I was informed today of a TV series that took place in Ramadan 2007 about the Great Muslim Innovators of History by Dr.Tareq Al-Suwaidan. The series can be watched online here in Arabic. 

I watched the first show in which Dr. Tareq Al-Suwaidan details some characteristics that fit most of the Great Muslim innovators of History. He calls it the "Secret of the Great Innovators".

I translate what I've learnt from the show here and in the next 3 posts, and add a few of my thoughts to it, and more importantly share it with you and look forward to see what your thoughts are.

Dr.Tareq Suwaidan begins explaining that there are four main components that fit any great innovator (with a few exceptions), and for each of these components, there are four main elements.

Today, we review the first of these components:

 

1. The Beginning

Here lies the early signs of the innovator/creative genius, it contains elements in which he/she has no control over and are simply blessings of Allah that were bestowed upon him/her. If nurtured correctly, these elements can lead to the development of the creative genius. The four elements are:      

• The gift of Intellect: Creative/Innovators/Geniuses are naturally gifted individuals with brains and smartness, that surpass the average person, and that is a gift from Allah.
• A Special Talent:  Every person has a special talent but it's whether you discover it or not, and our creative individual has a special talent which can be nurtured along with his intellectual gift to achieve amazing things. Some of the religious scholars have an incredible gift of memorizing for example, others in artistic fields have an incredibly talent in creativity..etc.
• Special Circumstances:  These are circumstances that are specific to the individual and Dr.Tareq highlights three special circumstances: 1. Becoming an Orphan: the individual becomes an orphan at an early stage hence developing his/her sense of responsibility/individualism. 2. Family background: if the person's family background were all scholars for example, or were all businessmen, or were all creative individuals this would develop the special circumstances needed for the genius to develop. 3. Education: yup, education does play a role, but not education as we understand it today with schooling and university, but the holistic idea of education. 
• Special Care: This usually is the Mother, or sometimes a teacher, or a sheikh who notices the creativity and innovative nature of the child and gives special attention to the child.

The last point is an important one and is a message to every parent, teacher, or guardian of a child; if you notice your child has an intellectual gift, and a special talent, help them nurture it, and don't force them to go against their will. Don't kill your child's talent by burdening him/her with what they are not good at. A child if forced to do something he's not particularly good at may succeed, but he won't innovate and be a genius in that field.