Much has been said and written in recent years in the West about a “New World Order” for human civilization in the coming decades. Little has been said, however, about the role that Islam will play in this new order. While Western political and intellectual circles have cho­sen to ignore or minimize Islam in the political and social spheres of Muslim countries, behind the scenes Islam’s place is recognized as a great potential influ­ence on future generations. The question is how effectively Muslim peoples of the world will take advantage of the opportu­nity to further the cause of Islam and spread its message throughout the world in a systematic, “civilized,” and peaceful way.

Until the 20th century, the Western world, especially the United States, had little knowledge of the Islamic world. The main source of information on Islam and Muslims was travel accounts and/or reports and studies sent to European capitals by diplomatic missions stationed in various Muslim countries. Obviously, this information was neither comprehen­sive nor scholarly, much less objective. Islam, or “Mohammadanism,” as the Eu­ropeans called it, was, in their view, a primitive religion of the uncivilized and backward peoples of Asia and northern Africa.

Then came the age of orientalism bringing more, if not better, “informa­tion” on Islam. With a few exceptions, orientalist scholars’ material on Islam and the Muslim world were fabrications at worst, shallow at best. Their analyses were greatly influenced by a frame of mind that was Western and colonial, pol­luted by political biases and religious prejudices. Thanks to their efforts, how­ever, Muslims quickly learned that even if “objective” analysis was intended, it was not possible. An outside observer could not help but see Islam and Muslims through the lens of his/her own nationality, reli­gious beliefs, and mind set. Due to politi­cal developments during the last 15 years, Muslims now have the opportunity to take the initiative in making their faith and culture known to the world. They have a chance to propagate Islam the way they think is right, introducing it to the world from their own point of view, and setting criteria for scholarly discourse indepen­dent of the colonial frame of mind with which it was introduced to the West dur­ing the last two centuries.

During the 19th and early 20th centuries, and particularly after the disin­tegration of the Ottoman sultanate, Euro­pean powers established political power in some Muslim countries and colonized others. The United States was busy ex­panding its educational system in those regions by establishing schools and col­leges such as the American University of Beirut (AUB), the American University of Cairo (AUC), Roberts College of Istanbul, and other missionary schools in Iran and other Muslim counries. This pat­tern continued throughout the decades between World War I and World War II.

Despite billions of dollars of in­vestment in many other sectors in Asia, Africa, and Latin America, American in­vestment in education in the Muslim world had the highest rate of return. Two gen­erations of political elite in those coun­tries were trained by American educators whose world view was shaped by Ameri­can “Judeo-Christian” traditions and cul­tural values. The political situation in which most of those countries found them­selves between 1950 and 1980 should be viewed not only in terms of technological dependence on the West but, more impor­tantly, as a result of political elites’ fasci­nation with and absorption of Western culture, implanted in their minds through Western or Western-tailored educational systems.

Muslims often talk about the power of the Jewish community in the United States. Rarely, however, do they try to find out why and how they attained this power. A glance at the history of Jewish migration to the United States during the 19th and 20th centuries reveal] s that the first step Jewish migrants took after their initial settlement in this country was to establish Jewish schools. They did this not only to educate their children but also to safeguard their Jewish identity by teach­ing Judaism, Jewish history, culture, and the Hebrew language.

Educating Jewish youth received a higher priority among Jews, especially during the Holocaust, when the very exist­ence of Jews was tenuous. Even under the harsh condition of German concentration camps they underestimated the importance of educating their children in terms of their survival. In fact, many Jewish histo­rians have acknowledged the long-term significance of the Holocaust in strength­ening Jewish identity and self-awareness.

I do not mean to imply that con­temporary Muslims are in the same situa­tion today as the Jews were in Nazi Ger­many. However, recent events clearly indicate that Muslims may have as many enemies today as the Jews did in Europe in the 1930s, and very few friends among world governments. This animosity has created insecurity and hostility among Muslim populations uncertain about their future.

Recent statistics indicate a rapid increase in the Muslim population in the United States. This is due partly to immi­gration from Islamic countries and partly to an increase in conversions to Islam, especially among intellectuals and Afri­can-Americans. These statistics also tes­tify to the fact that Islam is growing faster than any other religion.

The speed with which the Mus­lim population is growing in the United States is both a liability and an asset. It is an asset because it proves Islam’s appeal and unlimited potential for growth. On the other hand, it is a liability because it places a heavy responsibility on Muslims to identify and mobilize new resources for education.

Unfortunately, Islam is still far from being recognized by mainstream

America. The tragic reality is that the majority of the Muslim population in this country is in the lower social strata in terms of political, cultural, educational, and economic status. The magnitude of this problem becomes more clear when one considers the fact that other religious groups that are economically smaller and less significant have found their way into mainstream America and been recognized by society on more or less equal ground with the majority white, middle-class Americans. Although the Muslim com­munity is generally one of the better edu­cated and economically successful mi­norities, it has still a long way to go toward successful integration in America. It should be noted that by “integration” we do not mean absorption in mainstream America or the loss of Islamic identity and culture.

In a multi-cultural and multi-eth­nic society like the United States, the usual elements of nationalism and group identification based on national back­ground are gradually diluted. People be­gin to identify themselves with their co­religionists rather than their former com­patriots. As a result, religion becomes not only a matter of faith but also a means of relation to a wider and larger community, an identity by itself. It is precisely for this reason that the question of Islamic educa­tion and Muslim identity gain an utmost importance. This identity can only be nourished among the younger generation of Muslims through proper Islamic education.

There is no need to try to convince the reader that it is a useful and correct policy to invest money, time, effort, and hope in Islamic education when education is valued so much in Islam. The prophetic hadith encouraging Muslims to seek knowledge from cradle to grave is, in fact, a principle that all Muslims should strive for, especially at this historical juncture when Islam is facing challenges from many directions.

Undoubtedly, the greatest asset of the Muslim population in the United States is its youth who determine  the future of Islam and the Muslim community. Muslim youth in America are torn be­tween several conflicting loyalties: fami­ly life and society, home environment and school, native and adopted cultures, na­tive language and English, and finally their religion and the general environ­ment with all its distractions. The Ameri­can environment has a great influence on Muslim youth with regard to their self esteem and their perception of and iden­tification with Islam. It is only through formulation and implementation of a com­prehensive, genuine, and holistic Islamic educational system in America that one can hope to overcome these conflicts and raise a healthy, productive, disciplined and achievement-oriented generation of future Muslims. It is only the Muslims themselves who can achieve this through investment, understanding, cooperation, collective effort, and hard work.

Muslim youth in America are being increasingly referred to treatment centers for drug and alcohol abuse, cultural confusion, and family conflicts. We may often choose to ignore these prob­lems or minimize their scope and signifi­cance. But the fact is that these problems exist. The more important fact is that only Muslim parents, teachers, and educators are responsible for finding a solution to this growing problem. And they can suc­ceed if they are open-minded, flexible, and ready to see the world from the per­spective of a young Muslim without sac­rificing Islamic religious principles, val­ues, and beliefs. It is very difficult to be young and a good Muslim in the West, especially in America, unless we teach our youth Islam’s compatibility with hu­man needs, desires, and aspirations. This can only be achieved through an efficient and comprehensive Islamic educational program in the United States.

The significance, long-term value, and cost-effectiveness of investment in the expansion of Islamic education in the United States can never be over-empha­sized. The impact of such an investment is not limited to the educational realm per Se. Rather, its consequences will be felt on all levels of the social, cultural, techni­cal, intellectual, political, and spiritual lives of future Muslim generations in this country. Muslims should seek inspiration and vision to implement an investment plan for the future of Muslim youth. No other measure, including political propa­ganda, can match the long-term value of a strong Islamic educational system whose graduates will be goodwill ambassadors for Islam in the United States and guaran­tee further recognition and expansion of Islam in the West.

 His Late Holiness Ayatollah al-Uzma Sayyid Muhammad Reza Gulpaygani died of cardiac arrest atTehran’s MartyrRajaei Heart Hospital on December 9, 1993, minutes before sunset prayers (Tehran time), at the age of 96.

Gulpaygani was born in ThulQi’da of 1316 A.H. in a village called Gugad six kilometers from Gulpaygan, Iran. His father, Sayyid Muhammad Baqir, was a renown scholar and highly re­spected dignitary who was well known for his asceticism and trustworthiness.

As he grew up, the late Gulpaygani was orphaned when he was only nine; despite this grave loss, he con­tinued seeking knowledge specializing, even when still a lad, in theological sci­ences. Having finished the Muqaddimat and Sutooh under the tutelage of great scholars there and then, he migrated early in 1336 A. H. to Arak, joining the hawza (theological center) there which was be­ing directed by Ayatullah Shaikh Abdel­Kareem al-Haeri. Among his colleagues were men such as His Late Holiness Ayatullah Sayyid Ruhullah al-Moosawi al-Khomeini, founder of the Islamic Re­public of Iran. Gulpaygani finished the Sutooh stage (which is the equivalent of a Master’s degree) incredibly swiftly, graduating in 1337 A.H. By then, his fame grew as a gifted, brilliant, and just scholar, qualities because of which Shaikh al-Haeri paid him a special attention. When al-Haeri founded his world-renown hawza in Qum in Sha’ban of 1340, he invited Gulpaygani to assume the respon­sibility of being one of its professors, a responsibility which he undertook in Shawwal of the same year, only three months after receiving such an honoring invitation. He soon became one of the most brilliant professors of Qum’s hawza, and he started teaching its qualified stu­dents the Sutooh stage.

After the death of Shaikh Abdul­Kareem al-Haeri, Gulpaygani started teaching fiqh and Usool. Hundreds of those who graduated from Qum’s theo­logical institute known as the hawza were at one time students of the late Ayatullah al-Uzma Gulpaygani. It is estimated that as many as 800 students used to attend his classes held at Al-Masjid al-Kabir (the grand mosque) of Qum.

Gulpaygani has left us many pre­cious books and more manuscripts, the latter outnumbering the first; among his published works are the following:

I. A commentary on al- ‘Urwah al- Wuthqa

2.   A commentary on Wasail aI­Shi’a

3.  Tawzeeh aI-Masail, his practi­cal dissertation (risala) which gave its name to all such risalas of other great scholars such as al-Hakeem, al-Khomeini, and al-Khoei, may Allah be pleased with all of them. As a matter of fact, only Ayatullah Burujardi had used such a title for his own risala before!

4.   A Hajj manual

5.   A book dealing with Fiqh

6.   A book dealing with Usool

7.   Miscellaneous texts, lectures which he dictated to his students

8.   He has written numerous other books dealing with Fiqh and Usool which were written and published, according to his instructions, by others in addition to others which have not yet been published. The number of the latter is more than that of all his books and dictated lectures com­bined.

He was the first scholar to prepare an index of fiqh and hadith, employing modem methodology and technology, and the first to introduce modern computers and teaching tools to Iran’s hawza. He was Marji’ Taqlid for 32 years, and he taught at Qum for about 70 years.

Among his most valuable services was his own management of Qum’s hawza from which more than 7,000 students have so far graduated and who are now carrying out their responsibilities in educating the public and defending the creed world­wide, disseminating knowledge and wag­ing a war against ignorance. He, may Allah have mercy on his soul and be pleased with him, never tired of attracting students, especially the young among them, to study and seek knowledge, and he wrote a curriculum especially designed for the youth.

He founded a great school at Khayaban Safaiyya, Qum, equipped with modern facilities. He also added a reading area and ordered a well to be dug on its premises. He founded the Alawiyya School in Khayaban Tehran, Qum, and renovated a girls’ school there. He also renovated al-Hajj Mulla Sadiq School. He estab­lished numerous other schools throughout the Islamic Republic such as a large school in Khayaban Chehar Mardan, a clinic for the students and professors of theology, in addition to a hawza in Srinagar, India. Add to the above his establishment of a Husayniyya in Senedej and a school in Qarawah, in areas inhabited by Iranian Kurds, in Aligu-Derz, and in Isfahan (where he established the Jalaliyva School), and another Husayniyya in Maryawan.

Gulpaygani ordered books deal­ing with various theological subjects to be written and published, and he insisted that all students of the hawza should memoiize the entire text of the Holy Qur’ an. He sent emissaries representing him to various countries world-wide, and he built schools and mosques in many countries abroad. Probably the most remarkable of his feats was his establishment and management of as many as forty hawzas in Iran and abroad.

In 1385 A.H., he went to Mecca for the hail. During his trip, he met with a large number of dignitaries from both the Sunni and Shi’a Muslim Schools of Law in an effort to bring Muslims closer to one another and unite them in one Islamic Brotherhood, to bridge the gap between them and promote the spirit of love and tolerance among them.

The death of Gulpaygani is a tre­mendous loss forthe Muslim Ummah. one the extent of which is known only by the Almighty Whom we invoke to reward Gulpaygani for his services on our behalf. Our condolences to all the Momineen and Mominattheworldover, andtoourLivinr Imam al-Hujjah al-Qaim..., and all we can say is: lnna Lillah wa lnna llayhi Raji con ''Surely we are Allah’s, and to Him we shall surely return.''

*Hujjatuldslam Sayyid M. Husain al­Jalali, Hujjatul-Islam Musbah Zadeh, and Br. Yasin T. al-Jibouri contributed to this article.