Reviving heart-centric leadership: Technological progress in service to harmony

The AI race we are witnessing is arguably the epitome of the expansive technological progress we have achieved as humanity over the past centuries.

The striving for progress is inherent to our human condition. Modern day scientific breakthroughs are built on the shoulders of past giants – science pioneers who lived many centuries before us.

Muhammad ibn Musa Al-Khwarizmi (780–850 CE) is often credited as having given birth to Algebra. His work profoundly revolutionized how the world calculated – moving math away from physical objects toward abstract symbols. This enabled the development of complex engineering and physics in the centuries that followed. 

Al-Khwarizmi is also regarded as the “Grandfather of Computer Science”. He pioneered the concept of a "recipe" for math – a set of specific, repeatable instructions to arrive at a solution. Every digital system today, from social media feeds to autonomous cars, relies on this algorithmic logic that Al-Khwarizmi devised. The term "algorithm" we commonly use today is a Latinized version of his name: Algorismi.

Al-Khwarizmi’s work bloomed in an era that is referred to as the Islamic Golden Age. A period of unprecedented scientific and cultural flourishing centered in the Middle East, North Africa, and Al-Andalus. A bright page in the history book of human progress, amidst the dark pages of the middle ages. An era that gave birth to the likes of Ibn al-Haytham, who developed the modern scientific method, Ibn Sina, who authored the Canon of Medicine (the standard medical textbook in European universities until the 17th century), and Al-Jazari, who pioneered robotics and automated water clocks. 

The Islamic Golden Age was an era characterized by rich and rigorous scientific exploration that laid the foundations for the modern scientific method, and much of the technological progress that we are witnessing today. 

There’s a poignant contrast between the technological progress that defined that era and what we are witnessing today. The intrinsic motivator that drove these mentioned pioneers was firmly rooted in their spiritual tradition – a wholehearted sense of stewardship of being in service to the community, and the ecosystem of existence at large. And critically, a sense of moral responsibility to serve through virtuous means. 

Al-Khwarizmi ‘s spiritual discipline reflects in the very purpose of his scientific endeavors. It was his specialization in Islamic inheritance law that sparked his interest in calculus, while his books on mathematics begin with a sophisticated theological discourse. 

He not only viewed his work as a service to God and the community, but also was motivated by the Qur'anic encouragement to explore, seek knowledge, and reflect on the creation of the heavens and the earth. He saw mathematics as the language of the universe’s underlying divine harmony.

“And the heaven He raised and set up the balance (Mizan), so do not transgress in the balance (Mizan)." – Quran {55:7-8}

The “Mizan” mentioned here, is often understood as the divine balance – the harmony permeating all existence. An unmistakable invitation for us to be conscious of how our endeavors, including scientific pursuit and technological progress, should, at their foundation, contribute to preserving that divine harmony permeating existence. 

It is exactly that harmony which gradually erodes when we disconnect scientific endeavors and the pursuit for technological progress from a rooting into a spiritual path and practice. The environmental crisis our technological progress is serving to our future generations is an evident consequence of that erosion.

The likes of Al-Khwarizmi understood too well the wisdom underlying these spiritual commands, and embraced this in the scientific work they served. They also knew too well that in order for their endeavors to virtuously contribute to preserving that innate harmony of existence, they would have to first and foremost establish and preserve that within themselves. Virtuous character development was commonly established as an integral part of the spiritual path that gave rise to the Islamic Golden age. 

The inward spiritual dimension of Islam that later came to be labelled in the West as “Sufism”, can be concisely summarized as heart-centric inward work – where virtues such as truthfulness, benevolence, justice, humility and compassion, are intentionally cultivated in the heart, and unwholesome qualities such as self-centeredness, envy, squander, and greed are weeded out from one’s heart. The ultimate spiritual pursuit is the achievement of what is known as “qalb saleem” – the pursuit of a sound heart.

It is this heart-centric inward work that needs to be brought back center stage for our technological progress to stand a chance to take us and future generations to a wholesome and harmonious future. And it is this what led to the inception of Enharmony. If any of this resonates, if a heart-centric approach to professional development and leadership speaks to you, join us for our monthly Enharmony Circles. The work for a wholesome and harmonious future starts there.

Written by Ibrahim Bokharouss for Enharmony originally posted on the Enharmony Blog.