Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has. 

We are the best of Creation but are we living up to our Creator’s expectations

Lack of critical thinking skills in Pakistan has kept the whole nation backward in all aspects of life. Pakistan’s social, political, economic, health, and religious problems can be traced back to a lack of critical thinking. Pakistanis tend to accept every trauma as part of fate, without thinking that Almighty Allah has endowed man with free will and intellect, by which man can become “Master of his own Fate, and Captain of his own Ship.” Man is a Creation of the the Ultimate and Everlasting Intellect, Allah Almighty. Are we defying Almighty Allah or disappointing Him by not utilizing our capabilities to the maximum. As his Creation, do we not trust our individual God given capabilities, embedded in the ‘hard drive’ in our head?  The human brain has been chiseled by none other than the Master Creator of the Universe. It can perform quadrillion upon quadrillion functions in a life time, including controlling the performance of all human faculties. But, Man cynically depreciates his own abilities through negative and cynical thinking. Thereby, denigrating the Masterwork of his Creator, The Al-Musawir. 

Pakistanis stoically accept political malfeasance and incompetent governance as a fact of life

 Pakistanis as a nation,meekly accept corrupt mediocrities to rule us and guide us throughout our national life?  Our fear of sticking our necks out or standing for Truth and Justice has made us into a retrogressive society. This is no different from sheep or goats who can be led by a goading with a stick by the herder or shepherd. Pakistanis can only change Pakistan, if we can master nuclear and missile technology, then changing the fate of the nation is a piece of cake. Wake up, my Pakistani sisters and brother! Throw down the yoke and breathe the freedom of a technologically,politically, economically, and socially advanced nation. We are 180 million strong, WE CAN DO IT! Change Pakistan. Change your world. otherwise, no one will come around and change it for you. Get rid of “luteraas,” like Swiss Bank Account Thief, Zardari, Raja Rental, drunkard Bilawal, Mehran Bank Robber Nawaz Shariff, and paindoo crooks like Malik Riaz, and the rest of the feudal shahi.  Let us not be empty “gharas,” which make much noise, but are hollow from inside. If we do not reform ourselves, no one will reform us. Allah will abandon us to our fate, because, we are not using our brains to make critical national decisions. The followers of the Greatest Man, who ever lived have become an ignorant and corrupt Nation of Sheep. Whenwe can’t BEAT the Corrupt, we throw our hands in despair or become part of them. What have we become? What malaise is eating our souls? Are we a nation of “Phaydoos,” or a nation of sheep?

The brutal “control freaks,” in our primary and secondary in rural and inner city education systems

Pakistani educational system is for the most part based on rote learning and bowing to whims of dictatorial and control freak “masterji” and “ustaniji.” Most of our primary and secondary school educators are charlatans or “drop-outs,”from other more lucrative or challenging professions.   They put young minds in their vise grip in which individualism and creativity is stifled. Challenging the accepted rules and concepts are a taboo in our mostly rural society. On the other hand growth of urban centers have resulted in blind acceptance of Western ideas and concepts, without whetting them through a filter of critical thinking.

The Forgotten Islamic concept of Critical Thinking

Therefore, we present the kernel of concepts which form the basis of critical thinking and which have lead to the advancement of Western societies in science, technology, and social values. Islam taught Muslims to debate and discuss all ideas, but, after the fall of Spain, Muslims became insular and isolationists. Debate and discussion became dormant. New ideas became a rarity. Demagoguery became the source of all knowledge. This lead to development of learning institutions, who were mostly centered around faith and dogma, and the concepts of taqiq fell by the wayside, leading to the the dark age of Muslim society, which has yet to merge into the bright sunshine or Renaissance of Critical Thinking during the glory days of Islam, when streets of Europe were in darkness or ignorance, the lamps of Baghdad were lit with the beacons of knowledge. Critical thinking were intrinsic part of Muslim culture.  This was the period of enlightenment from streets of Cordoba to souks of Baghdad. Critical Thinking is the Engine of Economic Prosperity and Social Advancement. It starts in early education and continues throughout life.the West learned it from Muslims, now the Muslims have to revive it in their own societies.

Critical thinking I

Strategies for critical thinking in learning and project management

Critical thinking studies a topic or problem with open-mindedness.
This exercise outlines the first stage of applying a critical thinking approach to developing and understanding a topic. You will:

• Develop a statement of the topic
• List what you understand, what you’ve been told 
  and what opinions you hold about it
• Identify resources available for research
• Define timelines and due dates
  and how they affect the development of your study
• Print the list as your reference

Here is more on the first stage:

Define your destination, what you want to learn
Clarify or verify with your teacher or an “expert” on your subject

Topics can be simple phrases:
“The role of gender in video game playing”
“Causes of the war before 1939”
“Mahogany trees in Central America”
“Plumbing regulations in the suburbs”
“Regions of the human brain”

• Develop your frame of reference, your starting point,
  by listing what you already know about the subject
• What opinions and prejudices do you already have about this?
  What have you been told, or read about, this topic?
• What resources
  are available to you for research
  When gathering information, keep an open mind
  Look for chance resources that pop up!
  Play the “reporter” and follow leads
  If you don’t seem to find what you need, ask librarians or your teacher.
• How does your timeline and due dates affect your research?
  Keep in mind that you need to follow a schedule.
  Work back from the due date and define stages of development, 
  not just with this first phase, but in completing the whole project.

Summary of critical thinking:

• Determine the facts of a new situation or subject without prejudice
• Place these facts and information in a pattern so that you can understand them
• Accept or reject the source values and conclusions based upon your experience, judgment, and beliefs

Critical thinking II

Second stage exercise in critical thinking:

Critical thinking studies a topic or problem with open-mindedness.
This exercise outlines the second stage of applying a critical thinking approach to developing and understanding a topic.

With the second stage:

• Refine/revise the topic
  either narrowing or broadening it according to outcomes of research
• Rank or indicate the importance 
  of three sources of research
• Clarify any opinion, prejudice, or bias their authors have
  While an opinion is a belief or attitude toward someone or some thing, 
  a prejudice is preconceived opinion without basis of fact
  while bias is an opinion based on fact or research.
• Identify key words and concepts that seem to repeat
  Is there vocabulary you need to define?
  Are there concepts you need to understand better?
• In reviewing your research, are there
  Sequences or patterns that emerge?
  Oposing points of view, contradictions, or facts that don’t “fit?”
  Summarize two points of view that you need to address
• What questions remain to be answered?

Critical thinking, first stage helped you to

• Develop a statement of the topic
• List what you understand, what you’ve been told 
  and what opinions you hold about it
• Identify resources available for research
• Define timelines and due dates
  and how they affect the development of your study
• Print the list as your reference

With this second exercise, 
think in terms of how you would demonstrate your learning for your topic
How would you create a test on what you have learned?
How would you best explain or demonstrate your findings?
From simple to more complex (1-6) learning operations:

1. List, label, identify: demonstrate knowledge
2. Define, explain, summarize in your own words:Comprehend/understand
3. Solve, apply to a new situation: Apply what you have learned
4. Compare and contrast, differentiate between items: analyze
5. Create, combine, invent: Synthesize
6. Assess, recommend, value: Evaluate and explain why

Summary of critical thinking:

• Determine the facts of a new situation or subject 
  without prejudice
• Place these facts and information in a pattern
  so that you can understand and explain them
• Accept or reject your resource values and conclusions 
  based upon your experience, judgment, and beliefs
• Reference