Islam & Science

Critic:-

Does anyone have anything to say to refute the strong suspicion of the non-Muslim and modernist Muslim world, that (for reasons given in these three posts), Islamists like Muhammad Qutb are acting as crude apologists and not taken seriously?

Comment:-

People continue to fail in seeing the difference between Islam which is a teaching and Muslims who are people and vary in knowledge, intelligence, perception, faith and practice. The opinions of the ignorant, whether Muslim or those who criticise them, cannot be taken as the teachings of Islam.

Islam is the religion of Truth and points to nature as signs of Allah and asks its followers to seek knowledge. The scientific empirical attitude as distinct from the Philosophic speculative attitude that reigned in the West before the influence of Islam on it, is most certainly integral to Islam. We are instructed:-

"And follow (or pursue) not that of which you have no knowledge; verily, the hearing, the sight, and the heart, of all of these it shall be asked (to give an account)." 17:36

"He it is who has sent His Messenger with the guidance and the Religion of Truth that He may make it conqueror of all religion however much idolaters may be averse." 61:9 see also 9:29, 33

"And say: Truth has come and falsehood has vanished away. Lo! Falsehood is ever bound to vanish. And We reveal of the Quran that which is a healing and a mercy for believers though it increases evil-doers in naught save ruin." 17:81-82

Thus Islam places emphasis on reality, truth, knowledge, wisdom and awareness.

"That is because Allah, He is the Truth. Lo! He quickens the dead, and lo! He is able to do all things." 22:6

"Allah, He is the manifest Truth." 24:25

"He said: The Truth is, and the Truth I speak..." 38:85

"That is because Allah, he is the Truth, and that whereon they call instead of Him, it is the False, and because Allah He is the High, the Great." 22:62

"Say: My Lord! Increase me in Knowledge." 20:114

Since Islam is Surrender to the Command, Word or Will of Allah, and Allah is the Creator and Lord of the Universe, then Islam may be defined as "Objectivity in thought, motives and action."

"Confound not Truth with falsehood, nor knowingly conceal the truth." 2:42

That the scientific attitude is integral to the Quran can be seen from the following :-

The Quran directs our attention to the processes and rhythms of Nature. (3:190 etc)

The Quran is itself called "naught else than a reminder to creation." (68:52)

The notion of unity underlying diversity. (2:163, 2:213, 4:171, 5:73, 10:19, 11:118, 54:50)

The inter-dependence of things.(because of order and unity)

The Lawfulness of the Universe. (13:15, 14:19 30:30 etc.)

The Universality of truth. ( 39:5, 46:3)

The Stages of development (13:38 10:5 etc.)

Objectivity - the need to submit to truth and to Allah who is the real.(4:171, 5:77, 6:93, 7:169, 2:42,149,213, 3:17,71 etc.)

The need to search for and apply knowledge. (6:123 etc.)

The need to observe and think. (many verses)

The need to discuss and reach a consensus. (3:159, 42:38, 65:6)

The need to write down or record. (68:1, 3:181, 10:21, 19:79, 21:94, 23:62, 29:48, 36:12, 69:19)

The need to test and abide by the judgement of nature rather than follow our own opinions and desires. (10:37 etc.)

The need for proof. (17:36, 6:106 etc.)

Not to accept heresay and tradition. (2:170)

The notion of measuring. (54:49, 65:3, 6:152, 11:85, 12:59-60,88, 22:74

The importance of language or conceptual systems. (33:70, 14:4, 4:9, 7:169, 16:116, 44:58)

Occam's Razor - i.e. discouraging the invention of names for which there is no warrant. (7:71)

Skepticism - Not to attribute anything to Allah which is untrue or for which we have no evidence. (10:18 etc.) We may also call this the principle of uncertainty as encapsulated in the word, "Inshallah".

The Quran condemns three forms of thinking: -

(1) That derived from desires, greed, lust etc.,

(2) That which depends on fantasy, guesswork and speculation, and

(3) That which is grounded in tradition, habit, automatism, addiction, fixations.

"And yet Satan has led astray of you a great multitude. Did ye not then apply your reason? This is the Hell with which ye were threatened." (36:62-63)

"When the Hypocrites come to thee, they say: We bear witness that thou art indeed the Messenger of Allah. Yea, Allah knoweth that thou art indeed His Messenger, and Allah bears witness that the Hypocrites are indeed liars. They have made their oaths a screen (for their misdeeds): thus they obstruct men from the Path of Allah: truly evil are their deeds. That is because they believed, then they rejected Faith: So a seal was set on their hearts: therefore they understand not. When you look at them, their exteriors please you; and when they speak, you listen to their words. They are as (worthless as hollow) pieces of timber propped up, (unable to stand on their own). They think that every cry is against them. They are the enemies; so beware of them. The curse of Allah be on them! How are they deluded (away from the Truth)! 63:1-4

"If not Him you serve nothing but names which you have invented, you and your Ancestors.." (12:40)

"O ye who believe! Be staunch in justice, witnesses for Allah, even though it be against yourselves or your parents or your kindred whether it be the case of a rich man or a poor man, for Allah is nearer unto both. So follow not passion lest ye lapse from truth and if ye lapse or fall away, then lo! Allah is ever informed of what ye do." 4:135

"But, verily, many are lead astray by their lusts through ignorance. Verily, thy Lord knows best the transgressors." 6:120

"And who goes further astray than he who follows his own lust with guidance from Allah. Lo! Allah guides not wrongdoers." 28:50

"And whoso is saved from his own avarice (or greed) - such are they who are successful." 59:9 and 64:16

"Obey not thou the rejecters (of truth), who would have had thee compromise (or be pliant), that they may compromise. Neither obey thou the feeble oath-monger, detractor, spreader abroad of slanders, hinderer of the good, transgressor of limits, malefactor, greedy, unmannerly lout." 68:8-13

Critic:-

Surely I speak for all of us when I agree with you that we should all say yes to truth and no to falsehood. However, permit me to pose a question to you: How do we determine what is true?

When scientists first said stars were billions of kilometres away, and other Muslims replied: "no! that's unbelief, the stars are lamps, ... `And we have, (from of old), adorned the lowest heaven with Lamps ... [Q67:5]` ... what would you have said?

(A) The Quran is right. Whoever contradicts the Quran is putting science above God. Stars cannot be billions of kilometres away no matter what telescopes, observatories and geometric measurements say.

(B) Science is right, the stars are huge and far away. The Quran is wrong.

(C) Science is right, the stars are huge and far away. The Quran is right, but our original interpretation of it was wrong. God must not have meant that the stars are lamps like our lamps on earth.

(D) Declare Islam true and change the subject.

Comment:-

No, I do not accept your alternatives.

We do not claim that we understand the Quran thoroughly, but that it can reveal its truths gradually to the sincere seeker who makes appropriate efforts.

(1) The Quran is about living and adjusting to Reality (Allah). It is about perception, thought, motives and behaviour, and therefore, more comprehensive than science.

(2) The Quran has to be studied, understood and applied to produce a self-consistent, unified system of life and inner integration. This depends on the abilities of each person, the efforts he makes as well as on the existing conditions of life including the knowledge and prevailing ideas.

(3) We believe (not blindly, but because we perceive) that the Quran is the Word of Allah. It follows, therefore, that we cannot judge the Quran by applying some other standards. Other things have to be judged by it. If we find some contradictions between it and other experiences, opinions or knowledge then either:-

(a) these other ideas are incorrect

or

(b) we have misunderstood the Quran

or

(c) both are correct but refer to different aspects, contexts in time, place or people, or frames of reference

or

(d) Something from a lower or extraneous source has entered into our interpretation of it.

(4) The Question is: Does the Quran tell us anything about the exact distance of the stars? Is there any contradiction between what science tells us and what the Quran asserts? Does the exact distance of the stars have any significance for the conduct of life?

(5) Science is on going investigation. This means that at no time can it be said that it has absolute knowledge but that it changes as more information becomes available. The mechanistic, clockwork view of the Universe changed to the Thermodynamic, steam engine view, and then to the Relativistic view, and then to the Quantum view. The stars are moving with respect to each other and this earth - they are not static and distances are relative and probably have little meaning without the notion of time and gravity.

Critic:-

Dr Heger, Luxenberg and other western scholars of the Quran have found some interesting facts about it. Dr. Heger's argument mounts itself on the "possibility" foundation. Fair enough; but the contingency does not help. This problem runs rampant in Gunter Luling's Uber den Qoruan as well; it seems what is sought is "coherence" rather than "correspondence." In spite of the above, Dr. Heger is on to something (I think). And mere polemical claptraps do not suffice as pertinent reproaches.

Comment:-

Heger and Luxenberg have been adequately criticised on this site and elsewhere.

From the point of view secular academics their views can be regarded as interesting, but speculative. Their efforts cannot be regarded as science. They have no practical value.

From the Islamic point of view they must be rejected on the following grounds:-

(1) As the Quran is the Word of God, it sets the standards - things have to be judged from the Quranic point of view. The Quran is not to be judged by extraneous standards.

(2) The secular critics or scholars are reading the Quran on certain assumptions and prejudices as to what the Quran is, what their abilities to understand are, what faculties are valid and what methodology of study is appropriate. This gives a biased view.

(3) The Quran is a revelation in the hearts of those who have knowledge. It has to be understood in the heart. It cannot be subject to intellectual speculation or guesswork.

(4) There are instructions in the Quran as to how it should be read and understood. If these instructions are ignored then what is being read is not the Quran.

(5) The Quran has to be understood as a whole. False conclusions are reached when some passages are extracted and interpreted in isolation. The interpretation given by Heger and Co. to some passages is inconsistent with the theme of the Quran, and contradicts some verses.

(6) Words in one language may certainly come from other languages of the past or from other cultures. But this changes their meaning. The words must be understood in the context in which they are used. Words can be dead, alive or vital depending on who reads or uses them according to whether they look at the form, or the meaning, or the function and significance. The difference between the literal outer meaning of words, their inner meaning and the spirit is understood by many people.

(7) As the Quran tells us:-

"But most of them follow naught but conjecture (suspicion, fancy, guesswork, speculation); verily, conjecture can by no means take the place of (or avail against) truth. Verily, Allah is Aware of what they do." 10:37

Question:-

It is claimed that Religion is based on faith and science is based on reason. Therefore, there is an irreconcilable difference between them. What is the Islamic attitude to this?

Comment:-

Mere intellectual belief is useless since it has no effect on the real world. It is valuable only when it informs motives and action. It follows that ultimately what we regard as truth is a matter of faith.

The fact, however is that we need three things to conduct life in an intelligent conscious manner:- (a) motives, (b) information and (c) skills and these correspond to, but are not identical with the distinction between the spiritual, mental and physical aspects of man. This third factor concerns all practical activities that require sensory data that come through interaction with things in our environment. In fact, all three -Religion, Science and Technology- require all three faculties.

Without data that comes from experience neither science nor religion can exist. But people differ in the amount, type and quality of data they have.

Reason refers to information processing. Reasoning certainly takes place in Religion and Industry as well as in science. But obviously it depends on how much information one has, its type and quality, how it is selected, interpreted and organised. This is not independent of (a) assumptions, (b) motives and (c) abilities. Science is progressive in that it searches and collects data and processes it continually. This causes ideas based on it to change. At no time can it be said that its conclusions are certainly true. They have different probabilities of being true and are relatively true with respect to the set of data to which they relate. The same can also be said about religion where the formulation and understanding of the doctrines change as experience of the religious discipline increases and deepens.

Unless one believes something it cannot be regarded as true. You cannot say: "It is not true but I believe it." or "It is true but I do not believe it.". Nor can motives or actions be based on things not believed. However, there are different kinds and degrees of belief. People do believe different things and these beliefs often contradict each other and many contradict experience and observation. Beliefs can be false, but they can also be partially true and overlap each other. Beliefs can differ without contradicting each other if they relate to different parts or aspects of a whole.

A distinction has to be made between (a) belief, (b) knowing and (c) faith. Belief refers to an idea, knowing refers to an experience and faith refers to a state of being.

Faith refers to an idea that has significance for the individual. It relates the individual to the world. It refers to the confidence a person has in something such that his actions, behaviour and life are based on it. Faith arises not from reasoning but from interaction and experience. It enables the individual to live harmoniously with reality and to develop. Whereas perception refers to knowing or being aware of facts, Faith interprets and even creates facts. Reason, however, is halfway between these two - it invents methods of knowing e.g. instruments and techniques.

Scientists do not only seek data, they seek certain kinds of data and also organise these according to certain assumptions they place faith in. And they also rely on inspiration to form their theories. They are or ought to be motivated by desire for truth and good applications. They have certain other ethical considerations such as supposing that science should look at facts dispassionately and avoid making moral judgements. But clearly this is itself a value judgement. Scientific research is also driven by Commercial and Political considerations because it is these that finance it. It is the culture that also determines what kind of concepts is used and what is important to seek and do. It is an illusion, therefore, to suppose that science is independent of human beings and their societies, including their religion.

But Science does differ from other social and cultural institutions in recognising something that transcends human beings, namely the Objective Reality which it seeks to understand. In this respect it is like Religion. Religion, however, also wants us to adjust to Reality. This is a much more comprehensive aim. It is unlikely that full understanding can be obtained without such empathy. As all human activity is meant to benefit man (otherwise man and his ideas would not survive) that religious goal can be the only realistic goal.

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