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THE STATUS OF SCIENCE AND SCIETISTS IN ISLAM
Islam has urged man to study and gain knowledge, because all sciences will ultimately lead him to the truth about God. That is to say the more the scientist acquires knowledge the more he gets to know God beyond any doubt; and thus he fears God and follows all His orders and instructions in all his actions. God says, in this respect:
سورة فاطر الأيات 27 - 28
Hast thou not seen how that God sends down out of heaven water
and therewith We bring forth fruits of diverse hues?
And in the mountains are streaks white and red ,of diverse hues,
and pitchy black,
men too, and beasts and cattle -diverse are their hues.
Even so only those of His servants
fear God who have knowledge; surely God is
All mighty; All - forgiving.
In the "House of Imran, chapter 3 verse 2 God raises "men possessed of knowledge "to the status of angels:
God bears witness that
there is no god but He --
and the angels, and men possessed of knowledge --
upholding justice,
there is no god but He,
the All - mighty, the All- wise.
In chapter 39 verse 9, God says that learned people and ignorant ones are not equal:سورة الزمر
Say "are they equal- those who know and
those who know not? Only men possessed
of minds remember.
While in "Sheba" (chapter 34 verse 6) God says:سورة سبأ
Those who have given knowledge see
that what has been sent down to thee from thy
Lord is the truth, and guides to the path of
the All- mighty , the All- laudable.
The prestige and value of science and scientists is highly elevated in The Holy Qur’an, because the more man gains knowledge the more he is convinced that God is there. There is no wonder then, that the first verse came down from heaven, is a clear invitation to read and write. Chapter 96 opens with the following verses:
سورة العلق
Recite. In the Name of thy Lord who created,
created Man of a blood clot
Recite . And thy Lord is the Most Generous,
who taught by the Pen,
taught Man , that he Knew not.
God has given supreme status to science and scientists, because through the different scientific knowledge, man gains faith in Allah. He says:سورة فاطر آية 28
……… only those of His servants
fear God who have Knowledge.God also orders us in The Holy Qur’an to meditate and think profoundly about His signs in heaven and on earth. He says:
سورة الجاثية الآيات 3 - 5
Surely in the heavens and the earth there are signs
for the believers;
and in your creation,
and the crawling things He scattered abroad, there are signs
for people having sure faith
and in the alternation of night and day
and the provision God sends down from heaven,
and therewith revives the earth after it is dead,
and the turning about of the winds, there are signs
for a people who understand
To glorify knowledge and writing God, in chapter 68 " The Pen" , swears by it in verse one:سورة القلم الآيات 1 - 2
Nun
By the Pen, and what they inscribe
God praises scientists in many verses in The Holy Qur’an. Beside what is already mentioned we find in " The House of Imran " in two different places God tells us who are the men of knowledge? They are who worship God and meditate deeply and think profoundly about his creation: سورة آل عمران الآيات 190-191
Surely in the creation of heavens and earth
and in the alternation of night and day
there are signs for men possessed of minds
who remember God, standing and sitting
and on their sides, and reflect upon
the creation of the heavens and the earth:
"Our Lord, Thou hast not created this for
vanity. Glory be to Thee! Guard us against
the chastisement
of the Fire …."
In "The House of Imran " chapter 3 verse 7 God also saysسورة آل عمران الآية
It is He, who sent down upon them the Book,
wherein are verses clear that are the Essence
of the Book, and others ambiguous.
As those in whose hearts is swerving
they follow the ambiguous part, desiring
dissension, and desiring its interpretation,
and none knows its interpretation, save
only God. And those firmly rooted in
knowledge say, "We believe in it, all
is from our Lord," yet none remembers, but men
possessed of minds.
In chapter 29 verse 49, God says:سورة العنكبوت الآية 49
Nay, rather it is signs, clear signs
in the breasts of those who have been given
knowledge, and none denies Our signs but
the evildoers
Prophet Mohammed’s tradition, "sunna", is rich and clear in advocating all kinds of knowledge whether it is religious or scientific.
I will quote a few of his sayings from "Prophet of Islam Muhammad and some of His Traditions," by Ismail Kashmiri:
1) Scientists are the inheritors of Prophets.
2) The acquisition of knowledge is a duty incumbent on every Muslim, male and female.
3) Seek knowledge from the cradle to the grave.
4) He who leaves his home in search for knowledge walks on the path of Allah.
5) If Allah likes someone to be good, He makes him understand and learn. Certainly knowledge is the result of learning.
In Islam there is no contradiction between science and religion. On the contrary, there is a healthy close and balanced relationship between them both. In Islam there is a balance between the heart and the mind, between what is spiritual and ethereal and what is real and down to earth. A divine balance that gives each its due.
In this respect Dr. Maurice Bucaille in his book, "The Bible, The Qur'an and Science: The Holy Scriptures Examined in the Light of Modern Knowledge," says:
The association between the Qur'an and science
is a priori a surprise, especially since it is going
to be one of harmony and not of discord.
He goes on saying:
The Qur’an, while inviting us to cultivate science,
itself contains many observations on natural
phenomena and includes explanatory details,
which are seen to be in total agreement with
modern scientific data.
The greatness and strength of The Holy Qur’an lies in the fact that the more science progresses the more it reveals the authenticity and truth of what was written more than 1400 years ago when the whole world was deeply slumbering in the darkness of ignorance.
I do not mean that The Holy Qur’an could be proved by anything outside Itself, God forbid, but science makes what has been obscure to us clear like daylight. Science, in this way, is a means of clarification, and it strengthens and renews one's faith and makes one fears God The Almighty.
The Holy Qur’an stimulated the early Muslims to study the different sciences side by side with Islamic religious studies. Dr. Morad Hofmann the ambassador of Germany to Rabat says in this respect, that the thirst for knowledge accompanied with the readiness of the Muslim to use his brain, had been the basis for flourishing the Islamic scientific studies. He goes on enumerating early fourteen Muslim scientists who had enriched the world scientific studies:
1) Ben Fernass (died in 888) to him is attributed the first attempt at using the air as a means of travelling.
2) Al -Khawarizmi (died in 846) who invented the science of Algebra; and from his name the world "Logarithm” is taken.
3) Ebn Bakr El Razy (864 –935) whose book of medicine remained a reference book for the students of medicine in the European Universities for many centuries.
4) The Philosopher and doctor Ibnsina (Avicenna) (980-1037) whose medical encyclopedia remained in use in the European Institutes and Universities up till the 19th century.
5) Ibn El Hytham (965-1039) the inventor of what is called the dark room in optics.
6) El Bayrouni (973-1050). He was a historian of science, man of politics who learned astronomy, mineralogy, pharmacology and other sciences.
7) Omar El Khayam (died in 1211) the great poet who excelled in mathematics, astronomy and other sciences.
8) Ibn Rushd (Averroes) (1126-1198) The philosophers whose comments on Aristotle deeply affected the development of philosophy in Europe. Besides, it was he who discovered the black spots in the sun.
9) Ibn Alnafis (died in 1288) The Egyptian doctor - who discovered the blood circulation.
10) Ibn Battoutta ((1304-1377) the traveler who could be compared to Marco Polo.
11) Ibn Khaldoon (1332-1406) He truly deserves to be considered the initiator of Social science. In his book about history on modern basis, he referred to historical documents and criticized them.
12) Berry Rayers (1480-1553). The Turkish geographer and admiral who drew accurate marine maps that still earn admiration.
13) The sailor and discoverer, Ahmed Ben Magid, who was the mayor of sailors and their reference in sailing in the 15th century.
14) The marine scientist, Sidy Aly Rayess (died in 1562) who surveyed the Asian shores and helped in developing the astronomical sailing science.
Dr. Morad Hofmann goes on saying that this brief list of Muslim scientists shows that the West did not inherit the Hellenic culture, but it was the Muslims in the East who had inherited, developed and added to the Hellenic culture.
In "The Scientific Implication in The Holy Qur’an" the writer says that at the beginning of Islam, the first Muslims truly understood The Holy Qur'an. They took it as a divine order to study seriously and profoundly the different sciences concerning the universe and this world as a part of an indivisible whole. Anatomy and curative treatment was another branch of science studied carefully by Muslim scientists, as well as all other branches of science. This Divine order was an incentive to Muslim scientists to excel in them
In his book Dr. Maurice Bucaille says that:
----- at the height of Islam, between the eighth and twelfth centuries A.D. at a time when restrictions on scientific development were in force in the Christian world, a very large number of studies and discoveries were being made at Islamic Universities. It was there that the remarkable cultural resources of the time were to be found. The Calif's Library at Cordoba contained 400,000 volumes …Greek, Indian and Persian sciences were taught. This is why scholars from all over Europe went to study at Cordoba, just as today people go to the United States to perfect their studies. A very great number of ancient manuscripts have come down to us thanks to cultivated Arabs who acted as the vehicle for the culture of conquered countries. We are also greatly indebted to Arabic culture for mathematics (algebra was an Arabic invention) astronomy, physics (optics), geology, botany, medicine etc.
When man excels in the scientific subjects his belief in his Creator would emanate from true thinking and understanding. His prayer and prostration to God would be humble and filled with awe to the Mighty and Powerful yet Merciful and Compassionate Creator of man and the universe.
Scientists, in this way, would be as prophet Mohammed, prayers and peace may be upon him, says "scientists are the inheritors of Prophets." That is why God raises the scientists to the status of prophets, because they are able to prove God's existence in a materialistic world that gives the upper hand to worldly wealth and power:
سورة آل عمران الآية 18
God bears witness that
there is no god but He -----
and the angels ,and men possessed of knowledge---
Chapter 3 verse 18.
The integration of the various verses that deal with a certain universal phenomenon appeal to the ordinary person by their highly artistic style, and at the same time the scrutinizing scientist could find in them what satisfies his art and thought.
As for denying the existence of God, it is but a denial of the human brain and healthy thinking; and a sick deviation from the straightforward path that leads to worldly peace and everlasting happiness.
The miraculous nature of The Holy Qur’an is always renewed according to time and place. The miraculous aspect of The Holy Qur’an such as the literary, linguistic, social, economic, and foretelling about future historical incidents that had been proved to be true…etc are well established. But God The All-Knowing knows well that there will be an age where the different branches of science will flourish and become subservient to The Holy Qur’an, and providing tangible proof that this Book is from God:
سورة سبأ آية 6Those who have been given the knowledge see
that what has been sent down to thee from thy
Lord is the truth, and guides to the path of
the All- mighty, the All- laudable.
Chapter 34 verse 6
Dr. Mauruce Bacaille, in the same book, comments on his own experience with The Holy Qu’ran saying:
Hense scientific considerations, which are very specific to the Qur’an, greatly surprised me at first. Up till then, I had not thought it possible for one to find so many statements in a text compiled more than thirteen centuries ago referring to extremely diverse subjects and all of them totally in keeping with modern scientific knowledge.
…… I could not find a single error in the Qur'an. I had to stop and ask myself if a man was the author of the Qur’an, how could he have written facts in the seventh century A.D. that today is shown to be in keeping with modern scientific knowledge … what human explanation can there be to this observation…
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