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THE
CONCEPT OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Despite
the disasters caused by science and
technology, their mistaken approach to
the truth, and their failure to bring
human happiness, we cannot condemn them
outright and become pure idealists.
Science and technology do not bear the
full responsibility for humanity being
devalued, human feelings being
diminished, and certain human virtues
along with health and the ability to
think being seriously weakened. Rather,
the fault lies with scientists who avoid
their responsibilities, who cause
science to develop in a materialistic
and almost purely scientific atmosphere,
and then let it be exploited by an
irresponsible minority. Many worrying
conditions probably would not exist if
scientists had remained aware of their
social responsibility, and if the Church
had not forced it to develop in
opposition to religion.
Flowing
to the future like a rapid flood full of
energy and vitality, and sometimes
resembling a dazzling garden, the
natural world is like a book for us to
study, an exhibition to behold, and a
trust from which we can benefit. We are
responsible for studying the meaning and
content of this trust so that we and
future generations may benefit from it.
If we wish, we can call this
relationship “science.”
Science
also can be described as comprehending
what things and events tell us, what the
Divine laws reveal to us, and striving
to understand the Creator’s purpose.
Created to rule creation, we need to
observe and read, to discern and learn
about our surroundings so that we can
find the best way to exert our influence
and control. When we reach this level,
by the decree of the Exalted Creator,
everything will submit to us and we will
submit to God.
There
is no reason to fear science. The danger
does not lie with science and the
founding of the new world it will usher
in, but rather with ignorance and
irresponsible scientists and others who
exploit it for their own selfish
interests.
If
true science directs human intelligence
toward eternity without expecting any
material gain, undertakes a tireless and
detailed study of existence to discover
absolute truth, and follows the methods
required to reach this aim, what can we
say about modern science other than it
cannot fulfill our expectations.
Although usually presented as a conflict
between Christianity and science, the
conflicts during the Renaissance were
mainly between scientists (not science
per se) and the Church. Copernicus,
Galileo, and Bacon were not
anti-religious; in fact, we could say
that their religious commitment drove
them toward scientific truth.
Before
Christianity it was Islam, the religious
thought springing from eternality, and
the resulting love and zeal accompanied
by feelings of poverty and impotence
before the Eternal, All-Powerful and
All-Wealthy Creator of the cosmos, that
enabled the Muslim world’s great
five-century scientific advance until
the close of the twelfth century ce. Its
driving concept of science as based on
Divine Revelation was represented almost
perfectly by illustrious figures who,
imbued with eternality, tirelessly
studied existence to attain eternity.
Their commitment to Divine Revelation
caused It to diffuse a light that
engendered a new concept of science in
human souls.
If
Islamic civilization had not been so
badly damaged by the horrific Mongolian
and numerous destructive Crusader
invasions, the world today certainly
would be very different. If the Islamic
concept of science as being approved and
appropriated by the community, as if it
were part of the Divine Message and
pursued as an act of worship, had
continued to flourish, our world would
surely be more enlightened, its
intellectual life richer, its technology
more wholesome, and its sciences more
promising. All Islamic science sought,
based on eternality, was to benefit
humanity by helping us to aspire for the
other world and to handle things
responsibly for the sake and pleasure of
God Almighty.
Note:
According to Islam, the universe
resembles a book written by God, a
palace built by Him to make
Himself known to conscious beings,
primarily us. The universe
essentially exists in God’s
Knowledge in meaning. Creation
means that through His Will, He
specifies or gives a distinct
character and form to that meaning
as species, races, families or
individuals; and then, through His
Power, clothes each in matter so
that it will be in this
time-and-space constrained
material realm. After a thing
ceases to exist, it continues to
live in God’s Knowledge, as well
as in memories of those who saw it
and through its offspring (if
any). For example, a dead flower
continues to exist in God’s
Knowledge, in the memories of
those who saw it, and in its
seeds.
Everything
has five stages or degrees of
existence. First, and essentially,
it exists in the Creator’s
Knowledge as meaning. Even if God
Almighty did not create it (in the
material realm), it would exist in
His Knowledge as meaning, for
meaning constitutes the essential
existence of everything. Then, it
exists in the Divine Will as a form
or a plan; as a material object in
the material realm; as a memory and
through its offspring (if any); and,
finally, its eternal existence in
the other world. God Almighty will
use the debris of this world to
construct the other one. There,
animals will continue their
existence, each species through a
representative of its own species,
while each human being will find the
eternal life designed for him or her
according to how he or she lived
while in this world.
I
hope now that the relationship between
science and Islam is clear.
The
universe, which science studies,
manifests God’s Names and therefore
has some sort of sanctity. Everything in
it is a letter from God Almighty
inviting us to study it and acquire
knowledge of Him. Thus, the universe is
the collection of those letters or, as
Muslim sages call it, the Divine Book of
Creation issuing primarily from the
Divine Attributes of Will and Power. The
Qur’an, which issues from the Divine
Will of Speech, is the universe’s
counterpart in written form. Just as
there can be no conflict between a
palace and the paper describing it,
there can be no conflict between the
universe and the Qur’an, for they are
two expressions of the same truth.
Similarly,
humanity is a Divine book corresponding
to the Qur’an and the universe. This
is why the term used to signify a Qur’anic
verse-ayah-also means events
occurring within human souls and
phenomena occurring in nature.
Love
of truth to give true direction to
scientific studies
Only
the love of truth gives true direction
to scientific studies. What we mean by
“the love of truth” is approaching
existence not to receive material
advantage or worldly gain, but to
observe and recognize it as it really
is. Those with such love will achieve
their goal; those led by worldly
passion, material aspiration,
ideological prejudice and fanaticism,
and who are devoid of such love, either
will fail or, worse, make science into a
deadly weapon to be used against what is
best for humanity.
Intellectuals,
educational institutions, and the mass
media must strive to deliver modern
scientific studies from the current
lethal atmosphere of materialism and
ideological fanaticism by directing
scientists toward human values. To do
this successfully, minds must be freed
from ideological superstition and
fanaticism, and souls purified of desire
for worldly gain and advantage. If this
can be done, scientists will secure true
freedom of thought and perform good
science. Their centuries-long battle
against the clergy and corrupt concepts
formed in the name of religion, and
their subsequent denunciation of
religious people as backward,
narrow-minded, and fanatic, should serve
as a warning to scientists not to fall
into the same trap.
Whether
scientists or clerics allow intellectual
and scientific despotism to arise from
their own self-interest and
power-seeking, ideology and fanaticism.
Furthermore, they restrict their
reasoning to their corrupt and distorted
religious conceptions and domination.
But despotism is despotism. Islam
continually urges humanity to study
nature, the exhibition of Divine works,
to reflect on creation and what has been
created, and to approach it responsibly
in order to benefit humanity.
When
studied without prejudice and
preconception, the Qur’an shows that
it promotes the love of science and
humanity, justice and order.
When
studied without prejudice and
preconception, the Qur’an shows that
it promotes the love of science and
humanity, justice and order. Islam, as
can be clearly seen in numerous verses
of the Qur’an, urges the study of
nature, which it sees as a place of
exhibition of Divine works; it urges
reflection upon creation and the
created, and approaching it responsibly,
without making mischief and causing
corruptions in the world. Founded on the
Qur’an, Islam has founded knowledge
and the quest for it on the intention of
discovering the meaning of existence in
order to reach the Creator and to be
beneficial to all human beings, indeed
to all the creation, and combined it
with belief, love and altruism. Humanity
has seen such an ideal in practice: the
exemplary life of Prophet Muhammad, upon
him be peace and blessings, and the
conduct of many of its representatives
who perfected their thoughts and deeds.
So
what is there to fear from science?
Planned acts based on knowledge
sometimes cause bad results, but
certainly ignorance and disorganization
always cause bad results. Instead of
opposing the products of science and
technology, we must use them to bring
happiness to humanity. Herein lies the
essence of our greatest problem, for we
cannot take measures against the Space
Age or erase atomic or hydrogen
bomb-making knowledge from human
knowledge.
Although
science might be a deadly weapon in the
hands of an irresponsible minority, we
should not hesitate to adopt both it and
its products and then use them to
establish a civilization in which we can
secure our happiness in this world and
the next. It is pointless to curse
machines and factories, because machines
will continue to run and factories to
operate. Science and its products will
begin to benefit us only when people of
truth and belief begin to direct our
affairs.
We
have never suffered harm from a weapon
in the hands of angels. Whatever we have
suffered has come from those who still
believe that only might is right. This
situation will continue until we build a
world on a foundation of faith and
science.
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