but also in terms of noise and quite, degree of
the light, formal and informal settings, the need to move or to be
stationary, less able students do better in highly structured learning
situations where direct help is generous while more able students
profit from less structured situations.(2)
Teachers can cause the students to think by carefully
designing the syntax of questions and statements. The teacher's
(1) Midwest Publications, 1989. CA. U.S.A.
(2) Ibid. p. 15
CREATIVE THINKING AMONG TODAY'S MUSLIMS: Dr. Jamal Ahmed Badi∗
23
manner of responding to students influence their development of
self-concepts, their attitudes toward learning, their achievements, and
their classroom rapport; greater than the teacher's questioning or
directions.(1) The authors encourage what they call Open Responses
such as waiting for one or two seconds after having asked a question
before they call on another student, ask another question, or give the
answer to the question themselves; being non-evaluative and nonjudgmental
by passively or empathetically accepting students'
responses, ideas, behavior or feeling; and by asking students to
clarify their responses by seeking more information.(2)
The authors stress the fact that is central to the development
of an individual's cognition. Thus teachers must learn how to embed
in their everyday classroom language opportunities for students to
hear cognitive terminology and be presented with day-to-day
challenges to think.(3)
Environmental Barriers
Professor Adams states that, 'all ideas require an environment
that will produce the support necessary to bring them to fruition'.(4)
Adams gives an account of what are the main elements of an
environment that encourages creativity by saying that 'an
(1) Ibid pp. 33-34.
(2) Ibid pp. 41-45.
(3) Ibid. p. 53
(4) Adams, James, Conceptual Blockbusting, 3rd Edition P.69
2007 م / 1428 ه فلسفة العلوم ، ( تفكُّر ، مجلد ( 8) ، ا لعدد ( 1
24
atmosphere of honesty, trust, and support is absolutely necessary if
most people are to make the best of their conceptual abilities'.(1) He
explains that:
'Most people are not happy with criticism and, to make
matters worse, are somewhat unsure of the quality of their
own ideas. They therefore, require a supportive environment
in which to work. One of our most serious problems with
students in design classes is that they hesitate to expose ideas
about which they are unsure, not only to the faculty, but also
to each other. Since many of their creative ideas fall into this
not-sure category they hesitate to reveal them. We have to
convert the class into a friendly, non- competitive, interactive
situation in which people will take the risk of exposing their
most impractical ideas to each other. Competition and lack of
trust destroy such supportive environment'(2)
Bringing ideas to action is even more difficult and harder job
in a non supportive environment according to Professor Adams. He
considers that lack of physical, economic, organizational support to
bring ideas into action is also another common problem. New ideas
are typically hard to bring into action. A great amount of effort is
involved in perfecting an idea and then selling it. Many conceptual
(1) James Adams: Conceptual Blockbusting, 3rd Edition, p. 67.
(2) Ibid P.68.
CREATIVE THINKING AMONG TODAY'S MUSLIMS: Dr. Jamal Ahmed Badi∗
25
breakthroughs in science, for instance, have taken years of work to
validate to the point where they would elicit interest from others in
the scientific community. Even after the idea is fleshed out into a
believable and complete form, it must be sold to an often skeptical
world. This may require money and time. In addition, he concludes:
"Lack of patronage is a very effective environment block." (1)
How to create an environment that kills innovation and
creativity? Many authorities intentionally or unintentionally
demoralize employees and do not welcome or appreciate new ways
of doing things: Professor Patricia "1998"(2) has listed the following
factors:
1) Negative attitude toward ideas that come from below
2) Too many approval levels "too many hierarchical authority".
3) Traditional recognition.
4) We know every thing attitude.
5) I think you do attitude.
6) Do as I say, not as I do.
7) Loafing attitudes, loafers are parasites; they take the advantages
of other work.
(1) Ibid P. 69
(2) Patricia Digh."1998". The Next Challenge: Holding People Accountable. Human
Resource Magazine. pp. 60-70.
2007 م / 1428 ه فلسفة العلوم ، ( تفكُّر ، مجلد ( 8) ، ا لعدد ( 1
26
It can be concluded that what applies to one community in
this respect, applies to others as well, even though cultures may vary
in terms of degree of those barriers. It can be said that in the Muslim
World the situation is even worst.
Views of Contemporary Muslim Scholars
In this part, I will be introducing the views of three
contemporary scholars regarding the revival or reforming the Islamic
Thought. These scholars are from different regions of the Muslim
World. One is from the subcontinent, another from the Western part
of the Muslim World, and the third from the Eastern part
respectively. It is so amazing and interesting that these scholars
looked at the situation of Muslims from different angles and aspects,
as we will see later in this paper. This lead us to treat their views as
complementary views.
A. The view of Muhammad Iqbal
Iqbal, holds a similar view of Edward de Bono and other
Western intellectuals where they considers philosophy and the
dominance of critical thinking as a contributing factor to hindering
creativity. Iqbal states:
While Greek philosophy very much broadened the outlook of
Muslim thinkers, it, on the whole, obscured their vision of the
Qur'an. Socrates concentrated his attention on the human
world alone. To him the proper study of man was man and not
CREATIVE THINKING AMONG TODAY'S MUSLIMS: Dr. Jamal Ahmed Badi∗
27
the world of plants, insects, and stars. How unlike the spirit of
the Qur'an, which sees in the humble bee a recipient of
Divine inspiration and constantly calls upon the reader to
observe the perpetual change of winds, the alteration of day
and night, the clouds, the starry heavens, and the planets
swimming through infinite space! As a true disciple of
Socrates, Plato despised sense-perception which, in his view,
yielded mere opinion and no real knowledge. How unlike the
Qur'an, which regards 'hearing' and 'sight' as the most
valuable Divine gifts and declares them to be accountable to
God for their activity in this world. This is what the earlier
Muslim students of the Qur'an completely missed under the
spell of classical speculation. They read the Qur'an in the
light of Greek thought. It took them over two hundred years to
perceive – though not quite clearly – that the spirit of the
Qur'an was essentially anti-classical, and the result of this
perception was a kind of intellectual revolt, the full
significance of which has not been realized even up to the
present day.(1)
Even if the emergence of certain sects was to defend Islam,
however, by using the Greek weapons to do so led to negative
(1) Allama Muhammad Iqbal: The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam. 2nd.
Edition. Institute of Islamic Culture, Lahore. 1989. p. 3
2007 م / 1428 ه فلسفة العلوم ، ( تفكُّر ، مجلد ( 8) ، ا لعدد ( 1
28
attitudes. "On the whole, the object of the Asharite movement was
simply to defend orthodox opinion with the weapons of Greek
dialectic. The Mu'tazilah, conceiving religion merely as a body of
doctrines and ignoring it as a vital fact, took no notice of nonconceptual
modes of approaching Reality and reduced religion to a
mere system of logical concepts ending in a purely negative
attitude."(1)
This caused many Muslim thinkers not being aware of the main
purpose of the Qur'an and fail to maintain the Islamic Civilization
and its contribution to science. He states, "The main purpose of the
Qur'an is to awaken in man the higher consciousness of his manifold
relations with God and the universe." After quoting many verses
from the Qur'an, he deduces that:
The point of these verses is that man is endowed with the
faculty of naming things, that is to say, forming concepts of
them, and forming concepts of them is capturing them. Thus,
the character of man's knowledge is conceptual, and it is with
the weapon of this conceptual knowledge that man
approaches the observable aspect of Reality. The one
noteworthy feature of the Qur'an is the emphasis that it lays
on this observable aspect of Reality." Having quoted few
(1) Ibid p. 4.
CREATIVE THINKING AMONG TODAY'S MUSLIMS: Dr. Jamal Ahmed Badi∗
29
other verses he continues: "No doubt, the immediate purpose
of the Qur'an in this reflective observation of Nature is to
awaken in man the consciousness of that which Nature is
regarded a symbol. But the point to note is the general
empirical attitude of the Qur'an which engendered in its
followers a feeling of reverence for the actual and ultimately
made them the founders of modern science.(1)
B.The view of Malik Bennabi
Bennabi who is one of the most well known contemporary
Muslim intellectuals discussed the issue of how Islam encouraged
thinking –as a response to the Orient lists misconceptions- by asking
the following question: "We should inquire whether the Qur'an was
able to bring about in the Muslim society an environment suitable for
the scientific spirit and to spark of the psychological impetus
necessary for the acquiring and disseminating knowledge?"(2)
According to Bennabi the answer to that question is: "The Qur'an
was definitely able to create a new intellectual atmosphere conducive
to the progress of different disciplines of sciences."(3)
Malik Bennabi has another significant input regarding
tafakkur that is the need for generating ideas in a society as a
(1) Ibid p. 11.
(2) MÉlik Bin NanÊ: 'Intaju al-MustshriqÊn, (Cairo: Maktabat 'AmÉr, 1970), p.34
(3) Ibid p.37
2007 م / 1428 ه فلسفة العلوم ، ( تفكُّر ، مجلد ( 8) ، ا لعدد ( 1
30
prerequisite for civilization. Lack in ideas leads to disasters and the
decline of progress. He asserts: "We must consider the following
truth: what befalls a society at critical turning points of its history is
not the paucity of its material objects but the poverty of its ideas."(1)
It is as if Malik anticipated the challenges of globalization
faced by Muslims today when he pointed out that a society can never
build its own progress with imported neither with imposed ideas by
saying: "A society that does not create its fundamental ideas cannot
produce what it needs for consumption nor it can produce what it
needs for its industry.
A society will never build itself by imported ideas or by ideas
imposed on it from outside."(2) It has to be noted that these
quotations on the realm of ideas are related to Bennabi's view
concerning cultural reconstruction and civilizational renaissance.
According to him each nation aiming at achieving civilizational
renaissance should have its own ideas and essential values which are
extracted and based on its cultural resources and principles related to
all life endeavors. In that, regard El-Mesawi states:
Bennabi considers that each society has a set of core or master
ideas which constitute the centre of polarization for its vital
energies. Thanks to the creative rapport, which a society
(1) Ibid p. 27
(2) Ibid p. 62
CREATIVE THINKING AMONG TODAY'S MUSLIMS: Dr. Jamal Ahmed Badi∗
31
establishes with its master ideas, it is able to produce what
Bennabi calls expressed ideas. The function of this category
of ideas is to project the master ideas in different spheres of
life, thus ensuring the society's cultural authenticity and
continuity in history as well as its ability to cope with the
circumstances of its historical development. Conversely,
human society's disintegration and cultural degeneration
results from the break-up of such creative rapport in such a
manner that its expressed ideas become mere ersatz "PI:
48/45" or dead ideas "ibid, 556/2" whose damaging impact is
aggravated by the intrusion of deadly ideas. In Bennabi's
frame of analysis, deadly ideas are those ideas which are
borrowed from a different civilizational context and which are
not subjected to any process of critical and creative adaptation
and assimilation according to the society's archetypes or
master ideas "ibid., 129L125".(1)
C.The View of Professor Abdul Karim Bakkar
According to Professor Bakkar, one of the contemporary
prominent and well versed linguist and educator in order to
overcome contemporary challenges there are two main tasks: the task
of dealing properly with the Islamic Heritage, and the task of dealing
(1) Mohamed Tahir El-Mesawi: A Muslim Theory of Human Society; an investigation into
the Sociological Thought of Malik Bennabi "Malaysia, 1998, Thinker's Library SDN
BHD", pp. 157-158. For more insights on this issue see pp. 125-129.
2007 م / 1428 ه فلسفة العلوم ، ( تفكُّر ، مجلد ( 8) ، ا لعدد ( 1
32
properly with the Western thought. The right approach in dealing
with the Islamic Heritage can be summarized as the following:
• To exploit the rich experience, methods, and models of our
Heritage that can help us to regulate our contemporary affairs
and building Islamic civilization.
• To be inspired, enlightened, and motivated by its great events and
lofty experiences to pursue great achievements. Attention
should be drawn to the essence rather than to forms and
temporary systems of its Heritage.
• To transcend what was fulfilling immediate needs, what reflected a
temporary crisis, what was a wrong response, what was due to
wrong planning, or a misinterpretation of Islam, or an
outcome of an atomomistic view to certain issues and
problems.
• To draw lessons from both success and shortcomings that existed
in our Heritage in order to avoid repeating the same pitfalls
that led this Umaah to relinquish its leading position.
• To analyze and critically evaluate an inherited experience
overburdened with so many severe problems.
At the other end, the Islamic thought experiences extreme
pressures imposed by other cultures that created cotemporary
civilizations. Most Muslim intellectuals made an effort to reconcile
between both Islamic and Western Thoughts. This took different
forms, where at one end we have the elimination of major portions of
CREATIVE THINKING AMONG TODAY'S MUSLIMS: Dr. Jamal Ahmed Badi∗
33
our Heritage, and the call for Islamization of knowledge at the other
end.
These approaches assumes that what we are trying to cope
with is stable, and the derived concepts and premises from our
Heritage and civilization are final. Hence, the attempt to reconcile
both paradigms. Both assumptions are wrong. Culture as a whole, is
complicated and it is a mix of principles, circumstances,
development, symbols, challenges and various balances which does
not accept integration in its deep structures level.
What we need to do to step over our present situation is to
establish a creative status that integrates past experiences and
contemporary challenges and needs within one cultural frame which
is extracted from the divine method and our significant Heritage and
civilization which in turn enables us to produce new cultural forms
and models that fulfill our needs and aims and set at the same time a
universal models for others to emulate and follow (1).
Conclusion
The paper discussed compared and analyzed the external
barriers to creativity in both Western and Muslim societies. Culture
has a strong influence on the way people think. It may hinder
creativity and become an obstacle. One way to overcome
(1) Abdul Karim Bakkar: Min Ajli InÏilaqa ×aÌÉriyah ShÉmilah, "RiyaÐ, 1415 AH, Darul
Muslim" pp. 36-42, 127-128.
2007 م / 1428 ه فلسفة العلوم ، ( تفكُّر ، مجلد ( 8) ، ا لعدد ( 1
34
this barrier in Muslim world is to promote the good
understanding of the Islamic Worldview which highly encourages
creativity. Educational system is another area that requires more
attention to turn it into a motivating factor towards producing
creative students. Furthermore, it is necessary to build an
encouraging environment for supporting and fostering creative
efforts in the Muslim communities.
There is an agreement among Muslim scholars that the
Muslim Ummah is encountering many contemporary challenges most
of which are related to culture, education and environment and
provided specific strategies and means to overcome these challenges.
It is the responsibility of the Educational and Intellectual Institutions
in the Muslim World to pick up these insights and ideas and work on
them to bring them about and turning them into realities as an effort
to improve the Muslim World and take a step towards reforming the
Islamic civilization.
CREATIVE THINKING AMONG TODAY'S MUSLIMS: Dr. Jamal Ahmed Badi∗
35
References
1. Arthur, J. Copley: Creativity in Education & Learning, Kogan
Page, U.K. 200.
2. Adams, James, Conceptual Blockbusting, 3rd Edition
3. Allama Muhammad Iqbal: The Reconstruction of Religious
Thought in Islam.
2nd. Edition. Institute of Islamic Culture, Lahore. 1989. Abdul Karim
Bakkar: Min Ajli InÏilaqa ×aÌÉriyah ShÉmilah, "RiyaÐ, 1415
AH, Darul Muslim"
4. Copley: Creativity in Education, and more Details on Fostering
Creativity in Classroom pp. 147-150.
5. Gary stresses in his book "Creativity For Ever": Addison-Wesley,
USA, 1974, 76, 79, 86 and 1993.
6. Gary Davis: Barriers to Creativity and Creative Attitudes,
Encyclopedia of Creativity, 1999, ACADEMIC PRESS,
Handbook of Creativity pp.
7. Jamal Badi and Mustapha Tajdin: Creative Thinking: An Islamic
Perspective.
IIUM Research Centre Publications. June 2004.
8. James Adams: Conceptual Blockbusting, 3rd Edition, John S.
Dacey: Fundamentals of creative Thinking, Lexington Books,
NY,
1989.
2007 م / 1428 ه فلسفة العلوم ، ( تفكُّر ، مجلد ( 8) ، ا لعدد ( 1
36
9. Malik BinnabÊ: 'IntÉju al-MustshriqÊn, "Cairo: Maktabat
'AmÉr, 1970",
10.Mohamed Tahir El-Mesawi: A Muslim Theory of Human
Society; an
investigation into the Sociological Thought of Malik Bennabi
"Malaysia, 1998, Thinker's Library SDN BHD", Patricia
Digh."1998". The Next Challenge: Holding People
Accountable.
11. Teresa M. Amabile: Growing up Creative, The Creative
Education
12. Foundation, Buffalo, N.Y. 1989 .

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