Rise and fall of knowledge power: an in-depth investigation

Purpose – Muslims as an ummah (community) held knowledge power for more than 500 years and dominated in the field of historiography, religious texts, medicine, astronomy, mathematics, sciences, literature, geography and travel and many other areas during AD 750-950 in world history. But the present Muslim world is far behind in knowledge power than the rest of the world despite the fact that it holds vast sources of economic resources. How Muslim knowledge powers became great and how they declined is a question that confronts today's researchers. The purpose of this paper is to identify the factors responsible for the rise and fall of Muslims’ knowledge power and the scope for its restoration. Design/methodology/approach – An in-depth analysis was made based on the information from secondary sources. Findings – In order to restore the flagging knowledge power, six factors have been identified and analyzed in the light of presenting the scope for initiative to power the knowledge economy in the Muslim world. Originality/value – The paper shows that the concept of knowledge power not only identifies circumstances in which the Muslim world can restore knowledge economy well but also in which it should come up with a realistic action plan in the area of higher education and human resources development.