‘Creatively Reaching Out To The Unknown’

There is something seriously wrong with our concept of knowledge. We mostly think that knowledge is all about knowing the known. This is important. Undoubtedly. But we should not stop at it. What is the correct concept then? For want of a better definition we can continue with this: “Developing a coherent body of ideas and creatively reaching out to the unknown”. (More suggestions are requested.) Who should know it the most? The students of AMU – and all the children of Sir Syed Ahmad Khan.

How to move in the right direction of knowledge? Only with a different thought pattern. Let the students ask their professors about the relationship between one lecture and another – if it is not that clearly understandable. Let them ask more questions to themselves than to their instructors.

Let them worry more about their research assignments than about the Vice Chancellors and Provosts. Let them worry more about the Reconstruction of Religious Thoughts in Islam - no matter which discipline they belong to. Let them worry more about the English Translation of ‘Abdullah Yusuf ‘Ali – or whichever is available.

Want to address them. Don’t know how to do that. What is the purpose? Want to tell them, “When you look at a new car passing by admire it but also think that it will get old fast but the ideas that I will create will never get old. When you see dusts all around decide to come up with as many ideas as there are dust particles around you. When you look at a tree think that you will create more ideas than the leaves in that tree.

Plan to do everything a bit differently. Think more. And study even more. You should study more than you think and you should think more than you study. If you are unable to understand what I am trying to say then concentrate on only one part of it at one time – initially.”