Quran and Science Essay

Islam and light describes the relationship between Moslem communities and knowledge in general. From an Moslem standpoint, recognition, the study of nature, is considered to be linked to the concept of Tawhid (the Oneness of graven image), as atomic emergence 18 every other branches of knowledge.1 In Islam, nature is not seen as a separate entity, but rather as an integral part of Islams holistic outlook on divinity, military existenceity, and the terra firma.This link implies a sacred saying to the pursuit of scientific knowledge by Islamics, as nature itself is viewed in the Quran as a compilation of signs pointing to the Divine.2 It was with this reasonableness that the pursuit of science was tolerated in Moslem civilizations, specifically during the eighth to sixteenth centuries, prior to the colonization of the Islamic field.3According to theoretical physicist Jim Al-Khalili, the newfangled scientific order was pi unitaryered by Moslem scientist Ibn Al- Haytham (know to the west as Alhazen) whose contributions be likened to those of Isaac Newton.4 Alhazen helped touch the emphasis on abstr present theorizing onto systematic and repeatable experimentation, remarked by vigilant criticism of premises and inferences.5 Robert Briffault, in The Making of Humanity, asserts that the very existence of science, as it is understood in the advanced sense, is rooted in the scientific mentation and knowledge that emerged in Islamic civilizations during this eon.6Muslim scientists and scholars have subsequently authentic a spectrum of viewpoints on the place of scientific learning inside the scope of Islam, none of which are universally accepted.7 However, most maintain the view that the acquisition of knowledge and scientific pursuit in general is not in disaccord with Islamic thought and religious belief.17 Physicist Taner Edis surrounds this is beca handling or so Muslims are knowledge into the metaphorical language of the Holy b ooks what is not at that place, including recent scientific discoveries.8 OverviewThe righteousness Islam has its own worldview system including beliefs about ultimate reality, epistemology, ontology, ethics, purpose, etc.9 Muslims believe that the Quran is the last-place revelation of God for the guidance ofhumankind. lore is the pursuit of knowledge and understanding of the natural and social world following a systematic methodology ground on evidence.10 It is a system of acquiring knowledge based on empiricism, experimentation, and methodological naturalism, as tumesce as to the organized consistence of knowledge humans have gained by such(prenominal) research. Scientists maintain that scientific investigation must adhere to the scientific method, a process for evaluating experimental knowledge that explains observable events in nature as results of natural causes, rejecting necromantic notions. Islam, like all religions, believes in the supernatural that is accessible o r interacts with humanness in this life.One of the most important features of Science is the precise valued prediction. In this aspect it differs from many religious texts where tangible phenomena are pictured in a very qualitative way, often by the use of words carrying several meanings. HistoryClassical Islamic scienceScience in knightly Islam, Islamic cosmology, Astronomy in medieval Islam, math in medieval Islam, Physics in medieval Islam, and Medicine in medieval IslamIn the history of science, Islamic science refers to the science demonstrable under Islamic civilization between the 8th and 16th centuries,11 during what is known as the Islamic Golden Age.It is also known as Arabic science since the majority of texts during this period were written in Arabic, the lingua franca of Islamic civilization. Despite these terms, not all scientists during this period were Muslim or Arab, as there were a number of notable non-Arab scientists (most notably Persians), as well as some non-Muslim scientists, who contributed to scientific studies in the Islamic world.A number of raw scholars such as Fielding H. Garrison,13 Abdus Salam and Hossein Nasr consider modern science and the scientific method to have been greatly inspired by Muslim scientists who introduced a modernempirical, experimental and quantitative approach to scientific inquiry. most scholars, notably Donald Routledge Hill, Ahmad Y Hassan,14 Abdus Salam,15 and George Saliba,16 have referred to their achievements as a Muslim scientific r exploitation,17 though this does not contradict the traditional view of the scientific change which is still supported by most scholars.181920It is believed that it was the empirical attitude of the Quran and hadith which inspired medieval Muslim scientists, in particular Alhazen (965-1037),2122 to induce the scientific method.232425 It is also known that certain advances made by medieval Muslim astronomers, geographers and mathematicians was motivated by proble ms presented in Islamic scripture, such as Al-Khwarizmis (c. 780-850) development of algebra in order to solve the Islamic hereditary pattern laws,26 and developments in astronomy, geography, spherical geometry and spherical trigonometry in order to finalise the direction of the Qibla, the times of Salah prayers, and the dates of the Islamic calendar.27The increased use of dissection in Islamic medicine during the 12th and 13th centuries was influenced by the writings of the Islamic theologian, Al-Ghazali, who encouraged the study of anatomy and use of dissections as a method of gaining knowledge of Gods cosmos.28 In al-Bukharis and Muslims collection of sahih hadith it is saidThere is no disease that Allah has created, draw that He also has created its treatment. (Bukhari 7-71582). This culminated in the work of Ibn al-Nafis (12131288), who discovered the pulmonary circulation in 1242 and used his discovery as evidence for the Orthodox Islamic teaching of bodily resurrection.29 Ibn al-Nafis also used Islamic scripture as vindication for his rejection of wine as self-medication.30 Criticisms against alchemy and astrology were also motivated by religion, as orthodox Islamic theologians viewed the beliefs of alchemists and astrologers as being superstitious.31Fakhr al-Din al-Razi (11491209), in dealings with his conception of physics and the physical world in his Matalib, discusses Islamic cosmology, criticizes the Aristotelian notion of the Earths centrality within theuniverse, and explores the notion of the existence of a multiverse in the context of his commentary, based on the Quranic verse, All praise belongs to God, manufacturing business of the Worlds.He raises the question of whether the term worlds in this verse refers to multiple worlds within this single universe or cosmos, or to many other universes or a multiverse beyond this known universe. On the basis of this verse, he argues that God has created more than a thousand thousand worlds (alfa alfi awalim) beyond this world such that each one of those worlds be bigger and more massive than this world as well as having the like of what this world has.32 Ali Kuus (14031474) support for the Earths rotation and his rejection of Aristotelian cosmology (which advocates a stationary Earth) was motivated by religious opposition to Aristotle by orthodox Islamic theologians, such as Al-Ghazali.3334According to many historians, science in Islamic civilization flourished during the shopping center Ages, but began declining at some time around the 14th35 to 16th11 centuries. At least some scholars blame this on the place upright of a clerical faction which froze this same science and withered its progress.36 Examples of conflicts with overriding interpretations of Islam and science or at least the fruits of science there aft(prenominal) allow in the demolition of Taqi al-Dins great Istanbul observatory of Taqi al-Din in Galata, comparable in its technical equipment and its speci alist personnel with that of his celebrated contemporary, the Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe. however while Brahes observatory opened the way to a extensive new development of astronomical science, Taqi al-Dins was demolished by a squad of Janissaries, by order of the sultan, on the recommendation of the Chief Mufti, erstwhile(prenominal) after 1577 AD.3637Arrival of modern science in Islamic worldAt the beginning of the nineteenth century, modern science arrived in the Muslim world but it wasnt the science itself that affected Muslim scholars. Rather, it was the transference of various philosophical currents entangled with science that had a profound force play on the minds of Muslim scientists and intellectuals. Schools like Positivism and Darwinism penetrated the Muslim world and predominate its academic circles and had a noticeable impacton some Islamic theological doctrines. There were different responses to this among the Muslim scholars38 These reactions, in words of prof Mehdi Golshani, were the following 1. Some rejected modern science as mottle foreign thought, considering it incompatible with Islamic teachings, and in their view, the merely remedy for the stagnation of Islamic societies would be the strict following of Islamic teachings.38 2. Other thinkers in the Muslim world saw science as the only blood line of real enlightenment and advocated the complete adoption of modern science. In their view, the only remedy for the stagnation of Muslim societies would be the mastery of modern science and the replacement of the religious worldview by the scientific worldview. 3. The majority of faithful Muslim scientists tried to adapt Islam to the findings of modern science they can be categorise in the following subgroups (a) Some Muslim thinkers attempted to justify modern science on religious grounds.Their motivation was to encourage Muslim societies to accomplish modern knowledge and to safeguard their societies from the criticism of Orientali sts and Muslim intellectuals. (b) Others tried to depute that all important scientific discoveries had been predicted in the Quran and Islamic tradition and appealed to modern science to explain various aspects of faith. (c) Yet other scholars advocated a re-interpretation of Islam. In their view, one must try to construct a new theology that can establish a viable relation between Islam and modern science.The Indian scholar, Sayyid Ahmad Khan, sought a theology of nature through which one could re-interpret the basic principles of Islam in the light of modern science. (d) and then there were some Muslim scholars who believed that empirical science had reached the same conclusions that prophets had been advocating several thousand long time ago. The revelation had only the privilege of prophecy. 4. Finally, some Muslim philosophers separated the findings of modern science from its philosophical attachments.Thus, while they praised the attempts of Western scientists for the discov ery of the secrets of nature, they warned against various empiricist and temporal interpretations of scientific findings. Scientific knowledge can reveal certain aspects of the physical world, but it should not be identified with the alpha and omega of knowledge. Rather, it has to be integrated into a metaphysical frameworkconsistent with theMuslim worldviewin which higher levels of knowledge are recognized and the role of science in bringing us closer to God is fulfilled.9 Compatibility of Islam and the development of scienceWhether Islamic culture has promoted or hindered scientific advancement is disputed. Islamists such as Sayyid Qutb argue that since Islam appointed Muslims as representatives of God and made them responsible for learning all the sciences,39 science cannot but prosper in a society of avowedly Muslims. Many classical and modern sources agree that the Quran condones, even encourages the acquisition of science and scientific knowledge, and urges humans to reflect on the natural phenomena as signs of Gods creation. Some scientific instruments produced in classical times in the Islamic world were inscribed with Quranic citations.Many Muslims agree that doing science is an act of religious merit, even a collective duty of the Muslim community.40 Others birdsong traditional interpretations of Islam are not compatible with the development of science. Author Rodney Stark, argues that Islams lag behind the West in scientific advancement after (roughly) 1500 AD was due to opposition by traditional ulema to efforts to contrive systematic explanation of natural phenomenon with natural laws.He claims that they believed such laws were disconsolate because they limit Allahs freedom to act as He wishes, a principle enshired in aya 144 Allah sendeth whom He will astray, and guideth whom He will, which (they believed) applied to all of creation not just humanity.41 DeclineIn the early twentieth century ulema forbade the learning of foreign languages and dissection of human bodies in the medical school in Iran.42In recent years, the dawdle of the Muslim world in science is manifest in the disproportionately small amount of scientific output as measured by citations of articles published in internationally circulating science journals, annual expenditures on research and development, and numbers of research scientists and engineers.Skepticism of science among some Muslims is reflected in issues such as resistance in Muslim northern Nigeria to infantile paralysis inoculation, which some believe is an imaginary thing created in the West or it is a ploy to get us to submit to this evil agenda.44 Scientific issues in the Quran and hadithThe belief that the Quran had prophesied scientific theories and discoveries has become a ironlike and widespread belief in the contemporary Islamic world these prophecies are often offered as evidence of the divine origin of the Quran 45 see scientific foreknowledge in sacred texts for further discus sion of this issue.Taner Edis wrote An Illusion of capital of New Hampshire Science and Religion in Islam.46 Edis worries that secularism in Turkey, one of the most westernized Muslim nations, is on its way out he points out that Turkey rejects evolution by a large majority. To Edis, many Muslims appreciate technology and jimmy the role that science plays in its creation.As a result, he says there is a great deal of Islamic pseudoscience attempting to reconcile this respect with other respected religious beliefs. Edis maintains that the motivation to read modern scientific truths into hallowed books is also stronger for Muslims than Christians.8 This is because, according to Edis, true criticism of the Quran is almost non-existent in the Muslim world. While Christianity is less prone to see its Holy Book as the direct word of God, fewer Muslims will compromise on this thought causing them to believe that scientific truths simply must appear in the Quran.However, Edis opines tha t there are endless examples of scientific discoveries that could be read into the sacred scripture or Quran if one would like to.8 Edis qualifies that Muslim thought certainly cannot be understood by looking at the Quran alone cultural and governmental factors play large roles.8Russel Glasser (Skeptic on The Atheist Experience TV translate with Matt Dillahunty and Jeff Dee) argues that interpreting the Quran like this is cherry picking and risks simply corroborate the biases of the investigator.47 Conception and inherited characteristicsThe most prominent of the ancient Greek thinkers who wrote on medicine were Hippocrates, Aristotle, and Galen. Hippocrates and Galen, in contrast with Aristotle, wrote that the contribution of females to children is equal to that of males, and the vehicle for it is a substance similar to the germ of males.48 Basim Musallam writes that the ideas of these men were widespreadthrough the pre-modern Middle East Hippocrates, Aristotle, and Galen wer e as much a part of Middle east Arabic culture as anything else in it.48 The sayings in the Quran and those attributed to Muhammad in the Hadith influenced genesiss of Muslim scientists by siding with Galen and Hippocrates.Basim Musallam writes the dictations about parental contribution to generation in the hadith paralleled the Hippocratic writings, and the view of fetal development in the Quran agreed in detail with Galens scientific writings.48 He reports that the passing influential medieval Hanbali scholar Ibn Qayyim, in his book Kitab al-tibyan fi aqsam al-quran, cites the following statement of the prophet, when asked the question from what is man created, He is created of both, the semen of the man and the semen of the woman. The mans semen is thick and forms the bones and the tendons. The womans semen is fine and forms the flesh and blood.49 Creation and evolutionThe Quran contains many verses describing creation of the universe God created heavens and earth in six et hereal long time754 the earth was created in two days419, and in two other days (into a total of four) God furnished the creation of the earth with mountains, rivers and fruit-gardens 4110. Then heavens and earth formed from one mass which had to be recrudesce 2130, the seven heavens were created from smoke 4111, forming layers, one above the other 673. The angels lodge the seventh heavens. The lowest heaven is adorned with lights 4112, the sun and the moon (which follow a regular path) 71161433, the stars 376 and the constellations of the Zodiac.