Closing One’s Eyes to “See” More Clearly:
When the Blind Lead
Islamic law is not subject to change by
current policies. What Islam
teaches is that your way of life comes from the heart, through the study of the
Koran. Whether you are disabled or
not, the search of the soul is uppermost.
Unfortunately, what has been written about or by (blind) scholars in
Islamic countries such as Spain, Asia, and Africa, has been obscured or ignored
in the West to this day, despite the vast contributions to humanity that
Islamic scholars, including the blind ones, have made throughout history.
From the very early days of Islam, God
(Allah) commanded that the blind
and disabled, as well as women, orphans, and the poor be treated with respect
and full humanity. They also
should have equal access to learning and teaching. Islam was demonstrating that
these people were created by God, and this access is a human right. This happened even before the state of
Islam was established politically.
Blind writers in Islamic history are
prominent in most areas of literature, especially autobiographical works.
They started to write about their lives
and their knowledge before 1000 A.D. Their contribution to Islamic civilization
cannot be ignored. In some parts of Islam, blind citizens in these early years
received financial help because of their disability, and blind scholars
received additional monies in order to encourage them to continue their
studies.
One of the great califs (president/leader)
helped a blind scholar to wash his hands after eating to honor all blind
scholars. Islamic history also records a teacher who taught more than 70 blind
students. Another scholar, Is Al-Amidi, who died in 1312 A.D., is one of the
blind scholars who used to teach and sell books, pricing the books with raised
Arabic letters, so the blind could know the cost. This was before the
Braille system was developed in 1824, approximately 700 years after Al-Amidi’s
method.
Why this high regard for blind people, and
especially blind scholars? In one of the classical Islamic books, the reason
for this high regard is explained. Basically, the author talks about the power
of closing one’s eyes in order to concentrate more completely, as blind people
do by the nature of their blindness. In addition, according to the Q’uran
(Koran), God blamed Prophet Muhammed when he delayed a blind person who came to
him for help. Immediately, the angel Gabriel revealed to Prophet Muhammed that
he should give more attention to that blind person. From that time, the Prophet gave extra attention to this
person, and later this same blind person became a scholar and leader in Islamic
history. Thus, the precedent was set.
Once we respect people not only because of
the law or affirmative action, but because they are human beings, then true
equality is served. For many
thinkers, Islamic teachings of this nature illuminated the history of
education. From this comes a bigger contribution from Islam, which is to accept
scholars and students of all nationalities, races, religions, as well as, or
perhaps especially those with physical limitations or challenges.
This concept is not just theoretical, but
has been in practice for hundreds of years, the evidence being the contribution
of scholarly books from the blind, the poor, the non-Muslim, and any other
scholars who contribute to Knowledge
The history of Islam is one of respect and
concern for all kinds of people from all walks of life. Blind scholars being
acknowledged for their humanity as well as their contributions to education is
just one dimensions of Islam’s humanistic legacy.
If Prophet Muhammed wrote the Koran, as
some people think, why would he write about something he did wrong?
Why would he mention his own
mistakes? Thus, Muslims do not
believe that the Koran was written by The Prophet, but rather by Allah.
Much of the literature of scholars from all branches
of knowledge at that time was translated from Greek to Arabic. A great deal of the Greek literature of
these scholars perished, and was recovered through translating their works from
Arabic, because Islam treasured scholars from everywhere.
The purpose of these essays is three-fold:
First, I examine a piece of Islamic
history as a foundation for a particular topic related to the Koran. Then, I
give examples to make the piece of history more real and alive. Finally, I draw
a conclusion as a way of transferring and sharing knowledge of Islam to a
larger public to create greater global understanding.