Misplaced Pages

Revision as of 19:27, 18 October 2006

This is a sub-article to Islamic science and Qur'an and miracles.

This article is about the relationship between Islam and Science.

Islam is a monotheistic religion based upon the Qur'an, which adherents believe was sent by God (Arabic: الله) through Muhammad. Muslims believe that the Qur'an is the literal word and the final revelation of God for the guidance of humankind. Islam, like other religions, has got its own worldview system including beliefs about "ultimate reality, epistemology, ontology, ethics, purpose, etc". Science in the broadest sense refers to any system of knowledge attained by verifiable means. In a more restricted sense, science refers to a system of acquiring knowledge based on empiricism, experimentation, and methodological naturalism, as well as to the organized body of knowledge humans have gained by such research.

Scientists maintain that scientific investigation must adhere to the scientific method, a process for evaluating empirical knowledge that explains observable events in nature as results of natural causes, rejecting supernatural notions.

Relation between Modern Science and Religion

Great influence of Biblical worldview in development of Science

The biblical worldview (also shared by Muslims) has had a "great role" in development of Science: The science in west was constructed within the framework of a Christian (and also Quranic) worldview being largely influenced by the following Biblical (and also Qura'nic) conceptions:

• "The conception of an omniscient and omnipotent personal God, Who made everything in accordance with a rational plan and purpose, contributed to the notion of a rationally structured creation."
• "The notion of a transcendent God, Who exists separate from His creation, served to counter the notion that the physical world, or any part of it, is sacred. Since the entire physical world is a mere creation, it was thus a fit object of study and transformation."
• "Since man was made in the image of God (Gen.1:26), which included rationality and creativity, it was deemed possible that man could discern the rational structure of the physical universe that God had made."
• "The cultural mandate, which appointed man to be God's steward over creation (Gen1:28), provided the motivation for studying nature and for applying that study towards practical ends, at the same glorifying God for His wisdom and goodness."

Alleged conflict between science and religion

Prof. Mehdi Golshani believes that there is no conflict between science and religion:

"Much of the perceived conflict between science and religion is due to the erroneous belief that science has no need of any metaphysical or epistemological assumptions. It is widely believed that science is factual, rational and objective, whereas religion is mythical, irrational and subjective. This myth of scientific neutrality fails to properly distinguish between observational facts and theoretical speculations. It overlooks the highly subjective aspects of science. We note, first, that the same data can be explained by many different theories. For example, galactic red-shifts can be explained in terms of the expansion of space, motion through space, gravitational red-shifts, "tired light", and so on. As noted by Karl Popper, Thomas Kuhn and others, scientific theories are not simply derived from data. Rather, the construction of theories involves a large dose of creativity. Second, the same mathematical equations can often be interpreted in many different ways. Consider, for example, the various different interpretations of quantum mechanics (e.g., Bohr's positivism, Bohm's neo-realism, the many-worlds view, etc.). Third, assessing the veracity of competing theories involves the subjective application of subjective criteria for theory selection. We may prefer theories that are simple or beautiful but why should simple or beautiful theories be more likely to be true? Ultimately, we construct and choose theories that best reflect our basic beliefs about the nature of the world...In short, science is by no means worldview neutral. What is widely perceived as a conflict between science and religion is in actuality usually a clash between two opposing worldviews, generally naturalism versus theism."

Arrival of Modern Science in Muslim world

At the beginning of the nineteenth century, Modern science arrived in the Muslim world but it wasn't the science itself that affected Muslim scholars. Rather, it "was the transfer of various philosophical currents entangled with science that had a profound effect on the minds of Muslim scientists and intellectuals. Schools like Positivism and Darwinism penetrated the Muslim world and dominated its academic circles and had a noticeable impact on some Islamic theological doctrines." There were different responses to this among the Muslim scholars: These reactions, in words of Professor Mehdi Golshani, was the following:

(1) Some rejected modern science as corrupt foreign thought, considering it incompatible with Islamic teachings, and in their view, the only remedy for the stagnancy of Islamic societies would be the strict following of Islamic teachings.

(2) Other thinkers in the Muslim world saw science as the only source of real enlightenment and advocated the complete adoption of modern science. In their view, the only remedy for the stagnation of Muslim societies would be the mastery of modern science and the replacement of the religious worldview by the scientific worldview.

(3) The majority of faithful Muslim scientists tried to adapt Islam to the findings of modern science; they can be categorized in the following subgroups: (a) Some Muslim thinkers attempted to justify modern science on religious grounds. Their motivation was to encourage Muslim societies to acquire modern knowledge and to safeguard their societies from the criticism of Orientalists and Muslim intellectuals. (b) Others tried to show that all important scientific discoveries had been predicted in the Qur'an and Islamic tradition and appealed to modern science to explain various aspects of faith. (c) Yet other scholars advocated a re-interpretation of Islam. In their view, one must try to construct a new theology that can establish a viable relation between Islam and modern science. The Indian scholar, Sayyid Ahmad Khan, sought a theology of nature through which one could re-interpret the basic principles of Islam in the light of modern science. (d) Then there were some Muslim scholars who believed that empirical science had reached the same conclusions that prophets had been advocating several thousand years ago. The revelation had only the privilege of prophecy.

(4) Finally, some Muslim philosophers separated the findings of modern science from its philosophical attachments. Thus, while they praised the attempts of Western scientists for the discovery of the secrets of nature, they warned against various empiricist and materialistic interpretations of scientific findings. Scientific knowledge can reveal certain aspects of the physical world, but it should not be identified with the alpha and omega of knowledge. Rather, it has to be integrated into a metaphysical framework--consistent with the Muslim worldview--in which higher levels of knowledge are recognized and the role of science in bringing us closer to God is fulfilled.

The view that scientific discoveries had been predicted in the Qur'an and traditions

Template:Totallydisputed-section Some Muslim scholars have tried to show that the Qur'an and Islamic tradition had predicted many important scientific discoveries. This section is dedicated to the arguments made by supporters and critics of such view.

Supporters for Qur'an Scientific Claims

Researchers have written about the relationship between the contents of the Qur'an and the findings of science. Maurice Bucaille, the Frenchborn Saudi royal physician, claims in The Bible, the Qur'an and Science that this relationship "turns out to be one of harmony and not of discord", to the surprise of most scientists "bound up in materialist theories", and notes that Islam often encouraged scientific acquisition of knowledge.

Criticisms of Qur'an Scientific Claims

Some skeptics, such as historian and philosopher Richard Carrier, counter that certain scientific facts which are said to be detailed in the Qur'an were known in the Middle East centuries before it was written, or were "predicted" also by other people with no claims of divine inspiration, or are found in passages that are clearly rephrasals of the Hebrew Bible. He also presents criticisms based on the translations and context of the verses presented as scientific facts Others, such as physicist Taner Edis, also counter that the Qur'an offers "vague descriptions of natural phenomena" which are shown to be in agreement with modern science by using "stretched or arbitrary" interpretations.

History of relationship between Quran and Science

Maurice Bucaille references a document produced by the Office for Non-Christian Affairs at the Vatican, which gives a history of the relationship between the Qur’an and science.

It would nevertheless be wrong to imagine that, in the history of Islam, certain believers had never harboured a different attitude towards science. It is a fact that, at certain periods, the obligation to educate oneself and others was rather neglected. It is equally true that in the Muslim world, as elsewhere, an attempt was sometimes made to stop scientific development. All the same it will be remembered that at the height of Islam, between the Eighth and Twelfth centuries A.D., i.e. 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. Averrowas teaching there, and 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 (Avicenna) etc. For the very first time, science took on an international character in the Islamic universities of the Middle Ages.

Harun Yahya's view on encouragement of scientific thinking in the Qur'an

Most surely in the creation of the heavens and the earth and the alternation of the night and the day there are signs for men who understand.

— Qur'an,

Travel through the earth and see how Allah did originate creation; so will Allah produce a later creation: for Allah has power over all things.

— Qur'an,

In his article "The Islamic Origins of Modern Science" Turkish thinker and author, Harun Yahya states that:

The genesis of scientific thought is the sense of curiosity. Because people wonder how the universe and nature work, they investigate and become interested in science. But most people lack this curiosity. For them, the important things are not the secrets of the universe and nature but their own small worldly profits and pleasures. In communities where people who think in this way are in charge, science does not develop. Idleness and ignorance rule.

The Arab community before the Qur’an was of this type. But the verses of the Qur’an called upon them to think, to investigate and to use their minds, perhaps for the first time in their lives. In one of the first revealed verses of the Qur’an, God drew the attention of the Arabs to the camel, a part of their everyday lives:

Do they not look at the Camels, how they are made?- And at the Sky, how it is raised high?- And at the Mountains, how they are fixed firm?- And at the Earth, how it is spread out? Therefore do thou give admonition, for thou art one to admonish.

— Qur'an,

In many other verses of the Qur’an, people are instructed to examine nature and learn from it because people can know God only by examining His creations. Because of this, in one verse of the Qur’an Muslims are defined as people who think about the creation of the heavens and the earth:

Men who celebrate the praises of Allah, standing, sitting, and lying down on their sides, and contemplate the (wonders of) creation in the heavens and the earth, (With the thought): "Our Lord! not for naught Hast Thou created (all) this! Glory to Thee! Give us salvation from the penalty of the Fire."

— Qur'an,

In many verses of the Qur'an, God instructs Muslims to investigate the heavens, the earth, living things or their own existence and think about them. When we look at the verses, we find indications of all the main branches of science in the Qur’an. For example, in the Qur’an, God encourages the science of astronomy:

He Who created the seven heavens one above another: No want of proportion wilt thou see in the Creation of (Allah) Most Gracious. So turn thy vision again: seest thou any flaw?

— Qur'an,

Harun Yahya further illustrate that in many other verses God also encourages the study of botany, zoology, sciences of archaeology, anthropology and so on.

Astronomy

Formation of Universe

Qur'an:

Moreover He comprehended in His design the sky, and it had been (as) smoke.

— Qur'an,

Science: Scientists say that before the galaxies in the Universe were formed, celestial matter was initially in the form of huge gaseous matter or clouds.

Commentary by Maurice Bucaille:

The Qur'an presents in two verses a brief synthesis of the phenomena that constituted the basic process of the formation of the Universe i.e. verse and . The important things to remember at present are the following:

• The statement of the existence of a gaseous mass with fine particles, for this is how the word 'smoke'(dukan in Arabic) is to be interpreted. Smoke is generally made up of a gaseous substratum, plus, in more or less stable suspension, fine particles that may belong to solid and even liquid states of matter at high or low temperature;
• The reference to a separation process (fatq) of an primary single mass whose elements were initially fused together (ratq). It must be noted that in Arabic 'fatq' is the action of breaking, diffusing, separating, and that 'ratq' is the action of fusing or binding together elements to make a homogenous whole.

This concept of the separation of a whole into several parts is noted in other passages of the Book with reference to multiple worlds. The first verse of the first sura in the Qur'an proclaims, after the opening invocation, the following: "In the name of God, the Beneficent, the Merciful", "Praise be to God, Lord of the Worlds." The terms 'worlds' reappears dozens of times in the Qur'an. The Heavens are referred to as multiple as well, not only on account of their plural form, but also because of their symbolic numerical quantity: 7.

Existence of life other then Earth

Quran:

See ye not how Allah has created the seven heavens one above another, And made the moon a light in their midst, and made the sun as a (Glorious) Lamp?

— Qur'an,

Commentary by Dr. Maurice Bucaille

The terms 'worlds' reappears dozens of times in the Qur'an. The Heavens are referred to as multiple as well, not only on account of their plural form, but also because of their symbolic numerical quantity: 7. This number is used 24 times throughout the Qur'an for various numerical quantities. It often carries the meaning of 'many' although we do not know exactly why this meaning of the figure was used. The Greeks and Romans also seem to have used the number 7 to mean an undefined idea of plurality. In the Qur'an, the number 7 refers to the Heavens themselves (samawat). It alone is understood to mean 'Heavens'. The 7 roads of the Heavens are mentioned once. The commentators on the Qur'an are in agreement on all these verses: the number 7 means no more than plurality. There are therefore many Heavens and Earths, and it comes as no small surprise to the reader of the Qur'an to find that earths such as our own may be found in the Universe, a fact that has not yet been verified by man in our time.

Space

Maurice Bucaille writes that:

Another observation which may surprise the Twentieth century reader of the Qur'an is the fact that verses refer to three groups of things created, i.e.

1. Things in the Heavens
2. Things on the Earth
3. Things between the Heavens and the Earth

Here are several of these verses:

To Him belongs what is in the heavens and on earth, and all between them, and all beneath the soil.

— Qur'an,

He Who created the heavens and the earth and all that is between, in six days, and is firmly established on the Throne (of Authority): Allah Most Gracious: ask thou, then, about Him of any acquainted (with such things).

— Qur'an,

It is Allah Who has created the heavens and the earth, and all between them, in six Days, and is firmly established on the Throne (of Authority): ye have none, besides Him, to protect or intercede (for you): will ye not then receive admonition?

— Qur'an,

We created the heavens and the earth and all between them in Six Days, nor did any sense of weariness touch Us.

— Qur'an,

The reference in the Qur'an to "what is between the Heavens and the Earth" is again to be found in verses:, , , , , , and . Hence Quran give following concepts.

1. Existence of six periods for the Creation in general.
2. Interlocking of stages in the Creation of the Heavens and the Earth.
3. Creation of the Universe out of an initially unique mass forming a block that subsequently split up.
4. Plurality of the Heavens and of the Earths
5. Existence of an intermediary creation 'between the Heavens and the Earth'.

Fossils of ancient humans

There are three basic verses in Qur'an which are related to human creation:

The similitude of Jesus before Allah is that of Adam. He created him from clay.

— Qur'an,

O mankind fear your Lord who created you from one person and created his mate from his kind and from these two scattered countless men and women.

— Qur'an,

He began the creation of man with clay; then made his progeny from the essence of an ordinary fluid; then he perfected him and breathed into him something of his spirit and gave you the faculties of hearing and sight and the heart.

— Qur'an,

According to the first two verses, Adam and Eve were directly created by God from clay. They did not descend from any other species as proposed by Darwin. The rest of mankind is the progeny of Adam and Eve. The third verse implies that there were three stages in their creation, and can be interpreted in two ways:

• First possibility:
  • Adam and Eve were created from clay
  • They subsequently developed the ability to reproduce at a later age
  • Finally, after some more time elapsed, they entered the third phase in which they were perfected both physically and spiritually, and received the divine spirit from God.
• Second possibility: All these three phases did not pass on the first humans created, rather each of the phases lasted for many years during which many life forms were created from clay having the characteristic of their respective periods together with that of the previous one.
  • Human forms were initially directly created from clay because they did not have the ability to reproduce. This first stage may have lasted for millions of years, and in it, the humans forms' physical forms after passing through various stages culminated in the homo sapiens of today. Millions of species may have been created from clay like this. Among them, many went extinct and the others lived to enter the second phase, the first of which were Adam and Eve.
  • The human forms now had the ability to reproduce and direct creation was no longer required. Adam and Eve were the first directly created pair from clay which had this ability to reproduce. In the second phase, except Adam and Eve all other pairs who had the ability to reproduce pairs were not perfected and later died away.
  • It was this very pair which entered the third phase and was perfected physically so that it could receive the divine spirit from the God and be blessed with the faculties of sense and reason as is specified by the last part of the verse.

Under the second interpretation, the fossils which we find today belong to the millions of people created from clay in the first and second phases.

Embryology

This article or section is in a state of significant expansion or restructuring. You are welcome to assist in its construction by editing it as well. If this article or section has not been edited in several days, please remove this template. If you are the editor who added this template and you are actively editing, please be sure to replace this template with {{in use}} during the active editing session. Click on the link for template parameters to use. This article was last edited by Opiner (talk | contribs) 18 years ago. (Update timer)

It is widely recognized that the Qur'an and hadith contain a number of verses pertaining to human reproduction and development. In his book A History of Embryology, Professor Joseph Needham dismisses some of the embryological surahs in the Quran, surahs (discussed below), , , , , , , and as "a seventh century echo of Aristotle and Ayurveda,", and in referring to the wider Arabic contribution to embryology, he concludes that: "Arabic science, so justly famed for its successes in certain fields such as optics and atronomy, was not of great help to embryology." However, according to Keith Moore, professor emeritus of Anatomy at the University of Toronto, the scientific meaning of certain surahs in the Quran has become clear only recently. An example cited by him is:

He created you (all) from a single person: then created, of like nature, his mate; and he sent down for you eight head of cattle in pairs: He makes you, in the wombs of your mothers, in stages, one after another, in three veils of darkness. such is Allah, your Lord and Cherisher: to Him belongs (all) dominion. There is no god but He: then how are ye turned away (from your true Centre)?

— Qur'an,

The phrase "in three veils of darkness" in relation to the fetus may refer to three physiological barriers:

1. The anterior abdominal wall;
2. The uterine wall; and
3. The amniochorionic membrane.

Moore notes that there may be other interpretations of this verse, but does not elaborate. Basim Musallam quotes the Damascene Hanbali scholar Ibn Qayyim (1291-1351) as reporting a different interpretation: "Most commentators explain, it is the darkness of the belly, and the darkness of the womb, and the darkness of the placenta."The extent of human knowledge of embryology stretches back to the second century, when Greek doctor Galen described the placenta and fetal membranes. Basim Musallam writes that the scienfitic tradition of Hippocrates, Aristotle, and Galen "was native to the Middle East for centuries before Islam." He further opines that "the Quran described the development of the foetus in the language of the biological sciences of the time. There was little difference between the language of the Quran and that of Galen on the stages of foetal development." Discussing the "stages" mentioned in this verse, Moore argues that it was probably known to the seventh century doctors that the human embryo developed within the uterus, though their knowing of human embryos developing in stages would have been unlikely. Moore claims that though Aristotle noted the developmental stages of a chick embryo during the fourth century, it was not until the fifteenth century that developmental stages of human embryo had been the subject of discourse. However, Musallam writes that this had been described long before Muhammad:

The stages of development which the Quran and and hadith established for believers agreed perfectly with Galen's scientific account. In De Semine, for example, Galen spoke of four periods in the formation of the embryo: (1) as seminal matter; (2) as a bloody form (still without flesh, in which the primitive heart, liver, and brain are ill-defined); (3) the foetus acquires flesh and solidity (the heart, liver, and brain are well-defined, and the limbs begin formation); and finally (4) all the organs attain their full perfection and the foetus is quickened.

Further occurances of verses pertaining to supposed embryological development are as follows:

Then We placed him as (a drop of) sperm in a place of rest, firmly fixed.

— Qur'an,

The word "nutufah" (Arabic: نطفة) here has been interpreted as the "sperm" or "spermatozoon", although Moore suggests that a more meaningful rendering would be "zygote", which divides to form a blastocyst before embedding itself in the uterus — possibly what is referred to in the verse as "a place of rest". This interpretation, he claims, is supported by a different verse in the Qur'an describing the human being as created from a "mixed drop", to which the zygote would correspond, being "the union of a mixture of the sperm and the ovum."

Then We made the sperm into a clot of congealed blood; then of that clot We made a (foetus) lump; then we made out of that lump bones and clothed the bones with flesh; then We developed out of it another creature. So blessed be Allah, the best to create!

— Qur'an,

The word "alaqah" (Arabic: علقة), rendered by Yusuf Ali as a "clot of congealed blood", is translated as "a leech-like structure" by Abdul Majid Zendani, professor of Islamic studies at the King Abdulaziz University. Moore claims that the meaning of alaqah is "leech" or "bloodsucker", which he states is an appropriate description of the relationship between the embryo and the endometrium in which it is implanted, between days 7 and 24 of human embryological development. This is because the human embryo derives blood from the endometrium, in the same way a leech draws blood from its host. Morphologically, too, the embryo at this stage resembles that of a leech, he notes, unobservable by anyone in the seventh century without a microscope.

The next stage referred to is "mudhgah" (Arabic: مضغة), which Moore suggests means "chewed substance or chewed lump." This, he believes, corresponds to around the fourth week of development where the embryo resembles the appearance of a chewed lump, a key characteristic of which being indentations or "teeth-marks" signalling the beginnings of the somites, the precursor to the vertebral column. Continuing in his analysis of this verse, he states that the next stage (which mentions formation of bones and flesh) is also in accordance with the stages of embryological development, as first the bones form as cartilage models, after which muscles develop from the surrounding somatic mesoderm. The phrase "then We developed out of it another creature" may allude to the resemblance of a human figure by the end of the eighth week, by which time the embryo (now known as the fetus) has gained distinctive human characteristics and possesses the primordia of all external and internal organs.

Other perceived verses referring to human development cited by Moore include:

• "... And He gave you hearing and sight and feeling and understanding". This verse, he suggests, refers to the development of the special senses in the order of hearing, vision, and sensation. According to Moore, this is the correct order of development in the embryo: the primordia of the internal ears develop first, followed by the beginning of the eyes, with the differentiation of the brain (which he refers to as the "site of understanding") occuring last of these.
• "Then out of a piece of chewed flesh, partly formed and partly unformed." Moore states that this verse seems to indicate that the embryo is comprised of both differentiated and undifferentiated tissues. He cites the example of undifferentiated mesenchyme present around the differentiated cartilage bone models. This mesenchyme then differentiates to form the muscles and ligaments attached to the bone.

References

1. ^ Mehdi Golshani, Can Science Dispense With Religion? Cite error: The named reference "Golshani" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
2. See, e.g., the entry Science in the Oxford English Dictionary ISBN 0-19-522217-2
3. Mehdi Golshani, Does science offer evidence of a transcendent reality and purpose?, June 2003
4. Maurice Bucaille. The Qur'an and Modern Science.
5. Richard Carrier (2001). Cosmology and the Koran: A Response to Muslim Fundamentalists.
6. Richard Carrier (2004). Predicting Modern Science: Epicurus vs. Mohammed.
7. Taner Edis. "Quran-science": Scientific miracles from the 7th century?
8. Harun Yahya, "The Islamic Origins of Modern Science"
9. ^ Maurice Bucaille.The Qur'an and Modern Science
10. ^ Saleem, Shehzad (2000). "The Qur'anic View on Creation". Renaissance. 10 (5). ISSN 1606-9382. Retrieved 2006-10-11. {{cite journal}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |quotes= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
11. The Arabic word تُرَابٍ is usually translated as "dust" or "soil"
12. Joseph Needham, A History of Embryology
13. ^ Moore, Keith L. (1986). "A scientist's interpretation of references to embryology in the Qur'an". Journal of the Islamic Medical Association,. 18: 15–16. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link)
14. ^ Basim Musallam, Sex and Society in Islam
15. Qur'an
16. Qur'an

External links

Some articles on the relationship between Religion (Islam) and Science by Professor Mehdi Golshani

• Can Science Dispense With Religion?
• Does science offer evidence of a transcendent reality and purpose?
• Some important questions concerning the relationship between science and religion

Some articles on the relationship between Religion (Islam) and Science by Professor Seyyed Hossein Nasr

• Islam, science and Muslims
• Islam, Muslims, and modern technology

Others

• Islam101. The Qur'an and Modern Science - Extracts from the video "The Truth".
• Answering Islam. Qur'an and Science.
• Harun Yahya
• Harun Yahya online books collection
• Quran and Science at IslamVision.com
• Zakir Naik lecture (at youtube.com)
• Resources on Islam at Secular Web.
• Website by Dr.Zaghloul Elnaggar
• Calculation of speed of light according to Qur'an
• A New Astronomical Quranic Method for The Determination Of The Greatest Speed C by Dr. Mansour Hassab-Elnaby
• Critical review by Prof. Arnold Neumaier of A New Astronomical Quranic Method for The Determination Of The Greatest Speed C by Dr. Mansour Hassab-Elnaby
• Article titled The Koran Predicted the Speed of Light? Not Really. by Richard Carrier that shows the errors in the calculations by Dr. Mansour Hassab-Elnaby
• Explore Islamic achievements and contributions to science

This Islam-related article is a stub. You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it.

• v
• t
• e

• Islam
• Science
• Islamic Science
• Pseudoscience