From the Printing Press to Artificial Intelligence: Will the Muslim Ummah Shape the Future or Simply Use It?

If we look back over the last five hundred years, one question keeps coming back:

When the world changed, where was the Muslim Ummah?

This is not a question meant to criticize our past or blame our predecessors. History is always more complicated than a single explanation. There were political struggles, colonialism, economic decline, internal conflicts, and many other reasons that slowed the progress of Muslim societies.

But history also teaches an important lesson: every major technological revolution changed the balance of power in the world. Those who helped create these technologies influenced the future. Those who only adopted them later often found themselves dependent on others.

The Muslim Ummah was once at the forefront of knowledge. During the Islamic Golden Age, Muslim scholars made remarkable contributions to mathematics, medicine, astronomy, engineering, chemistry, geography, and many other sciences. Students from different civilizations benefited from their work.

The real question today is not whether Muslims were once leaders.

The real question is:

What role will we play in the next great revolution?

Looking Back at the Turning Points

Over the past several centuries, the world experienced a series of technological and intellectual revolutions. In many of them, Muslim societies were slower to participate as innovators and often became users of technologies developed elsewhere.

Global TransformationApprox. PeriodMuslim World's General ResponseLong-term ImpactPrinting Press15th–17th centurySlow adoption in many regionsSlower spread of books and literacyScientific Revolution16th–17th centuryLimited institutional participationEurope became the centre of scientific progressIndustrial Revolution18th–19th centuryMostly consumers of imported technologyEconomic dependenceSteam Power & Railways19th centuryOften imported rather than developedInfrastructure dependenceModern Universities & Research Culture19th centuryLimited research ecosystemsInnovation gapTelegraph & Modern Communications19th centuryAdopted laterReduced geopolitical influenceElectricity & Mass ManufacturingLate 19th centuryPrimarily usersIndustrial lagAviationEarly 20th centuryFew indigenous manufacturersReliance on foreign aerospace industriesComputersMid-20th centuryMostly usersDigital technology gapInternet Revolution1990sMostly consumersLimited ownership of major platformsSearch Engines1990s–2000sVery few global competitorsInformation dependenceSmartphones2007 onwardConsumersNo major global ecosystemSocial Media2000sHeavy users rather than platform creatorsForeign influence over digital discourseCloud Computing2010sMostly customersDependence on global providersArtificial Intelligence2020sCurrently mixed, but largely adopters rather than frontier developersThe future depends on what we do today

This table should not be read as a list of failures. Instead, it is a reminder that every generation is tested in different ways. Previous generations faced the printing press, industry, electricity, and the internet. Our generation is facing Artificial Intelligence.

Why Did This Happen?

There is no single answer.

Some of the reasons include political fragmentation, colonial rule over many Muslim lands, weaker investment in scientific research, fewer world-class research institutions, brain drain, limited funding for innovation, and a growing habit of importing technology instead of building it.

Reducing this history to one simple cause would be unfair and inaccurate.

AI Is Different

Artificial Intelligence is not just another software trend.

It will shape education, medicine, engineering, manufacturing, defence, finance, law, media, transportation, and almost every profession.

Just as the Industrial Revolution changed economies and the Internet changed communication, AI is likely to redefine how societies create knowledge and wealth.

The question for Muslims is no longer:

"How can we use AI?"

The better question is:

"How can we help build it?"

Consumers or Shapers?

There are two possible futures.

The first is to remain passive consumers.

We use AI tools built by others. We depend on foreign companies, foreign models, foreign data, and foreign decisions about how these systems should work. We benefit from the technology, but we have little influence over its direction.

The second is to become active shapers.

That means conducting AI research, building open-source models, creating ethical AI systems, developing educational tools, contributing datasets for Arabic and other Muslim languages, improving healthcare, supporting scientific discovery, and solving real problems through technology.

The difference between these two paths is the difference between following history and helping write it.

An Islamic Perspective

Islam has never been a religion that discourages beneficial knowledge.

The Qur'an repeatedly calls people to think, reflect, observe, and learn from creation.

The Prophet ﷺ said:

"The strong believer is better and more beloved to Allah than the weak believer."
(Sahih Muslim)

Strength is not only physical. It also includes knowledge, skills, technology, economic capability, and the ability to benefit humanity while remaining obedient to Allah.

Muslim scientists of the past did not pursue knowledge because it was fashionable. They pursued it because they saw learning as an act of worship and service to society.

That same spirit is needed today.

A Responsibility for This Generation

Perhaps the greatest question facing our generation is not whether AI will change the world.

It certainly will.

The real question is whether Muslims will simply download the latest AI applications—or whether they will build the next generation of them.

History has already shown us what happens when a civilization repeatedly arrives late to transformative technologies.

The printing press, the Industrial Revolution, electricity, computers, the internet, and social media all reshaped the world.

Artificial Intelligence may become the next chapter in that story.

This time, we still have an opportunity.

Our universities can produce researchers instead of only graduates.

Our businesses can become innovators instead of customers.

Our students can become inventors instead of lifelong users.

Our scholars and technologists can work together to ensure that AI is developed responsibly, ethically, and for the benefit of humanity.

The future has not yet been written.

Whether the Muslim Ummah becomes a passive consumer of Artificial Intelligence or an active contributor to its development is a choice that begins with the decisions we make today.

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