Egyptian scientists .. Why the regime fears them?

Throughout history, truth has killed men and revived other lies, but we teach our children to be the first type and never the second in any way.

On 8 January 1642, Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei, the first to assume that the Earth orbited the Sun and was not the center of the universe, died of his illness inside the prison, where he was sentenced by a Supreme Judicial Committee formed by the Pope of the Catholic Church in the Vatican. It was nonsense and spreading lies and anti-stateism of the church's existence at the time.

It was not only the religious institution that condemned him, but prominent scholars close to the church at the time supported this ruling, blaming him severely, saying he was indispensable in this conflict.

Three centuries later, Galileo's belief proved to be true, and the truth of the injustice he suffered was revealed.

Galileo's story was not a solo incident in Europe; it was preceded by the same fate as others, including the Polish scientist Koprnkis who first proposed that the sun is the center of the solar system, and we would not have known their story had it not been for those who recorded their struggles with power for science.

Astronomer Galileo is therefore the founder of modern science as we know it today, as a result of his reliance on proofs and observations in evidence rather than belief.

Between science and religion
Throughout centuries in the Arab world, scientists have struggled with the darkness of tyranny with their enlightened thought, and Ibn Khaldun, Abdul Rahman al-Kawakibi and many others like them abandoned their homelands, and took refuge in Egypt, an oasis of enlightened centrist thought, in a world where intellectual freedom was still in its infancy.

Contrary to the European scene, Egypt did not know a bloody conflict between the two religious and scientific institutions, and knowledge was an integral part of the Egyptian identity, was the first religious scholars to lead the movement of scientific change and societal and even political.

Since the fifth century, Coptic monks carried the banner of science in their monasteries and inherited it from Pharaonic civilization. They founded one of the oldest universities, the University of Alexandria, which was the beacon of science in ancient civilizations. The Coptic scholar Erastzratus, the founder of physiology, and Democritus, the founder of the origins of the atom theory, appeared.

They were followed by Azharis such as Rafaa al-Tahtawi and Muhammad Abdo, and non-Azharis such as Qasim Amin, who were the first to bring modern concepts of education and women into a conservative society. The prestige and trust of the scholars was to protect them from the clash of their opinions, both in reality and in power.

Imprisoned minds
It is ironic that Egypt today is the place abandoned by scientists, just to demand that science be the basis of their identity and a way to build the future of the nation.

With the decline of the intellectual landscape by authoritarian regimes, a new era of unprecedented conflict began in Egypt, between the military state and the scholars, whether it was related to religious scholars such as Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi, or to modern scientists such as Dr. Ahmed Zewail. The second has the right to run for president.

Perhaps the enduring struggle between science and tyranny lies in fighting the former to the absolute obedience that is the basis of the second existence. Absolute obedience builds the mind of a prisoner who lacks the capacity for creativity, making the nation lose the ability to develop, which explains the state of complete decline in the Egyptian society for decades.

Scientists believe that logic, experience and proofs are the basis of good decision, while the tyrant always sees loyalty and emotion as the basis of citizenship.Thus, books and libraries disappear and national songs spread right and north to reclaim the glories of imagination, in a country that is exhausted by poverty, disease and ignorance in every neighborhood.

Science and religion in Egypt agree that Shura is the basis of obedience, while despotism sees that its men have a special queen, see what others do not see, decide and decide on the fate of people by improvisation, wasting money and wasting the hopes of the masses for a better tomorrow. The citizen's obedience to the laws in an enlightened society does not come out of fear of repression, but because of his sense that his opinion is part of the enactment of these laws.

World and power
In recent decades, Egypt has painted the image of the ideal scientist as an isolated man in his lab, constantly obeying his knowledge, obedient to his leaders, and, most importantly, indifferent to the societal changes surrounding him;

The Authority has created a comic image through dramatic and cinematic works, and published false and misleading news, showing the image of the scientist as a delirium, in order to lose confidence in science and scientists.

Not only that; it deliberately honored and elevated a few scholars who were reluctant to fight ignorance and pervasive tyranny rampant throughout the nation, describing them as specialized scientists focused in their work and "inspirational in politics." It is not a bother to accumulate research in the dusty coffers inside the corridors of research centers, while ignorance is widespread throughout the country.

Many deliberately forget the role of scientists in nation-building. Most people may not know that one of the framers of the US Constitution and the founders of the state, called the Godfather of America, whose 100-dollar note bears its image, is the electric scientist Benjamin Franklin.

The founder of the renaissance of modern India is rocket scientist Abdul Kalam, the German prime minister is chemical Angela Merkel, US President Jimmy Carter is a nuclear researcher, Pope Francis is a specialist chemist, Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the Coptic Orthodox Church, Anba Tawadros is basically a pharmacist. Hundreds of others through the ages.

The Nobel Prize for Dr Ahmed Zewail added to the growing fear of power from scientists. The media rushed to seize the opportunity to further marginalize scientists by creating another concept, the “star scientist”.

The purpose of this title was never to celebrate science or to set an example, but the goal was to satisfy an external individual success, and to do away with the duty of the State to create an internal collective success in the development of the educational system and research. When Zewail tried to transfer his success to Egypt, he was subjected to hostility and mutilation unless he saw the worst enemies of this nation.

Why do rulers fear scientists?
Modern democracies are concerned with separating the state from religion, and Egypt under military rule separates the state from science. The ruler and his regime believe that the management of the country's affairs has nothing to do with science, that the randomness we live in our streets is a flag with its men and a legacy that must be preserved, and that the proposals of scholars are naive. It aims to destroy the security and stability of the country.

The question remains: which countries in which ignorance of facts is the basis of stability, and where science is the basis of tension? Authoritarian regimes see universities and research centers as the stronghold of opponents of the PA; .

The Egyptian society believes that scientists are closer to him than his rulers; scientists are role models and science is the basis of the Islamic and Coptic identity of Egypt, and every family aspires to be a son educated or a scientist such as Ahmed Zewail and Magdy Yacoub, and does not necessarily wish that his son in charge of security or political or others in circles Influence.

It is no wonder, then, that scientists today are at the top of the list of dictators who fear tyrants to compete with them in their chairs and thrones.

Thus, the imprisonment of university professors in all disciplines, from geology to politics and economics, such as Yahya al-Qazzaz, Hassan Nafaa, Hazem Hosni, Tariq al-Sheikh and hundreds of others, in addition to the denial and distortion in the media, and the concealment of previous articles and dialogues on the Internet to all scholars demanding reform.

Today, if you search the Internet for any of the names of scientists calling for reform, you will find only articles describing them as treason and labor, or bad manners and bribery, and other charges intended to belittle them and destroy their value.

Between science and tyranny, a war that will never end, has been settled by history in all parts of the earth, and scientists may be today in Egypt, a few isolated and exhausted and marginalized, but throughout history, this few have overthrown - in its weakest - fierce forces exceeded by all standards, because if you can kill your enemies, You can never kill an innate human dream and hope for a better tomorrow, and science alone makes this dream a reality.

Anti-science is, in essence, anti-truth and an escape to a virtual world in which glories of imagination are built, to wake up to the sounds of war drums and hate calls throughout the nation.