Why does Islam Encourage Science and Advancement? (1/2)

Why is it so that Islam is the only system of life that can integrate man's needs for advancement and discovery of the universe around him? The features that distinguish Islam from other beliefs led Gibb (a well-known orientalist) to write:

The kind of society that a community builds for itself depends fundamentally upon its belief as to the nature and purpose of the universe and the place of the human soul within it. This is a familiar enough doctrine and is reiterated from Christian pulpits week after week. But Islam possibly is the only religion, which has constantly aimed to build up a society on this principle. The prime instrument was law (Shreia'h).[1]

Why is Islam the only religion that can meet the needs of humanity and integrate and interact with the universe in a harmonious way? It is simply because all other religions and dogmas have never adopted a true monotheistic way of life.

They emphasized the personification of god through nature.

They also assumed that contradiction was a principle characteristic of knowledge. Therefore, during a period of more than 1000 years, when Christianity, for example, took control of peoples' minds, this era did not produce any natural sciences. Christians, Hindus, Buddhists, etc. could not adopt a scientific attitude until Islam liberated them from their polytheism[2], which was imposed by religious authorities, and until they were exposed to the Muslim scientific revolution.

Neither Hinduism, Buddhism nor Christianity could elevate their followers to engage in scientific thinking. Nevertheless, as soon as they became Muslims and worshipped the Almighty God alone, they became scientists and great thinkers side by side with the Muslim Arabs of that era. Examples from history as presented above are great witnesses.

Muslims were able to acquire the qualities needed for scientific thinking and advancement for two main reasons:

Firstly, the Glorious Qur'an and the Noble traditions of Prophet Muhammad urged the people to contemplate and study their own nature as well as themselves and the universe around them.

“Indeed, Allah is Exalted in Might and Forgiving.” (The Qur'an, Surah Fatir, 35:28)

“Say, Are those who know equal to those who do not know? Only they will remember [who are] people of understanding.” (The Qur'an, Surah Az-Zumar, 39:9)

“Allah will raise those who have believed among you and those who were given knowledge by degrees. And Allah is acquainted with what you do.” (The Qur'an, Surah Al-Mujadila, 58:11)

“Then, do they not reflect upon the Qur'an? If it had been from [any] other than Allah, they would have found within it much contradiction.” (The Qur'an, Surah An-Nisa’, 4:82)

“Do those who disbelieve not see that the heavens and earth were a joined entity, then We separated them, and made from water every living thing? Then will they not believe?” (The Qur'an, Surah Al-Anbya’, 21:30)

“We will show them Our Signs in the horizons and within themselves until it becomes clear to them that it is the truth. But is it not sufficient concerning your Lord that He is over all things a Witness?” (The Qur'an, Surah Fussilat, 41: 53)

Many of these signs have been thoroughly discussed in the Qur'an and later on discovered by scientists as they progress in their knowledge and their scientific techniques in research development. The following excerpt refers to a single sign that scientist found great details in the Qur'an.

“Or (the unbelievers' state) is like the darkness in a deep sea. It is covered by waves, above which are waves, above which are clouds. Darknesses, one above another. If a man stretches out his hand, he cannot see it....” (Qu'ran, Surah An-Nur, 24:40)

This verse mentions the darkness found in deep seas and oceans, where if a man stretches out his hand, he cannot see it. The darkness in deep seas and oceans is found around a depth of 200 meters and below. At this depth, there is almost no light. Below a depth of 1000 meters there is no light at all. Human beings are not able to dive more than forty meters without the aid of submarines or special equipment. Human beings cannot survive unaided in the deep dark part of the oceans, such as at a depth of 200 meters and deeper.

Scientists have recently discovered this darkness by means of special equipment and submarines that have enabled them to dive into the depths of oceans We can also understand from the following sentences in the previous verse, "...in a deep sea. It is covered by waves, above which are waves, above which are clouds....", that the deep waters of seas and oceans are covered by waves, and above these waves are other waves. It is clear that the second set of waves is the surface waves that we see, because the verse mentions that above the second waves there are clouds. But, what about the first waves? Scientists have recently discovered that there are internal waves, which "occur on density interfaces between layers of different densities."

The internal waves cover the deep waters of seas and oceans because the deep waters have a higher density than the waters above them. Internal waves act like surface waves. They can also break, just like surface waves. The human eye cannot see internal waves, but they can be detected by studying temperature or salinity changes at a given location.[3]

As a matter of fact, this verse that talks about how the universe was created has the very information by which two physicists were awarded the 1973 Nobel Prize. However, these scientific facts had already been revealed to Prophet Mohammed more than 1400 years ago.[4]

(Continued)