Minds in Malaysia, other Muslim countries ‘under yoke of censorship’, Turkish writer says - See more

[rug]

Akyol pointed out that Putrajaya has outlawed more than a thousand books translated into Malay, including Charles Darwin’s 'On The Origin of Species' and Karen Armstrong’s 'Islam: A Short History'. — Picture by Choo Choy May

KUALA LUMPUR, March 17 — Turkish author Mustafa Akyol, whose book on Islamic liberalism was translated into Malay in Malaysia, has criticised censorship here and in other Muslim countries that he said are now languishing intellectually.

Akyol, who was recently in Malaysia to promote the publication of the Malay edition of his book Islam Without Extremes: A Muslim Case for Liberty, pointed out that Putrajaya has outlawed more than a thousand books translated into Malay, including Charles Darwin’s On The Origin of Species and Karen Armstrong’s Islam: A Short History.

“The Muslim world today is in a state of malaise. Muslim societies are underdeveloped in science, technology, economics and culture. This will be overcome only with more freedom.

“Progress depends on more Muslims questioning whether policies that promote ignorance are really devised to protect their faith — or to protect the power of those who rule in its name,” he wrote in an opinion piece on US paper The New York Times yesterday titled How Muslim Governments Impose Ignorance.

http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/minds-in-malaysia-other-muslim-countries-under-yoke-of-censorship-turkish-w#sthash.GfxcVrmt.dpuf

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/17/opinion/how-muslim-governments-imposeignorance.html?_r=2

[DetlefK]

1. Two things:

1. Saudi-Arabia, Qatar andosoforth have a shit-ton of money but rely on an economic monoculture for income. They could counter their lack of natural ressources by establishing intellectual ressources. They have the money to buy the finest equipment and hire the finest researchers. But they don't. Arab authors are practically absent from scientific publications.

2. There is the sci-fi-novel "The Cusanus-game". It's mainly about time-travel and the backdrop is a dystopian Europe that has shut itself off from the world and turned itself into a fortress. Sometimes middle-eastern/african traders come to the fortress-wall to do business. There is a scene in the book, where one of the traders ridicules the Europeans as being prisoners. One of the guards shoots back that the outside world has nothing to offer but violence and poverty. "We have technological progress! You have nothing! We left you behind long ago and you will never catch up!"

[rug]

2. I'll have to read that book.

[DetlefK]

3. That dystopian Europe only plays a role in the first third of the novel or so.

Story:
The ecology of dystopian Europe is in bad shape. People are sent back in time, especially to the Middle-Ages, to collect historical/cultural knowledge and bring back genetic samples of plants and animals.
The novel's protagonist is a woman from dystopian Italy who joins those missions.

[rug]

4. Dystopian scifi appeals to me. I enjoyed A Canticle for Leibowitz.