Islam & Science
English Essay on "Islam & Science"
Why is it that for the last 500 years, the Muslim world has been so deficient in producing scientists and philosophers? Why is it that even now when the ummah commands such immense resources we lag so far behind in science and technology?
The reason is that the Muslim world has fallen victim to irrationalism, obscurantism, traditionalism and dogmatism. We love cliches. We play with platitudes. We are good at repeating timeworn and moth-eaten views. We revel in interpretation, but flinch from creative thinking. We bask in the glory of the past. We do riot have the courage to face harsh reality. We are in the stranglehold of mimesis. As Iqbal puts it: “We do not change, instead we change the Quran.” Intellectual stagnation is our lot. The historians and philosophers may differ about problems concerning science, but they are unanimous as regards the need of a particular weltanschauung (worldview) for the rise, growth and blossoming of science, which cannot develop in an atmosphere vitiated by fanaticism, intolerance, conservatism and irrationalism.
Science needs a weltanschauung whose keynote is enlightenment with tolerance, humanism and rationalism, as its driving force. As Iqbal puts it: “The truth is that all search for knowledge is essentially a form of prayer.4essays.blogspot.com The scientific observer of nature is a kind of mystic seeker in the act of prayer. Although at present he follows only the footprints of the musk-deer, and thus modesty limits the method of its quest, his thirst of knowledge is eventually sure to lead him to the point where the scent of the musk is a better guide than the footprints of the deer. This alone will add to his power over nature and give him that vision of this total infinite which philosophy seeks but cannot find.”
According to lqbal, the birth of Islam was the birth of inductive intellect. In islam prophecy reaches perfection, hence stands abolished. Henceforth man is thrown on his own resources for full consciousness. From this follows the necessity fbr the abolition of priesthood. This, in short, is the meaning of the finality of prophet hood which implies that all personal authority, claiming a supernatural origin has come to an end.
As Iqbal puts it: “The prophet of Islam seems to stand between the ancient and the modern world. Insofar as the spirit of the revelation is concerned he belongs to the modern world. In emphasising nature and history as the sources of knowledge, the Quraan ushers in the modern scientific world whose weapons of discovery are observation, experimentation and generalisation.” Though the Greeks scaled the sublimest heights of speculative thought, too much dependence by them on deduction and their aversion to experimentation closed the door for any scientific advancement. Induction was a great gift of Islam to humanity. “Neither Roger Bacon nor his later namesake has any title to be credited with having introduced the experimental method,” says Briffault in his book Making of Humanity, and goes on to say, “the. experimental method of the Arabs was by Bacon’s time widespread and eagerly cultivated throughout Europe.” It was Nazzam who first formulated the principle of doubt as the beginning of all knowledge. Ghazali amplified it in his Ihiya-ul-Ulum and anticipated Descartes by 400 years. Descartes started off his philosophical odyssey with the dictum: “In order to reach the truth, it is necessary once in one’s life to put everything in doubt.”
Modern science has flourished in an atmosphere marked by scepticism. It puts to doubt all dogmas. It does not take anything for granted. The beliefs of a scientist are tentative, not final. They are not based on authority. They are based on evidence. Modern science is iconoclastic in dealing with convictions based on tradition or authority.
Science grew by routing scholasticism whose main points are: (i) blind faith; (ii) argument from authority; (iii) in difference to facts; (iv) undue emphasis on verbal subtleties. According to Iqbal, “For purposes of knowledge, the Muslim culture fixes its gaze on the concrete arid the finite. Knowledge must begin with the concrete.” This, indeed, is the spirit of science. When Iqbal emphasises the concrete and the finite, he exalts the scientific spirit at the expense of speculative flight into metaphysics.
By giving examples of Ibn-i-Khaldun’s view of history, Ibn-i.Maskwaih’s theory of life as evolutionary movement and Musa il Khwarizmi’s shift from arithmetic to algebra, Iqbal concudes: “All lines of Muslim thought converge on a dynamic concept of the universe.”
Islam rejects a static view of universe and regards it as changing and evolving. According to the Quraan change is one of the greatest signs of God. It says: “Verily, in the alteration of night and day and in all that God has created in the heaver and on the earth are signs to those who fear Him. (10:6) Every day has a new glory (the Quraan).
The principle laid down by Islam to keep pace with the changing world is ijtihad which means to exert with a view to forming an independent judgement. Science demands immense patience in observation and great boldness in framing hypotheses. The test of scientific truth is patient collection of facts combined with bold guessing as to the law binding facts together Science demands an independent, inquisitive spirit, a pioneering zeal and an enterprising elan. Science, advances when there is unity between theory and practice. Any dichotomy between theory and practice spells disaster for scientific progress. Muslim science withered Away because of this dichotomy. Science makes no moral judgement. Science does not provide man with a moral compass to navigate through the troubled waters of life. In. search of truth, science has peeled off layer after layer, giving humanity relative truth but absolute truth is beyond its grasp. It is precisely where the reach of science ends that religion takes over. The “seen” is within the domain of science. The “unseen” falls within the realm of religion. “This is the book which is beyond doubt, provides guidance for the pious who believe in the unseen”. (The Quraan).
As opposed to science which is purely based on reason, religion draws its sustenance from faith. Faith is a personal matter, based on conviction and choice. A mere speck in the vast cosmos, as a human being surveys the universe in all its majesty and splendour, he feels overwhelmed by a sense of awe and reverence. Herein religion steps. Faith without reason is blind, breeding fanaticism and bigotry. Reason without faith is rudderless. Reason and faith go hand in hand.
As Iqbal puts it: “Indeed, in view of its function, religion stands in greater need of a rational foundation of its ultimate principles than even the dogmas of science.” Then he quotes Whitehead: “The ages of faith are the ages of rationalism”.
Sir Syed, too, was confronted by the intractable problem of reason vs faith. He found the why out. According to him: “The Qur’aan is the word of God and nature is the work of God. One cannot contradict the other. Hence, there is a constant need of ijtihad to reinterpret the word of God ie ijtihad is a never-ending process.
The reason is that the Muslim world has fallen victim to irrationalism, obscurantism, traditionalism and dogmatism. We love cliches. We play with platitudes. We are good at repeating timeworn and moth-eaten views. We revel in interpretation, but flinch from creative thinking. We bask in the glory of the past. We do riot have the courage to face harsh reality. We are in the stranglehold of mimesis. As Iqbal puts it: “We do not change, instead we change the Quran.” Intellectual stagnation is our lot. The historians and philosophers may differ about problems concerning science, but they are unanimous as regards the need of a particular weltanschauung (worldview) for the rise, growth and blossoming of science, which cannot develop in an atmosphere vitiated by fanaticism, intolerance, conservatism and irrationalism.
Science needs a weltanschauung whose keynote is enlightenment with tolerance, humanism and rationalism, as its driving force. As Iqbal puts it: “The truth is that all search for knowledge is essentially a form of prayer.4essays.blogspot.com The scientific observer of nature is a kind of mystic seeker in the act of prayer. Although at present he follows only the footprints of the musk-deer, and thus modesty limits the method of its quest, his thirst of knowledge is eventually sure to lead him to the point where the scent of the musk is a better guide than the footprints of the deer. This alone will add to his power over nature and give him that vision of this total infinite which philosophy seeks but cannot find.”
According to lqbal, the birth of Islam was the birth of inductive intellect. In islam prophecy reaches perfection, hence stands abolished. Henceforth man is thrown on his own resources for full consciousness. From this follows the necessity fbr the abolition of priesthood. This, in short, is the meaning of the finality of prophet hood which implies that all personal authority, claiming a supernatural origin has come to an end.
As Iqbal puts it: “The prophet of Islam seems to stand between the ancient and the modern world. Insofar as the spirit of the revelation is concerned he belongs to the modern world. In emphasising nature and history as the sources of knowledge, the Quraan ushers in the modern scientific world whose weapons of discovery are observation, experimentation and generalisation.” Though the Greeks scaled the sublimest heights of speculative thought, too much dependence by them on deduction and their aversion to experimentation closed the door for any scientific advancement. Induction was a great gift of Islam to humanity. “Neither Roger Bacon nor his later namesake has any title to be credited with having introduced the experimental method,” says Briffault in his book Making of Humanity, and goes on to say, “the. experimental method of the Arabs was by Bacon’s time widespread and eagerly cultivated throughout Europe.” It was Nazzam who first formulated the principle of doubt as the beginning of all knowledge. Ghazali amplified it in his Ihiya-ul-Ulum and anticipated Descartes by 400 years. Descartes started off his philosophical odyssey with the dictum: “In order to reach the truth, it is necessary once in one’s life to put everything in doubt.”
Modern science has flourished in an atmosphere marked by scepticism. It puts to doubt all dogmas. It does not take anything for granted. The beliefs of a scientist are tentative, not final. They are not based on authority. They are based on evidence. Modern science is iconoclastic in dealing with convictions based on tradition or authority.
Science grew by routing scholasticism whose main points are: (i) blind faith; (ii) argument from authority; (iii) in difference to facts; (iv) undue emphasis on verbal subtleties. According to Iqbal, “For purposes of knowledge, the Muslim culture fixes its gaze on the concrete arid the finite. Knowledge must begin with the concrete.” This, indeed, is the spirit of science. When Iqbal emphasises the concrete and the finite, he exalts the scientific spirit at the expense of speculative flight into metaphysics.
By giving examples of Ibn-i-Khaldun’s view of history, Ibn-i.Maskwaih’s theory of life as evolutionary movement and Musa il Khwarizmi’s shift from arithmetic to algebra, Iqbal concudes: “All lines of Muslim thought converge on a dynamic concept of the universe.”
Islam rejects a static view of universe and regards it as changing and evolving. According to the Quraan change is one of the greatest signs of God. It says: “Verily, in the alteration of night and day and in all that God has created in the heaver and on the earth are signs to those who fear Him. (10:6) Every day has a new glory (the Quraan).
The principle laid down by Islam to keep pace with the changing world is ijtihad which means to exert with a view to forming an independent judgement. Science demands immense patience in observation and great boldness in framing hypotheses. The test of scientific truth is patient collection of facts combined with bold guessing as to the law binding facts together Science demands an independent, inquisitive spirit, a pioneering zeal and an enterprising elan. Science, advances when there is unity between theory and practice. Any dichotomy between theory and practice spells disaster for scientific progress. Muslim science withered Away because of this dichotomy. Science makes no moral judgement. Science does not provide man with a moral compass to navigate through the troubled waters of life. In. search of truth, science has peeled off layer after layer, giving humanity relative truth but absolute truth is beyond its grasp. It is precisely where the reach of science ends that religion takes over. The “seen” is within the domain of science. The “unseen” falls within the realm of religion. “This is the book which is beyond doubt, provides guidance for the pious who believe in the unseen”. (The Quraan).
As opposed to science which is purely based on reason, religion draws its sustenance from faith. Faith is a personal matter, based on conviction and choice. A mere speck in the vast cosmos, as a human being surveys the universe in all its majesty and splendour, he feels overwhelmed by a sense of awe and reverence. Herein religion steps. Faith without reason is blind, breeding fanaticism and bigotry. Reason without faith is rudderless. Reason and faith go hand in hand.
As Iqbal puts it: “Indeed, in view of its function, religion stands in greater need of a rational foundation of its ultimate principles than even the dogmas of science.” Then he quotes Whitehead: “The ages of faith are the ages of rationalism”.
Sir Syed, too, was confronted by the intractable problem of reason vs faith. He found the why out. According to him: “The Qur’aan is the word of God and nature is the work of God. One cannot contradict the other. Hence, there is a constant need of ijtihad to reinterpret the word of God ie ijtihad is a never-ending process.
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