*••Education, Prejudice, and Destruction: An Intellectual Tragedy••*
*Education, Prejudice, and Destruction: An Intellectual Tragedy*
●🕯️༻Hikmat-e-༺﷽༻Noori༺🕯️●
Education, Prejudice, and Destruction
An Intellectual Tragedy
✍. Masood Mahboob Khan (Mumbai)
09422724040
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In Islam, knowledge is not just a means of personal gain or social superiority but is considered a trust. In the Holy Quran, it is stated: "Allah will raise those who have believed among you and those who were given knowledge degrees (Al-Mujadila: 11)." This elevation is not based on lineage, nation, or identity but on faith and knowledge. The Holy Prophet (PBUH) said: "Wisdom is the lost property of a believer; wherever he finds it, he should take it." In this hadith, knowledge is not conditional on any specific class or religion. This principle clearly negates that education or educational institutions can be the property of any one identity.
From the moment Islam entered the world, it declared knowledge as the identity of man, his honor, and his responsibility. The first word of revelation was Iqra (Read!), and that same word still asks humanity where they have lost the right to read, understand, and do justice. In Islam, knowledge is not merely a means of progress but the foundation of justice, trust, and public good. That is why the Holy Prophet (PBUH) made knowledge obligatory for every human being, not conditional on any particular race, nation, or religious identity.
But the tragedy of history is that whenever knowledge becomes power, prejudice stands in its way like a wall. When merit speaks, hatred starts making noise. And when weaker sections start moving forward on the strength of their hard work, powerful interests start fearing their decline. This is the point where education is also sacrificed to politics, religious prejudice, and group ego. From an Islamic point of view, this behavior is not just injustice but falls under the category of spreading corruption in the land because blocking the path of knowledge is actually darkening the future of human beings. The Quran reminds us, "Are those who know equal to those who do not know?". But alas, today the question is not who knows, but who has the right to know?
A intellectual mirror should be shown to the false narratives spread in the name of education and the hateful campaigns against merit. This writing is not to defend any one class but an attempt to shake the conscience of the entire society so that we can understand that if education loses, no one will be victorious, and if prejudice wins, humanity will lose. With this intellectual background, we now review the tragedy called: "Education, Prejudice, and Destruction: An Intellectual Tragedy."
It is no longer just an impression but has taken the form of a regular propaganda that Muslims are far behind in the field of education. This sentence has been repeated so often that sometimes Muslims themselves start feeling inferior. But when these same Muslim students, on the basis of their hard work, ability, and merit, get forty-two seats out of fifty, then suddenly this reality becomes unbearable for some circles. Then, instead of celebrating knowledge and ability, a storm of protests on the streets, lawsuits in the courts, and administrative pressure is unleashed. Efforts are made to get the permission of an educational institution revoked, and if this conspiracy succeeds, sweets are distributed on the closure of the college, openly expressing their hateful and prejudiced mentality. The question is, what kind of nationalism is this that celebrates the extinguishing of the lamp of knowledge?
This discussion actually exposes the inner structure of prejudice, which appears in the form of ideologies and slogans, but at its root, it holds fear, insecurity, and the apprehension of the decline of power. Hatred and prejudice against education do not arise suddenly, but are the result of an organized psychological process that usually arises from three interconnected causes.
The first reason is "fear of competition." When those sections of society that have been deprived for a long time start moving forward through education, hard work, and merit, those sections that have considered themselves naturally superior start feeling their power and social dominance threatened. This fear is not because resources will decrease, but because merit breaks their monopoly that has been established on the basis of race, identity, or power. Thus, instead of becoming a means of progress, education becomes a threat to them.
From this fear arises "identity politics." Instead of accepting educational success as merely academic or intellectual progress, it is presented as an organized conspiracy against national or religious identity. The purpose of this process is not to argue but to incite emotions so that the public gets entangled in the narrative of fear and hatred instead of considering the real question of "ability and merit." Thus, the educational field is turned into an arena of ideological warfare, where success becomes a crime and ability becomes an accusation.
The third and most dangerous element that strengthens this whole atmosphere is "mental slavery." When a society starts making decisions based on slogans instead of arguments, rumors instead of research, and emotions instead of awareness, then knowledge loses its value there. In such a society, the questioner is considered suspicious, the reader is considered dangerous, and the one who moves forward is considered an enemy. This mental stagnation is actually a sign that the society has sacrificed the freedom to think with its own hands.
Islam collectively calls all these attitudes "ignorance of ignorance" because it is the way of thinking that considers power as right instead of right as power and makes prejudice the standard instead of knowledge. The message of Islam is quite the opposite: justice instead of fear, humanity instead of identity, and knowledge instead of slogans. This is the intellectual foundation that shows the way to understand the psychology of prejudice and effectively counter it.
History is a witness that the decline of Muslims in Andalusia began with the burning of libraries. When Europe broke the intellectual monopoly of the Church, the Renaissance became possible. In the colonial era in the subcontinent, the local education system was weakened first. All this is a reminder of the fact that
An attack on education is tantamount to breaking the backbone of the nation.
Education is not the heritage of any one nation, one religion, or one class. Closing educational institutions is actually tantamount to closing the doors to the future of the country. Nations that prevent their new generation from moving forward never succeed in history. Targeting an institution on the basis of prejudice is actually a sign of the fear that merit, hard work, and ability may shatter the artificial idols made of hatred. Here, the question is also important: how many more educational institutions will you close on the basis of prejudice? Will every institution that provides equal opportunities bother your eyes? Will every student who succeeds on merit become a threat to you? Such destructive actions do not benefit any religion or any ideology. Its only result is that the society becomes a victim of intellectual backwardness, economic weakness, and social chaos. The path to the progress of the country does not pass through hatred, envy, and prejudice but through knowledge, justice, and equality.
Along with Islamic teachings, the Constitution of India also does not allow educational discrimination on the basis of religion, caste, or identity. Access to education is a basic human right, not a gift from any majority. Targeting an institution just because a specific class is succeeding on merit there is not only a moral crime but also a clear violation of constitutional and public values.
One of the main reasons why the country is being brought to the brink of destruction so rapidly today is that education has also been sacrificed to politics and prejudice. If this trend continues, tomorrow history will ask us why you sowed hatred when nations needed knowledge? Why did you destroy it when the future could be built? The need of the hour is that we come out of this intellectual darkness, give education its due place, and accept that merit is not the enemy of any one class but the capital of the entire country. Otherwise, this fire of prejudice will eventually burn us all to ashes, not just others.
This question stands before every conscientious person: in which direction are we going? Are we building a society based on knowledge, justice, and respect for humanity, or are we hollowing out our own future on the basis of prejudice, hatred, and blind opposition? The religion of Islam teaches us that it is obligatory to spread knowledge, not to stop it; it is a responsibility to promote ability, not to suppress it; and it is the essence of piety to judge a person on the basis of his humanity, not on the basis of his identity. The Quran warns us in clear words that injustice does not only happen with the sword; sometimes it also happens by breaking the pen, closing the school, and snatching the dreams of the student. Those who target centers of knowledge are actually robbing the rights of future generations. And this crime is not against any one nation or class but against the whole of humanity.
Educational institutions are the common assets from which the intellectual irrigation of nations takes place. If the seed of hatred is sown here, poison spreads in the society, and if the lesson of justice, equality, and respect is given, peace, progress, and harmony are born. A society that builds walls between its own children can never become a strong nation. This is not the time for accusations but for self-accountability. It is time to think whether we are closing the doors of knowledge given by God to satisfy our prejudices? Are we holding the future of our own country hostage because of our fear? Remember, history is not written with slogans, nor with celebratory sweets, but it decides the attitudes, decisions, and priorities of nations.
This matter is not only about Muslims or any one educational institution. The question is whether we want to become a knowledge-loving nation or a fearful mob? Islam does not teach us to stop those who move forward
Rather, it teaches us to lift up those who have been left behind. If we allow education to be sacrificed to prejudice, we will not only close institutions but also bury the dreams of our children, the future of our nation, and our moral credibility.
Today, there is a need to free knowledge from politics, protect education from hatred, and give merit its due place. This is the religious requirement, this is the human duty, and this is also the national interest. If we hold on to reason and justice today, our children will pray for us tomorrow, and if we give way to prejudice, future generations will not forgive us. May Allah grant us the ability to become protectors of knowledge, not its enemies; well-wishers of human beings, not killers of their dreams; and create a society where education continues to burn like a lamp; not for one, but for all.
🗓 (11.01.2026)
✒️ Masood M. Khan (Mumbai)
📧masood.media4040@gmail.com
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