Technological development in muslim countries

Abstract

Development of technology in Muslim countries should be more appropriately termed "technological re-development, or renewal", because these countries had advanced technologies of various types, e.g. architecture, bridge construction, marine, pharmaceutical, and other technologies, many years before the advent of what we call "modern technology", mostly referring to machine-based skills. It is sad to ponder that the Muslim countries not only lost the specialized technological skills that they refined over many centuries, but also they failed to keep up with the modern technology, developed in the last hundred years or so. As a result, today the Muslim countries lag behind the West to varying degrees, in nearly all areas of endeavour. This paper examines the problem of technological progress in the Muslim countries, and considers the various options that are feasible in the short term. Long term solutions can be extrapolated, but may not be meaningful given the present state of the Muslim World.