THE ROLE OF THE ULEMA — Guidance and Reformation

When the Muslim Sultanate collapsed in Spain, many Spanish Muslim scholars and scientists left for other lands. At that time, a powerful Muslim Caliphate ruled over Turkey. Some Muslim scientists, fleeing Spain, headed to Turkey, but they received no support in the royal court there. Not long after the demise of Muslim power in Spain, the Mughals established their empire in India. But the powerful Mughal Emperors never thought of inviting at least some of the great Spanish Muslim scientists to India to carry on their intellectual work. This sort of work required governmental patronage. And so, when the scientists of the erstwhile Muslim Spain received no support from, or opportunities in the Muslim world, they shifted to Western Europe instead, where they received the patronage of non-Muslim rulers. This was one reason that the work that had begun in Muslim Spain reached its climax not in the Muslim world, but, rather, in non-Muslim Europe. Because he was unaware of all these developments, and owing to his inordinate interest in politics, Aurangzeb took no steps in this regard. And so, the entire credit for the flowering of modern science went to Europe. The ulema are charged with the responsibility of helping to shape people’s consciousness and guide them on the right path, leaving the task of governing people to politicians. The conditions that gave rise to what is called the ‘modern age’ as well as the earliest manifestations of this new age had already appeared by the time Aurangzeb ascended the Mughal throne. The first model of the spring-driven watch, which was to replace the old-fashioned clock, was produced in Germany in 1500. Based on Portugal’s advances in geography and naval technology, Vasco Da Gama landed on the Malabar coast in southern India in 1498, inaugurating a sea route that connected Europe with Asia. In 1510, Portugal captured Goa. A century later, the British East India Company was set up, and, a short while later, the French East India Company. But because of his political involvements, Aurangzeb was unaware of these developments or else did not give them the importance they deserved, although they clearly suggested the grave external challenges that they would soon pose, not just to India but to the entire Muslim world. Long before Aurangzeb was born, in the second century C.E., a