CONCLUSION:
Islam
is the faith based upon knowledge, reason and wisdom, for it is ultimately
knowledge of the Oneness of God combined with faith that saves man in this
world and hereafter. The Qur’an is full of verses urging man to use his
intellect, to deliberate, to think and to know, for the objective of human life
is to ascertain the Truth, which could be achieved by recognizing and exploring
the sings of Allah all around. Hence it becomes obligatory for all the Muslims
both men and women to acquire the knowledge of all sciences including the
religious sciences to understand the signs of Allah and to harness the powers
of nature. In early days of Islam, the knowledge of din (faith) and dunya
(worldly affairs) were not separate entities.The early Muslim education
emphasized practical studies, such as the application of technological
expertise to the development of irrigation systems, architectural innovations,
textiles, iron and steel products, earthenware, and leather products; the
manufacture of paper and gunpowder; the advancement of commerce; and the
maintenance of a merchant marine. Thus during first half of millennia of its
history, Islamic civilization has been keen to gain knowledge, be it physics,
chemistry (alchemi), algebra, mathematics, astronomy, medicine, social
sciences, philosophy or any other field. A critical analysis reveals that most of Muslim scientists and
scholars of medieval period were also eminent scholars of Islam and theology.
The earlier Muslim scientific investigations were based on the inherent link
between the physical and the spiritual spheres, but they were informed by a
process of careful observation and reflection that investigated the physical
universe. The decline of Muslim scholarship coincided with the early phases of
the European intellectual awakening that these translations were partly
instrumental in bringing about. The Europeans picked up the concepts of system
of learning, universities and libraries form Muslim Spain, Cairo Baghdad
Islam
established the right of intellectual freedom for both men and women. As long
as Islam preserved its immaculate character, it proved itself to be the main
defender and promoter of knowledge and civilization and the ardent ally of
intellectual liberty. The moment extraneous elements attached themselves to it,
it lagged behind in the race of progress. The great tragedy of Muslim history
occurred over five centuries ago, when the study of Islamic sciences was
separated from the other branches of knowledge in the Islamic learning
institutions, considering it be evil and against the spirit of Islam. The women
were discouraged to acquire knowledge. The Ottomans and Mughal empires also
ignored to concentrate on acquisition of scientific knowledge. Islam is a faith
based on the Reality and rational thought not on unscientific myths like many
other religions. Islam advocates to maintain balance between the life of this world
and struggle for the reward in hereafter, thus asceticism and monasticism is
not part of Islam. The blending of religious and other knowledge at lower and
middle levels prior to separation at higher lever for specialization in a
particular discipline, would broaden the vision and provide adequate depth to
the students of religious and other sciences. This will enable the Muslims to
regain the lost leadership, prestige and respect.
--------------------------
RELIGION AND SCIENTIFIC REASONING
In ancient times water was just water. Then, in the 19th
century, the microscope was invented. When water was looked at under a
microscope, it was discovered that water was not just water; it also contained
countless live bacteria. In the same way man used to think that there were no
more stars in the sky than those which can be seen with the naked eye. But in
modem times the sky has been examined with telescopes and many more stars than
can be seen with the naked eye have been discovered.
These two examples show the difference between ancient
and modem times. Modern research has shown with certainty that there are many
more realities than man had previously thought when he was limited to the
sphere of simple observation. But these new discoveries so excited those who
were making them that they made another claim: that reality is that which can
be directly observed; that which we can not experience or observe is mere
hypothesis, and does not exist.
In the nineteenth century this claim was made with great
enthusiasm. It was most damaging to religion. Religious creeds are based on
belief in the unseen; they cannot be directly observed or experienced. For this
reason many people came to think of religion as hypothetical and unreal.
Twentieth century research has completely changed this
state of affairs. Advanced study has shown that there is more to life than
meets the eye: all the great realities of life lie beyond our comprehension.
According to Bertrand Russell there are two forms of
knowledge: “Knowledge of Things” and “Knowledge of Truths”. Only “Things” can
be directly observed: "Truths" can only be understood by indirect
observation, or, in other words, inference. The existence of light, gravity,
magnetism and nuclear energy in the universe is an undisputed fact, but man
cannot directly observe these things. He knows them only by their effects. Man
discovers certain "Things" from which he infers the existence of
"Truths".
This change in the concept of knowledge which occurred in
the twentieth century changed the whole situation radically. Man was forced to accept
the existence of things which he could not directly see, but only indirectly
experience. With this intellectual revolution the difference between seen and
unseen - reality disappeared. Invisible objects became as important as visible
objects. Man was compelled to accept that the indirect, or inferential
argument, was academically as sound as direct argument.
This change in the concept of knowledge has, in the
present age, made divine reasoning truly scientific. For instance, the greatest
argument for religion is what philosophers call the argument from design.
Nineteenth century scholars, in their zeal, did not accept this reasoning. To
them it was an inferential argument which could not be accepted academically.
But in the present age this objection has been invalidated. Nowadays man is
compelled to infer the existence of a designer of the universe from the
existence of a design in the universe, just as he accepts the theory of the
flow of electrons from the movement of a wheel.
A statement of Bertrand Russell throws some light on this
matter. In the preface to his book; “Why I Am
Not a Christian” he writes: “I think all the great religions of the
world-Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity, Islam and Communism both untrue and
harmful. It is evident as a matter of logic that, since they disagree, not more
than one of them can be true. With very few exceptions, the religion which a
man accepts is that of the community in which he lives, which makes it obvious
that the influence of environment is what has led him to accept the religion in
question. It is true that Scholastics [Adhering rigidly to scholarly methods;
pedantic, Characterized by a narrow, often ostentatious concern for book
learning and formal rules] invented what professed to be logical arguments
proving the existence of God, and that these arguments, or others of a similar
tenor, have been accepted by many eminent philosophers, but the logic to which
these traditional arguments appealed is of an antiquated Aristotelian sort
which is now rejected by practically all logicians except such as are
Catholics. There is one argument that is purely logical. I mean the argument
from ‘Design’. This argument, however, was destroyed by Darwin
Arguing the existence of a
Designer from Design is, as Russell admits, a scientific argument in itself. It
is the very argument which science uses to prove anything. Russell then rejects
this argument by citing Darwin Darwin Darwin
[By
Maulana Waheeduddin Khan, courtesy Monthly Tazkeer, January 2009, Lahore Pakistan
INDEX:
