At a recent campaign rally in Michigan, United States Secretary of Health Robert F Kennedy Jr made remarks that have caused much controversy.
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that → make → controversy
He alleged that Muslim Arabs do not produce science and literature and do not win major awards because of the influence of the Muslim Brotherhood.
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Arabs → allege → Brotherhood
It was a statement that reflects racist attitudes and misconceptions about an entire region and an entire religion.
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that → reflect → region
There are plenty of Muslim Arab scientists, thinkers and writers who have made major contributions over the past century.
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who → be → century
Many others have not received a Western award but have nevertheless contributed significantly to their own countries and the world.
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others → receive → countries
The Arab world does face challenges in knowledge production, but this does not prove an inherent deficit in its people or the overwhelming influence of a certain political group.
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this → face → group
Rather, it reflects historical and institutional conditions that impact this process.
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that → reflect → process
Some have witnessed scientific and intellectual flourishing while others have faced decline and turmoil.
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others → witness → decline
Downturns have not occurred because populations had suddenly lost their mental capacities but because the political, economic, cultural and institutional conditions that allow knowledge to thrive change over time.
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knowledge → occur → time
In the case of the Islamic civilisation, its centres – from Baghdad and Damascus to Cairo and Cordoba – experienced a vast scientific and intellectual movement involving scholars, translators, philosophers, physicians and mathematicians from diverse religious and linguistic backgrounds for centuries.
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centres → experience → centuries
This prosperity was not isolated from the world; it was built on the translation, critique, development and interaction with Greek, Syriac, Indian and other bodies of knowledge.
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it → isolate → knowledge
Meanwhile, parts of Europe experienced significant backwardness in scientific education and development.
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parts → experience → education
It also witnessed varying intellectual, institutional and scientific developments across different regions and timeframes.
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It → witness → regions
European conditions then gradually changed: Educational institutions and universities evolved, networks for book and knowledge circulation expanded, and European scientific traditions interacted with scientific knowledge transferred from the Islamic world and elsewhere.
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traditions → change → world
No one can claim, based on these historical disparities, that Europeans are inherently incapable of producing science or that their religion or ethnic origins preclude them from innovation.
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origins → claim → innovation
Serious historical interpretation focuses on institutions, economics, education, political patronage and knowledge networks rather than claims that certain populations lack innate abilities.
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populations → focus → abilities
The exact same principle must apply to Arabs and Muslims today.
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principle → apply → Arabs
Since Europe was able to change the conditions of knowledge production, it is illogical to assume that the contemporary reality of Arab and Islamic societies reflects fixed limits in their scientific or literary capacities.
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reality → change → capacities
Rejecting RFK Jr’s generalisations does not mean denying the challenges facing scientific research in many Arab countries.
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generalisations → reject → countries
A society that does not provide a researcher with a suitable laboratory, does not grant universities sufficient independence, does not allocate the necessary resources for research and does not ensure the continuity of scientific institutions cannot expect results comparable to those of a society that invests sustainably in these areas.
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that → provide → areas
Furthermore, wars, conflicts, displacement, brain drain and weak scientific cooperation can disrupt the accumulation of knowledge, even when a society possesses qualified human capital.
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society → disrupt → capital
The capacity for thought and innovation is one thing, and the ability to translate them into sustainable scientific production is another.
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ability → translate → production
Between the two lies an entire system of socioeconomic conditions, institutions and policies.
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system → lie → conditions
Blaming the challenges contemporary Arab societies face on a single political group – in RFK Jr’s case, the Muslim Brotherhood – and presenting this as a comprehensive explanation for the state of science and literature among hundreds of millions of people falls short of serious historical or social analysis.
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societies → blame → analysis
Scientific production is influenced by a set of intersecting variables: state structure, economic policies, education quality, research expenditures, academic freedom, stability, international relations and the capacity for knowledge circulation.
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production → influence → circulation
Certain political movements or intellectual trends might impact educational policies or the cultural climate in specific contexts.
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movements → impact → contexts
However, proving this impact requires evidence and comparative analysis, which RFK Jr would likely fail to produce, should he be asked to do so.
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he → prove → which
Moving from critiquing an institution or political movement to issuing a judgement on Arabs or Muslims in general is a form of racism, hatred and Islamophobia because it transitions from analysis to generalisation, and from seeking causes to reproducing stereotypes.
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it → move → stereotypes
A meaningful response to RFK Jr
The problem with RFK Jr’s statement is not merely its factual inaccuracy regarding awards and their superficiality, but the logic upon which it is based: transforming historical disparities in knowledge production into broad judgements about peoples.
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it → regard → peoples
His words hold symbolic, intellectual and political significance, reflecting a hostile Orientalist stance towards Arab-Islamic and even Eastern heritage.
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words → hold → heritage
A serious response to these statements requires more than merely recalling past glories or listing Arab and Muslim scientists and thinkers; it requires turning the discussion into a project for the future.
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it → require → future
In the Arab world, we need more independent universities capable of research, equipped laboratories, sustainable funding, an environment that permits critique and experimentation, policies that retain scientific talent and institutions that link education with the economy and innovation.
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that → need → economy
We also need a documented, critical rereading of the history of sciences in Islamic civilisation – one that studies both achievements and failures and examines how scientific concepts emerged, evolved and were transferred between civilisations.
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concepts → need → civilisations
A civilisation does not regain its stature by repeating that its ancestors were great but by building the institutions that allow new generations to produce new knowledge.
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generations → regain → knowledge
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.
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views → express → stance
The Aporia
