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CAUSALITY
AND THE QURANIC WORLD VIEW
The
universe has been made in the form of a book,
intelligible, so as to make known its Author.
The book addresses man. The aim is to make him
read the book and its parts, and respond with
worship and thanks to the will of the Author.
Man attains to that worship by uncovering,
through scientific study, the order in the book
of the universe, and displaying the functioning
of beings and the workings of the universe.
The
universe is not passive. It is not neutral. We
cannot interpret it as we wish. There is only
one correct way of looking at the world, one
universal world-view which is common to all
humanity. This view is taught to us in the Quran
as well as in the book of the universe by our
Creator.
This
does not mean that the Quranic world-view
does not recognize that the perception of the
world differs from one person to another. It
allows for plurality within unity so that a
universal dialogue is possible. In this
world-view there is no fragmentation and no
conflict. There is only harmony, assistance,
peace and compassion.
The
materialist scientific world-view is based on
radical fragmentation
The
materialist scientific world-view is based on
radical fragmentation. Materialist science takes
nature to mean a mechanism with no inherent
value and meaning. It isolates an object by
cutting off its connections with the rest of the
world and studies it within its immediate
environment.
Whereas
our perception of ourselves tells us that we are
meaningful and part of the whole universe; and
everything must have a meaning and must be part
of the whole universe. Materialist science has
left the subject, i.e. man, out of the universe
and insofar as this science is taking over,
people feel that they have no place in this
world. They are isolated from other people.
Their lives have no meaning, except in a very
limited, egoistic sense. Man is alienated from
his environment and from himself.
The
mechanistic view is an incoherent description of
nature
In
the light of modern physics, the mechanistic
view is an incoherent description of nature. The
developments of modern physics call for a
radical revision in our concept of reality. They
shattered all the principal concepts of
classical physics.
Many
concepts, like the causal nature of physical
phenomena and the ideal of an objective
description of nature, changed with the advent
of the new theories of modern science, quantum,
relativity and, more recently, chaos theory.
However,
these changes have not been matched by parallel
changes in the world-view of science. The
modifications took place only on a mathematical
level. Because all that counts for scientists is
the development of mathematical formulations of
the behavior of physical phenomena. Such a goal
is not regarded merely for its technical
utility; rather most scientists believe that
prediction of this kind is all that knowledge is
about.
They
claim that our concept of reality is of little
or no importance. However, it is clear that our
concept of reality has a tremendous effect on
how we behave in relation to nature and to other
people, and also on the meaning life has for us
as individuals. We cannot dispense with a
world-view.
This
attitude of the scientists is in contradiction
with modern science. Classically it was thought
that science could describe and explain
everything in the world ‘objectively’ i.e.
as it actually is in reality and that the ‘observer’
i.e. the scientist himself, could describe the
world by means of mathematical models which were
independent of his judgment. The discoveries of
modern physics, however, point towards the unity
of all things, an unbroken wholeness which
denies the classical fragmentation of the world
into separate and independent parts. In the
quantum theory, every particle is linked to the
rest of the universe and cannot be isolated from
it. This oneness of the universe includes human
beings as well. The quantum theory, together
with abolishing the notion of fundamentally
separate objects, has introduced the concept of
‘participator’ to replace that of the
neutral observer. Modern science therefore
restores man to his central position. It puts an
end to the notion of neutral, objective
description of nature and thus to impartial
objective science.
Believing
in causality means reductionism
Up
to the present, materialist science has been
based on a deterministic, causal view of the
world. Although the latest theories like the
quantum and chaos theories are leading to a
world-view where there is no room for
fragmentation and determinism, materialist
scientists still insist on following the
fragmented and causal approach. They have to be
reductionist because they believe in causality.
At the same time they do realize that their
materialist world-view is collapsing.
Theoretically they understand that, in order to
explain one thing, they need to know its
connections to all other things. This is
obviously impossible because these connections
extend in time and in space beyond human
capacities; they are infinite and cannot be
embraced by human beings who are also parts of
those connections.
The
materialist scientists understand that the unity
of the universe points to an Absolute Creator.
For the things we study do not bear meanings
limited to themselves but testify to the
Absoluteness of their Creator. But in order to
be able to claim that their scientific studies
produce knowledge, the scientists insist on
denying the Absolute Creator. And, because their
scientific method is based on causality which
cannot accommodate the unity of the universe,
they ignore that unity and compartmentalize the
universe so that they can study each compartment
as the product of a limited number of causes. In
this way, they can pretend the universe has no
Creator and its meaning is limited to what they
tell us about it. They thus claim their science
to be the source of knowledge.
There
have been many controversies over the conceptual
foundations of modern physics. The mechanistic
model of reality is not appropriate to modern
science. Scientists avoid this issue by adopting
the attitude that the paradoxes and
contradictions of their science are inherent in
nature, thus implying that those paradoxes and
contradictions have nothing to do with the
inadequacy of their world-view.
But
how one can apply the reductionist scientific
reasoning to the inseparable universe? It has
been widely discussed by scientists and
philosophers, but what hasn’t yet been
realized is that the nature of the materialistic
approach to scientific reasoning is incompatible
with the unity of the universe. Therefore,
either that approach to scientific reasoning or
the concept of the unity of the universe has to
be reconsidered.
The
universe is an inseparable whole
That
the universe is an inseparable whole is not in
dispute. Indeed, the unity observed in the
totality of the universe including man is so
manifest that no one can deny it.
Therefore
the materialistic approach to the scientific
method has to be reconsidered. This method is
reductionist. It reduces every thing to
fragments then attributes each fragment to
causes. However, in reality, all things are
interconnected and interdependent. For this
reason it is impossible to attribute anything,
however small it is, to causes which are
themselves transient and contingent. Because
whatever is responsible for one thing must be
responsible for everything. We cannot have one
thing without the whole.
Why
can we ascribe a thing to its antecedents in
time, but not to its neighbors in space? Why
should a thing be able to produce another thing
just because it happened before? All modern
scientists know that space and time are fully
equivalent. They are unified into a
four-dimensional continuum in which ‘here’
and ‘there’ ‘before’ and ‘after’ are
relative. In this four-dimensional space the
temporal sequence is converted into a
simultaneous co-existence, the side by side
existence of all things. Thus causality appears
to be an idea which is limited to a prejudiced
experience of the world.
Causality
leads to the vicious chain of cause and effect.
For each cause is also an effect. Also the
effect is totally different from the cause.
Things and effects are usually so full of art
and beneficial purposes that let alone their
simple immediate causes, even if all causes
gathered they would be unable to produce one
single thing.
In
order for a cause to produce an effect it
has to be able to produce the whole universe
in which that effect takes place, for that
effect cannot exist without the whole
universe.
In
short, in order for a cause to produce an effect
it has to be able to produce the whole universe
in which that effect takes place, for that
effect cannot exist without the whole universe.
They cannot exist separately. Causality is
therefore the antitheses of ‘There is no god
but God’, the core of the Qur’anic
world-view. Materialist scientists imagine
powerless, dependent and ignorant causes to be
responsible for the existence of beings and
things and thus fancy them to possess absolute
qualities. In this way they are implying
(tacitly believing) that each of those causes
possesses qualities which can only be attributed
to God.
However,
the latest discoveries of modern science, like
the unity of the universe and the inseparability
of its parts, exclude the possibility of all the
explanations put forward by materialistic
science. They demonstrate that all entities,
whether in nature or in the laws and causes
attributed to them, are all devoid of power and
knowledge. They are contingent, transient and
dependent beings. But the properties attributed
to any of such entities need infinite qualities
like absolute power and knowledge.
This
shows that causality is by no means necessarily
to be linked with ‘objective’ study, ‘neutral’
scientific investigation. It is no more than a
personal opinion. Moreover, it is an opinion
that is irrational, a non-sense. Nevertheless,
there is still a widespread conviction that
science can do without a Creator. This seemed
possible in classical physics, but in quantum
mechanics the situation is untenable.
Physics
is full of examples of ingenuity and subtlety
that exclude the causal interpretation and make
known the All-Powerful, All-Knowing One. A few
illustrations will, I hope, suffice to convince
us that the universe with all that is within it
is His product.
The
idea that the universe began with a Big Bang is
something of a paradox. Of the four forces of
nature, only gravity acts systematically on a
cosmic scale, and in our experience gravity is
attractive, a pulling force. But the explosion
which marked the creation of the universe
required a very powerful pushing force to set
the cosmos on its still continuing path of
expansion. It is puzzling that the expanding
universe is dominated by the force of gravity
which is contracting, not expanding. Careful
measurements show that the rate of expansion has
been ‘very fine-tuned’ to fall on this
narrow line between two catastrophes: a little
slower, and the cosmos would collapse, a little
faster and the cosmic material would have long
ago completely dispersed. The materialist
scientists can see that such a precisely
calculated explosion requires infinite power and
knowledge, and yet deny the act of creation.
Therefore they are compelled to say, ‘It just
happened; it must be accepted as a special
initial condition.’ The initial condition,
however, had to be very special indeed. And the
rate of expansion is only one of countless
cosmic miracles. But in their misguidance, they
fancy those miracles of the Absolute Power to be
‘remarkable’ coincidences, and imply that
the universe is a random accident.
So,
strikingly, the most fundamental theory of
recent modern science is totally compatible with
the notion of the Absolute Creator. Moreover, it
is not compatible with causality. Thus, the need
for God, the Causer of causes, enters science in
a fundamental way.
Classically,
it is believed that a measurement performed in
one place cannot instantaneously affect a
particle in another, very distant place. The
basis for this belief is that interactions
between systems tend to decline with distance.
For according to causality a cause has to be in
the immediate vicinity of its effect. Otherwise
how can two particles several meters, let alone
light years, apart, influence each other’s
position and motion?
Quantum
mechanics predicts a greater degree of
correlation
Quantum
mechanics, by contrast, predicts a greater
degree of correlation, as though the two
particles are co-operating by telepathy. This
forces us to ask how it is possible to explain
this remarkable degree of co-operation between
different parts of the universe that have never
been in communication with each other without
mentioning their Creator. How can they achieve
this miracle? Divine Unity is obviously the only
reasonable, consistent and acceptable, to the
point of being necessary, explanation of this
miracle and indeed of the universe and all that
is in it, including man.
To
the materialists this situation is a paradox
because it cannot be explained with causality.
But to the believer in God, this is a beautiful
aspect of His Unity. It envisions a universal
coherence and points to all-encompassing
principles that run throughout the cosmos.
When
we break the vicious chain of cause and effect,
the meaningless world of materialism gives way
to a world illumined with meaning and purpose.
The universe becomes like a vast book addressing
man and making known its Author so that its
readers take lessons and constantly increase in
knowledge of their Maker and strengthen their
belief and certainty in the fundamentals of
faith.
Everything
is full of art and is being constantly
renewed, and, like the effect, the cause of
each thing is also created.
In
short, everything is full of art and is being
constantly renewed, and, like the effect, the
cause of each thing is also created. For each
thing to exist there is need for infinite power
and knowledge. Thus, there must exist a
Possessor of Absolute Power and Knowledge Who
directly creates the cause and the effect
together, which together demonstrate the
Attributes of their Maker. They are proclaiming
the Divine Power and Perfection through their
own powerlessness and deficiency. They are all
announcing, ‘There is no god but God’.
Just
as the universe points to this truth of Divine
Unity so does the Owner of the universe teach us
this truth in the sacred books He has revealed.
The phrase ‘There is no god but God’ is the
fundamental of Revelation and it is confirmed by
the testimony of beings. It is the key to the
Qur’an. A key that makes it possible to know
the riddle of the creation of the universe, a
riddle that has reduced materialist science and
philosophy to impotence. The path of Unity is
the path of Revelation. It is the only path that
shows man his Master and Owner, and causes him
to recognize his True Object of Worship Who
possesses an absolute power that will guarantee
all his needs.
The
Qur’an is the only source that teaches us that
the universe and the beings within it do not
bear a meaning limited to themselves but testify
to their Maker’s Unity. It teaches what the
universe is and what duties it is performing.
Every
Muslim should study the universe and see
that all beings, through their order, mutual
relationship and duties, utterly refute the
false claims of materialist and atheistic
reasoning.
For
this reason, every Muslim should study the
universe and see that all beings, through their
order, mutual relationship and duties, utterly
refute the false claims of materialist and
atheistic reasoning. They affirm that they are
nothing but the property and creatures of a
Single Creator. Each rejects the false notions
of chance and causality. Each ascribes all other
beings to its own Creator. Each is a proof that
the Creator has no partners. Indeed, when the
Creator’s Unity is known and understood
correctly, it becomes clear that there is
nothing to necessitate that causes should
possess any power. So, they cannot be partners
to the Creator. It is impossible for them to be
so. Then the Muslim scientist will say through
his investigations and discoveries, ‘There is
no god but God, alone and without partner’.
The
universe is a document to be used by the
believers. Believing in God is, as the Quran
informs us, to assent with one’s heart to the
Creator with all His Attributes supported by the
testimony of the whole universe. The true
affirmation of God’s Unity is a judgment, a
confirmation, an assent and acceptance that can
find its Owner present with all things. It sees
in all things a path leading to its Owner. It
does not regard anything as an obstacle to His
presence. For, otherwise, it would be necessary
to tear and cast aside the universe in order to
find Him, and that is impossible for us.
The
universe is not the property of materialistic
science which has used the universe in a
destructive way precisely because it has been
unable to find the meaning of the universe.
There
can be and is no dichotomy between true science
and Revelation
There
is no dichotomy between true science and
Revelation. Rather, true progress and happiness
for mankind can only be achieved in the way of
the Quran. All scientific and technological
advances are merely the uncovering of the way
the universe is created. When the universe is
seen to be a vast and meaningful unified book
describing its Author and the beings in it as
signs of their Creator, all these discoveries
and advances reinforce belief rather than
causing doubt and bewilderment.
The
most serious disease afflicting modern man in
his search for happiness and the meaning of life
is to regard science, the study of the created
world, as separate and irreconcilable with
Revelation, the Word of the Creator. But as man
learns to heed the universe and his senses,
rather than the materialist scientists, he will
wake up to the contradictions of their
scientific reasoning. More and more people are
beginning to realize that scientific reasoning
is no longer valid. Faced with beauty,
awesomeness and purpose, attempts to explain
creation with causality are becoming
increasingly untenable. Then they will feel the
need and importance for true science and
knowledge which yield knowledge and belief in
God.
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