islam and science

Arab Spring and Scientific Revival


The upheaval in multiple Arab countries, known as the "Arab Spring", is certain to lead to new political structures in a part of the world hitherto dominated by monarchies and dictatorships. But this revolution against autocratic stability and despotism, which are largely responsible for keeping the Arab world in darkness, does not by itself guarantee that a scientific revival is around the corner. An Arab renaissance will happen only if appropriate cultural and attitudinal changes follow the political changes. How fast, or slow, these countries move into the 21st century will depend on how Arabs choose to reinvent their way of life. Muslim Arabs will have to cast off the false, but widely held belief, that science is somehow contained within their religion. They must reject the notion that supplications to the powers "up above" can actually change material outcomes. The existing "inshallah" culture - which denies causality and puts the onus on God for everything - is unsupportive of science and, in fact, antithetical to it. -- Pervez Hoodbhoy
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Islam and Science

C M Naim’s response: THE QURAN AND MOTIONS OF THE SUN AND MOON



I was surprised and saddened to find the article, “THE QURAN AND MOTIONS OF THE SUN AND MOON” by Prof. Zafar Ahsan of Aligarh Muslim University in your most recent mailing (19 Apr 2011, NewAgeIslam.Com), and to learn that it was written exclusively for New Age Islam. It is not a scientific article—more an article of faith—and its logic is full of holes. Below I shall show how, using just a few passages from it. I shall put in bold the passage from the article; my own comments will be otherwise. …

For those interested in the question of Science in Muslim societies, the initial step should be Pervez Hoodbhoy’s pointed study, Islam and Science: Religious Orthodoxy and the Battle for Rationality (with a foreword by Dr. Abdus Salam), published in 1991. But the two may not be acceptable as “true” Muslims. -- C M Naim for NewAgeIslam.com
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Islam and Science

THE QURAN AND MOTIONS OF THE SUN AND MOON


Allah is the Creator of everything that is present in the universe, so what are the philosophical reasons behind this creation. We have to think about these reasons. Verse 2 above states the process of creation of human being; and the truth and exact knowledge involved in any process of creation is just the definition of science. Thus verse 2 (above) clearly indicates that if we want to know the factuality, genuineness and reality of a creation, we then have to study science. Moreover, in these verses the Arabic word Iqra appears twice, while the Arabic word Qalam is mentioned only once. This means that one has to read more than once. -- Prof. Zafar Ahsan for NewAgeIslam.com
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Islam and Science

A Case Of Bogus Science


Comstech is the Organization of Islamic Countries' highest scientific body. It has received millions of dollars from OIC countries, including Pakistan. Comstech's opulent headquarters are located on Constitution Avenue in Islamabad. It has been headed by Dr. Atta-ur-Rahman since 1996. Although its performance has been consistently mediocre, the organization has now descended to an all-time low.

Recently Dr. Rahman published an eye-popping article entitled "HAARP" (Dawn, 17-10-2010). The article claims that a physics research project, based in Alaska, may have been used by the United States to trigger earthquakes globally, and could also have caused the catastrophic floods in Pakistan. -- Pervez Hoodbhoy
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Islam and Science

Science ends here


Johannes Heinrich’s Scientific vindication of Christianity (1887) is one example, while Mohan Roy’s Vedic Physics: Scientific Origin of Hinduism (1999) is a good way of observing how this thought has evolved among followers of other faiths. It is interesting to note how a number of Muslim ‘scientists’ have laboured hard to come up with convoluted interpretations of certain scriptures. Ironically, their ancient counterparts, especially between the 8th and 13th centuries in Baghdad and Persia, had put all effort in trying to understand natural phenomena and the human body and mind through hardcore science and philosophy. -- Nadeem F. Paracha
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Islam and Science

Religion and Science: Respecting the differences


Let me explain and provide some context. I'm an evolutionary biologist, and I believe that science is an incredibly powerful way of understanding the natural world. Unfortunately, we live in a society that is largely scientifically illiterate. By that I don't mean that most people don't understand the specifics of any particular science, which is unquestionably true, but rather that most people don't understand the nature of science. They are unable to distinguish between science and pseudoscience or, as I like to say, among science, nonscience, and nonsense. Collectively, we regularly suffer the consequences of scientific illiteracy, from poorly conceived public policies to atrocious educational practices.

Scientific investigation is a process that depends upon hypothesis testing and demands that scientific claims be offered in a manner that permits them to be falsified. Simply put, if you can't phrase your hypothesis in a falsifiable manner, it falls outside the bounds of science. Science is, therefore, one of the few fields of human endeavor that has opted to limit its own scope -- and it's that limitation that makes it so useful. -- Michael Zimmerman
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Islam and Science

How Islamic Scientific History Can Combat Today's Extremists



How ironic, I thought to myself as I stood there looking at the display honouring her contributions to religious instruction as well as political and natural sciences education: more than a millennium later some ignorant souls who claim to share her religion want to deny women an education and employment. Have these individuals even heard about Fatima al Fihri?
The truth is that secularism played a large role in the advancement of science in Islam. Because religion was seen as a tool in life -- not the objective, as it is often preached today -- people were free to create, imagine, and dream without the imposition of artificial boundaries. Jewish, Christian, and Muslim scholars conducted research side by side and thus both Islam and humanity were enriched. – Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi
Photo: Abu al Qasim al Zahrawi
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Islam and Science

The Elusive Search for Aliens


We have no evidence whatsoever for any life beyond Earth, let alone intelligent life. It could be that life's origin was a stupendous fluke, and that we are alone after all. But the consequences of discovering that other intelligences exist, or have existed, are so momentous it seems worth taking a penetrating look at how we could uncover evidence for it….. For many nonscientists, the fascination with the search for extraterrestrial intelligence is its tantalizing promise of wisdom in the sky. Frank Drake has said that the search for alien intelligence is really a search for ourselves, and how we fit into the great cosmic scheme. To know that we are not the only sentient beings in a mysterious and sometimes frightening universe—that an alien community had endured for eons, overcoming multiple problems—would represent a powerful symbol of hope for mankind. --PAUL DAVIES
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Islam and Science

Science, West and Islamic Origin of Science


Thus it is not true that Islam ever came in the way of development of modern knowledge or science. In fact it was the springboard, if we believe Prof. Raju, of development of modern science. Prof. H.G. Wells, in his The Short History of the World calls the Arabs as foster fathers of modern knowledge. But it is only partly true. The Arabs were much more than foster fathers. Their own contribution was quite rich as we will discuss shortly.

It is true after 13th century there was stagnation in the Muslims world and for reasons not to be discussed here, the Muslim world was taken over by superstitious beliefs until the western colonization again awoke them from their slumber. The Muslim theologians also contributed to this stagnation a great deal. In order to maintain their hegemony they opposed great philosophers and scientists like Farabi, Ibn Sina (Avicena) or (Averos) (Ibn Rushd) and others and even condemned them as heretics.

Also, persons like Ghazzali, had very different approach to knowledge which was based on certainty rather than uncertainties of philosophy and constant quest for knowledge of science and hence he also opposed philosophers like Averros and there was great debate between the two. -- Asghar Ali Engineer
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Islam and Science

Indonesia's Condom Plan Raises Hope, Old Doubts


KPA keeps a comprehensive database of HIV-AIDS-related statistics, but has no comprehensive data on how many condom outlets are currently operating. According to a KPA study they have conducted, less than half the women working in brothels and massage parlors report having access to condoms and only 15 percent of sex workers who sell on the street say condoms are available in their areas. That poses a problem as the source of the transmission of new HIV infections in Indonesia shifts from drug use to sex, said UNAIDS country coordinator Nancy Fee, with an office in Jakarta. "We're at a danger point in the spread of the epidemic. A lot more people have sex than do drugs, so that's where we see the numbers growing," she said. -- Sara Schonhardt
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Islam and Science

Pervez Hoodbhoy, Islam and Science: Religious Orthodoxy and Battle for Rationality


Hoodboy presents as “heroes” (p. 107) some Muslim scientists and philosophers who supposedly held very unconventional views about Islam such as al-Kindi, al-Razi, Ibn Sina, Ibn Rushd, and Ibn Khaldun while he turns other brilliant leaders and thinkers such as ‘Umar bin al-Khattab and al-Ghazali into villains. This strict division between villains and heroes, as is often the case, proves to be mistaken under scrutiny. Thus one “orthodox villain” Ibn Taymiyyah considered another “orthodox villain” al-Ghazali as misguided. Similarly, Ibn Khaldun, one of Hoodbhoy’s heroes, condemns another of his heroes Ibn Sina as anti-religious. Furthermore, if “villains” like al-Ghazali seem to discourage the study of some sciences, then so do “heroes” like Ibn Khaldun who opposed the science of chemistry and Ibn Rushd who said: “books written by scholars should be forbidden to the ordinary person by the rulers.” Clearly, Hoodbhoy has not learnt very much over the past ten years, since his criticism of al-Ghazali and religious orthodoxy reflects the same lack of understanding of the writings of al-Ghazali and the complexity of the issues connected with predestination, free will, and cause-effect relationship that he manifested in his book. -- Dr. Ahmad Shafaat
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Islam and Science

Indian Maulanas using solar eclipse for spreading superstition


Maulana Nadeemul Wajidi takes the lead




















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Islam and Science

Islam's evolutionary legacy: Darwin and God


As we celebrate Darwin, let's not forget the unsung champions of evolution from the Muslim world

These ideas were later taken up in the writings of Indian-born philosopher-poet Muhammad Iqbal in the early 20th century. We also know that Iqbal had been reading Darwin and wanted to find a way of synthesising the latest ideas from biological science with earlier Islamic-era philosophy. Iqbal today is revered throughout South Asia and also happens to be Pakistan's national poet. Why is it important to emphasise links between Darwin, and thinking on evolution in other cultures? One reason is that in many developing countries today, Darwin – and by extension evolution – are seen as being in the service of imperialism. -- Ehsan Masood

Darwin and God: can they co-exist?

Muslim scientists must ensure that Islam's encounter with evolution does not turn out to be its Galileo moment. -