Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad's reply to his opposition counterpart Fadzil Noor's accusations of him "denigrating" the ulama (Muslim scholar) at the World Economic Forum in New York City is not only witty but more importantly, most apt and brazenly honest. So honest, that only the very sincere among the ulama will take the cue from Dr M in assessing their current Islamic as well as worldly knowledge and reflect on their true motives.

The phrase alim ulama means person of knowledge in the most comprehensive sense. This would include scientists and doctors of humanities — men of such stature like Ibn Rush, Ibn Sina, etc. and our own Sheikh al-Hadi. These were men of vision and foresight, unlike some of our present ulama today.

If the likes of Ibn Sinna, Ibu Rushd, Ibn Khaldun, Imam Al-Ghazali, and our Syed Sheikh Al-Hady to mention but a few, are the benchmark of ulama excellence in religious and worldly scholarship, how then do the modern ulama rate against these alim of yesteryear?

Less stringent would be to benchmark our modern ulama against the latter ulama of Arab descent who spread Islam in the Malay Archipelago in the late 19th and early 20th century. Even then, we find them far more knowledgeable in terms of religious knowledge, incredibly enterprising, ingeniously accommodating of Malay culture and heritage, and acutely aware of good race relations.

Did they not fashion their actions and manner based on the Quran and reliable hadith? Above all, they didn't just fear Allah but had immense love for Allah and this was reflected in their daily interactions and dealings with all of Allah's creations — both Muslims and non-Muslims — as well as the flora and fauna.

A mufti (religious adviser) of Johor who is of Hadrimis descent and who lived in the late 19th century through early 20th century is reputed to have such harmonious relations with the Chinese community of Johor that as a mark of respect for him, their dragon-dance troupe would tone down their procession whenever they approached his house.

This multi-lingual mufti who served in the court of Johor's Sultan Abu Bakar also presented a sizeable and valuable piece of land to the Johor Chinese community to bury their dead which exists till the present in Johor Bahru.

How would such a gesture to kafirs (non-Muslims) that displays great insight into race-relations be interpreted by our modern-day ulama and present day Muslim community? Would he, a Muslim missionary and founder of a madrasah (religious school), too be labeled as a marginal and heretical Muslim like the writers accused of "denigrating" Islam by their detractors?

The Muslim world needs to take a good hard look at itself and be brazenly honest in admitting its shortcomings, no matter how painful the exercise. We have to identify, admit, and relentlessly rectify the shortcomings that are holding us back. Regardless of age and position, it is not beneath anyone's dignity to embark on formal education of any kind to become more knowledgeable.

This is even more crucial if one professes to be an ulama of Islam. For by doing so, the modern Malaysian ulama would have set a powerful trend and pace for all to emulate — an act that would uplift the dignities of many Muslims worldwide and propel them out of their current darkness and misery.