Islam and Science

Islam and science are closely related. Islam not only gives science a high priority, but it also strongly supports its pursuit. Islam does in fact view science as a necessary condition for human survival. This seems strange. Typically, we perceive religion as being antagonistic toward science. Between science and Christianity, wasn't there a prolonged war? Did the Church bring charges against Galileo? However, between "religion" and "science" war was completely a western issue. Such mutual hostilities have no equivalent in Islam.

Islam, on the other hand, has always supported the activity of scientific knowledge. Hazrat Muhammad, emphasized that only scientific investigation can provide an understanding of the worldly. He insisted that the culture of Islam was a culture based on knowledge. He instructed his followers to "go as far to China in the pursuit of knowledge".

Importance of Science in Quran

Muslims place a great deal of emphasis on scientific knowledge because they consider the Quran to be the exact Word of Allah and evidently discriminate it from the Hazrat Muhammad's sayings. "Read" is the first word in Quran that was revealed to Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W). It alludes to reading the "signs of God" or conducting a well organized study of nature, in between others reading techniques. The fundamental tenet of Muslim thought is that there are many signs of God in the material world, and that these signs can only be understood through reason and unbiased investigation. The Quran spends almost a third of its pages praising science, reason, and the careful study of the physical world. The Quran instructs its readers to "acquire knowledge of all things" and to pray, "Allah increase me in knowledge." 

The Quran's most important quoted verses is as follows:

"Surely there are signs for the believers in the heavens and the earth; and in your formation, and the creeping materials He disperse abroad, and in the change of day and night, and the provision Allah sends from the heaven, and the turning of the winds, and in all things, there are indications for the people having sure faith." (45:3-5). 

Islam and science should therefore get along well. From the 8^th to the 15^th centuries, during the classical era of Muslim civilization, religion was the driving force behind science. The underdevelopment and poverty that plague the modern Muslim world are directly related to the disregard for science. A serious inoculation of the societies of Muslims in scientific spirit is necessary for the revival of Islam and the ensuing development of a modern Islamic culture.

Islam and Science in Early Muslim History.

In early Muslim history, we can clearly see evidence of the connection between science and Islam. Religious demands served as the primary impetus for the development of science. Acute interest in, atmospheric and optical physics, celestial mechanics and spherical trigonometry resulted from the need to accurately regulate the daily prayer times, the angle of Mecca from any location in the world of Muslims, the precise day on which the holy month of Ramadan will begin with fasting, and the requirements of Muslim lunar calendar (which needed the seeing of new moon). Algebra was created as the result of Islamic law of inheritance. The yearly Mecca pilgrimage, which is required by religion, sparked an intense geographic interest, maps, and navigational devices.

Muslims naturally became experts in the study of antiquity due to the special importance Islam placed on inquiry and learning, as well as the significant authority that states of Muslims took on themselves to support this venture. The translators teams painstakingly transcribed Greek thought and knowledge into Arabic at the behest of power patrons. However, Muslims did not just slavishly copy Greek knowledge; instead, they attempted to accommodate it and apply its teachings to their own issues, coming up with new ideas and methods in the process.

Science in Islamic philosophy

Greek philosophy was subjected to in-depth critical examination by scholars like al-Farabi, al-Kindi, ibn Sina, ibn Rushd and ibn Tufayl. Simultaneously, the empirical study of nature received serious consideration. Muslim civilization is where experimental or exploratory science as we know it today got its start. In the late eighth century, scientists like Jabir ibn Hayan, who established chemistry as an experimental science and ibn al-Haytham, in the tenth century who entrenched optics as an experimental science, are examples of those whose work forms the basis of "scientific method." Nearly every field of study, from astronomy to zoology, was actively pursued or improved upon by Muslim scientists. Four establishments—scientific universities, libraries, tools and hospitals for scientific observation—are thought to be typical of the "Golden Age of Islam." —can serve as illustrations of the scope and nature of this scientific pursuit (especially, instruments of astronaut’s such as astrolabes, celestial globes, observatories and sundials).

Islam and science in 9^th century

The "House of Wisdom," established by the Abbasid Caliph al-Mamun in Baghdad, was the most renowned library and was crucial in advancing scientific knowledge across the empire of Islam. The Caliph of Cordoba Hakam’s  II library in Spain contained 400,000 books. From Damascus and Cairo to as far away as Bukhara  and Samarkand, similar libraries existed. In 970, the Al-Azhar mosque in Cairo became the site of the first university ever established. Numerous other universities opened up in cities like Timbuktu and Fez after it. Hospitals, where most medical care was free of charge, served as training grounds and sites for theoretical and empirical research, just like universities. For their research output, the Kabir an-Nuri hospital in Damascus and the Abodi hospital in Baghdad gained renown on a global scale. Doctors had complete freedom to try new things, prescribe novel medications, and document their research in reports that the public could read. Muslim surgeons invented many of the standard surgical tools that are still in use today. Similar to this, there were numerous observatories dispersed throughout the Muslim world; the most significant one was founded at Maragha in Azerbaijan by renowned astronomer Nasir al-Din al-Tusi, that created the "Tusi couple" that assisted Copernicus in formulating his theory.

Muslim Nobel laureates

Of course, all of this stands in stark contradiction to how technology and science are currently perceived in the world of Muslims . With the remarkable exception of Pakistani Noble Laureate Abdus Salam, Muslim societies have hardly ever produced scientists of note on a global scale. Most Muslim countries place very little emphasis on scientific research. What ever happened to "the miracle of Arab culture," as science historian George Sarton put it? What can be done, then, to rekindle the spirit of science in Muslim societies?

Criticism

There are many explanations for why science has become less important in civilization of Muslims. Family dynamics, Islamic law and the absence of protestant morals in culture of Muslims have all been blamed. Islam itself has been accused of being "anti-progressive" and "anti-science." All of these hypotheses lack merit. The harsh reality is that Muslims intentionally and consciously rejected scientific query in the favor of blind imitation and obscurantism of religion.

Muslims need to first understand that science doesn't have any quick fixes. Science, as well as the spirit of science, cannot be purchased or transferred. Science must be made relevant to the needs and demands of a people in order for it to emerge from within a society. Rolling up one's sleeves and returning to the lab is the only option. By only affecting and improving the lives of everyday Muslims will science be able to flourish in Muslim cultures.