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THE
QURAN AND MODERN SCIENCE AND PHILOSOPHY
IN VIEWING THE UNIVERSE
Philosophy
and sciences view existence as permanent
and discuss the nature and qualities of
creatures in detail. They do not mention
their duties towards their Creator; if
these are mentioned, it is very brief.
It is as if philosophy and science
discuss only the designs and letters of
the book of the universe but attach no
importance to its meaning. As for the
Quran, it views existence as transient,
moving, illusory, unstable and changing,
and therefore mentions the nature and
outward, physical qualities of creatures
quite briefly. By contrast, it
elaborates the duties of worship with
which their Creator has charged them,
and the ways they manifest His Names and
their submission to the Divine laws of
the creation and operation of the
universe. Thus, in order to distinguish
which is pure truth, we should see the
differences between human philosophy and
Quranic wisdom related to summarizing
and elaborating.
However
unmoving, constant and static your body
outwardly appears, it is in a continuous
movement and change in essence and
inwardly, and without any pause it comes
to a final stop to be revived again at a
determined time. Likewise, being a huge
body appearing to be constant and
static, the world is unceasingly rolling
or revolving in continuous changes and
upheavals. Time is the dial of the
world, with its two ‘hands’ of night
and day showing the passage of its
seconds, and its ‘hands’ of years
and centuries, showing the passage of
its minutes and hours. Time plunges the
world into the waves of decay and,
leaving the past and future to
non-existence, allows existence for the
present only. As with respect to time,
the world is also changing and unstable
with respect to space. For the
atmosphere changes speedily, filling
with and being cleared of the clouds a
few times a day and displaying the
changes of weather, thus corresponding
to the passage of seconds in time. And
the earth, which is the floor of the
house of the world, undergoes continuous
changes through the cycles of life and
death and in vegetation and animals, and
like the hand showing the passage of
minutes, demonstrates the transience of
the world. Like its surface, the inside
of the earth, where convulsions and
upheavals cause great changes like
earthquakes, the emergence of mountains
in some places and subsidence in others,
also shows, like the hour hand of a
clock, the mortality of the world. As
for the sky, which is the roof the
world, through the like movements of
heavenly bodies, the appearance of
comets and falling stars, and the solar
and lunar eclipses, it demonstrates that
it is not stable either, going to a
final ruin. However slow-like the
passage of weeks-are the changes in it,
they also show that the world is mortal
and moves to its inevitable end.
Thus,
all the ‘pillars’ on which the world
was built are continually shaking it.
That shaking world considered with
respect to its Maker, whose movements
and changes are like the movements of
the Pen of the Divine Power writing the
missives of the Eternally
Besought-of-All, all the transformations
taking place in the world are like
ever-renewed or ever-polished mirrors
which reflect the manifestations of
Divine Names in all different qualities.
However, when considered with respect to
itself and being a material, created
entity, the world continually convulses
and moves to decay and death. Although
it moves like a flowing water,
heedlessness has frozen it and
(philosophical) naturalism has
solidified it, making it a veil to
conceal and forget the afterlife. The
defective philosophy, nourished by
modern scientific thought and supported
by the alluring amusements of corrupt
modern civilization and the intoxicating
desires it arouses in people, makes the
world more turbid and increases its
solidity, causing people to completely
forget the Creator and the afterlife.
The
Quran removes heedlessness which gives
rise to naturalism
Whereas,
through its verses like,
The
Calamity! What is the calamity?
(al-Qari‘a,101.1-2)
When
the inevitable event befalls
(al-Waqi‘a, 56.1), and
By
the Mount, and a Scripture
inscribed
(al-Tur, 56.1-2),
the
Quran shatters this world and cards it
like cotton or wool.
Through
its statements like,
Have
they not considered the dominion
and inner aspect of the heavens
and the earth?
(al-A‘raf, 7.185)
Have
they not then observed the sky
above them, how We have
constructed it?
(Qaf, 50.6)
Did
not those who do not believe know
that the heavens and the earth
were of one piece, then We parted
them?
(al-Anbiya’, 21.30)
it
gives that world a transparency and
removes its turbidity.
Through
its bright, light-diffusing ‘stars’
like,
God
is the Light of the heavens and
the earth
(al-Nur, 24.35) and
The
life of this world is but a play and
amusement
(al-An‘am, 6.32)
it
melts that solid world.
Through
its threatening verses which recall
death, such as,
When
the sun is folded up
(al-Takwir, 81.1).
When
the heaven is cleft asunder
(al-Infitar, 82.1).
When
the heaven is split asunder
(al-Inshiqaq, 84.1).
The
Trumpet is blown, and all who are
in the heavens and who are on the
earth fall down senseless, save
those whom God wills
(al-Zumar, 39.68).
it
utterly destroys the delusion that the
world is eternal.
And
through its thunder-like blasts like,
He
knows all that enters the earth
and all that emerges therefrom and
all that comes down from the
heaven and all that ascends
therein, and He is with you
wherever you may be. God sees all
that you do
(al-Hadid, 57.4).
Say:
‘Praise be to God, Who will show
you His signs, so that you shall
know them. Your Lord is not
unaware of what you do’
(al-Naml, 27.93).
it
removes heedlessness which gives rise to
naturalism.
Thus,
the verses of the Quran which are
concerned with the universe follow that
principle the aspects of which have been
mentioned above. They unveil the reality
of the world and display it as it is. By
showing the ugly face of the world, it
turns man away from it, and by pointing
out its beautiful face which is turned
toward the Maker, it turns man’s face
toward it. It instructs mankind in true
wisdom and teaches them the meanings of
the book of the universe with little
attention to its letters and
decorations. Unlike corrupt, senseless
philosophy, it does not give itself over
to what is ugly and, causing people to
forget the meaning, lead them to waste
their time on meaningless things, in
pre-occupation with the decorations of
the letters.
Why
does the wise Quran not speak of beings
in the same way as science and
materialistic
or naturalistic philosophy? It mentions
some matters very briefly, and
some others it seems to speak of in a
simple and superficial way that is
easy
for the common people to understand and
does not weary their minds.
Scientism
and materialistic philosophy have
strayed from the path of truth. As for
the Quran, it is not a book of science
that it should speak of cosmological
matters elaborately. Its purpose in
mentioning certain facts of creation is
rather to make known the Divine Essence,
Attributes and Names, by explaining the
meaning of the book of the universe, to
make known its Creator. Therefore, it
considers the creation not for its own
sake, but for the sake of knowledge of
its Creator. In addition, science,
besides considering the creation only
for its own sake, addresses particularly
those specialized in it. The Quran,
however, addresses the whole of mankind.
Since it uses creation as evidence and
proof to guide mankind, and the majority
of mankind are common people, the
evidence should be manifest and obvious
in order to be understood by the common
people easily. Guidance requires that
things of little importance should be
touched on only and the subtle points be
made understandable by means of
parables. In order not to mislead people
into errors, it should not change things
which in their view are obvious in a way
which will be of no use or may even be
harmful to them.
For
example, the Quran speaks of the sun as
a ‘moving lamp’ because it does not
mention the sun for its own sake, but
because the sun is the ‘mainstay’ of
the order and the center of the system
in the universe. Order and system are
two means of obtaining the knowledge of
the Creator. When the Quran says, And
the sun runs its course, (36:38) it
suggests the well-ordered disposition of
Divine Power in the revolutions of
winter and summer, and day and night,
and therefore implies the majesty of the
Maker. Thus, whatever the reality of
this ‘running’ is, it does not harm
the intended meaning, which is the
observed order woven into the structure
of the universe.
The
Quran also says: And He made the sun
as a lamp (78:13) By depicting the
sun as a ‘lamp,’ the Quran calls to
mind that the world is like a palace,
the contents of which are the
decorations, provisions and other
necessities prepared for man and for
other living creatures, with the sun
like a lamp to illuminate it. Therefore
it implies the mercy and bounty of the
Creator.
Now
consider how science and materialistic
philosophy deal with the sun: The sun is
an enormous mass of burning gases. It
causes the planets which have been flung
off from it to revolve around it. It is
of such and such size, and it is of such
and such qualities... It gives to the
spirit no perfection of knowledge apart
from a terrible dread and bewilderment.
It does not approach the matter as the
Quran does. From this comparison, you
can judge the value of the merely
scientific and philosophical way of
thinking, the former being outwardly
splendid but inwardly hollow. So do not
be taken in by the outward worth of
scientific descriptions and so become
disrespectful towards the most
miraculous style of the Quran!
O
God! Make of the Quran for us and
for all who copy it a cure for all
our sickness; a companion to us
and to them in life and after
death; a friend in the world, a
confidant in the grave, and an
intercessor on the Day of
Judgment. Make it a light on the
(Bridge of) Sirat, a veil and a
screen from Hellfire, a friend in
Paradise, and a guide and a leader
to all good deeds, by Your grace,
munificence, beneficence, and
mercy, O Most Munificent of the
Munificent and Most Merciful of
the Merciful! Amen.
O
God! Bestow blessings and peace on
him to whom You sent the wise Qur’an,
the Criterion of Truth and
Falsehood, and on all his family
and Companions! Amen !
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