Ignorance – The Destructive Disaster of Humanity

In contemporary world humanity is dealing with many problems such as hunger, diseases, oppression, human right violations, radicalism, terrorism, poverty, domestic abuse, human trafficking, environmental issues, social isolation, various security concerns, etc. Authorities, community leaders and activists are trying to do their best to address these issues. It is known that the root cause of the above-mentioned problems and calamities is ignorance. We are all in our own ways in the internal and ever-evolving struggle against ignorance by trying to educate ourselves, build a better future and deliver to our children and future generations knowledge and values that we have learned. Scholar and intellectual, Fethullah Gulen, describes ignorance as follows, “Ignorance is such a chronic disease that it corrodes an entire nation and gnaws away at our existence. Ignorance is the deprivation of knowledge; it is the inability to define proper goals in accordance with the acquired knowledge; it is a life deprived of Truth and righteous thinking”[1].

Eradication of ignorance, fight against bigotry and prejudices is a continuous battle that requires a collective approach since individual effort would be insufficient to set the right course for humanity. In many societies and cultures with poor education and prevalence of ignorance instead of being governed by norms and regulations aimed to serve the public and common good people are governed by unfair norms, taboos and unjust regulations tailored to serve benefits of powerful few.

Ignorance should not be understood solely as lack of literacy and education; ignorance is much deeper concept which includes not being able or not wanting to seek the meaning of life, purpose of being an individual and responsibility of being a member of society. Ignorance prevents person to become useful not only for him/herself but for the entire society in general. Ignorance flourishes when people lose ability to cognize the meaning of their existence; therefore, ignorance is illness prevalent not only in developing countries but even in developed countries where most of people are generally well educated.

A general mobilization should be launched against ignorance, thoughtlessness, artificialness, and unawareness of national culture and merits; while decisions made under preconceived opinions should be criticized. Answers should be sought in science and scientific research; a new and fresh perception should be acquired.

We need to fight ignorance by searching the ultimate purpose of existence and the ways of being useful to other members of society. Being in continuous search for knowledge is also important. Allah said in the Holy book of Qur’an, “Are those who know equal to those who do not know?” [39:9]

Also it is important to be able to share the knowledge you have with others because ignorance can only be treated effectively by a collective effort. Fethullah Gulen said, “How blessed are those teachers who devote themselves to guiding, certifying, declaring, and manifesting the truth through all disciplines of science! Who follow their pupils in every stage of their development and always carry the vigor of elevating their students to the level of real humanity! Who sometimes become tense as a lightning bolt, but soften and calm down into gentle beams of light, illuminating the hearts and minds of their students![2]”