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WHY
WE REFER TO SCIENCE AND
SCIENTIFIC
FACTS WHEN EXPLAINING ISLAM
The
Quran declares: “Those who
truly fear God, among His
servants, are those who
have knowledge .”
The
reason why we refer to
science and scientific facts
when explaining our religion
is that some people are
determined that they will
never accept anything
other than scientific facts.
Materialists and
anti-religious people have
sought to exploit science as
a means of defying religion
and use its prestige to
spread their thinking. By
this means, they have
distorted and corrupted
the minds of a great number
of people. Therefore, using
the same materials we have
to show that science and
technology are not
contradictory to our
religion. In other words, as
opposed to materialists who
evaluated matter in their
own way and thus went
astray, we have to evaluate
the same matter and lead
people to the right path. I
personally do not disapprove
of this kind of argument. On
the contrary, I hold that
believers should be well
versed in such facts in
order to fight back against
materialism and atheism.
For, the verses of the Quran
urge us to reflect and
study, they direct us to
observe the stars and
galaxies. They impress upon
us the Magnificence of the
Creator. They exhort us also
to wander among human beings
and direct our attention to
the miraculousness of our
organs and physical
creation. From the world of
atoms to the largest
beings, from man’s first
being on the earth to his
leaving it, the Quranic
verses place the whole
creation before our eyes.
Touching upon a multitude of
facts, the Quran tells us
that those who truly fear
God, among His servants,
are those who have knowledge
(al-Fatir, 35.28),
and so encourages us to seek
‘ilm, to reflect and to
research. However, it
should always be borne in
mind as a first condition
that all these reflections
and research must comply
with the spirit of the Quran.
Otherwise, while claiming to
be following the advice and
command of the Quran, we
shall in fact be departing
from it.
Science
and the facts it presents
can and should be used to
expound Islamic facts.
Science
and the facts it presents
can and should be used to
expound Islamic facts. But
if we use them to show off
our knowledge or to impress
others with our authority,
whatever we say does not
influence its hearers in the
right way, if at all. Words
and arguments in themselves
bright and persuasive lose
their effectiveness on
account of the intention in
our hearts: they get as far
as the listeners
eardrums and no further.
Similarly, if our argument
aims at silencing people
instead of persuading them,
we shall ourselves have
blocked the listeners’ way
to understanding and so fail
to achieve our goals.
However, if we try to
persuade with a full and
proper sincerity, those
who do need such arguments
to believe will receive
their portion and benefit
from it even if we
ourselves do not notice
this happening. Sometimes an
argument sincerely
presented in this way, even
if you felt at the time it
was ineffective, may in
reality be far more
beneficial to the listeners
than another when you spoke
rather more freely and
eloquently. Our primary aim
when introducing science and
scientific facts must be to
win the pleasure of God, and
we must present them
according to the level of
the listeners.
It
is not correct to regard
science as superior in some
way to religion, or to
present substantial Islamic
issues with this attitude as
if to justify religion or
reinforce its credibility by
means of modern scientific
facts.
It
is not correct to regard
science as superior in some
way to religion, or to
present substantial Islamic
issues with this attitude as
if to justify religion or
reinforce its credibility by
means of modern scientific
facts. This attitude is
incorrect because it implies
that we ourselves have
doubts about the truths of
Islam and are, or to speak,
in need of science. Equally
incorrect is it to accept
science or scientific facts
as absolute, as the decisive
criteria for the
authenticity or supra-human
origin of the Quran, and so
place them in a position
which confirms the Quran.
This is not only absurd, it
is abhorrent and by no means
to be permitted or
tolerated. Such arguments
and allusions to science
have at best a secondary,
supportive use and may be of
value in that they open a
door onto a way which,
otherwise, certain people
simply would not know
exists.
Science
is to be used as an
instrument of awakening or
stirring some minds which,
otherwise, might remain
asleep or unmoved.
Science
is to be used therefore as
an instrument of awakening
or stirring some minds
which, otherwise, might
remain asleep or unmoved.
We may think of it as a
dusting brush with which to
brush the dust off the
truth, and the desire for
truth, which lie hidden in
unstirred consciences. By
contrast, if we set out from
the position that science is
the absolute, we shall end
up seeking to fit the Qur’an
and Hadith to it, and where
the Qur’an and Hadith
disagree with science we
shall be the instigators of
doubt and corruption.
The
Quran and Hadith are true
and absolute. Science and
scientific facts are true as
long as they are in
agreement with the Quran and
Hadith
Our
position must be clear, and
it is this: the Quran and
Hadith are true and
absolute. Science and
scientific facts are true as
long as they are in
agreement with the Quran and
Hadith, and are false
inasmuch as they differ or
lead away from the truth of
Quran and Hadith. Even the
definitely established
scientific facts cannot be
pillars to uphold the truths
of iman (faith). They
can and should only be
accepted as an instrument to
give us ideas or to trigger
us to reflect. God it is Who
establishes the truths of iman
in our conscience. To
expect that that takes
place, or could take place,
through science is a grave
error: iman comes by
Divine guidance, and only by
Divine guidance. Anyone who
fails to grasp this is in an
error from which it is hard
to recover. Because, while
he is trying to look for and
gather evidence from the
universe, he will attempt to
make it speak eloquently in
the Name of God, and thus he
himself will always remain
as a servant to nature and
as a nature worshipper,
though unaware of being so.
He will study and speak of
flowers, of the verdancy and
spring of nature, but not
the least greenness or bud
of iman will sprout
in his conscience. In his
lifetime, he may never feel
the existence of God within
his consciousness. In
appearance, he will be free
from worshipping nature,
but in reality that is what
he will be doing throughout
his lifetime.
A
man is mu’min owing
to the iman he holds
in his heart, not to the
heaps of knowledge in his
head.
A
man is mu’min owing
to the iman he holds
in his heart, not to the
heaps of knowledge in his
head. After a person has got
as far as he can in
understanding by means of
evidence objective and
subjective, he must rid
himself of dependence on
the outer circumstances and
qualities and conditions of
all such evidence if he is
to proceed at all in making
spiritual progress. When he
abandons that dependence and
walks in the way of his
heart and conscience
within the light and
guidance of the Qur’an,
then, as God wills, he may
find the enlightenment he
is looking for: as the
German philosopher, Kant,
said: “I felt the need to
leave behind all the books I
read in order to believe in
God.”
Undoubtedly,
the grand book of the
universe, the book of the
true nature of man, and the
books that comment on these,
have their proper place and
significance.
Undoubtedly,
the grand book of the
universe, the book of the
true nature of man, and the
books that comment on these,
have their proper place and
significance. But, after man
makes use of them, he should
be rid of them and live with
his iman, as it were,
face to face. What we are
here saying may seem
abstract to those who have
not gone deep into the
experience of faith and
conscience. But those souls
whose nights are bright with
devotion and who acquire
wings through their longing
to aspire to their Lord will
understand.
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