To err is human. But learning from the mistake is a thing not everyone did. Rather than learning from the mistake, most tend to repeat it. Ever heard of the phrase, "history repeats itself"? It means that the humankind failed to learn from history. That is why George Santayana said that those who failed to learn from history tend to repeat it.
Let us look back in the history of the world. It is well-known that the Ancient Greeks excel in education. People of that time is very educated. But then, why after the death of Alexander The Great the Greeks does not survive long? The fall of the Ancient Greek should be foreseen and be avoided by the philosophers and the knowledgeable.
Historians agree that it is because of the social problems of the society of that time. People started to crave for wealth and plunged into extreme hedonism. Their ultimate goal of their lives was to be happy and to play all day. Therefore, the Ancient Greeks fell from being the leader of the world to be a chapter in the history books. All in all, the Greeks are very knowledgeable but without virtues, they fell.
Let us look at the Islamic Spain. It was a very civilized and learned society inhabiting Spain back then. Universities and libraries translating the works of the Greeks and researching fr new knowledge was done at the capital of the Islamic Spain. Many scholars of the world came there to learn from the people of Spain. The father of modern aviation, Ibnu Firnas, who studied the birds and trying to make flying possible for humans also lived there.
But, after a few centuries, the Islamic Spain falls in the Reconquista. Islamic scholars agree that one of the factors is that the people started playing music and dancing all-night while having a significant decrease in moral values. People started pointing fingers to each other and started to be divided into a few groups that was hostile to each other. Slowly, the once great Islamic Spain falls from within, even before the French attacked.
Furthermore, let us look at the fall of Baghdad. Baghdad was a city of knowledge. Inside, there was a great literary called Darul Hikmah which was built by Caliph Harun Ar-Rashid. Scholars such as Ibnu Sina (Avicenna) when his book is still used by modern day medical studies, Ibnu Hazim and many more lived in that era. Books produced by scholars in Baghdad was translated to both to be taught in Europe. It was said that these books sparked the renaissance in Europe.
Why does this magnificent and modern city was crushed into pulp under the hooves of the barbaric Mongols? The same thing as the past two examples. It was said the Caliph's wealth could feed the whole world. The royal subjects started quarelling with each other while trying to be more and more powerful. Their quest for power and and the decreasing morality at the society had made the city vulnerable to any kind of attack, despite being very knowledgeable. It was said that during the conquest of Baghdad by the Mongols, the river was blackened by the ink of books thrown into the water by the Mongols.
Finally, let us look at ourselves. Our time. Where are we heading? History records that the immorality will cause societies to weaken. Judging by the looks of our time, it is on its way towards downfall. Social problem is increasing, crime rates is towering higher everyday until the victims of MH370 and MH17 bank accounts' were hacked and robed, and murder fills the pages of tabloids everyday. All of these show that our downfall is near. We never learn from the mistakes of our past. We select what to put in our history books. We never bother about the society and where it is heading. All we think and all we want to have is how to achieve greatness without knowing how to avoid impending doom. At last, I am afraid that the doom will catch up with us before we achieve greatness. We send our children to college and ask them to study but we always forget that their morals and virtues should be parallel with their intellect.
The mistakes of the past make valuable lessons for us in the present and for our children in the future. Nevertheless, it is always our duty to learn these lessons and to spread the message. Otherwise, we will just be watching and participating the doom we had foreseen. Only then, we will regret our silence. Lessons can only be learnt by those who take heed. Start from ourselves. Abstain from doing moral misconducts. Train your children. May God saves us and our society today and may He grants us greatness that we want to achieve.
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Sorry for the factual and language inaccuracy. This is my forecast SPM English essay by the way.
About the downfall of the Ancient Greek, I qoute, “If there is one lesson which history has taught us, it is the fundamental importance of will power, as much as for nations as for individuals, and in every circumstance of life, great or small. Greek Civilization ended in failure, not because of the lack of intelligence, but because of the lack of character, of morality…” [Introduction to the History of Science from Homer to Omar Khayyam by George Sarton, page 10)
When I discuss about the history textbooks, I am referring towards the Malaysian History Textbook. I understand that maybe the Ministry of Education wants to ease the syllabus and to ask us, the Malaysians, to be great like the past civilizations. In my opinion, it is better to include the downfall and the golden days of the civilization so that we can learn how to avoid the downfall and how to achieve greatness.
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