Islam and Science

Islam solves this dilemma by taking a moderate stance in relation to this issue. Man is not denied the right to enjoy life providing that he does not violate the rights of other creations of Allah as described by Him in the Qur'an, Surah Al-A’raf, 7:31-32

 “O Children of Adam! Wear your good clothing at every masjid, but be not excessive. Indeed, He [i.e., Allah] likes not those who commit excess. Say, Who has forbidden Allah's adornment, which He has produced for His servants and the lawful things of provision? Say, They are for those who believe during worldly life [but] exclusively for them on the Day of Resurrection. Thus do We explain in detail the verses for a people who know.”

Any system of life that hinders advancement of humanity in sciences and technology that are of the benefit of humanity is not worthy of being chosen as a way of life. Islam stands tall in this regard, since it is the only religion that has opened the doors for great leaps in all fields of sciences. Muslims do not succeed in science and technology when they distance themselves from the pure teachings of Islam. Colonialists and orientalists discovered that fact, and hence tried to distract Muslims away from the real source of development. Many historians have recognized this fact. Among them, Philip Hitti, who says while referring to AI-Khawarzmi, a celebrated Muslim scholar in the field of Mathematics:

One of the best scientific minds of Islam, AI-Khwarizmi, is undoubtedly the man who exercised the most influence on mathematical thought during the whole of the Middle Ages.[1]

M. Charles, a French scientist, refers to the contribution of another Muslim mathematician, AI-Battani, by saying:

AI-Battani was the first to use in his works the expressions sine and cosine. He introduced it to geometric calculus and calls it extended shadow. It is what is called in modern trigonometry the tangent.[2]

Historians stress that modern sciences are indebted to the Muslims for great advances in many of the scientific fields. As Fauriel (1846) states:

Contact between the two civilizations-Christian and Muslim-- had been established by normal and well-founded routes. In this, commerce and pilgrimage played the principal role. Land and sea traffic between East and West was already flourishing well before the Xlth century. It was through Spain, Sicily and the South of France, which were under direct Saracen rule that Islamic civilization entered into Europe.[3]

By the middle of the IXth century, Muslim civilization had already prevailed in Spain. The Spaniards of that time regarded Arabic as the only medium for science and literature. Its importance was such that the Ecclesiastical Authorities had been compelled to have the collection of canons used in Spanish churches translated into the Romance languages, (the predecessors of modern Spanish) for the two languages were in current use throughout the whole of Muslim Spain. Christian Spain recognized this superiority of the Muslims. In about 830, Alphonse the Great, King of the Austrians, had sent for two Saracen Muslim scholars to act as tutors for his son and heir.

After conducting a rigorous comparative research of the Bible and the Qur'an to the major discoveries of modern science, the French renowned scientist and member of the French Scientific Academy noticed the absence of any contradictions between the contents of the Qur'an and these discoveries. Furthermore, he found that the Qur'an describes both phenomenal and unseen worlds in a completely accurate way:

'The Qur'an follows on from the two revelations that preceded it and is not only free from contradictions in its narrations, the signs of the various human manipulations to be found in the Gospels, but provides a quality all of its own for those who examine it objectively and in the light of science, i.e. its complete agreement with modern scientific data. What is more, statements are to be found in it that are connected with science: and yet it is unthinkable that a man of Muhammad's time could have been the author of them. Modern scientific knowledge therefore allows us to understand certain verses of the Qur'an, which, until now, it has been impossible to interpret.’[4]