Scientific Research Before the Court

by Dr. Abdul-Sattar Kassem

The Arabs have some curious anecdotes when it comes to scientific research:

One Arab leader was told it was necessary to establish scientific research centers for the state, since this would drive the process of progress forward. The prince grew angry and ordered the official dismissed, on the grounds that he was accusing His Highness of falling short in achieving progress in the state.

Another extraordinary president, when asked to emulate the West and establish centers for scientific research, said that God chooses presidents because they are the best suited to run the affairs of the state, and that if they were not, God would have chosen scientific research instead.

The president of one distinguished university said that scientific research centers were unnecessary, because everything happens by the will of God, and scientific research falls within divine will.

Another luminary said that scientific research is an innovation, an attempt to change what God has written for man, that it is misguidance, and that all misguidance leads to the Fire.

… at an Arab university, the university’s defense brief to the court stated that its professors were not required to conduct scientific research, since they had already received their promotions. This is a strange and bizarre defense, and the university ought to have concealed it, for it inflicts great damage on its scientific and academic reputation.

The author of this article was granted a sabbatical for scientific research in 1999/2000, and spent it in a Palestinian Authority prison for reasons unknown.

Nations live and advance through scientific research, the development of knowledge, discoveries, and inventions, while we remain wandering in the depths of ignorance.

Living nations support their students and their professors, and encourage them to acquire experience and knowledge; they rely to a great extent on scientific and intellectual expertise before making decisions, and the more scientific expertise grows, the more the wealth of nations grows in various fields. Scientific expertise is a great wealth, and nations always work diligently to establish special frameworks for dealing with their sons and daughters who have reached advanced scientific standing.

Source: Translated from the original Arabic, “البحث العلمي أمام القضاء” by Dr. Abdul-Sattar Kassem.