Category Archives: Real Statistics

Approaching Statistics Islamically

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This second part of the Talk at ISOSS by Dr. Asad Zaman is continuation to the discussion on nature of real statistics and how it can be approached Islamically. 

Inversion Methodology

Real statistics is founded on inversion principle that requires to reverse the general teaching methodology by putting practice first and theory second. The first ten lectures of this course are developed in the same manner.

David Freedman a distinguished statistician, has also used this methodology. His intellectual trajectory is like mine, both of us have studied heavy mathematical and theoretical statistics with no concern to numbers. He realized that working with real issues is radically different. He faced questions about the usefulness of statistical theories in his undergraduate classes.  It motivated him to address this issue in his pathbreaking book “Statistics”. He studied real problems without using mathematical formulas and equations. He observed that some background knowledge is required to see effectiveness of polio vaccine. Polio has a rare and highly fluctuating occurrence frequency, so a large sample is required for significant estimates. Instead of discussing the sampling errors, if students have real data they will better observe and understand if incidence of polio is reduced after using medicine or not. There  is no complicated theory, formula or equation but only inclusion of real aspects.

In my textbook I adopted similar approach using Household Integrated Expenditure Survey (HIES) data of a village in Attock district. In a sample of 100 persons 99 people have Rs. 4000 income and one is millionaire. Average income of them is more than Rs. 10,000 but it represents none from this sample. As 99 people have income much lower than the average and one person has far higher income. Here, median or mode are meaningful measures and accurately represent average income. Averaging is studied by many but meaning of numbers is clear when we use real examples. This approach has created very good outcomes for students by developing intuitive and hands on understanding to the problems.

Effects of Inversion: Focus on Real-World Application

While compiling the textbook I realized that several of passionately taught statistical theories have no practical uses. For instance, I could not find any real illustration of CORE theorem (Gauss-Markov theorem that states regression estimators are BLUE-best, linear, unbiased estimates). There are several supposedly important yet practically useless theories even from my field of specialization. For example, Stein and Shrinkage estimations are based on assumptions of equal variation therefore, not applicable to heterogeneity. But all the real world problems have heterogeneity. There is no theory developed for latter cases, because derivation of  elegant formulas is not possible, this can only be solved by hands on simulations methods and rule of thumbs. Approximations are rough and cannot be verified therefore, these methods are not published even as journal articles. Better solutions from approximate methods in real cases refers that inversion methodology is ultimately beneficial. It increases the interest and practical knowledge of students and accomplishes the valuable task to solve real problems.  

Useful Knowledge enters heart !

Useful knowledge enters heart of the learners. To abandon theory/practice barrier we must see the real world that involves heart. Consider wage discrimination that affects our lives, can we remain neutral about this? If something is affecting our life, there comes role of heart and morality. That is required to know the harms and benefits of something. To understand the concept of secular knowledge we see how it has emerged. Till 17th century due to religious dominance in Europe, knowledge of every kind was considered within religious domain. Breakout of civil wars in Catholics and Protestants made it a historical necessity to develop a knowledge that is agreed upon by all, this suit is still followed. In a strong western society religion is a private matter with God. It is awkward to discuss religion in casual talk given that it creates disputes.

Islam emphasize to seek useful knowledge that is subject to the purpose and requires to discuss the goals of life. Otherwise we cannot differentiate useful knowledge from useless. In pursuit of Islamic approach, I learned many things. As if we do not talk to a student sitting in the class and start teaching the book by discussing the data and formulas. We follow current standards of teaching, that describes a student to sit in a class only to pass the course. He has no interest to study if a concept is useful, but only if it will be asked in exam. Acquisition of such knowledge is required to pass the exam that is necessary to get a degree, secure a job and make money. If we do not discuss life goals it is acknowledgment to the money making as sole objective.

Purpose of education in capitalist mode of production is to develop human resources not human beings. It needs standardized parts of a machine that keep it running and making money for itself and its owners. Developing human being actually interrupts this pursuit therefore, students are taught that they are marketable commodities that are priced according to their worth. In this approach we must teach about the value of humans in Islam. Humans are precious and best of all creations, and value of one life is equivalent to whole humanity. Therefore, they must learn to be humans not resources. It seems conflicting to teach humanity within subjects like statistics and requires understanding the connection of both. Prophet Muhammad (SAW) has described a person like a mine with hidden treasures. A student is not aware of this, his potential is realized only by a teacher who recognizes it. As a human can render even to the lowest of the low, it becomes the responsibility of a teacher to shape him in whatever form. It is his duty to make this belief in student’s heart that he is valuable and can become whatever he wants. There are big opportunities by Allah but if we only want to earn a living, we will merely sustain this goal.

To read 1st part of this talk click here.

For more discussion on teaching intentions see Teaching Statistics as an act of worship. For detailed discussion on Nature of Useful Knowledge

Research, Teaching, and Study Opportunities

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Email below was sent to participants of my online course on Real Statistics: An Islamic Approach. I am posting this on the Blog so that others can also participate — Using an Islamic approach to education changes everything. An ENORMOUS amount of work, time and effort is required to create genuine Islamic alternatives to the secular modern Western education we all receive. The reasons why this is necessary have been explained in the sequence of previous six posts on “How to Become a Great Teacher“. Everyone should be able to find some suitable role in which he/she can participate in this work.

EMAIL to participants of the RSIA Study Group:

I have written up the first two study units – Islamic WorldView and Islamic Education — on the RSIA course website. I am thinking about devoting the third module to Study Methods for Students – because HOW students should study these materials is VERY DIFFERENT from rote-learning and even mechanical understanding of computations and models that they have used in Western education. Learning which reaches HEARTS is very different from learning done by the MIND. For an example, see my recent post on Game Theory for Humans with Hearts. Please fill out the Google Forms Interests Survey  (linked again at bottom of this email) to give me feedback on what you would like to see more of in future developments for this course.

Because a very diverse group of people have signed up for this online course, with different backgrounds, different interests, different capabilities, and different levels of time-availability, I cannot design a  common course useful for all. So, I am sending out this letter to get feedback on what different people want, so that I can subdivide them into suitable groups. Based on the interactions I have had, participants of this online course can be sorted into the following categories LISTED BELOW. The feedback form will enable me to assign different people with different interests into suitable categories, so that each subgroup can receive trainings relevant to their interests and capabilities. It is important to note that Islamic orientations creates radically new approaches to all conventional topics, so that new and exciting pathbreaking research is possible in all areas of social sciences. After having a look at the categories of participation below, please fill out the Google Form linked below, so that I can have a better idea of your interests, and create suitable groups for all participants in this course.

Auditors: Follow my blog, read posts, and comment on topics which interest you, from time to time. Share posts with friends via social media. For this purpose, go to the blog: bit.do/aziwv and click on the blue “Follow” button on the middle of the right-hand side.

Regular Students:  I have online courses already AVAILABLE on TEN different topics – see webpage TEN COURSES, with links to websites with lectures notes and video lectures. Students can self-study online courses. If there is sufficient interest, we can arrange for groups to work together on a regular schedule with a teaching assistant, and even provide a certificate of course completion. .

Teachings Assistants: If there are groups of regular students who would like to take the course in a SCHEDULED format, with weekly lessons, then I would like to organize them into small groups with a teaching assistant – preferable someone who has knowledge of the material being covered. However, this is not completely necessary. They can handle the administrative chores associated with assigning lessons, grading quizzes, communicating with students, providing feedback to students about progress, and providing feedback to me about course structure and leaning outcomes.

Research Assistants/Supervisees: Some students would like to do research under my supervision. The goal here would be to produce a publishable paper. For those who would like to do this, to produce research paper, I recommend that you should start by reading the post on – Guidance for Research for MPhil/Ph.D. Students. Next read Thesis Writeup Guidelines. Next go to IIIE Student Guide. This last website contains a step-by-step guide to preparing a research proposal. Follow the outlined steps, to produce a research proposal. This is actually a very good way to begin a research project – it avoids waste of time due to poor selection of research topics. In this process of preparing a research proposal, you can get feedback from me regarding choice of topics, etc. Once you have a good proposal, getting the research done is made much easier because a good proposal gives a good roadmap, with clarity about the goal that you have and a lot of guidance regarding the path that you must follow.

Teachers of Courses: I have online course already AVAILABLE on TEN different topics – see the post on Another Syllabus for Islamic Economics for a list of course, with links to websites with lectures notes and video lectures.  Teachers who teach in these areas can look at the materials available and utilize them as either the main syllabus, or as supplementary units for adding to their current syllabus. They will find a lot of coverage of new and unusual topics, presented in ways not easily available. The initial challenge of learning a new approach will be made up for by the extra value you will be able to add to the students education. Also, these approaches all lead to new approaches to the subject matter with lots of angles for doing new research on the topics presented.

Colleagues (Producing Textbooks); I have MANY collections of lecture notes in various stages of completion for courses in Micro, Macro, Monetary, Game Theory, Econometrics, Statistics, Mathematics, Bayesian and others. My great desire is to write up TEXTBOOKS by building on these lecture notes. I would be happy to find volunteers who are experienced Teachers, and are willing to do the work of writing up the notes, and doing the necessary work in filling the gaps, preparing exercises, finding data and other real world examples to illustrate the concepts, and the many other issues involved in preparing a textbook. We can produce a textbook together as co-authors. Another type of work required in this context is setting up an online course. Someone who has some experience with setting up online e-courses could be very useful here.

 Co-Authors for Research Papers: I also have many research papers in draft form which I have not had time to complete writeup. These could be written up and produced for publications. Again, I would be happy to guide anyone who is willing to do the work involves, and has sufficiently good language skills for doing writeups, for co-authoring a joint research paper.

Please FILL IN Google Form on:  Interests Survey – This will enable me to create suitable subgroups, according their interests, to work together.

RSIA04 The Struggle for Knowledge

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RSIA04 The Struggle for Knowledge – This is the fourth an final part of a draft introductory chapter of a planned textbook on Real Statistics: An Islamic Approach. The first three parts of the chapter are in previous posts: RSIA-01:  , RSIA-02  , RSIA-03 . For a more detailed discussion of the underlying concepts which led to the creation of this course, see Real Statistics (1/4), Real Statistics (2/4), Real Statistics (3/4), and Real Statistics (4/4). The 64m Video lecture provides general principles underlying the course, meant for teachers who plan to teach using this new approach to statistics.

7. Knowledge is obtained by struggle and action.

Allah Taʿālā has promised us to guide those who struggle to His pathways. This means that knowledge is gained by efforts, by struggle. However, not all kinds of struggle will lead to knowledge. The struggle has to be the kind which leads to God. This means that the intention with which we engage with the world is all important – the value of all deeds depends on the intentions. We will make the intention to use all knowledge for the benefit of humanity. The best of the people is the one who brings benefits to the people. With the concept of service to humanity, our act of learning turns into worship. This is essential, since we were created solely for the worship of Allah, and all our actions must be worship. To illustrate, one can learn medicine so as to make an income by healing the sick, or one can make the intention to serve humanity. The second person can charge patients, according to what they can afford, because it is necessary for him to earn in order for him to be able to provide this service on a long-term basis. There is a huge difference between providing a service to make money, and making money in order to be able to provide a service. Islam encourages us to do the latter. (see PP1: The First Principle of Pedagogy).

Together with intention, there must be action. We must try to use our knowledge to change the world for the better, according to the teachings of Islam. It is in the process of trying to change things that we will be granted the knowledge of the pathways of Allah. This means that Islam teaches us a very action-oriented approach to knowledge, very different from the passive classroom-based teaching and learning we have learned to imitate from Western models.

8. The Unity of Knowledge

Increasing specialization has led to the fragmentation of knowledge in the west. It is commonly believed that the explosion in the quantity of knowledge has led to the fragmentation of knowledge. In fact, knowledge is unified by purpose. Having a sense of the broad outlines of human endeavor, and how it serves the human race, one can have an idea of how one’s efforts fit into this big picture.

Two consequences of fragmentation must be avoided by Muslims in our approach to creating Islamic modes of teaching and learning. The first one is that we must relate techniques to their real-world usage. We cannot study techniques and methods in isolation from how they are being used in the real world. This is crucial because knowledge is useful only if it can actually be used for some practical purpose. Because this distinction is not made in the West, a large amount of material taught actually has no real-world use. Furthermore, this is not considered significant or relevant. In this text, we will try to relate every technique to real world uses. For more information about my personal journey in arriving at this formulation, see My Journey from Theory to Reality.

The second important difference between Islamic and Western teachings is that Islam holds us responsible for all consequences of our deeds. The one who points towards the good receives the reward of the doer of the good deed. In the same way, those who witness, or carry paper or ink, or are in any associated with a bad deed, share the guilt. Thus, a Muslim scientist cannot say, as many physicists did, that we just did the physics for the Nuclear Bomb, but we have no part in the millions of deaths of innocent civilians that occurred as a result. A Muslim statistical consultant must learn who is using his services and for what purposes. He cannot act as a neutral and value-free advisor providing expert services without asking what purpose these will be used for. Again this requires eliminating the separation between theory and practice.

9. Etiquette for Teachers and Students.

Since Prophet Mohammad (SAW) was sent as a teacher, his whole life serves as a model for teachers. The Companions (RA) were also ideal students and they serve as models for us to follow in this direction. The Islamic etiquette for teaching and learning are complex and detailed and have been the subject of several books. Here we briefly discuss some essentials. A more detailed discussion is given in a companion lecture entitled “The Principles of Islamic Education.”

Since the value of all deeds depends on intentions, both teachers and students must have correct intentions for teaching and learning. Students should seek to acquire knowledge for the sake of serving the Ummah of the Prophet Mohammad SAW. Furthermore, they should seek the reward for this service only from Allah, and not from those they serve. Indeed, as the Qurʾān states, they do not even expect gratitude for the service they do.

Similarly, teachers who have been given knowledge have the responsibility to pass this knowledge on. They should regard it as a sacred duty to teach. They should value the time of their students, and seek to given them useful knowledge. They should regard every student as a treasure – every human life is infinitely valuable, and the teachers have the potential of changing lives for the better.

10. Exercises

Islam prescribes enjoining what is right (Amr-bil-Maroof) as the duty of this Ummah. Furthermore, it teaches us that knowledge is acquired by struggle. Each of the following exercises therefore requires some struggle and action as that is the only way to understanding. Each of the following opinions is widespread in the Ummah, but is in conflict with basic Islamic ideas about knowledge. First list some arguments for and against each point of view, and identify the Islamic and Western point of view. Next, find a fellow student and carry out a discussion, trying to persuade him/her of the validity of the Islamic point of view. Use your discussion to improve and expand your list of arguments. Please answer any of the questions in the comments below.

1. The purpose of an education is to get a degree. The degree allows us to get jobs. We all need jobs to earn money so that we can live properly and take care of our families.
2. The best career is the one in which one can make the maximum amount of money.
3. Islamic knowledge is entirely a different matter from worldly knowledge – the two have no relation to each other. We study Western knowledge because it is necessary for our worldly affairs, and Islamic knowledge is needed for our ʾĀkhirah.
4. All knowledge is useful, since we cannot know in advance whether or not some information will prove useful in some unexpected way—thus all things are equally important to study.
5. This is the age of specialization. In order to develop intensive knowledge about any area, one has to focus exclusively on that area. It is impossible to cover all fields of knowledge and those who try will only learn general knowledge – a little bit about everything, but not enough to make any difference in any particular area.

The following two exercises are also practical in nature:

6. List five characteristics of an ideal teacher. Base your list on characteristics of the Prophet Mohammad SAW as a teacher. Illustrate or provide evidence for these characteristics from the Qurʾān, Ḥadīth, or stories about the Companions. Give an example of any one teacher who has any one of these characteristics in your own life experience.
7. List five characteristics of an ideal student. Illustrate or provide evidence for these characteristics from the Qurʾān and Ḥadīth, or stories about companions. Explain how you intend to implement at least one of these characteristics in your own study.

This concludes the fourth an final part of a draft introductory chapter of a planned textbook on Real Statistics: An Islamic Approach. The first three parts of the chapter are in previous posts: RSIA-01:  , RSIA-02  , RSIA-03 . For a more detailed discussion of the underlying concepts which led to the creation of this course, see Real Statistics (1/4), Real Statistics (2/4), Real Statistics (3/4), and Real Statistics (4/4).

RSIA03 Training the Heart

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[bit.do/azrs1c] Continuing from previous post (RSIA02: Value of Knowledge, sections 3 & 4), this post contains sections 5 & 6 of the First Lecture (ISM01.doc). A lot of supplementary materials and teachings aids, quizzes, outlines, etc. are available from: Intro Stats L01: Islamic Knowledge. Sections 1&2 (RSIA-01: Islamic Approach to Knowledge) explain how Islam has a unique approach to knowledge, based on the understanding that this is among the greatest gifts of God. Sections 3&4 explain how Allah T’aala is the sole owner of all knowledge, and how Muslims are instructed to value knowledge, and to seek it all their lives with effort and struggle. Sections 5&6 discussed below describe the characteristics of useful knowledge, and how this enters our hearts and changes our lives.

5: Useful and Useless Knowledge

Prophet Mohammad SAW sought useful knowledge from Allah and sought protection from useless knowledge:  It is narrated by Jabir (RA) that the Prophet SAW stated that Knowledge is of two kinds. One which enters the hearts, and that is the useful knowledge. The other is only on the tongue (without action or sincerity) and that is argument of Allah against the son of Adam AS Ḥadīth 6 in Muntakhib Aḥādīth, Ilmo-Zikr.

It is important to note that this is an issue which differentiates Western and Islamic conceptions, since this distinction between useless and useful knowledge is explicitly denied by Western theories, which consider all knowledge as potentially useful. Knowledge which distracts us from the remembrance of Allah is useless or harmful, while knowledge which lead to the recognition of Allah is useful and valuable.

Western theorists deny this distinction. They argue that on many occasions apparently useless research has led to unexpected findings. For example, sonar was discovered by the study of bats, and a lab accident led to the discovery of penicillin. Just because sometimes systematic searches fail, and sometimes accidents lead to discoveries, this does not mean that we should stop searching systematically for valuable knowledge. In addition, Islam teaches us that the value of a deed depends on the intention. We have to make the intention therefore to carry out some research for the benefit of human beings, and this will constrain us to do it in a systematic and purposeful way.

ADDITIONAL NOTE: The concept that ‘useful knowledge’ enters the heart is of great significance, and strongly differentiates Islamic approach to education from the Western one. Islam knowledge teaches us how to utilize our unique and precious lives in the best possible way. Such knowledge enlightens our hearts, elevates our souls, and transforms our lives. For this purpose, education must be personalized. The teacher must judge the potentials of different students, and cater to their unique talents (see “Teaching Fish to Fly“). As opposed to this, Western style of education has a fixed body of “knowledge” which must be imparted to all students, regardless of their background, capabilities, and interests (see “ Brainwashing VS Meta-Level Analysis“).

6. Neutral and Detached Observation is Not Permissible

Western Social Scientists advocate the stance of neutral and detached observation. Engagement with the subject creates biases and risks loss of objectivity. However, Islamic teaching forbid us to remain detached when we observe evil. In such a situation, faith requires us to struggle to change it. If we do not have the power to do so with our hands, then we must try to do so with our tongue. That is, we try to persuade others to join in the effort to change things. There are situations where even this much is not possible. In such a situation, a minimal requirement of faith in Allah is that our heart must feel for the oppressed, and must contain a desire to change things for the better. Thus, the state of detachment is explicitly prohibited by Islamic teachings.

Of course, one might say that there are phenomena which are “neutral” – neither good nor evil. These could be studied with detachment. However, Islam teaches us that the primary job of the Muslims is to change the world for the better by spreading the good and prohibiting the evil. This should not leave us with much time to engage in detached observation of phenomenon that have no bearing on good and evil.  Furthermore, if something is really not relevant to important issues on which we must take a moral stance, then it is likely to be useless knowledge – something we must avoid, and seek protection from.

It is very important to note, as many people have done, that the idea that Western social science is a detached and neutral observation of facts, is a false image.  Many philosophers have established that in most cases the normative/positive distinction cannot be made. Observations are based on value judgments, and facts and values are mixed together so closely that they cannot be separated. Therefore, instead of a pretence of objectivity, it is better to openly express values and do analysis in light of these values.

End of Section 5&6 of Chapter 1: ISM01main.doc. See also “Normative Foundations of Scarcity” for a demonstration of how apparently objective and factual concept of scarcity is built on the foundations of three separate normative principles, each of which is opposed to Islamic values; see “Economic Theory: Normative Judgments Disguised As Objective Realities“). For the next part, see RSIA04 The Struggle for Knowledge.

RSIA02 Value of Knowledge

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RSIA02 Value of Knowledge continues from previous post (RSIA01: Islamic Approach to Knowledge, sections 1 & 2), this post contains sections 3 & 4 of the First Lecture (ISM01.doc). A lot of supplementary materials and teachings aids, quizzes, outlines, etc. are available from: Intro Stats L01: Islamic Knowledge. The previous post links to a 90m Video Lecture. An alternative, 42m Video Lecture, which provides a summary of the main points covered, is linked below:

Section 3:   Allah T’aala Grants Knowledge to Whom He Chooses.

2:255 …He knows all that lies open before men and all that is hidden from them, whereas they cannot attain to aught of His knowledge save that which He wills [them to attain]. His eternal power overspreads the heavens and the earth …

2:257 God is near unto those who have faith, taking them out of deep darkness into the light – whereas near unto those who are bent on denying the truth are the powers of evil that take them out of the light into darkness deep:

In particular, He gives the light of knowledge to those who have faith. Those who deny God are led from light into darkness. This means that a lot of what appears to be the knowledge of non-Muslims is actually ignorance. One of our goals in this text will be to establish this fact.

Another important consequence of this is that we must seek knowledge from Allah, by dua, and by Istighfar – It is essential to cleanse our hearts of sins, for the Noor of Allah will not enter into hearts darkened by sin. Knowledge is worship, and the ink of the pen of the scholar is valued over the blood of a martyr. Allah T’aala has told us to ask Him for increase in knowledge:

20:114 High above all is Allah, the King, the Truth! Be not in haste with the Qur’an before its revelation to thee is completed, but say, “O my Lord! advance me in knowledge.”

4.   Thirst for Knowledge is Part of Islam

Because of the importance given to it in the Quran and Hadeeth, the early Muslims were filled with a thirst for knowledge, and a desire to acquire knowledge. An important element in the quick rise to power of Islam was the Muslim’s thirst for knowledge, inspired by the Divine message. The Muslims were eager to search out knowledge from all sources. They adapted useful elements of knowledge from the Greek, Indian, Chinese, Persian and other civilizations. This process of “Islamization” of knowledge has been successfully carried out by the Ummah many times in the past. One important aspect of the decline of the Muslims has been the loss of this thirst for knowledge. Ignorance and illiteracy is widespread in the Ummah, where once everyone was taught to read the Quran.  Teachers have the responsibility to inspire students to achieve, while students have the responsibility to put all their effort and sacrifice into the acquisition of knowledge.

There is a tremendous amount of material in the Quran and Hadeeth related to the virtues of knowledge. The very first lines which were revealed contained the order to read, and glorified the bounties of the Lord who taught man, by the means of the pen, that which he did not know. Thus, the role of Allah as a Teacher is one of his greatest bounties. All of this material is to motivate us to be enthusiastic in our acquisition of knowledge.

2:31 And He taught Adam all the names …

2:34  And when We said unto the angels: Prostrate yourselves before Adam, they fell prostrate, all save Iblis. He demurred through pride, and so became a disbeliever.

Allah T’aala created Adam A.S. and gave him knowledge, which was one of the reasons for his superiority to the angels. It was to acknowledge this superiority that the angels were ordered to prostrate before Adam. It was the refusal to acknowledge this superiority that led to the rebellion of Iblees. So knowledge is one reason why human beings are superior to angels.

Similarly, the Prophet Mohammad S.A.W. stated that the superiority of the person with knowledge over the worshipper is like the superiority of the Prophet himself over an ordinary Sahabi. (Hadeeth 30, Muntakhib Ahadeeth Ilmo Zikr).

Similarly, it is stated that Allah T’aala makes the path to Jannah easy for the seeker of knowledge. The angels spread their wing in his honor. All the creature on Earth and the fishes in the sea seek forgiveness for this seeker of knowledge. The superiority of the Alim over the Abid is like the superiority of the moon of the fourteenth over the stars. The Prophets do not leave behind material wealth and possessions, but their knowledge; whosoever learns the knowledge of Deen, inherits the treasure of the Prophets. Hadeeth 25, Muntakhib Ahadeeth, Ilm o Zikr.

Because of the commandment to seek knowledge, Muslims created a civilization which valued knowledge above all other things. The library of Baghdad contained over 800 million volumes. There are immense Muslim contributions to virtually all branches of knowledge. Unfortunately, Muslim students today are largely unaware of the important role of Muslims in the development of modern sciences. As detailed in “The Theft of History,” by Jack Goody (2012) Europeans have appropriated scientific inventions of other civilizations, such as algebra, surgery, optics, the heliocentric theory,  and many others, and claimed them as European inventions {see Is Science Western in Origin?}.  Furthermore, they have asserted that Europeans are uniquely equipped with the ability to think rationally and scientifically.  Blaut (2000) has documented that popular and influential thinkers and historians like Weber, White, Mann, Hall, and Landes agree on the idea that “Europeans were uniquely capable of creative and scientific thought.” The idea that European civilization is unique and supreme is called “Eurocentricism.”  This idea is built into European teachings, and is absorbed by Muslim students, who see no references to Muslim predecessors in their study. This an obstacle to developing confidence and expertise which is a pre-requisite for creation of innovations and advances in the frontiers of knowledge.

There is now a substantial amount of recent work which documents the origins of Science in the Muslim civilization {see Islamic Origins of Science}. Especially important is the open and empirical attitude of the Quran. El-Masrafy has traced the impact of the Quran on European intellectuals in  “The Enlightenment Quran.” A brief popular exposition of origins of science in Islamic civilization is available in Arab Science: A Journey of Innovation by the Qatar Foundation: http://www.grouporigin.com/clients/qatarfoundation/introduction.htm See also the supplementary document: Muslim Achievements in the Sciences.

End of Sections 3 & 4. The next post in this series is RSIA03 Training the Heart 

RSIA-01 Islamic Approach to Knowledge

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This is the 1st & 2nd section of a DRAFT of Chapter 1 of a proposed new textbook on Real Statistics: An Islamic Approach — This Chapter introduces an Islamic Approach to knowledge, and how this differs from the Western approach. I would like to get feedback and comments from readers in order to create a final version of this for textbook. Readers can add comments directly on the SHARED Google Document: ISM01main. Or they can add comments below this post. Note that Hyperlinks connect to additional material which is NOT part of this lecture — if some material from those references should be included here, readers can add remarks to this effect. Also, you can add comments on the 90m You-Tube Video Lecture which corresponds to this chapter:

Sections 1&2 are given below. Sections 3&4 are given in the next post – RSIA01b Value of Knowledge – which also provides links to a shorter Alternative Introductory Video lecture of 42m

Section 1: Introduction

I seek refuge in Allah from the outcast Shaitan, and begin with His Name Allah, who is also Rahman and Rahim:

7:172 When thy Lord drew forth from the Children of Adam – from their loins – their descendants, and made them testify concerning themselves, (saying): “Am I not your Lord (who cherishes and sustains you)?”- They said: “Yea! We do testify!” (This), lest ye should say on the Day of Judgment: “Of this we were never mindful”:

Allah T’aala created all of us, and made us recognize Him as our Lord, prior to sending us to this world. The object of our life on this Earth is to live with full awareness and recognition of our Creator. All useful knowledge is a means to this end. The prophet Mohammad SAW delivered to us the message of Allah, which is both complete and perfect.

5:3 This day have I perfected your religion for you, completed My favour upon you, and have chosen for you Islam as your religion.

According to a prophecy of our Prophet Mohammad s.a.w., the Deen of Islam came as a stranger, and it will become a stranger. Over the past few centuries, Muslims as a whole have moved far from the Deen in their individual and collective lives. The rise to global power of the West has led to spread of many types of ideas and philosophies very much in conflict with the central message of Islam. Central to Western secular thought is the idea that certain realms of knowledge fall outside the scope of religion. Because the West has taken the lead in many realms of knowledge, Muslims have been forced to study, adopt and accept these western ideas. The project of Islamization of knowledge is an attempt to acquire the useful aspects of western advances in knowledge, while removing the harmful secular and atheistic components. This has been difficult to do because many ideas conflicting with Islamic views are buried within foundational assumptions of Western knowledge and not openly stated or discussed. Nonetheless, it is an issue of high priority because how Muslim youth are trained will have a big impact on our future. Current methods of training borrowed from the West are highly unsuitable, for many reasons discussed in “An Islamic Worldview: An Essential Component of an Islamic Education”. At the same time, we cannot afford to bypass or ignore Western contributions to the stock of human knowledge. Finding a suitable way to accomplish both objectives is our goal.

This textbook is part of the project of Islamization of Knowledge. We will study statistics in a way that is in accordance with Islamic teachings. Islamic views on knowledge, as well as the methodology for teaching and learning, differ radically from Western views.  One of the central ideas of Western secular thinking is that knowledge can be compartmentalized – some areas of knowledge (like science, mathematics, etc.) have no relation to religion. We will show that Islam sheds light on all areas of knowledge.  We will show how radically our perspectives on the subject change when the contents are assimilated into a meaningful framework defined by Islam.  These differences will be illustrated concretely in the course of these lectures on introductory statistics for Muslims.

We will start by studying the process of teaching and learning. The prophet Mohammad s.a.w. was sent as a teacher, and Islam has a vast collection of important principles about how to teach and learn. The widely imitated Western approach to education carries no hints of these principles, which are characteristics of an Islamic education. We will only be able to review a few essential elements of these principles in this first lecture.

In this lecture, we will establish that Islam has its own unique approach to knowledge, both for teachers and for students. This approach is radically different from the approach currently being followed in the West, and being blindly imitated in the East. Unfortunately, because Muslims have been content to imitate, this has created an impression that Muslims do not have their own approach. It is essential to counteract this. This is the primary goal of this first lecture.

The Prophet Mohammad S.A.W. was sent as a teacher. He was the best of teachers. Learning the principles of teaching and studying from him leads to the best approaches to teaching and learning. We will distill some principles from these Islamic modes of education and exposit them here.

Section 2:  Knowledge is Among the Greatest Gifts of God.

2:269 He granteth wisdom to whom He pleaseth; and he to whom wisdom is granted receiveth indeed a benefit overflowing; but none will grasp the Message but men of understanding.

The first words of the revelation are powerfully infused with the message of the importance of knowledge:

Q96:1- 5 READ in the name of thy Sustainer, who has- created man out of a germ-cell. Read – for thy Sustainer is the Most Bountiful One who has taught [man] the use of the pen – taught man what he did not know!

Reading & writing are mention thrice in this short passage. Reference is made to the mysteries of creation of man, about which the discoverer of DNA, Francis Crick said:”An honest man, armed with all the knowledge available to us now, could only state that in some sense, the origin of life appears at the moment to be almost a miracle.” – Francis Crick, Nobel Prize winner, “Life Itself: Its Origin and Nature”, 1981 (p. 88)

The bounty of the Lord is mentioned as being teaching man to read and write and giving him knowledge of that which he did not know. This first message is reinforced by many other verses of the Quran and Hadeeth giving central importance to knowledge.

Aboo al-Dardaa said: `Listen. I have heard rasoolullaah sallal-laahu `alayhi wa sallam saying, “Allah ta`aalaa makes the way to jannah easy for one who traverses some distance to seek knowledge. Angels spread their wings under his feet, and all things in the skies and earth (even the fish in the water) ask Allah for his forgiveness. The superiority of a person possessing knowledge over a person doing worship is as the superiority of the moon over the stars. The `ulamaa are the inheritors of rasoolullaah sallal-laahu `alayhi wa sallam. The legacy of the anbiyaa `alayhis-salaam is neither gold nor silver. Their legacy is knowledge. A person who acquires knowledge acquires a great wealth.“‘”

In particular, we must approach knowledge as a means of spiritual advancement, inner transformation, and a means for changing the world around us. It is not a way to earn a living, nor is it “human capital,” a way to increase our value as a means of producing material goods. {see PP1: The First Principle of Pedagogy }

End of Sections 1&2 (with Full Video lecture of 90m); Next Post has Sections 3&4  – RSIA01b Value of Knowledge – which also provides links to a shorter Alternative Introductory Video lecture of 42m

Kelvin’s Blunder: Measure Everything

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{bit.ly/AZKelvin} For reasons explained briefly in “The Emergence of Logical Positivism“, the Western intellectual tradition came to the disastrously wrong conclusions that (1) Only science can provide us with valid knowledge, and (2) science is based on observables, unlike religion which is based on unobservables. Furthermore, since qualitative aspects of observables are often subjective, a preference for the objectivity created by measurement was expressed by Lord Kelvin as follows:

When you can measure what you are speaking about, and express it in numbers, you know something about it, when you cannot express it in numbers, your knowledge is of a meager and unsatisfactory kind; it may be the beginning of knowledge, but you have scarcely, in your thoughts, advanced to the stage of science

This idea, that everything worth knowing, can be reduced to numerical measurements, has led Western intellectuals to attempt to measure everything, without concern about whether or not the thing in question is measurable in the first place. As discussed in an earlier post on “Statistics as Rhetoric“, this has led to the creation of fictional numbers – these appear to measure something, but there is nothing present in external reality which corresponds to what these numbers purport to measure. The widespread and commonplace attempts to measure everything in sight have created the misconception expressed in the quote above, which it is convenient to refer to as “Kelvin’s Blunder”: “everything about which we can have knowledge, can be measured”. Attempts to measure the unmeasurable have led to widespread folly. Can we measure the complex and multidimensional quality of intelligence by asking a few questions about math and English? Can we measure love by measuring the pressure per square inch exerted during a hug? After defining such absurd measures, the statistician is asked to endorse the crime by not examining what is being measured, and why it being measured. Instead, he/she should just analyze the numbers which have been produced by the “field expert”.

We have provided many reasons why attempts to measure that which cannot be measured leads to more harm than good in our paper on “Corruption: Measuring the Unmeasurable”  Humanomics, Vol. 25, No. 2, pp. 117-126, June 2009. Here we provide a simplified overview of some of the key arguments from the paper. Continue reading →

Q & A: Islamic Approach to Statistics

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Questions which arose in discussion below are typical of those which arise because of ideas we have absorbed from our Western education. A western education trains us to believe in a theory of knowledge which must be UNLEARNED first, before the ideas that I am presenting start to make sense. I will try to provide some answers to questions which were presented to my by some of the group discussions of “Real Statistics: An Islamic Approach to Knowledge”. This topic was presented and discussed in depth on 9/22/19 at ISOSS: Real Statistics, Islamic Approach — See link for 1hr Urdu Talk and 1hr Q&A session after the talk.

1.       When a teacher will firstly announce that he is going to teach stats for Muslims, the first obstacle he gets in his way is the business of stats with Islam. Why are you mixing a pure scientific approach with a religion?

The way statistics is done currently, it is designed to deceive. The most popular book, which has sold more copies than all other statistics textbooks, is Darrell Huff’s “How to Lie with Statistics”. The so-called pure “scientific” approach pretends to be objective, but actually HIDES many subjective judgments underneath a cover of objectivity. The goal of Islam is to lead us to the TRUTH. This requires UNCOVERING what statistics really does, which is very different from what is taught in textbooks of statistics.  See “The Illusion of Objective Knowledge“, and “Statistics as Rhetoric” for a counter-argument.

2.       Why are we mixing religion with a pure objective scientific knowledge?? Due to this mixture, we have to deny the western knowledge, upon which in reality the whole world is running.

The idea that there is such a thing as “pure objective scientific knowledge” is an illusion. This was first made clear by Thomas Kuhn in “The Structure of Scientific Revolutions“. He showed that scientific progress occurs in a sequence of revolutions. For example, everyone believe in Ptolemy’s theory, and does scientific astronomy under the assumption that Earth is the center of the universe. But then this whole picture of the universe is changed. Similarly, Newtonian Physics is replaced by Einsteinian Physics. It is not that these are one-time exceptional events. Every month, new journals of physics come out which reject previous theories and advance new ones in their place. The laws of physics are based on Intuition and on Social Consensus, not on objective reality. This is because we have to GUESS at the laws, they are not visible in the objective external reality. So, most philosophers of science no longer make the claim that science is purely objective knowledge.

Is it true that the whole world is running on scientific knowledge? The amount of devastation done to the planet by science and technology far exceeds the benefits. If you calculate the costs of the destruction of species, plants, and environments, which took millions of years to produce, destroyed for a measly few million bucks.  The looming environmental catastrophe threatens to make the planet un-inhabitable for human beings. It was science and technology which provided the capability to kill 50 million human beings in the two world wars, wreaking havoc on a scale never before seen in human history. Science and technology distract us from the realities of human existence, which depend on character — honesty, integrity, courage, love – qualities which are not taught in the textbooks. Read my post on “Higher Goals of Education” to see how these lessons have been removed from a Western education.  It is actually corporate greed which led to massive deception in the Global Financial Crisis, wiping out lifetime savings of millions, and leading to the highest level of homelessness and hunger in the USA since World War 2. How could advanced science and technology prevent this from happening.

3.    What is the problem with arithmetic mean? Is it western or is it Islamic? If it is western, and it is wrong? Then why and what is the Islamic replacement? Similar is the case of Islamic unit root and Islamic cointegration??

It all depends on HOW YOU USE the arithmetic mean. This is not taught in statistics textbooks. It is GUARANTEED that if you use ONE NUMBER to represent 1000 numbers (by taking their average) there will be loss of information. One number cannot take the place of one thousand numbers. This is exactly what the arithmetic mean does. So one must look at HOW it is used, to see whether this involves deception or not. This is not typically taught, with the result that it is easy to use the mean to deceive people. The issue is not whether to use mean or median, these are tools. The Islamic approach involves teaching the USE of these concepts in ways that AVOID deceiving people. This requires teaching people HOW to use them correctly. To see how arithmetic means are used to deceive people and to make policies favorable to the rich and powerful, see my post on GNP as Statistical Rhetoric. 

Unit Roots and Cointegrations are hallucinations imposed upon the data by a set of assumptions which are not satisfied by any data set in the real world. These can ONLY be defined for stationary time series, which means that the series must be generated in the same way FOREVER. No real time series goes on forever, and over long periods of time conditions keep changing so stationarity does not hold. For any real world finite series, you can fit both unit root and non unit root models equally well to them; this is a mathematical theorem. So that it is possible to “Get Any Result You Want From a Unit Root Test” – this was the title of an M.Phil. Thesis written by my student Abdul Ghaffar Shah. This is the kind of deception created by standard theoretical statistical method, which pay no attention to how they can be used. For a deeper understanding of why conventional econometrics is a fraud, because it makes assumptions which never hold true in real world applications, see my post and lecture on “A Realist Approach to Econometrics“.

4.       If  arithmetic mean is wrong, then their replacement are median and mode, which are again the fruits of western knowledge.

It is question of learning how to USE statistics for solution of real world problems in way that is truthful and honest, and beneficial for mankind. Cigarette companies used statistical consultants to manipulate data to show that cigarettes did not cause cancer, causing deaths of millions. Similarly, drug companies today use fabricated statistics to sell huge numbers of fake, useless, and harmful drugs today in the West. The idea the we can do OBJECTIVE statistical analysis looking only at the numbers, while somebody else uses our analysis to solve real world problems is wrong. We cannot separate the theory from the practice. This is the MAIN problem with statistics as it is currently taught. You are taught how to calculate mean, median, and mode of a series of numbers. You are never taught how this is ACTUALLY used in solving real world problems. When we start studying real world problems, we discover that most of the things we learned in statistics do not apply.See “My Journey from Theory to Reality” which explains how statistical theories are based on assumptions which are almost always wrong when applied to real world data sets. As a result, they create misleading results. For a deeper discussion of how an Islamic approach leads to a methodology for doing statistics which is very different from the current conventional methodology, see my post on “Real Statistics (4/4) The Illusion of Objectivity“.

5.       I just want to understand that by rejecting knowledge of science and technology as to how we can live life in this modern era because even I am writing this text using western knowledge as they developed computer science and softwares like WhatsApp etc.

The problem is that shock-and-awe of West is so great that questioning any part of Western knowledge appears shocking. Surely we should be able to use our OWN judgment about what is good and what is bad, and how to use Western technologies. All of the useful things that have been developed have their costs and benefits. We should learn to examine them, instead of uncritically accepting everything, just because it is from the advanced and developed West, while we are backwards and under-developed — this too is an illusion created by Western education. See “Deep Seated Inferiority Complex.” What I have said is the we need to change our approach to education. I did not call for abandoning the use of computers.

6.       How an Islamic approach to education differs radically from the Western approach? Is the difference in purpose? Is the difference in material?

Do the lessons in the first module: Principles of an Islamic Education to find out. There is a difference in purpose — we want to use education to learn how to become human beings, whereas a western education is designed to turn us into human resources. See my talk at Iqra University on “How to become a Human Being, instead of a human resource“. Because the purpose is different, the material also becomes different. In particular, we have to start by defining our GOAL in life. Then we have to evaluate knowledge to see if it will help us to achieve that goal — in which case it is useful knowledge. If the knowledge we acquire will turn us into machines for making money, without having emotions about all the destruction that we are causing in the lives of people (see the movie TIGERS about how Nestle sells baby milk powder while knowing it will kill millions of babies), then this knowledge is harmful knowledge. To understand this better, see my post on “Learn Who You Are!“. 

FINALLY – for an in depth study of how an Islamic approach creates a revolution in the entire approach to education, register for a free online learning module on Principles of Islamic Education, by filling out Google form “Registration: PIE“. If you go through the lessons given there, you will achieve much better understanding of these issues. The answers given above only scratch the surface.

Value of Human Lives

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How did Islamic teachings launch a revolution, which changed the course of human history, 1440 years ago? This question is puzzling when examined from a modern materialist perspective. We do not find any invention, any new techniques of warfare, any industry, production process, or other material cause, which lifted the early muslims from the depths of ignorance to world leadership. The causes are to be found in the internal and spiritual changes creates by the teachings of Islam. Allah T’aala “Taught man that which he knew not.” (Q 96:4). This knowledge created a revolution in the hearts and souls, which in turn led to an external revolution. One of the central components of this revolutionary knowledge given to the early Muslims was the value of human lives:

  1. We have been created as the best of the creations.  That is human beings have been endowed with enormous potential; with the ability to rise above the angels. This same potential can be used negatively to make us the worst of creation.
  2. He who saves one human life, is as if he has saved the entire humanity. And he who takes a life, is as if he has killed the entire humanity.
  3. Adam AS was created, and given knowledge, and the angels were ordered to prostrate before him, as a sign of the honor given to man by God.
  4. Allah T’aala Himself offers to purchase our lives and wealth in return for paradise.
  5. The entire universe was created for our benefit, while we were created for God.

There are many more indicators of the enormous value placed on human lives by Allah T’aala. It is important to understand that this value is “potential” and not necessarily actual. Just like every seed has the potential to become a tree, so every human being has the potential to reach tremendous heights, if he or she strives in the path of Allah, making the effort that is required for this purpose. Human lives are of little value if this effort is not made and the potential remains unrealized. As the Quran mentions, Man can only have that for which he strives. So it is left up to us to set high goals for ourselves. If we set ourselves low goals, then we will end up with very little in the way of achievement. The was the secret of the revolution launched by the early Muslims – they were taught to “Reach Beyond the Stars“. This is also the secret of our current dismal state. We have been taught to aim low, and sell our lives cheaply. A previous post on “Learn Who You Are!” explains how the many powerful actors, who wish to purchase our lives cheaply, teach us to place low value on our lives.

To a far greater extent than we realize, our thoughts are shaped by history. We are carried along by the great tides of history which surround us, in directions which are not chosen by us, without our conscious awareness of this. In order to liberate ourselves from the prison of thoughts imposed upon us, we must learn to rise above these tides. This requires learning to think at a Meta-Level; that is, thinking about how history shapes our thoughts. There are three major historical tides which have shaped thoughts of nearly all human beings on the planet. These are listed below:

  1. Great Transformation: Excess industrial production transformed transformed traditional European society to a Market society, where everything is for sale. The lesson is that human lives are cheap, saleable for money.
  2. Global Conquest: By early 20th Century, Europeans had conquered and colonized about 85% of the globe. This created a superiority complex in the West, and an inferiority complex in the colonized East. The lesson is that we are inferior human beings.
  3. European Transition to Secular Modern Thought. Rejection of religion led to emphasis on materialist thought, and rejection of God, Hereafter, Morality, and all invisible, unobservable, and unmeasurable aspects of our lives. The lesson is that we are reducible to our material body, an insignificant speck in a gigantic universe. Our hearts and spirits, ambitions and visions, are of no importance.

These trends were spread throughout the world by the Western education required for functioning in the global capitalist economy which currently envelops the planet. In a previous post on “The Underground Railroad: Path to Liberation“, I have discussed how we can liberate ourselves from the ways of thinking we have learned, as a consequence of these tragic events. Below, I provide a summary and a recapitulation of this:

The Market Society: In a market society, everything is for sale. Human lives are commodities, for sale in the labor market. Instead of getting respect and affection as “Mother Earth”, which provides resources for our sustenance and habitat, the planet is subjected to merciless exploitation for making money. The history of how this way of thinking emerged in European society is described briefly in “The Great Transformation in European Thought“.  To undo the effects of this not-so-great transformation, we need to learn “How to be a Human Being, Instead of a Human Resource“. An Islamic education is about development of our capabilities for excellence, the infinite potential every human being is created with. In contrast, a Western education is about learning to make money.

Colonization and Slave Mentality:  To justify brutal  and ruthless conquest of the globe, which involved countless genocides, and destruction of well-functioning societies throughout the planet, the Europeans had to invent many myths which would put a good face on an ugly business. They invented the myth of the “White Man’s Burden” and the “Civilizing Mission” according to which the purpose of the colonization and the conquest was to bring the benefits of their advanced civilization to the rest of the world, which was cloaked in ignorance and superstition. This is very much like the cover story for the recent invasion of Iraq, which was to bring benefits of Western democracy to the Iraqi population, and protect the world from an evil dictator. In both cases, the real motive was the use of power to exploit resources belonging to others, on the basis of the barbaric principle that “Might makes right”. Unfortunately, both the colonizer and the colonized have swallowed the myths created to justify the conquest. The superiority complex created among the Europeans has been described by Edward Said in his classic work “Orientalism“.  For a description of the inferiority complex created among the colonized, see “Deep Seated Inferiority Complex.” In order to liberate ourselves, it essential to understand that colonization is actually a process of conquest of minds. The Eurocentric history we learn depicts Europeans as glorious and powerful, instead of treacherous and brutal. We need to unlearn Eurocentric History, and replace it by a history based on an Islamic WorldView.  We need to re-acquire self-confidence, to counter the inferiority complex generated by centuries of colonization. This requires substantial re-engineering of the educational process in the Islamic countries.

European Transition to Secular Thought: According to the standard European narrative, science emerged as dominant in Europe after a long battle with religion. Science represents enlightenment and rationality, while religion is synonymous with ignorance, superstition, and dogmatism. This leads modernized Muslims to come to regard religion as an obstacle to progress. This is puzzling because it was the religion of Islam that created the most amazing example of rapid progress ever seen in history. How can Islam, which led ignorant and backwards Arab Bedouin to world leadership, become an obstacle to progress? Again, the first step in resolving this problem is to REPLACE the false popular accounts, by the truth about this transition, which is radically different. For this purpose, see my article on: European Transition to Secular Thought: Lessons for Muslims. Instead of being an obstacle, spiritual progress is the key to the revolution launched by Islamic teachings fourteen centuries ago.

I have described three major blinders on our thought processes created by the great tides of history, of which we are a part. We human beings have been created with the potential to rise above the earthly circumstances and context. The exciting and revolutionary message of Islam reveals to us the amazing potential with which we have been created. Just like a seed cannot imagine becoming a tree, so we cannot imagine the heights that we can reach if we strive to fulfill our potentials. This requires maximum efforts — Allah T’aala has promised that “Those who struggle in (our cause) we will surely guide them to our pathways”. Today we have deceived by our education to waste our lives in pursuit of wealth, power, and luxury – in imitation of our conquerors, who have spent their entire history in doing this, and do not know any better. Our true potential as human beings remains undiscovered and unsuspected. Islamic teachings have the capability of creating the inner revolution within us, which leads to an external revolution in the world around us. To accomplish this we need to replace the meaningless education we receive, designed to turn us into a commodity for sale in the labor market, by a “Real Education“.

POSTSCRIPT: This post is part of a learning module on “Islamic Principles of Education” which if being offered as a free online course. The goal of this course is to change the process of education all over the Islamic world, to use an Islamic approach, instead of the Western approach we are mindlessly imitating today. To register for this module, fill in the form Registration: PIE. All students will be given a sequence of lessons, split into modules, which they can complete at their own pace. This first module is of general interest to all Muslim teachers and students, while later modules will be developed in more specialized areas related to statistics, as well as other courses currently in planning stages.

 

GNP as Statistical Rhetoric

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Rhetoric is the art of persuasion, but modern statistics uses a trick which is not found in the classical textbooks on this subject. Arguments about complex and unobservable realities are converted into arguments about numbers which represent reality. The heart of the argument lies in the process of conversion of the qualitative into the quantitative, which is always imperfect, and can always be challenged on many different grounds. This conversion process is hidden behind multiple curtains, and put out of the bounds of discussion. Candidate X has 12 publications, while Y has 9. End of discussion. The complex question about the unobservable is: How can we assess and compare the contribution that X and Y would make to our organization if we hire them to work for us? This is complex, multidimensional, and involves many qualitative and unmeasurable factors. We avoid this for a good reason: subjectivity, personal bias, and power politics, can and often does distort such decisions. But practical and pragmatic considerations should not be allowed to hide the fact that number of publications is a very rough and imperfect guide to what we are really trying to assess: the quality of research, and the potential for the future. The key change that I would like to make in the approach to statistics I am advocating in “Real Statistics: An Islamic Approach” is the following. Shift attention from the debate about numbers to the debate about the real world issues which are represented by the numbers. Training in conventional statistics systematically cripples our abilities in this direction, by explicitly teaching us that the statistician should NOT go beyond a purely objective analysis of the numbers. “Real Statistics” means that numbers should always be considered in the context of the realities that they are supposed to measure. In this article we show how ignoring the larger context, and confining attention to numbers, has caused great harm in the particular context of measurement of GNP per capita. For more general arguments about how attempts to measure and quantify can cause harm instead of gain, see Beyond Numbers and Material Rewards and Corruption: Measuring the Unmeasurable, Continue reading →