Islam and science has been an
oft quoted term for thinkers, writers and common people. It has created so many
new interpretations, sometimes positive and sometimes negative. Here our
contention is to provide you the basic concepts in Islam to make the idea clear.
Islam is a philosophy as well as science, only point to understand is how strong
the link is between these two. Has there been any link or not? And if there is
to what extent is it practical? We see number of people around us who do not
consider science important and therefore do not bring it in their lives arguing
that it is a materialistic approach towards life. Is this true for their lives?
There have been so many Articles and lectures written on this specific topic and
here our purpose is to show you the real picture and let you decide what the
reality in Islam is.
Before going into any further detail it is important to know what science really
means. There are so many interpretations and here is one of those, “Science
basically is an understanding of a particular thing that exists physically and
the use of the principles of that understanding for the benefit of the
humanity”.
After reading the definition one can understand that it is not a new thing
because its existence has been long since the beginning of humanity. Man has
always tried to make things easier and simpler for his domestic and industrial
life. Before Islam great names like Aristotle and Plato are examples for the
great work that also highlights the importance of philosophy. Now we will
discuss science after the existence of Islam.
Most of scientists and thinkers believe that arrival of Muhammad (SAW) and Quran
was the most important and boasting point for science. It is basically arrival
of reality that helps to understand the universe and purpose of its creation. In
fact that was the period when science got new spirit despite of the fact that
philosophical explanations were made continuously. Quran and Hadith describe
their position openly and clarifies that there is no clash between Islam and
science rather it is wrong explanation of science that has made it suspicious.
First we look at the life of Muhammad (SAW). His life is true explanation of the
basic of the science in which He rooted out superstitions and old traditions and
told the people reality. He knew the importance of knowledge and made it
compulsory for every men and women. He raised the degree of learning seventy
times higher than prayer to prove that for the understanding of religion,
knowledge about universe is important. Is this not the purpose of science?
Science also rejects superstitions and makes people aware of true facts of the
universe. After Allah Almighty He is the only person who knows everything about
this universe and to prove this He spent a practical life and gave principles
with logics on all fields of life. Here a question rises, “Did He invent
something?” The answer is no, because science is an awareness it does not
require invention. Yet His teachings and philosophy are becoming theories of
science day by day.
Now we come to Quran, almost every person believes that Quran is the only
authentic and sacred book of this universe because books of other Prophets are
either changed or not present today. The whole Quran is science in itself and
calls the people to discern the hidden realities of the universe. It is said
hundreds of times in Quran that there are signs for those who think and
understand. Quran explains every field of science and predicts even those things
that man does not know. From the creation of this world and man and to the
destruction of this universe, Quran explains everything. To prove this following
statement is enough, “There is no discovery or invention of the science which is
against the basic teachings of Quran and Hadith,” Therefore Muslims, Christians,
Hindus and Jews, they all know that Quran is the only book of this world that
can guide them to find the hidden realities of this universe.
Then where the problem is? This is the real question and here is its answer.
Islam says, “We should explore nature and universe to believe in oneness of
Allah and to get the blessings of Muhammad (SAW).” It means that the ultimate
result should be the formation of a society where, by new discoveries, positive
changes come and people becomes obedient to Allah Almighty. This is also the
purpose of our creation and science makes it clear for us to be obedient to
Allah and Prophet Muhammad (SAW).
What we have done is our wrong approach towards science. We have started to use
science with materialistic approach which means we believe only those things
that happen before our eyes or that have physical existence. This phenomenon
makes us materialist. Basically this concept is against the construct of science
because science can only predict something. It is true that there are so many
theories that are considered final but on the other hand it is also true that
they are not final verdicts. With the progress of science theories change time
to time. Take the example of Biology that after every fifty years changes
completely. Atom was considered undividable but now it has more than hundred
sob-atomic particles. It is because Quran is final verdict not the science and
Quran does not require any scientist. Science supports spirituality and those
things that do not exist physically. With the scientific discoveries we can
predict that there is Heaven and Hell, and that there is life after death. How
strange it is that we believe Newton’s Gravitational Law and do not believe that
if gravitation force is pulled out nothing will survive on the earth.
To make it short, Islam does not believe the materialistic approach towards
science rather it takes science as an instrument to guide the people and to make
the Quran and Hadith clearer for humanity. Its predictions are and discoveries,
if we take them in their real sense, do take us near to Allah and show us the
authority of Almighty. How strange it is that Quran that is sent for all the
humanity, does not has the link with an ordinary field science.
(Your questions and comments are always welcomed by IQRA. You can send your
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