NatScien

1. THE NATURE OF SCIENCE

Science derives from the inherent human tendency of curiosity which is found also in animals. All human children display the desire to examine things, to take them apart and put them together, to see how they work. It is part of the need to adapt to the world we live in. This tendency, however, atrophies as a result of conditioning, and as familiarity and habit grow. To this basic tendency are added certain procedures and methodologies, certain assumptions and ways of thinking, and other motives are also added. Among these are the altruistic desire to apply the knowledge to increase human welfare and advantages, or the more selfish one’s to make a profit, to increase power or prestige. Knowledge also gives greater freedom, versatility and adaptability. Above all knowledge increases, or ought to increase, consciousness, conscience and control, These are religious or Islamic aims, part of the evolutionary process, and integral to the notion of Surrender. Sometimes, like religions in the past, it merely creates prejudices, rigid habits of thought, dogmatism and even ritualism, and is used to dominate other people or in the service of conflicts.

Whereas the word knowledge applies to something which a person is aware of and can use, something which modifies a person, the word science is now used only to refer to ideas which are arrived at through a certain set of procedures. It is, therefore, a subset of all knowledge.

Western science is based to a large extent on foundations laid down by Arab Muslims. Though the ancient Egyptians, Greeks, Chinese and other past civilisations certainly contributed to the development of science in that they provided some basic notions and observation, these ideas were also gathered by Muslims and entered Europe mostly through them. The Father of Science in the West is said to be Roger Bacon who, like many other Europeans including one who became a Pope, made his studies in the Muslim Universities in Spain. Modern mathematical physics could be said to begin with Isaac Newton who, according to his own words, was a follower of Pythagoras, as were Kepler and Copernicus before him. Pythagoras was the first person we know of who applied mathematics to both the Cosmos and to music and spoke about the Music of the Spheres. He was probably influenced by Hebrew and Zarathustrian ideas. The use of experiment and mathematics and the requirement that knowledge should be applicable are also integral to Islam. In particular, the advances in science would have been impossible without the kind of thinking provided by Algebra. This can be regarded as the application of analogical and symbolic thinking in the field of mathematics. The foundations of Chemistry lie in Alchemy, but this science has been stripped of the psychological connotations which it also had in Alchemy.

Science can be justified by the following verses in the Quran:-

“This (the Quran) is naught else than a reminder to creation to whomsoever of you wills to walk straight.” 81:27-28

(Note: We are required to study creation.)

“He hath created the heaven and earth with truth...” 39:5

(Note: This not only tells us that truth is to be found by studying nature, but that the causes of all phenomena lie in the transmission of information)

“Are those who know equal with those who know not? But only men of understanding will pay heed. “39:9

(Note: This establishes the superiority of those who have knowledge.)

“Allah will exalt those who believe among you, and those who have knowledge, to high ranks.” 58:11

(Note: Knowledge bestows capability and power)

“...and say: My Lord! Increase me in knowledge.” 20:114

(Note: This is a prayer which gives us a purpose and goal.)

“Lo, in the creation of the heavens and the earth and in the difference of night and day are tokens for men of understanding..” 3:190

(Note: Science began with Astronomical studies. Note also that Cosmic rhythms are considered important.)

“Have they not travelled in the land, and have they hearts wherewith to feel and ears wherewith to hear? For indeed it is not the eyes that grow blind, but it is the hearts, which are within their bosoms, that grow blind.” 22:46

(Note: A great number of sciences depend on travel and observations of the land, including geology, anthropology, archaeology, biology, sociology. What is required is deliberate observation and empathy not opinion based on habits of thought.)

“In their History verily there is a lesson for men of understanding.” 12:111

(Note: We are exhorted to study history and sociology)

“Have they not pondered upon themselves? Allah created not the heavens and earth, and that which is between them, save with truth and for a destined end.” 30:8

(Note: The science of Psychology depends on this)

“O man! follow not that whereof you have no knowledge. Lo! The hearing and the sight and the heart - of each of these it will be asked (to give an account).” 17:36

(Note: This refers to empirical knowledge, but also to insight and empathy.)

“Most of them follow naught but conjecture. Assuredly conjecture can by no means take the place of truth.” 10:37

(Note: Investigation is required.)

“And He has made of service unto you whatever is in the heavens and the earth; it is all from Him. Lo! herein are signs for people who reflect.” 45:13

(Note: Things can be used to gain knowledge and guidance as well as for other purposes.)

“Proofs have come to you from your Lord, so he who sees, it is for his own good, and he who is blind is blind to his own hurt...” 6:105

(Note: Islam does not require blind faith, but the search and acceptance of proofs. The closed mind is condemned.)

“Follow that which is inspired in you from thy Lord, there is no God save Him.” 6:107

(Note: This can be taken to mean personal insight, intuition or inspiration.)

“Lo! We have created everything by measure. And Our Commandment is but One, as the twinkling of an eye.” 54:49-50

(Note: This encourages the use of mathematics. It also points to the unity and inter-connectedness of everything.)

“There is no changing the Words of Allah.” 10:65 and “There is no changing the Laws of Allah’s creation.” 30:30

(Note: This establishes the Lawfulness of the Universe, the constancy behind change.)

“And unto Allah falls prostrate whosoever is in the heavens and the earth, willingly or unwillingly, as do their shadows in the morning and the evening hours.” 13:15

(Note: This establishes Determinism, the Law of Causation. But Cause is not mechanical but purposive.)

“If He will He can remove you and can cause what He will to follow after you even as He raised you from the seed of other folk.” 6:134

(Note: This points to Evolution.)

“Lo! He produces creation, then reproduces it.” 10:5

(Note: This points to continuous creation or to successive new creations. The Universe is not static.)

“Now whatever you have been given is but a passing comfort for the life of the world, and that which Allah has is better and more lasting for those who believe and put their trust in their Lord, and those who shun the worst of sins and indecencies, and when they are angry, forgive, and those who answer the call of their Lord and establish worship and who settle their affairs by mutual consultation, and who spend of what We have bestowed on them.....” 42: 36-38

(Note: This verse, as others, has an outer and inner meaning and a general application. The point of interest with respect to the present discussion is that we are required (a) to concentrate our attention not on what is fleeting and superficial, but on what is much more universal and fundamental. (b) set aside our subjective desires and impulses, (c) assume a reverend attitude to reality and serve it (d) settle all opinions by mutual consultation (e) use the faculties and resources inherent in us.)

The Islamic attitude to Knowledge can be understood through the following basic principles:-

1. Reality. Allah is the ultimate creator, maintainer and destroyer of the Universe and all things in it. If it were stated that these processes are governed by Nature, then many people would understand what is meant and accept it. But the concept of Allah is much wider than this. It does not only include substances, change and order, but also life, intelligence and consciousness, which are also realities. There are several consequences to this view:-

(a) Objectivity. There is a Reality apart from human opinions, desires and activities. The real world is governed by processes that do not depend on man. On the contrary, man depends on them.

(b) Absolute. There is underlying all phenomena and change something unchanging and undifferentiated. The Principle of Conservation applies. No presuppositions are made about the nature of this ultimate reality, whether it is material, vital, ideal or spiritual. This cannot be known since our minds are limited and all knowledge is relative. But it exists and confers existence on all other things, All phenomena must derive from it and have a relationship with it. These things, however, have limitations and are known because of their limits. The purpose of science is to study phenomena, everything which is created, happens or is experienced. This includes matter, energy, order, life, mind and consciousness.

(c) Unity. The whole of reality is a Unity. All things are inter-dependent. The Whole is more than and prior to its parts. The consequence of this view is that things cannot be looked at in isolation. Everything has a function with respect to the greater whole of which it is a part and arises because of that function. It has to adjust itself or adapt to that system. The cause and purpose are the same. This system may, however, belong as part to a still higher system and so on, till we come to the All. There are, therefore, several levels of adjustment.

(d) Causation. All events take place because of causes, and all causes have a single original source. There are forces governing all things. Whereas Western Science looks for causes only when there is a change, e.g. in direction, velocity or quality, Islamic science also wants to know the function and context, the cause of the forces, the uniformity and order.

(e) Order. There is order and lawfulness behind all things. We recognise things only because of this; that there is proportionality, regularity, symmetry and harmony.

(f) That there is a certain unpredictability about things not only because we lack knowledge, but also because of the creativity of Allah.

(g) Islamic science wants to know ten things:- (i) What exists (ii) what are the characteristics of a thing (iii) what does it consist of, (iv) what is the structure or pattern of an object or process, (v) what are its causes, (vi) what are its relationships with other things, (vii) what potentialities or capabilities does it possess, (viii) what is its essence, purpose or function with respect to the whole, (ix) what can we learn from it, and (x) how can we use it.

It is not enough merely to know what causes have brought something into existence. There is a mystery connected with the fact that it and its causes exists at all. If we and it did not exist we would not look for causes. On the other hand given certain forces a different combination of them could have produced innumerable other alternatives. Why have they produced just this. There is a cause for the different combinations of causes and these combinations are also causes.

Consider a person who breeds plant or animal by selection and cross-fertilisation. A scientific investigation into the causes of the structure and function of the organs and tissues of these organisms will not reveal that the breeder has had any hand in it. His motives in the context of the society he operates in is clearly also a cause for the arising of these plants and animals. We cannot, therefore, discover all the causes of something by studying it in isolation from the greater system to which it belongs and with which it interacts.

Again, consider the balls gathered together in the centre of a Snooker table. A cue ball is propelled against them with force. The balls scatter in various directions, bounce off the sides of the table and collide with one another in various ways. Their direction of motion changes and new collisions occur. If we look at a particular ball then the collisions which it undergoes, its position or other events connected with it may be attributed to coincidence or chance. In fact, however, these are determined by three things:- the original arrangement of the balls, the power and direction of motion of the cue ball, the structure of the table, including its shape, slant, the smoothness or otherwise of its surface and its elasticity etc. It is not enough to know only the initial state and the impulse force. The balls, too possess some elasticity and may not be completely round. They may also change because of the various impacts or because of their position with respect to the other balls.

2. Man is the Vicegerent. This implies:-

(a) That man has faculties which are derived from the same source as those which created the Universe. That is, he has consciousness, creativity and initiative. He has a spark of the divine in him. He is capable of knowing and altering the world, and has the appropriate drives.

(b) He also has a responsibility and duty to know, regulate and administer it. These duties may be classified as (i) towards the environment and all things and creatures in it. (ii) towards the community of which he is a part. (iii) Towards himself - his own welfare, growth and development.

(c) That he is interdependent with his environment. He acts on and is affected by the world. His knowledge, welfare and development, therefore, depend on the welfare and development of the world, and the way he behaves and fulfils his duty. His capacity for knowledge depends on the kind of attitudes and interactions he has with the world. If this interaction is incorrect then his knowledge will also be incorrect and so will his life and his fate. It is by now well known that what people perceive, how they interpret experience and systematise it depends on how they are adjusted to reality.

(d) That all things can be used by him for his own growth and benefit, but they can also be used by him to harm himself, others and the environment. There are, therefore, alternatives and development is not guaranteed. His opinions, motives, actions may be true or false, good or evil, useful or futile, beautiful or ugly. The fact that something can be done does not imply that it should be done, nor does the existence of an opinion imply that it is true. Having the power to manipulate the data of experience he can create and invent and also lie. This power, therefore, also bestows the responsibility to discriminate and seek the means and guiding principles by which this can be done. Indeed, all the conflicts between people which are not driven by the self-preservative, sexual or self-assertive urges arise from controversies about these values.

The controversy is the result of the fact that man has fallen. That is, his faculties, his thinking, motivation and actions are not in the perfect state to know and carry out his responsibilities. He forms fixations or attachments to the data of experience, to things in the environment and within himself, and lower impulses interfere with pure perception. He constructs a subjective world of opinions.

3. The unity and solidarity of the Community. The individual is part of a community and of humanity and interacts with it. Thus communication, cooperation, sharing of experiences, mutual consultation and guidance and the consensus of opinions so reached will produce what is good and true.

It should be observed that these statements refer to fundamental facts about existence, and should not be confused with the way they are formulated. It is possible to formulate them in a variety of ways. Since religion deals with values, human motivations and actions, they are formulated in a manner which is quite different from formulations which consider human beings merely as separate observers, and thinking as a faculty separable from others. To regard them as such is not an objective attitude.

4. Since Allah created the Universe as well as man, then there is a link and communication between them, between the observer and the objects observed. Knowledge rather than opinion and speculation is important. Man should be guided by Allah as to his relationship with the Universe. This has several consequences:-

(a) There are three sources of knowledge:-

(i) The use of ones faculties. This includes the physical senses, the mental faculties (intellect, feeling and action), and the spiritual faculties (consciousness, conscience and will). These faculties should be sharpened.

(ii) Experience, interaction with the world. It is not possible to gain knowledge by withdrawal or seclusion or mere speculation and fantasy. This includes observation, the gathering of data, experimentation and verification, but has a much wider meaning. It is not confined to activities in laboratories, but refers to life in the real world. While Philosophy is founded on unaided human reason, Science rests on the acceptance of Nature as the source of truth. It is, therefore, necessary to search for truth in nature by exploring, investigating, calculating and experimenting. It also has to have practical application to prove and justify it. The Quran is constantly pointing to nature, and warns the reader against speculation and conjecture, requiring him instead to look, investigates, calculate, ponder and think.

(iii) The guidance of the prophets, saints, experts who have a greater awareness of reality due to inspiration or revelation. The facts of observation and experience do not make any sense unless we have a framework of reference with respect to which they are interpreted and organised into a consistent system. This is also the case in Western science. Consider, for instance, the experiment which tried to determine the speed of light. It was found that no matter what the direction and speed of the observer with respect to the source of light, the speed of light remained the same. This observation was thoroughly puzzling and made no sense. It is only when Einstein proposed his Theory of Relativity which made time and space properties of phenomena rather than the medium in which they existed, that this observation made sense. The relative speed of the observer changed their time and space. This theory is not the result of observation but of inspiration. It is only the confirmation which required reason and observation. And, indeed, the inspiration of the Prophets too needs reason and observation to confirm them. And this allows us to discriminate between true and false prophets, or between true and false doctrines.

We must, therefore, admit that there are three aspects to knowledge:- inspiration, reason and observation.

(b) Knowledge is also dependant on social factors. There should be mutual consultation, exchange of experiences and discussion. (42:38, 3:159) It needs to be corroborated and confirmed. The Vicegerency exists in the community, not merely in the individual. The cooperation of several minds is better than one, particularly as man is prone to illusions, hallucinations and delusions as well as lying and self-deception.

(c) The importance of language is also emphasised in Islam. Correct concepts are required not only for correct communication but also for correct thinking. (2:31, 7:71, 2:121). A distinction has to be made between objective and subjective concepts.

“Would you wrangle with me over names which you have named, you and your fathers, for which no warrant from Allah has been revealed? Then await the consequences, lo! I too am waiting.” 7:71

“And He (Allah) taught Adam all the names.” 2:31

“But those who did wrong changed the words which had been told them for another saying.” 2:59

(d) There are, therefore, three ingredients in knowledge, a psychological, a social and a physical factor. These are inter-dependant. These considerations also lead one to the conclusion that, according to which of these factors is emphasised, we have three separate though inter-dependant sets of sciences, namely the Psychological, the Social and the Physical. Advances in one are likely to affect advances in the others.

The physical sciences are usually divided into physics, chemistry and biology. The social sciences include Sociology (History, Anthropology etc.), Politics (including Law), Medicine and Education etc. Psychology should include Psychics and Spiritual matters.

(e) The purpose of science is adjustment to Reality, to Allah. In the end it is He who will judge what is true, good or useful (2:113). The judge is not man but objective Reality, and those who do not judge in objective terms are the wrong doers (5:45). This adjustment also has three levels, physical adjustment to the environment, social adjustment, and psychological adjustment.

(f) Since man is a unity, in which perception, motivation and action interact, and science is an activity requiring a motive, it affects and is affected by all other activities and motives. To separate it from life is to produce illusions.

It is not difficult to see that assumptions such as these are the foundations of science.

To summarise:- they consist of the idea that nature rather than man will decide what is true; that we ought to investigate, observe nature and experiment rather than speculate; that our insight, awareness and other faculties should be sharpened; that rational thinking and mathematics should be applied; that correct and appropriate language should be used; that the results should be open to the scrutiny of other minds and a consensus should be reached; that these minds have the same common concepts, purposes, procedures and set of conditions, e.g. in laboratories; that knowledge should be applicable for human benefit and development and the benefit of the environment on which we depend.

The procedure adopted by science consists of gathering data, arriving at a hypothesis through insight or inspiration, making deductions from it by the use of reason, and testing these by experiment and observation. But the dependence of science on a correct adjustment of man to reality, and on the state of development of their faculties and motivations has been ignored by modern Science. Instead, the use of technologies to construct instruments to supplement human faculties (senses, thinking and action), has been added.

There is a difference in purpose between Islamic and Western Science. The purpose of Western Science is to dominate, control and exploit nature in order to serve human desires and whims. A phenomena is said to be ‘understood’ when its causes are known, and it is known ‘how it works’ and when it can be applied in a technology. It supposes Objectivity to consist of detachment and aloofness from the rest of Nature. It, therefore, looks outwards. The purpose of Islamic science is the diametric opposite. It is to help man to understand and adjust to reality. It looks inward to enable him to fulfil a Cosmic purpose. It understands Objectivity as meaning that man is part of Nature and that he must cooperate with its processes. A phenomena is ‘understood’ when its position and function in a system is known and when knowledge of it is integrated in a consistent manner into the system of experience and, therefore, modifies a person.

The difference arose owing to the following:-

When the scientific way of thinking entered Europe from Islamic areas, specially Spain, and began to make progress, the Christian Church, which regarded Truth as its own monopoly to be jealously guarded, began to persecute science and scientists. No doubt, the fact that it came from Islamic sources and Islam was regarded as a heresy and a threat to be bitterly opposed, played its part in this opposition. Consider the fate of Galileo and others. In order to escape such persecution a compromise was reached which perverted the course of scientific development for several centuries. It was tacitly agreed that the soul would be left to the Church while Science confined itself to the body - the material aspect of things would be left to science while the spiritual would be left to religion; man and his values would be the domain of Religion, while the Universe and its facts would be that of Science. Neither would intrude on the domain of the other. A dichotomy was created between Spirit and matter. In this division the mind as a connecting or reconciling factor was neglected though it was required for thinking about both. Thus a distinction arose between matter, mind and spirit. The result of this was not only harmful to the development of science but also to religion. Christianity, unlike other religions, completely ignores the Universe. There is no idea about adjustment to it or of interpreting and applying the discoveries of Science to life. Instead, the attitude is one of domination and exploitation. Science, on the other hand ignores the soul and the mind, and proceeds as if life and consciousness did not exist, and as if science was possible independently of the human condition. Philosophy, too, divided into Materialist and Idealist camps. Values were separated from Facts even in Politics and Economics. The result of this has been that science developed the following interdependent features:-

(a) Materialism. Only things having mass or inertia were to be studied. The world was considered as something dead. Matter, however, is a metaphysical notion which should not exist in science. What science studies is motion and the property called called inertia, the resistance to change. These are relative terms. Science should study phenomena and these are of many types, not only material.

(b) Mechanistic Determinism. If the world and the things in it are dead, then they have no initiating force within them and some outer cause was always needed to produce change. But this leads us into a vicious circle. In a closed system like the Universe the line of cause and effect simple go round and round. There is no beginning or end. No inner causes were recognised. That which could not be explained by external causes was attributed to Chance. Chance, therefore, is seen as some entity which can be a cause.

(c) Repeatability. Verification depends on the same phenomena repeating under the same circumstances. In fact, however, things are not exactly alike. The idea of whether one thing is similar to another depends on powers of discrimination, measurement and definition. Though several experiments of the same kind provide slightly different results, the practice was to take the average result as standard.

(d) Analysis was the method by which study was to be conducted. Analysis of an object kills it. There was thus no difference between a living and dead object. An object does not only contain parts, but also an over all organisation which is ignored by analysis.

(e) Reductionism. Everything could be divided into particles, the motions and interactions of which would explain everything. But an object is a whole and exists in an environment of other objects. As such it has three aspects, (i) as parts or unit having relationships with other parts and units; (ii) as an individual wholeness having relationship with its parts or as being part of a greater whole; (iii) as communities, groups or masses . Attention was given to only the first of these, ignoring the other two aspects.

(f) Reversibility or Time Symmetry. The irreversibility of phenomena, the direction of time was ignored. Time had to be regarded as an illusion. But it is Time which is creative, in which new things arise. Science needed to explain things in terms of what was permanent. However, ever since Darwin produced his Theory of Evolution an opposite extreme came into being. Everything was regarded as improving and evolving in a straight line. This, however, requires value judgements. To avoid this contradiction development was regarded as an illusion.

(g) All subjective factors, all values judgements, consciousness, everything regarded as mystical or spiritual were excluded from science. This ought, of course, to have excluded thought processes too and everything which depended on pure thought such as logic and mathematics.

(h) The Principle of Objectivity. This is the basis of Western science and combines the above ideas. It requires that the object to be studied is an external one as given to the senses. on which all observers can agree, ignoring the fact that an experience of an object is still subjective and private to all observers. The object was to be considered inert, requiring external forces to bring about changes in it proportional to these forces.

It does not appear to have occurred to scientists that Science depends on (a) mathematics (b) on a system of concepts and (c) on particular methodologies, all of which arise from pure thought which is not an objective factor as defined by them. Neither are the motives without which no science would be pursued. The neglect of this fact has led science into difficulties as we shall show.

Thus the Islamic view differs from the Western. Science is, like other things, a human activity and must, therefore, be subject to human purposes, the limits of their faculties and their value systems. The purpose of man is objectively defined as a vicegerent who has responsibilities for the regulation and evolution of the world and all things in it, including himself and his environment, Science is one of the instruments through which he can do so. In so far as human beings operate through three faculties, intellect, emotion and action, all human pursuits must have a cognitive component, a motive or purpose and techniques of action. This applies also to science. Science should expand awareness and the capacity to adjust to reality. It should deepen experience, that is, it should affect the intellectual, emotional as well as the motor components of the individual, in order to promote psychological growth. It was not envisaged as being a purely intellectual pursuit or only as a tool to change or control materials and the environment. The pursuit of knowledge and its application is an integral part of the Islamic developmental discipline.

There are, however, three objections to the religious view of knowledge which are regarded as incompatible with that of science:-

1. That the word knowledge as used in the Quran refers to religious knowledge and in particular to the study of the Quran, not to science. This may, however, be thought of as an accident of time. The separation of knowledge from the rest of life, and its disintegration into separate disciplines, has only occurred recently owing to the increase of knowledge. All knowledge used to be integrated in one system which together with all other aspects of life were regarded as part of religion. Religion dealt with life in a unified and comprehensive manner. It was understood that knowledge was something which gave understanding and modified behaviour. The word ‘learning’ was associated with it. The distinction between the two kinds of knowledge is also the result of the separation of phenomena into material and spiritual ones. Nor did the word ‘knowledge’ apply merely to a particular set of procedures. We shall continue to use the word ‘knowledge’ in the wider religious sense and distinguish it from mere ideas. The term knowledge is wider than science but includes it.

2. That if Allah is seen as the cause of all things, then no distinctions can be made between the various causes of different phenomena. This would make science impossible since it looks for the immediate causes of every phenomenon. However, these causes also have causes and so on. Ultimately, they must derive like the branches of a tree from a single source. The progress of knowledge requires the creation of a complete picture. Even Science looks for a Unified Field Theory. If every event is regarded as a separate thing then we will have no knowledge. Knowledge implies the discovery of connections between things.

3. That religious dogmatism prevents research, opposes and persecutes new ideas and discoveries. This, however, is the fault of human beings, their institutions and ideologies which condition them. Science has not merely had to contend with the prejudices of a Church and its priests, but its progress has often been hampered by politicians, business men and even eminent scientists. Prejudice and rigid habits of mind are universal human failings, not only of religious people. Religion must be distinguished from the people who claim to follow it.

These differences in how Science is understood have far reaching consequences. It is not difficult to see that the Western attitude has led mankind to the brink of destroying his environment and himself. This is not merely a question of application. The purpose itself determines the direction of search, selection, interpretation and organisation of data and the kind of methods used. Western science assumes that man as he is can see and understand reality and that it is possible for him to do so by standing apart from nature. The Islamic attitude is that man sees the world according to the nature of his faculties which are affected by the world he lives in, the kind of relationships he has created with it, and his value systems. He has to cultivate and purify the correct faculties of perception, motivation and action. Objectivity is only possible by becoming involved with all ones faculties and then standing apart from oneself to see these effects. This requires the existence, development or creation of a separate inner centre. Science also assumes that things can be looked at in isolation from one another. The Islamic view is that in so far as all things are inter-connected, there is no truth apart from its relationship with the Absolute, Allah. Man is not here to dominate and exploit, but to manage and administer. Allah is both the outer manifest and the inner, hidden. Therefore, the world is not seen in an externalist, materialist and mechanistic manner. Knowledge consists of the transmission of truth from the environment to man and has an organic function.

Western science is satisfied when it has understood how things work. But an Aeroplane, for instance, is not understood when the only thing we know about it is how it works. This does not tell us how or why it came into being. Indeed, it is because it has a function that the mechanisms which make it work have arisen. The argument against this view is that an aeroplane is an artefact which does not apply to Nature. Both, however, are phenomena. This distinction depends on the principle of Objectivity and the separation between Mind and Matter. According to this the products of the mind are artificial and must be distinguished from the natural. Mind is the inner active observer and matter is the inert external object to be observed. There is no justification for this division. Human creativity is a fact of nature just as the nest made by a bird is. When things interact then anyone of these can be regarded as observer with respect to the other. It is seldom the case that when two objects interact that one is wholly passive with respect to the other. Indeed, the cause of a single effect (Y) is an interaction between two factors (X1) and (X2), and depends on the nature of both. It also depends on the nature of their relationships, their distance from one another or the medium in which they exist.

Islamic science is objective in seven senses:-

1. That the test of truth, the answer to questions, is ultimately given by Nature and, therefore, by Allah, hence observation, experimentation and calculation.

2, That not merely facts, but also the values, the motives which determine the search, selection, interpretation and organisation of data should be objective.

3, That the actions which elicit reactions from the environment should also be objective.

4. That the processes of thought, the concepts used and the interpretation and organisation of the data of experience should be all comprehensive since all things are interconnected and form a Unity: that is, they are interpreted in relation to a universal framework of reference.

5. That the opinion of the individual be submitted to discussion and consensus of the community having the same value systems, experiences and aims. The nature, circumstances and experiences of a community, also created by Allah, are more likely to be comprehensive than those of an individual.

6. That the direction, control and application of research be determined by the Community, not by some sectional interest. Science is controlled by business and politics in the West, thereby creating what has been called an Unholy Trinity. Business is motivated by profit and politics by power. Both these are not averse to manipulating and exploiting the population.

7. That ultimately, the test of truth is whether it enables survival and development. The processes of nature, evolution itself, will determine what is true.

“These depend on guidance from their Lord. These are the successful.” 2:5

“And Allah will judge between them on the Day of Resurrection concerning that wherein they differ.” 2:113

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There are three main Sciences, namely Physics, Biology and Psychology. Their development roughly follows this order. There are between them unabridged gaps. The notion of matter is fundamental to Physics, but this concept has undergone many changes. It originally excluded air and gases, then it included light and other electromagnetic forces, and now that mass and energy are regarded as inter-convertible, it is difficult to say what the term applies to. It probably means Inertia which is a characteristic rather than a substance. Purpose is required to explain biological phenomena, and consciousness is required to explain psychological ones. Attempts have been made to reduce these notions to matter. But this is only speculation or it simply changes the notion of matter once again. The view of the world is not a unitary one. It is, perhaps, better to think of the existence of some fundamental substance which has these three characteristics and they may appear in different proportions according to how the substance is organised.

In the history of the development of science, though the work is done by a great number of people, there are points when major synthesis of ideas takes place and scientific thinking undergoes a revolutionary transformation. What was thought to be true or false at one stage is no longer thought to be so in the next. Revolutions in Physics took place with Newtonian Mechanics, Einstein’s Relativity, Quantum Mechanics and Chaos Theory. In Biology it took place with Darwin’s Evolution Theory. In Psychology it occurred with the work of Freud. Further revolutions in Biology and Psychology are overdue and can be expected.

If the foundations on which Science is based are incorrect then we should find, as Science progresses, that contradictions and inconsistencies will arise unless the fundamental assumptions behind the Scientific Principle of Objectivity are abandoned. We will show in the following chapters that this is just what has happened.

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There are three ways of seeing things.

1. As separate material objects related together by mechanical laws. This is the Classical or Newtonian Universe. The Universe and everything in it are machines.

2. In terms of behaviour, as a field of many kinds of interacting energies. The Universe is Dynamic.

3. As something vital and sensitive, having patterns, order, meaning and purpose. Things only exist because of their function with respect to the Whole. This is the Religious view.

Causation is seen quite differently in the Quran as we have seen in a previous chapter on creation. A view compatible with Islam, without being dogmatic about it, is something as follows:-

We note that things are recognised only because of their structures, patterns or order. The Quran sees the cause of all phenomena as lying in the transmission and transformation of ‘Truth’. The word ‘truth’ as used in the Quran and the word ‘information’ as used in science are connected with order. Islam is, therefore, less interested in matter and energy, but much more in order. (Order may be defined as negentropy, the opposite of ‘ entropy’ which is a notion in science referring to disorder). Real knowledge is, therefore, due to a transfer of truth or order into a person. Knowledge is not an abstraction as in the West, but a concrete reality. Its acquisition has transforming properties and its presence determines organic processes.

Energy refers to behaviour and change and may, therefore, be equated with life, but matter or mass refers to inertia, resistance to change. It could refer to self-preservation. The two are opposites. Matter is probably the result of the local organisation of energy, that is, eddies of energy restricted in space. Perhaps energy is a resultant and mediator between general and local organisations, between order and mass. Every system has a state of equilibrium and lies within a greater system to which it must adjust. Thus, impulses introduced from the higher into the lower system cause changes of behaviour in a direction which will restore the equilibrium. The cause, therefore, always lies at a higher level. This capacity for adjustment may be defined as Intelligence. The need to maintain its state of equilibrium arises from the need for self-preservation. There is a constant feed back between the particle and its environment. Thus purpose and cause are two different aspects of the same thing.

The modern scientific view is that energy and mass are, indeed, inter-convertible and that they are aspects of the same thing. The law of conservation of mass is reduced to the law of conservation of energy. Perhaps, the recognition of the inter-convertibility of order and energy is not far off. Certainly, the energy of a light wave is connected with its frequency and amplitude and these refer to the structure. There is, however, no law of conservation of information or negentropy. The Universe according to the Second Law of Thermodynamics is running down. It is expanding and tending to a uniformity in which all information is lost. Evolution which seems to negate this is seen as a local phenomenon which does not flout this law since it takes place at the expense of increasing entropy elsewhere. However, the possibility exists that the Universe will collapse back, owing to gravity, into a Singularity from which it came. Other scientific studies show that order also arises spontaneously out of the nature of particles when they congregate in masses, and that energy and matter is, in fact, created spontaneously from a base inaccessible to scientific instruments, below the Quantum level. There is clearly an Absolute sub-stratum of reality from which order, energy and mass arise. These three concepts are taken for granted in science. No attempt is made to explain how they arose. They are absolutes. It should also be observed that this is compatible with the Christian idea of the Trinity, but not with the Islamic idea of Unity which lies beyond it. They are concepts invented by man. There is no object in the Universe in which these three can be separated. Science does not deal with realities but in ideas.

The Islamic view of how Nature works may, perhaps, be compared to a magnet. It creates an invisible magnetic field having a certain structure. When iron filings are sprayed onto it, then these take up positions in accordance with this field and make the structure visible. They actualise it. The field, however, exists apart from these material particles and cannot be identified with the field because matter can continually enter and leave the field leaving the structure in tact. Thus the behaviour and structures of the material particles is determined by the underlying field. The cause is not prior to the effect in time, but lies at another level and is contemporaneous with it. All objects exist in some kind of field. A Field may have a structure which also has various kinds of sub-structures. All objects and particles have fields associated with them. But when they come together the fields join up to create an overall structure and this determines the behaviour of the particles. The field associated with the objects or particles may be regarded as their soul while the behaviour may be referred to as their minds.

The definition of the terms given here may or may not be correct. The purpose of defining them in this way is to show that much more comprehensive definitions are possible which apply to all things and unify life in the way Islam sees things. The scientific definitions are then merely special cases for special purposes.

It cannot be denied that there is a contradiction between the Religious and the Scientific view. But this contradiction exists in the mind of those who support these different views rather than in the systems themselves. The Scientific view by itself is unsatisfactory since it leaves out a vast area of human experience, namely meaning and purpose which have to be dealt with separately. There is, then, no coherent wholeness to life. Indeed, if there is no meaning and purpose then science itself is purposeless, futile, and meaningless. On the other hand if the religious view is not understood correctly then this falsifies it and makes it useless.

That Western science is useful and has transformed our world cannot be denied. But whether it has increased our understanding rather than merely our information, enabled us to live better lives and is capable of solving all our problems is quite another matter. We need not only facts, but also meaning and values. We need knowledge, motives and capability. However, though science started with the aim of understanding the world it is today regarded mainly as a means of controlling and changing the environment, to provide a technology. To many it is a means of earning a living, making a profit, obtaining power or gaining prestige and status.

The question is: Does it provide us with truth or is it only a useful tool? The two things are not the same. Much depends on what is understood by the word “truth”. A tool can, of course, be used for either beneficial or harmful purposes. It has a utilitarian value, but this is not a truth value, nor is it an ethical or aesthetic value. Ultimately, of course, Truth and Usefulness are two aspects of the same thing. A thing can be useful in a material or economic sense. It can, however, be useful in enabling us to understand. Truth is regarded, in science, as equivalent to Usefulness in this sense. However, ‘understanding’ is itself understood in a restricted sense. It means only intellectual understanding, not something which modifies motivation and behaviour. Islam does not divide man in this way with good justification. The intellect has developed along with other faculties by a process of evolution, of increasing adjustment to Reality, and this adjustment alone is the criterion of truth.

The reasons for doubting that science provides us with truth are as follows:-

1. Knowledge advances. At any particular time Knowledge is never complete. That which is regarded as true is constantly changing.

2. Science depends on certain assumptions and concepts. Other assumptions and concepts would create a different system. Many have existed and sill do. Some of these systems have been ignored while others have been accepted because of changes in the fashion of ideas and not because of rational arguments or research.

3. Science tends to ignore facts and experiences which do not fit into current theories. There are a great number of such facts.

4. Scientists are human beings. as such rationalisation is also current among them. Pride, prejudice and ambition often affects their thinking. They are known to have invented as well as suppressed and distorted facts. Biased reports are not uncommon. Science is limited also by the intelligence, consciousness and abilities of the scientists. It is not, therefore, infallible.

5. Many scientists, even eminent ones, were unable to accept new theories accepted by others. Indeed, many new theories have been suppressed and the scientists who propounded them have been persecuted by the scientific establishment.

6. Science is a purely intellectual exercise and ignores the information given by feelings or action. It is not concerned with the process of living and adjustment to reality.

7. The conditions in a laboratory are artificial. It is likely that the facts studied by scientists are created in these laboratories. A great amount of science depends not on direct observation but on the interpretation of marks made on instruments.

8. Knowledge is often reduced to formulae which others can learn to use and apply. But they are not necessarily understood. The Relativity and Quantum theories are seldom understood by many scientists themselves.

9. The direction of scientific research and application is driven by political and commercial interests not by objective ones.

10. Scientific ideas are descriptive, verbal or mathematical. But these are not the same thing as experience, and experience is not the same thing as the objects. The effects of these three are quite different. A verbal statement should be considered true if it induces an experiences which corresponds to the effect of an object.

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That the scientific attitude is integral to the Quran can be seen from the following:-

The Quran directs our attention to the processes and rhythms of Nature. (3:190 etc)

The Quran is itself called "naught else than a reminder to creation." (68:52)

The notion of unity underlying diversity. (2:163, 2:213, 4:171, 5:73, 10:19, 11:118, 54:50)

The inter-dependence of things.(because of order and unity)

The Lawfulness of the Universe. (13:15, 14:19 and 30:30 etc..)

The Universality of truth. ( 39:5, 46:3)

The Stages of development (13:38 10:5 etc.)

Objectivity - the need to submit to truth and to Allah who is the real.(4:171, 5:77, 6:93, 7:169, 2:42,149,213, 3:17,71 etc.)

The need to search for and apply knowledge. (6:123 etc..)

The need to observe and think.(See appendix)

The need to discuss and reach a consensus.(3:159, 42:38, 65:6)

The need to write down or record.(68:1, 3:181, 10:21, 19:79, 21:94, 23:62, 29:48, 36:12, 69:19)

The need to test and abide by the judgement of nature rather than follow our own opinions and desires. (10:37 etc.)

The need for proof. ( 17:36, 6:106 etc.)

Not to accept hearsay and tradition.( 2:170)

The notion of measuring.(54:49, 65:3, 6:152, 11:85, 12:59-60,88, 22:74

The importance of language or conceptual systems.(33:70, 14:4, 4:9, 7:169, 16:116, 44:58)

Occam's Razor - i.e. discouraging the invention of names for which there is no warrant.(7:71)

Scepticism - Not to attribute anything to Allah which is untrue or for which we have no evidence. (10:18 etc.) We may also call this the principle of uncertainty as encapsulated in the word, "Inshallah".

Apart from the foundations of Science, some of the great scientific theories are also indicated in the Quran. The Conservation theory ultimately points to something Self-existent. The Big Bang appears to be implied by 55:50, 10:35, 36:35 21:30 21:104 55:26-27. Evolution is implied by 35:16, 6:134 91:9-10 84:19 4:133 76:1-3. Relativity of time is also indicated in 22:47, 32:5, 70:4

These correspondences between Islam and Science cannot be accidental. It is this attitude which was transferred to Europe through Spain, and later to America and now to the rest of the World. The Age of Science may, therefore be regarded as under the Spiritual domination of Islam.

It is also clear that these ideas and others in the Quran have a much wider application than merely in science. They apply to the social and political life as well as to psychological or spiritual development, to all human thinking, motivation and action. This wider and more universal application has yet to be established and is gradually taking place.

It is important to understand that from the Islamic point of view Truth is not mere intellectual information. Knowledge is awareness of Truth/ It is a question of being conscious. It is obtained and understood not through the head but through the heart. That is through sensation, intellect and feeling and manifests in action. Truth is integral to one’s Being, and its acquisition is a modification of one's Being.

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