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She looks forward to the time when science brings to an end
aging, as we know it today, and the state of society with hordes
of healthy centenarians going around. What will be society’s
attitude towards youth, marriage, childbearing and even death in
a world where old age is no more synonymous with poor health?
She goes over the
history of aging, how old age has been viewed by our ancestors
and the clues that historians have found to how early societies
dealt with old age. In defining the process of old age, she
reminds us that we may be older and younger than our years.
Appearances do not always tell how we are aging inside and how
our food habits and lifestyle enhance the effects of years. In a
chapter dealing with battle against aging she takes an overview
of strategies that can keep us young. And it is not just a hope.
There have been developments which she points out are setting
the stage for an anti-aging revolution.
Islam Under
Siege
by Akbar S. Ahmed. Vistaar Publications, New Delhi. Pages
213. Rs 380.
 September 11,
2001, is a date the world will take a long time to forget. The
complexion of the world changed drastically on this day when the
symbol of the USA’s economic power came down crashing and the
centre of its military power received an embarrassing blow. The
super power, however, recovered its poise rapidly and President
George Bush declared a global war against terrorism. When he
used the word ‘crusade,’ eyebrows were raised all over the
world, particularly in the Muslim world. He withdrew the world
but the impression did go round in the Muslim world that
President Bush’s campaign against terror was aimed against
Islam.
Akbar Ahmed, who
is known for his writings on Islamic issues, has in this book
tried to answer questions about Islam which are relevant to
Muslims as well as non-Muslims. He recalls the crusades that
pitted Christian Europe against the Islamic forces. The first
crusade, he points out, began in the 11th century and went right
up to the 13th. The second crusade, he says, was the imperial
crusade in which Europeans colonised Muslim lands in the 19th
century and it lasted till the first half of the 20th century.
Both started with gains for the West but failed eventually. The
present phase, he maintains, is the final round which promises
to complete the task left unfinished by two earlier rounds. The
actions of the September 11 hijackers had nothing to do with
Islam but had everything to do with where Islam is going in the
21st century.
Men like Osama bin
Laden have put the USA, Israel and India at the centre of their
conflict. They give the impression that God wants Muslims to be
in perpetual conflict with those who profess other faiths, and
they make selective use of the holy text to support their view.
This confirms the sense of hatred among the Muslims against the
others and also lends justification to hostility against the
Muslims. Even within Muslim societies, he finds a trend to
reassess and re-examine Islam. Questions are being raised about
the tenets of Islam and its future. A range of questions has
been thrown up. "Is Islam compatible with democracy?"
"Does the Quran preach violence?" "Does Islam
subjugate women?" Those are questions that are relevant to
Muslims as well as to non-Muslims. He also presents case studies
to illustrate how Muslim societies are failing in God’s
commands. One of the studies shows the problems that can arise
in Muslim societies when an attempt is made to move this society
in a particular direction. The second study relates to the
Taliban and shows how pious Muslims can fail to establish a
truly Islamic society by following an exclusivist approach, and
obeying only one set of commands, ignoring the others.
The collision
course of Islam with the West is viewed as a clash of
civilisations. Akbar shows a different course — a dialogue of
civilisations, and within civilisations. He hopes that such a
dialogue will become a bridge of understanding between the
groups, but he is emphatic that the world needs to make move
beyond empty words and points at the message of Sufi saints who
have pleaded for ‘Sulh-i-Kul’ (peace with all), words that
reflect the idea of a compassionate divinity. The message of the
Sufis, he asserts, can bring genuine peace and respect for all.
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IT
is considered unusual for anyone to cross the age of 90. Making it
to 100 is a kind of miracle. Science and technology have now made it
possible for more and more people to achieve a ripe old age. But at
that age most people have to cope with debilitating health problems
such as arthritis, heart disease and even cancer. Researchers have
now shown that it is never too late to make such changes in your
lifestyle as would enable you to turn the clock back on the process
of aging and the problems generally associated with it. The author
specialises in writing about science and medicine maintains that
recent breakthroughs in science and medicine have given a new
definition to old age. Even if the upper limit of the human life
span remains around 120 years, it is now possible for a person to
grow old with his body kept artificially young. In this book she
casts a look at the laboratories all over the world that are
experimenting with enhancing the body’s immune system and other
methods that might arrest, or even reverse, the process of aging.
She offers the prospect of an old age independent of wheelchairs and
walkers. She makes you look forward to a time when the 70s and 80s
in your life will be as productive as your 20s and 30s. Research
laboratories of the world are producing new theories about how and
why aging occurs and what can be done about it. Scientists are
working on the built-in mechanism of aging and death, and are close
to a breakthrough that might revolutionise the entire concept of
life and death.
