According to La Rochefoucauld: “Mediocre spirits
generally condemn everything that exceeds their
small stature.” Perceiving this common human
failing, a modern poet implores people: “Don’t
criticize what you can’t understand.”
The trouble is, people tend to judge matters on how
they affect their own selves. They are quick to
support anything which improves their own
position, or at least does not downgrade them in
any way. But when something appears threatening
to their own position, they oppose it, regardless of
its intrinsic worth.
Take, for example, the case of our Arabic madrasahs
(schools) functioning in the Indian sub-continent.
Generally, they include a course in ancient
Aristotelian logic in their syllabus. We say “logic,”
or that is the name by which this science is known,
but it would be more accurate to call it “illogic”.
What is taught in the name of logic has nothing to
do with true logic. It is not conducive to the logical
presentation of Islam vis-à-vis modern education.
The administrative authorities of one such Arabic
school decided unanimously to withdraw all textbooks
on classical logic from their syllabus. A new
course in philosophy was to be prepared,
conforming to modern academic standards.
Unfortunately, however, they were unable to
implement this decision. Why? Because the professor
of logic in their institution opposed it tooth and nail.
As he was a senior teacher in the school, the
administrators were unable to go against his wishes.
One does not have to look far to see the reason for
this opposition. This professor only had a
knowledge of classical logic; he had no knowledge
of modern philosophy. He feared that if classical
logic were taken out of the syllabus, he himself
would lose his status in the institution. He would be
left like a teacher who knew only French, trying to
get his point across in a school where the medium
of instruction was Arabic. In this case, it was very
small-minded of him to allow his own feelings of
professional insecurity to stand in the way of
modernization.
--Maulana Wahiduddin Khan
( Ref - The Moral Vision)
