THE LAST INSURGENT

Three

It was a few minutes past 7:00PM and a large number of Muslim audience were getting ready for another night of lecture by the famous Sheik Jabir at the Bin Uthman Memorial Mosque. Over three hundred people sat in the mosque while over one thousand were outside hoping to hear the lecture through the loud speaker.

There were about a hundred men, both young and old dressed smartly in light brown uniforms. Some were busy at the gate with metal detectors searching those coming in. The recent bomb blasts and terrorist attacks lead to this proactive measures. Among the audience was a man dressed in white jallabiya and skull cap.

He walked towards the fence, making sure no one could hear him, he put a call through.
"The sheikh has arrived," he said in a little above whisper, " the lecture will last two hours, that means the Isha prayers will be postponed to 9:00PM. I hope you will be in position."
"I am close by," Mufty said from the other end, " I see everything. Just keep me posted. May his soul rest in peace."

The man smiled. He knew Mufty never missed a target so it was going to be the end of the pesky Sheikh. Mufty was sitting comfortably on a branch of tree with thick leaves which gave him the cover he needed. He had a bubble gum in mouth and he chewed slowly as he dabbed the butt of his target riffle. He would wait patiently, hoping the angels were watching him, building his mansion in paradise as he carried out God's work.

Sheik Jabir was fifty five years old.
He was light complexioned with long beard. Highly knowledgeable, articulate, charismatic and influential, he was well respected and famous. He walked into the mosque flanked by two First Aid Group (FAG) members. Sitting on a comfortable chair with a table in front, he waved his Qur'an reciter, Alaramma Saheed to sit on the chair beside him while the FAG men stood firmly behind them. There had been a wave of excitement as he came in. Some of the audience shouted,"Allahu akhbar!"

He started by praising God, invoked blessings on the Holy Prophet SAW, the companions and the Muslim caboodle.
After a brief prayer, he looked at the crowd, went silent for a few seconds then said, " I was asked to talk about the importance of hajj but I beg to digress because we are faced with a an issue with great pernicious influence on us. We are aware of the incipient agitation by a group of people calling for the abolition of Western Education in this country.

They claim it is Haram and anything west is forbidden. So I want to talk about education. We do not have enough time to talk much about this important topic but I will try to be brief. The first thing Angel Gabriel asked the holy Prophet SAW to do was to read. The Holy one did not only come to teach how to worship but a complete way of life. Study the Qur'an, you find geography, economics, sociology, mathematics, history, law, etcetera.
He taught medicine, hygiene, government and a lot more. So where is this idea from that Islam frowns at education? They call it western education.

He paused, wiped his face with a hanky then continued, "how dare you say education if forbidden when some of the greatest contributions to education was done by Muslims. Like I said in retrospect, we do not have much time for this but I will like to tell you or remind you of some of these contributions which I know most of you are aware of. Imagine a world without mathematics. Imagine mathematics without algebra.

Thanks to Muhammad ibn Musa al-khawarizm. The word algorithm was coined from his name. He was born in 720 and died 840. He was a great mathematics researcher whose work in algebra, algorithm, calculus, astronomy and geography cannot be forgotten .

He compiled the oldest trigonometric table. He also introduced Indian numerals which became Arabic numerals and today, the most popular number system which is the Hindu-Arabic number system is been used worldwide. Before him was Jabir ibn Hayyan, Abu Musa was known as the father of chemistry. Did you know that shampoo was introduced to Europe by a Muslim who opened a bath house in Brighton Seafront in 1759.