The Holy Prophet Mohammed once said: "Seek knowledge, even in China". Metaphorically that means seek knowledge from all four corners of the earth or wherever one can find it. China was already an advanced knowledge society when Islam was founded 1400 years ago. Indeed, seeking knowledge was not restricted to one particular period in life; "Seek knowledge from the cradle to the grave", the Prophet also opined.
In more modern times Mowlana Hazar Imam has said:
"The truth, as the famous Islamic scholars repeatedly told their students, is that the spirit of disciplined, objective enquiry is the property of no single culture, but of all humanity. To quote the great physician and philosopher, Ibn Sina: "My profession is to forever journeying, to travel about the universe so that I may know all its conditions." [Speech 16 March 1983]
This past week my wife and I realised a life-long dream and started a tour of China with special emphasis on the Chinese part of the ancient Silk Route.
Today and the past few days we finished a tour of the capital city, Beijing, visiting, of course, the Great Wall, the Ming Tombs, The Summer Palace, the Forbidden City and Tiannamen Square. It was fabulous!
Tomorrow, we begin the Silk Road part of the tour and will visit Urumqi(pronounced Urumchi), Kashgar, Turpan, Dunhuang and Xian, in no particular order.. The trip will end in Shanghai.
I will blog more about my trip at a later date.
easynash
Islam, eminently logical, placing the greatest emphasis on knowledge, purports to understand God's creation:Aga Khan 4.
The God of the Quran is the One whose Ayats(Signs) are the Universe in which we live, move and have our being:Aga Khan 3
