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220622P - INTEGRATION OF KNOWLEDGE AND THE 4th INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

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Presentation at the Workshop on “Youth Leadership Development” organized by the Department of Business and Technology Management (BTM) Islamic University of Technology (IUT) Dhakka 22, June 2022 11.30 am by Professor Omar Hasan Kasule Sr. MB ChB (MUK), MPH (Harvard), DrPH (Harvard)


PRECEDENTS OF THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

  • Greek and Roman knowledge decayed in the European Middle Ages when the church opposed science.
  • The Crusades and the European discovery of the advanced Muslim civilization triggered the European intellectual renaissance.
  • The Reformation: religious and thought reform.
  • The empirical methodology from Muslims triggered the scientific revolution.
  • The agricultural revolution led to increased food production and population increase.


THE FIRST INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION 1760-1850: Manual to machine production

  • Transition in manufacturing from manual to using a machine in UK, US, and Europe.
  • Iron production and textiles.
  • Steam power, water power.
  • Use of machine tools and the factory system (bring workers and war material in one place).
  • Increase of population, global trade.
  • Rising/falling standards of living. Rise of the middle class.


THE SECOND INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION 1870-1914: Technology

  • Steel production, mass production (assembly lines), electric power, advanced machinery.
  • Communication and globalization: the telegraph, railroads, roads, canals, and bigger and faster ships.
  • The internal combustion engine, petroleum.
  • Chemical industry.
  • Water supply and sewage systems.
  • The capitalist system evolved fully making some very rich and others destitute.
  • Unemployment increased because machines did all the unskilled work.


THE THIRD INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION (DIGITAL REVOLUTION/INFORMATION REVOLUTION) 1950-

  • The transition from mechanical technology and analog technology to digital technology.
  • Industrialization slowed down as the information/knowledge economy evolved.
  • Data and communication technologies: computers, microprocessors, integrated circuit chips, cellular phones, internet, home computers, supercomputers.
  • Electronic government, electronic business, smartphones, social media & social networking.
  • Concerns about privacy, manipulation of information,  and cyber attacks.
  • A new pre-history because digital content is easy to create, change or delete.


THE FOURTH INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION (2015- interconnectivity and automation) - 1

  • Artificial intelligence.
  • Cyber-physical systems.
  • 3D printing.
  • Automation of production without human involvement (smart factory).
  • M2M communication.
  • IoT.


THE FOURTH INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION (2015- interconnectivity and automation) - 2

  • Metaverse and augmented social reality. 5G wireless, Nanotechnology.
  • Gene editing.
  • Advanced robotics.
  • The knowledge economy relies on intellectual capabilities and not physical inputs or natural resources.
  • Problems: loss of privacy, easy discrimination, loss of jobs, social media addiction.


UGANDA

  • Uganda adopted its own National 4IR Strategy in October 2020.
  • Emphasis on e-governance, urban management (smart cities), health care, education, agriculture, and the digital economy; to support local businesses.
  • The government was contemplating introducing a local start-ups bill in 2020 which would require all accounting officers to exhaust the local market prior to procuring digital solutions from abroad.


ROLES OF IOK IN 4IR: RESTORE THE NATURAL STATE USING QUR’ANIC CONCEPTS

  • The technological part of 4IR does not require input from ilm naqli it is purely ilm aqli.
  • The contributions of ilm naqli is in underlying guiding concepts and ethics that will guide the technology and stop it from causing grievous harm.
  • We shall now review some of these concepts and there are many others we will not mention for lack of time.
  • Muslims have the responsibility to disseminate these concepts to the rest of humanity in order to push back against harm to human civilization.


PURPOSIVENESS (غائية)

  • Each discovery leads to another automatically and every new innovation is accepted without questioning; nobody wants to be left behind.
  • No overall vision where we are going. Technology has become an automaton that cannot be stopped as long as it generates revenue for the owners.
  • The Qur’anic term ‘abath = no wisdom, play, 
  • Building an elevated place to sit and make fun of those passing Surat Al Shuara 128
  • اتبنون بكل ربع آية تعبثون. سورة الشعراء ١٢٨
  • Humans were created for a purpose and wisdom Surat Muminuun 115
  • افحسبتم انما خلقناكم عبثا. سورة المؤمنون ١١٥


BLIND FOLLOWING TAQLIID (تقليد)

  • The social media and the commercials force people to get the latest gadget and the latest applications without first asking the question whether they need them: just following the crowd.
  • Blind following of the forefathers ..Baqara 170-171 
  • اذا قيل لهم اتبعوا ما انزل الله قالوا بل نتبع ما الفينا عليه آباؤنا.... البقرة ١٧٠-١٧١
  • The followed will deny the followers … Baqara 166-167
  • اذ تبرآ الذين اتبعوآ من الذين اتبعوآ وراؤا العذاب... البقرة ١٦٦-١٦٧
  • Blind obedience of the elites Surat Ahzab: 67
  • انا  اطعنا ساداتنا وكبراءنا فاضلونا السبيل. سورة الأحزاب ٦٧


THE LOWLY CONCRETE vs THE HIGHER CONCEPTUAL THINKING

  • Enhanced imagery will encourage concrete thinking and discourage abstract thinking which is an essential part of tafakkur/tadabbur al Qur’an.
  • Thinking about Allah’s creation. Al Imran 190-191
  • ان في خلق السماوات والأرض واختلاف الليبل والنهار لآيات لاولي الالباب الذين يذكرون الله قياما وقعودا وعلي جنوبهم ويتفكرون في خلق السماوات والأرض ربنا ما خلقت هذا باطلاا  سبحانك فقنا عذاب النار. ال عمران ١٩٠-١٩١
  • Iitikaaf and qiyam al layl have their impact because they decrease environmental sensory input to allows the mind to think of higher things.
  • Concern with the concrete and imagery is reaching extremes in the 4th industrial revolution because people prefer virtual reality to the beauty of Allah’s creation in humans, animals, plants and the earth 


VIRTUAL VS CONCRETE REALITY

  • Non-believers asked for virtual evidence instead of concrete evidence of Allah’s majesty before their eyes. 
  • Banu Israil asked Musa to show them Allah before they could believe. Surat Baqara 55
  • وإذ قلتم يا موسي لن نؤمن لك حتي نري الله جهرة فاخذتكم الصاعقة وانتم تنظرون. البقرة ٥٥
  • Non believers challenge the prophet to bring angels coming down as a tribe. Surat al Isra 92
  • او تسقط السماء كما زعمت علينا كسفا او تاتي بالله والملائكة قبيلا. الاسراء ٩٢
  • Prophet is but a human messenger with the intellectual miracle of Islam. Surat Isra 93
  • او يكون لك بيت من زخرف او ترقي في السماء ولن نؤمن لرقيك حتي تنزل علينا كتابا نقفرؤه قل سبحان ربي هل كنت الا بشرا رسولا. آلاسراء ٩٣


PASTIME (لهو) vs SERIOUSNESS

  • Robots and other forms of technology perform jobs that humans used to perform creating a lot of leisure time. This time should be spent in ibadat but is misguided.
  • The current culture emphasizes fun and pastime to waste time: games and all sorts of entertainment
  • The lowly life on earth is play and pastime but real life is that of the hereafter Ankabut:64
  • وما هذخ الحياة الدنيا الا لهو ولعبوان الدار الآخرة لهي الحيوان لو كانو يعلمون. العنكبوت:٦٤ 

LOSS OF BALANCE (توازن)

  • Humans are so engrossed in virtual reality that they have lost the natural balance that Allah enjoined for their life as individuals or as families
  • Balance in dealing with wealth. Surat al Furqan:68
  • والذين اذا انفقوا لم يسرفوا ولم يقتروا وكان بين ذلك قواما الفرقان ٦٧
  • Balance in the rights of the body and the family: story of Salman and Abudardau was background to this hadith. Bukhari 1968.
  • ان لربك عليك حقا ولنفسك عليك حقا ولاهلك عليك حقا فاعط كل ذي حق حقه. رواه البخاري ١٩٦٨
  • Loss of emotional balance. Artificial emotions of happiness and anger can be caused by the virtual reality with anxiety and depression being more common than elation and happiness


LOSS OF EQUILIBRIUM (اعتدال)

  • We live in a culture of extremes with a loss of equilibrium
  • We are supposed to be a community of the middle (moderation). Surat Baqara 143.
  •  وكذلك جعلناكم امة وسطا لتكونوا شهداء علي الناس ويكون الرسول عليكم شهيدا. البقرة ١٤٣
  • Seek the equilibrium of moderation between the earth and the hereafter, do good, and do not do evil. Surat Qisas 77.
  •  وابتغي فيما آتاك الله الدار الآخرة ولا تنسي نصيبك من الدنيا واحسن كما احسن الناس اليك ولا تبغي الفساد في الأرض ان الله لا يحب المفسدين. القصص


LOSS OF PUSHBACK,  ACTION-REACTION  (تدافع)

  • Voices of protest against the current culture do not find a medium. Social and other media are powerful and overwhelming. There is no corrective mechanism to save civilization.
  • Reaction/pushback against evil. Surat Baqara 25.
  • ولولا دفع الناس بعضهم ببعض لفسدت الأرض. البقرة ٢٥ 


RIBA IN A NEW FORM

  • Riba was condemned by the Qur’an because unlike trade it leads to gain without effort. Trade was permitted because of gains commensurate with effort while riba was forbidden. Surat Baqara: 275
  • الذين ياكلون الربا لا يقومون الا كما يقوم الذي يتخبطه الشيطان من المس ذلك بانهم قالوا انما اليع مثل الربا واحل الله البيع وحرم الربا فمن جاءه موعظة من ربه فاتهي فله ما سلف وامره الي الله ومن عاد فاولئك أصحاب النار هم فيها خالدون. البقرة ٢٧٥
  • Riba is exploitative because of exhorbitant multiplicative gains. Al Imran 130
  • يا أيها الذين آمنوا لا تاكلوا الربا اضعافا مضاعفة واتقوا الله لعلكم تفلحون. آل عمران ١٣٠
  • The owner of AI can get multiplied gains from the same equipment with no extra effort which is exactly the same as monetary riba.