• Welcome to Religious Forums, a friendly forum to discuss all religions in a friendly surrounding.

    Your voice is missing! You will need to register to get access to the following site features:
    • Reply to discussions and create your own threads.
    • Our modern chat room. No add-ons or extensions required, just login and start chatting!
    • Access to private conversations with other members.

    We hope to see you as a part of our community soon!

Muslims the least educated in the world?

outhouse

Atheistically
Does this lack of education promote violence and terrorism due to poverty associated with ignorance?

Does religious belief promote this lack of education?

OR does lack of education promote religious belief?


Muslim Statistics (Education and Employment) - WikiIslam)


Of the 1.4 billion Muslims 800 million are illiterate (6 out of 10 Muslims cannot read). In Christendom, adult literacy rate stands at 78 percent


40% of muslims can read

almost 80% of Christians can read


That is a two to one ratio.


The 57-member countries of the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) have around 500 universities compared with more than 5,000 universities in the US and more than 8,000 in India.


Nearly half of all women in the Arab world are illiterate


Three-quarters of the 100 million people unable to read or write in the 21 Arab countries are aged between 15 and 45 years old, Alecso said in a statement.


Does this muslim ignorance breed terrorism???

You add this ignorance combined with the religions required fanaticism and fundamentalism, and the recipe for terrorism is obvious



Is it time for the world to address this issue and help educate these people because their own cultures do not promote education and knowledge at normal levels?

Can we even battle terrorism with education??
 

outhouse

Atheistically
Somali militants stone woman to death

The group, which pledges loyalty to al Qaeda, has waged an armed campaign to impose its strict interpretation of Islamic Sharia law.

The 33-year old mother was buried up to her shoulders and pelted with stones by masked al Shabaab fighters and local men.


Would education have helped to stop these barbaric savage muslims?
 

Jayhawker Soule

-- untitled --
Premium Member
Imagine what we might find were we to compare
the average education level of those who consume more hummus than pasta
with
the average education level of those who consume more pasta than hummus.
Now imagine what we might legitimately infer from this remarkable statistic. Simply that mining and manipulating statistics in the service of hate-monguering is cheap bigotry.
 

outhouse

Atheistically
Simply that mining and manipulating statistics in the service of hate-monguering is cheap bigotry.

Cannot improve the world we live in ignoring problems that exist.


Lack of and complete refusal of education and knowledge, according to some of the brightest minds of this century, tends to be humanities primary problem.



We must first admit the problem exist before one can address the solution.
 

icehorse

......unaffiliated...... anti-dogmatist
Premium Member
So Jay,

No doubt that stats can be misused. No doubt that false correlations can be made.

That said, some stats are significant. Based on the first post, are there any conclusions you'd say are safe to make?

For example, comparing the number of universities seems striking. We might ask why there is such an imbalance? Is this a cultural thing? But Islam spans many, many cultures...

Poverty? Well India has its share of poverty.
 

Jayhawker Soule

-- untitled --
Premium Member
We might ask why there is such an imbalance? Is this a cultural thing? But Islam spans many, many cultures...
It is primarily a geopolitical thing as are the disproportionately negative statistics regarding poverty, education, and crime in communities of color in the United States.
 

Brinne

Active Member
Many Muslim countries are far behind in terms of infrastructure, technology, stability, and education. Not because of their religion; but because of the political and historical landscape of the region.

You may not have noticed but the countries of the Middle East and Africa have a bad run of poor rulers. And No, this is not solely because of their religion. Saddam Hussein and other rulers were secular.

Not to mention historically the region was screwed over by stronger powers (United Kingdom, France, ect.). Religion, while it does have to do with some of the less democratic government structures of the region, doesn't play as big a role as you'd think. The education/literacy rate is more dependent on the infrastructure of the country than the religion itself.

Is it time for the world to address this issue and help educate these people because their own cultures do not promote education and knowledge at normal levels?
Yes we should help them, however it's not that their culture's 'do not promote education' a lot of these countries financially cannot compete with the education systems of countries like the United States, Germany, Japan, ect.
 

icehorse

......unaffiliated...... anti-dogmatist
Premium Member
It is primarily a geopolitical thing as are the disproportionately negative statistics regarding poverty, education, and crime in communities of color in the United States.

Perhaps. But there are some very wealthy Muslim majority countries, and none of them have many universities. This is true "per capita" or "per GDP per capita" or any which way I could figure.

It certainly appears that Muslim majority societies tend not to put much value in education.
 

outhouse

Atheistically
Yes we should help them, however it's not that their culture's 'do not promote education' a lot of these countries financially cannot compete with the education systems of countries like the United States, Germany, Japan, ect.

Thanks for addressing the issue.

I don't have any good answers myself, it could be that many are still tribal in nature.


I don't think its a matter of competing as much as increasing education over the levels they have now.


It is probably a root problem in terrorism.


I have noticed due to the required literalism that some scientific and historical knowledge will not be accepted at all, solely due to religious belief.



I have been in dirt poor christian countries in Latin America in areas that have almost no education at all, and it was the safest place I have ever been. There is really no comparison here. And these were sort of tribal people.
 

outhouse

Atheistically
It is primarily a geopolitical thing as are the disproportionately negative statistics regarding poverty, education, and crime in communities of color in the United States.


Probably so.


I know its low hanging fruit.


I also think many muslims refuse to address their own issues or required fanaticism. They deny it.


Just by debating the educated good muslims here, I have noticed the required fanaticism is much deeper then I ever thought it could be. I wish I did not know.



It would be the same if we gave uneducated poor YEC power and weapons, who were hell bent on spreading their fundamentalism, It would be ugly too. What's weird is they do exist, and we don't see the same issues
 

Brinne

Active Member
Thanks for addressing the issue.

I don't have any good answers myself, it could be that many are still tribal in nature.


I don't think its a matter of competing as much as increasing education over the levels they have now.


It is probably a root problem in terrorism.


I have noticed due to the required literalism that some scientific and historical knowledge will not be accepted at all, solely due to religious belief.



I have been in dirt poor christian countries in Latin America in areas that have almost no education at all, and it was the safest place I have ever been. There is really no comparison here. And these were sort of tribal people.
You're missing important geo-political aspects in that comparison though.

Take Peru or Bolivia, they fit your description of 'poor Christian countries in Latin America.' Yet look around them what natural modern enemies do they have? None.

Let's look at Pakistan or Iran. Pakistan has an obvious enemy in India. When a country has an enemy, a scapegoat they can blame all their problems on (regardless of religion) a surge of jingoism will no doubt take the majority of the population by hold, some will take this to the extreme and thus we have our terrorists.

Not to mention countries like Pakistan and Afghanistan are not exactly in the most prosperous environments; they don't really have a lot to export to the global market like countries such as China, Germany, or the United States (all of which have vast amount of resources, whether it be physical or intellectual).

It's a matter of development. For example, I could assert South Sudanese (Christians) people are less literate than North Sudanese (Muslim) people because of their religion but that would be completely false. It's because the North has more money and more infrastructure.

Take your mind off the religious aspect, it has to do with the environment these people are brought up in. Like I said, their religious fanaticism (not so much Islam itself) has hampered their ability to compete with first world countries to an extent but the thing mostly holding them back is the environment (landscape, neighboring countries, ect.)
 

Godobeyer

the word "Islam" means "submission" to God
Premium Member
You're missing important geo-political aspects in that comparison though.

Take Peru or Bolivia, they fit your description of 'poor Christian countries in Latin America.' Yet look around them what natural modern enemies do they have? None.

Let's look at Pakistan or Iran. Pakistan has an obvious enemy in India. When a country has an enemy, a scapegoat they can blame all their problems on (regardless of religion) a surge of jingoism will no doubt take the majority of the population by hold, some will take this to the extreme and thus we have our terrorists.

Not to mention countries like Pakistan and Afghanistan are not exactly in the most prosperous environments; they don't really have a lot to export to the global market like countries such as China, Germany, or the United States (all of which have vast amount of resources, whether it be physical or intellectual).

It's a matter of development. For example, I could assert South Sudanese (Christians) people are less literate than North Sudanese (Muslim) people because of their religion but that would be completely false. It's because the North has more money and more infrastructure.

Take your mind off the religious aspect, it has to do with the environment these people are brought up in. Like I said, their religious fanaticism (not so much Islam itself) has hampered their ability to compete with first world countries to an extent but the thing mostly holding them back is the environment (landscape, neighboring countries, ect.)

thanks for post this , i just want to informe you , that he is anti-Islam , I gues this effort would worth with normal people .
 

outhouse

Atheistically
Take Peru or Bolivia, they fit your description of 'poor Christian countries in Latin America.' Yet look around them what natural modern enemies do they have? None.

Good catch I was dealing specifically with Peru.


BUT what you may fail to recognize is that due to no education, muslims are muslims enemies. They fight each other. The sectarianism is guilty for more deaths then anything else. The religion itself creates its own enemies.



Let's look at Pakistan or Iran. Pakistan has an obvious enemy in India. When a country has an enemy, a scapegoat they can blame all their problems on (regardless of religion) a surge of jingoism will no doubt take the majority of the population by hold, some will take this to the extreme and thus we have our terrorists.

One issue of many. This is more a political war then a religious one though.

These are also different kinds of terrorism and a bit out of context.


Not to mention countries like Pakistan and Afghanistan are not exactly in the most prosperous environments; they don't really have a lot to export to the global market like countries such as China, Germany, or the United States (all of which have vast amount of resources, whether it be physical or intellectual).

And the sectarianism is tearing these countries a part, as power vacuums are created and new powers wipe out old tribal rivals over religious interpretation alone.

Same for Iraq


Take your mind off the religious aspect, it has to do with the environment these people are brought up in.

Im not doubting that at all.

Im saying the required fanaticism multiplies the problem exponentially



Like I said, their religious fanaticism (not so much Islam itself) has hampered their ability to compete with first world countries to an extent but the thing mostly holding them back is the environment (landscape, neighboring countries, ect.)


Agree the point of geographic location.


except islam required everyone to be a fundamentalist following fanaticism.

If your a few steps away from reality to start with, stepping up one wrung on the ladder to terrorism is quite an easy step.


These are people that are in desperate need of education, to follow a religion that fights it is the last thing they need.
 
Last edited:

outhouse

Atheistically
thanks for post this , i just want to informe you , that he is anti-Islam , I gues this effort would worth with normal people .

Not anti islam.

To correct the issues that make islam a danger to the world.


Other religions are not dangers to the world.


To stop fanaticism and fundamentalism that is retarding humanity.

Lets look at you. I can post common knowledge from an encyclopedia, and you refuse this knowledge based on education. WHY? religion, and nothing but religion. And your one of the good educated ones.
 

Brinne

Active Member
Good catch I was dealing specifically with Peru.


BUT what you may fail to recognize is that due to no education, muslims are muslims enemies. They fight each other. The sectarianism is guilty for more deaths then anything else. The religion itself creates its own enemies.
Sectarianism was a problem with Christianity as well. Please note that Islam is a young religion compared to Judaism and Christianity, what was Christianity doing when it was the current age of Islam?



One issue of many. This is more a political war then a religious one though.

These are also different kinds of terrorism and a bit out of context.
Not out of context, the political wars create terrorism which draws away from the countries education. If you're going to go out and be a terrorist chances are you're not going to complete your studies or continue them in any depth.



And the sectarianism is tearing these countries a part, as power vacuums are created and new powers wipe out old tribal rivals over religious interpretation alone.

Same for Iraq
Sectarianism, race, political motives are all tearing Iraq apart. In the same vein of logic you could say 'Let's wipe out all the Kurds, that way we have one less group fighting.' Which, by the way, is an awful idea.


Im not doubting that at all.

Im saying the required fanaticism multiplies the problem exponentially
I'm starting to doubt that you've ever had an extended conversation with a Muslim or looked into their religion.

Fanaticism is NOT required. Perverted (not in a sexual sense) Imams take advantage of the lack of education (which, like I said earlier, is a problem because of financial reasons not so much cultural reasons) and preach violence, citing verses out of context and even lying. It's a bad situation, however it cannot be blamed solely on the religion.


Agree the point of geographic location.


except islam required everyone to be a fundamentalist following fanaticism.

If you a few steps away from reality to start with, stepping up one wrung on the ladder to terrorism is quite an easy step.
Please please please talk to a Muslim or look into the religion before casting judgment.

These are people that are in desperate need of education, to follow a religion that fights it is the last thing they need.
If their religion 'fights education' than how come the Middle East was, for a long time and this was DURING the time of mass Muslim rule, a center of knowledge and learning that surpassed that of Europe. Medicine, algebra, and even basic aerodynamics and the early hang glider came from this era and this location. That hardly sounds like a religion that opposes education.
 

outhouse

Atheistically
Please note that Islam is a young religion compared to Judaism and Christianity, what was Christianity doing when it was the current age of Islam?

.

Ah but it did not exist in a literate world either.


Humanity has evolved in our modern age, making the refusal of education and knowledge a social embarrassment
 

icehorse

......unaffiliated...... anti-dogmatist
Premium Member
Jamesworth said:
Not to mention countries like Pakistan and Afghanistan are not exactly in the most prosperous environments; they don't really have a lot to export to the global market like countries such as China, Germany, or the United States (all of which have vast amount of resources, whether it be physical or intellectual).
I was under the impression that Afghanistan was blessed with a LOT of mineral resources.

And none of this discussion answers the question:

Why do wealthy Muslim majority countries place so little value on education?
 

Godobeyer

the word "Islam" means "submission" to God
Premium Member
Not anti islam.

To correct the issues that make islam a danger to the world.


Other religions are not dangers to the world
is not every religion had extremists ?

how about Hilter he was a Christian , he killed jews and Christians
which cost more than 60 millions victime , you blind about that ?

To stop fanaticism and fundamentalism that is retarding humanity.

Lets look at you. I can post common knowledge from an encyclopedia, and you refuse this knowledge based on education. WHY? religion, and nothing but religion. And your one of the good educated ones
don't you see ?
in othre thread ,you accused me fanaticism because i refuse your " credibal" historian denied opinion about Abraham (pbuh) and Noah (pbuh) .

I am free in what i believe , you don't have the right to call anyone fanatic because he reject your opinion , whatever his knowledge base on .
 

outhouse

Atheistically
In the same vein of logic you could say 'Let's wipe out all the Kurds, that way we have one less group fighting.' Which, by the way, is an awful idea.





.

Factually wrong

Trying to accelerate the evolution of a religion by noting its flaws is not the same as wiping anyone out.
 

Brinne

Active Member
Ah but it did not exist in a literate world either.


Humanity has evolved in our modern age, making the refusal of education and knowledge a social embarrassment
Is there any particular reason why you cut out the rest of my argument? I mean I'm OK if you can't answer one or two claims but literally everything but this :shrug:

Please study Islam and its history a little more. Do a little research on the Umayyad or Cordoba. Look into it's theology. Look past what you hear on the news please. Like the old adage goes, knowledge is power.
 
Top