An Illusion Of Harmony Science And Religion In Islam Pdf

Feb 12, 2008  Most Muslim nations have only been aware of 'science' for between 100 and 200 years. And how committed is the United States to science when it conflicts with its religion/ideology of neoliberalism, in the light of the climate change issue, for exampe? One day I'm planning to write a piece describing religion, particularly Islam, in science fiction. Religion appeared at the very beginning of civilization and constitutes a major part of it. The role played by religion changes as civilization develops. In the face of the trend towards a multi-polar world and economic globalization, all religions need to join hands, share responsibilities, perform good deeds and contribute to world peace.

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Muslim scholars have developed a spectrum of viewpoints on science within the context of Islam.[1] The Quran and Islam allows for much interpretation when it comes to science. Scientists of medieval Muslim civilization (e.g. Ibn al-Haytham) contributed to the new discoveries of science.[2][3][4] From the eighth to fifteenth century, Muslim mathematicians and astronomers furthered the development of almost all areas of mathematics.[5][6] At the same time, concerns have been raised about the lack of scientific literacy in parts of the modern Muslim world.[7]

Some Muslim writers have claimed that the Quran made prescient statements about scientific phenomena that were later confirmed by scientific research for instance as regards to the structure of the embryo, our solar system, and the creation of the universe.[8][9] However, much of science in Islam relies on the Quran as a basis of evidence and Islamic scientists often use one another as sources.[10] Unlike early Christians who used science to explain scripture[citation needed], Muslims pursued science with an underlying assumption of confirming the Quran.[5]

  • 3Alleged scientific miracles in the Quran
  • 4History
    • 4.1Classical science in the Muslim world

Terminology[edit]

Science is often defined as the pursuit of knowledge and understanding of the natural and social world following a systematic methodology based on evidence.[11] It is a system of acquiring knowledge based on empiricism, experimentation and methodological naturalism, as well as to the organized body of knowledge human beings have gained by such research. Scientists maintain that scientific investigation needs to adhere to the scientific method, a process for evaluating empirical knowledge that explains observable events without recourse to supernatural notions.

According to Toby Huff, there is no true word for science in Arabic (the language of Islam) as commonly defined in English and other languages. In Arabic, 'science' can simply mean different forms of knowledge.[5] For example, physics is more literally translated from Arabic as 'the science of nature', علم الطبيعة ‘ilm aṭ-ṭabī‘a; arithmetic as the 'science of accounts' علم الحساب ilm al-hisab.[12] Religious study of Islam (Tasfir, musnad, etc.) is called الديني العلم 'science of religion' (ad-dinniya al-ilm), using the same word for science as 'the science of nature'.[12] According to the Hans Wehr Dictionary of Arabic, While علم’ ilm is defined as 'knowledge, learning, lore,' etc. the word for 'science' is the plural form علوم’ ulūm. (So, for example, كليةالعلوم kullīyat al-‘ulūm, the Faculty of Science of the Egyptian University, is literally 'the Faculty of Sciences ...')[12]

Perspectives on Islam and science[edit]

Whether Islamic culture has promoted or hindered scientific advancement is disputed.

Many Muslims agree that doing science is an act of religious merit, even a collective duty of the Muslim community.[13] According to M. Shamsher Ali, there are around 750 verses in the Quran dealing with natural phenomena. Many verses of the Quran ask mankind to study nature, and this has been interpreted to mean an encouragement for scientific inquiry,[14] and the investigation of the truth.[14][additional citation(s) needed] Some include, “Travel throughout the earth and see how He brings life into being” (Q.29:20), “Behold in the creation of the heavens and the earth, and the alternation of night and day, there are indeed signs for men of understanding ...” (Q.3:190)

Historical Islamic scientists like Al-Biruni and Al-Battani derived their inspiration from verses of the Quran. Mohammad Hashim Kamali has stated that 'scientific observation, experimental knowledge and rationality' are the primary tools with which humanity can achieve the goals laid out for it in the Quran.[15]Ziauddin Sardar argues that Muslims developed the foundations of modern science, by 'highlighting the repeated calls of the Quran to observe and reflect upon natural phenomenon'.[16] 'The 'scientific method,' as it is understood today, was first developed by Muslim scientists' like Ibn al-Haytham and Al-Biruni, along with numerous other Muslim scientists.

An Illusion Of Harmony Science And Religion In Islam Pdf Free

Maurice Bucaille [17] a French medical doctor and a possible convert to Islam offers interesting perspectives. [2]

The physicist Abdus Salam believed there is no contradiction between Islam and the discoveries that science allows humanity to make about nature and the universe; and that the Quran and the Islamic spirit of study and rational reflection was the source of extraordinary civilizational development. Salam highlights, in particular, the work of Ibn al-Haytham and Al-Biruni as the pioneers of empiricism who introduced the experimental approach, breaking way from Aristotle's influence, and thus giving birth to modern science. Salam differentiated between metaphysics and physics, and advised against empirically probing certain matters on which 'physics is silent and will remain so,' such as the doctrine of 'creation from nothing' which in Salam's view is outside the limits of science and thus 'gives way' to religious considerations.[18]

Are science and religion in conflict

Islam has its own world view system including beliefs about 'ultimate reality, epistemology, ontology, ethics, purpose, etc.' according to Mehdi Golshani.[19]

Toshihiko Izutsu writes that in Islam, nature is not seen as something separate but as an integral part of a holistic outlook on God, humanity, the world and the cosmos. These links imply a sacred aspect to Muslims' pursuit of scientific knowledge, as nature itself is viewed in the Quran as a compilation of signs pointing to the Divine.[20] It was with this understanding that the pursuit of science, especially prior to the colonization of the Muslim world, was respected in Islamic civilizations.[21]

The astrophysicist Nidhal Guessoum argues that the Quran has developed 'the concept of knowledge' that encourages scientific discovery.[22] He writes:

'The Qur'an draws attention to the danger of conjecturing without evidence (And follow not that of which you have not the (certain) knowledge of... 17:36) and in several different verses asks Muslims to require proofs (Say: Bring your proof if you are truthful 2:111), both in matters of theological belief and in natural science.'

Guessoum cites Ghaleb Hasan on the definition of 'proof' according the Quran being 'clear and strong... convincing evidence or argument.' Also, such a proof cannot rely on an argument from authority, citing verse 5:104. Lastly, both assertions and rejections require a proof, according to verse 4:174.[23]Ismail al-Faruqi and Taha Jabir Alalwani are of the view that any reawakening of the Muslim civilization must start with the Quran; however, the biggest obstacle on this route is the 'centuries old heritage of tafseer (exegesis) and other classical disciplines' which inhibit a 'universal, epistemiological and systematic conception' of the Quran's message.[24] The philosopher Muhammad Iqbal considered the Quran's methodology and epistemology to be empirical and rational.[25]

Islamists such as Sayyid Qutb argue that since 'Islam appointed' Muslims 'as representatives of God and made them responsible for learning all the sciences,'[26] science cannot but prosper in a society of true Muslims. (However, Qutb states, in Muslim majority countries governments have failed to follow the sharia law in its completeness, which he believes explains the failure of science and many other things in the Muslim world.)[26]

Others claim traditional interpretations of Islam are not compatible with the development of science. Author Rodney Stark argues that Islam's lag behind the West in scientific advancement after (roughly) 1500 AD was due to opposition by traditional ulema to efforts to formulate systematic explanation of natural phenomenon with 'natural laws.' He claims that they believed such laws were blasphemous because they limit 'God's freedom to act' as He wishes, a principle enshired in aya 14:4: 'God sendeth whom He will astray, and guideth whom He will,' which (they believed) applied to all of creation not just humanity.[27]

Taner Edis wrote An Illusion of Harmony: Science and Religion in Islam.[28] Edis worries that secularism in Turkey, one of the most westernized Muslim nations, is on its way out; he points out that Turkey rejects evolution by a large majority. To Edis, many Muslims appreciate technology and respect the role that science plays in its creation. As a result, he says there is a great deal of Islamic pseudoscience attempting to reconcile this respect with other respected religious beliefs. Edis maintains that the motivation to read modern scientific truths into holy books is also stronger for Muslims than Christians.[29] This is because, according to Edis, true criticism of the Quran is almost non-existent in the Muslim world. While Christianity is less prone to see its Holy Book as the direct word of God, fewer Muslims will compromise on this idea – causing them to believe that scientific truths simply must appear in the Quran. However, Edis argues that there are endless examples of scientific discoveries that could be read into the Bible or Quran if one would like to.[29] Edis qualifies that Muslim thought certainly cannot be understood by looking at the Quran alone; cultural and political factors play large roles.[29]

Alleged scientific miracles in the Quran[edit]

History[edit]

Starting in the 1970s and 80s a 'popular literature known as ijaz' (miracle) and often called 'Scientific miracles in the Quran' developed and spread to Muslim bookstores, websites, and on television programs of Islamic preachers.[30] According to author Ziauddin Sardar, the movement has created a 'global craze in Muslim societies'.[30] The ijaz movement/industry is 'widespread and well-funded'[31] with 'millions' from Saudi Arabia.[30]

Claims[edit]

Enthusiasts of the movement argue that the Quran abounds with 'scientific facts' centuries before their discovery by science and thus demonstrating that the Quran must be of divine origin.[32] Among these miracles alleged to be found in the Quran are 'everything, from relativity, quantum mechanics, Big Bang theory, black holes and pulsars, genetics, embryology, modern geology, thermodynamics, even the laser and hydrogen fuel cells'.[30]

Zafar Ishaq Ansari describes the idea that 'the Quran (and the Sunna)' contain 'a substantially large number of scientific truths that were discovered only in modern times' as one of the 'new themes and emphases' of 'scientific exegesis of the Quran'.[33]

Some examples are the verse 'So verily I swear by the stars that run and hide ...' (Q.81:15–16) or 'And I swear by the stars' positions-and that is a mighty oath if you only knew'. (Qur'an, 56:75–76)[34] which demonstrate (to proponents) the Quran's knowledge of black holes; '[I swear by] the Moon in her fullness; that ye shall journey on from stage to stage' (Q.84:18–19) refers to human flight into outer space.[30]

The Quran contains many verses describing creation of the universe; Muslims believe God created the heavens and earth in six days;[7:54] the earth was created in two days,[41:9] and in two other days (into a total of four) God furnished the creation of the earth with mountains, rivers and fruit-gardens[41:10]. The heavens and earth formed from one mass which had to be split[21:30], the heavens used to be smoke[41:11], and form layers, one above the other[67:3]. The angels inhabit the Seven heavens. The lowest heaven is adorned with lights[41:12], the sun and the moon (which follow a regular path)[71:16][14:33], the stars[37:6] and the constellations of the Zodiac[15:16].[35]

Criticism[edit]

As of 2008, both (some) Muslims and non-Muslims have disputed whether there actually are 'scientific miracles' in the Quran. Critics argue that while it is generally agreed the Quran contains many verses proclaiming the wonders of nature,

  • it requires 'considerable mental gymnastics and distortions to find scientific facts or theories in these verses' (Ziauddin Sardar);[30]
  • that the Quran is the source of guidance in right faith (imam) and righteous action (alladhina amanu wa amilu l-salihat) but the idea that it contained 'all knowledge, including scientific' knowledge has not been a mainstream view among Muslim scholarship (Zafar Ishaq Ansari);[33] and
  • 'Science is ever-changing ... the Copernican revolution overturning polemic models of the universe to Einstein’s general relativity overshadowing Newtonian mechanisms'. So while 'Science is probabilistic in nature' the Quran deals in 'absolute certainty'. (Ali Talib);[36]
  • Nidhal Guessoum has also been highly critical of 'pseudo-scientific claims' made about the Quran.[23]

An example of where earlier beliefs founded on interpretations of the Quran changed following the introduction of modern technology/science to the Muslim world, is knowledge of the gender of an unborn baby, made possible by ultrasound technology. According to Nidhal Guessoum, 'for a long time Muslims believed, on the basis on their literal understanding of some Quranic verses, that the gender of an unborn baby is only known to God', i.e. ghayb. Ultrasound technology, 'led many Muslims to realize that first-degree readings of the Quran can lead to contradictions and predicaments'.[37]

History[edit]

Classical science in the Muslim world[edit]

Work in the observatorium of Taqi al-Din

One of the earliest accounts of the use of science in the Islamic world is during the eighth and sixteenth centuries, known as the Islamic Golden Age.[38] It is also known as 'Arabic science' because of the majority of texts that were translated from Greek into Arabic. The mass translation movement, that occurred in the ninth century allowed for the integration of science into the Islamic world. The teachings from the Greeks were now translated and their scientific knowledge was now passed on to the Arabs world. Despite these terms, not all scientists during this period were Muslim or Arab, as there were a number of notable non-Arab scientists (most notably Persians), as well as some non-Muslim scientists, who contributed to scientific studies in the Muslim world. The mass translation movement in the ninth century allowed for the integration of science into the Islamic world.

A number of modern scholars such as Fielding H. Garrison, Sultan Bashir Mahmood, Hossein Nasr consider modern science and the scientific method to have been greatly inspired by Muslim scientists who introduced a modern empirical, experimental and quantitative approach to scientific inquiry.[citation needed] Certain advances made by medieval Muslim astronomers, geographers and mathematicians were motivated by problems presented in Islamic scripture, such as Al-Khwarizmi's (c. 780–850) development of algebra in order to solve the Islamic inheritance laws,[39] and developments in astronomy, geography, spherical geometry and spherical trigonometry in order to determine the direction of the Qibla, the times of Salah prayers, and the dates of the Islamic calendar.[40] These new studies of math and science would allow for the Islamic world to get ahead of the rest of the world.‘With these inspiration at work, Muslim mathematicians and astronomers contributed significantly to the development to just about every domain of mathematics between the eight and fifteenth centuries”[41]

The increased use of dissection in Islamic medicine during the 12th and 13th centuries was influenced by the writings of the Islamic theologian, Al-Ghazali, who encouraged the study of anatomy and use of dissections as a method of gaining knowledge of God's creation.[42] In al-Bukhari's and Muslim's collection of sahih hadith it is said: 'There is no disease that God has created, except that He also has created its treatment.'(Bukhari 7-71:582). This culminated in the work of Ibn al-Nafis (1213–1288), who discovered the pulmonary circulation in 1242 and used his discovery as evidence for the orthodox Islamic doctrine of bodily resurrection.[43] Ibn al-Nafis also used Islamic scripture as justification for his rejection of wine as self-medication.[44] Criticisms against alchemy and astrology were also motivated by religion, as orthodox Islamic theologians viewed the beliefs of alchemists and astrologers as being superstitious.[45]

Fakhr al-Din al-Razi (1149–1209), in dealing with his conception of physics and the physical world in his Matalib, discusses Islamic cosmology, criticizes the Aristotelian notion of the Earth's centrality within the universe, and 'explores the notion of the existence of a multiverse in the context of his commentary,' based on the Quranic verse, 'All praise belongs to God, Lord of the Worlds.' He raises the question of whether the term 'worlds' in this verse refers to 'multiple worlds within this single universe or cosmos, or to many other universes or a multiverse beyond this known universe.' On the basis of this verse, he argues that God has created more than 'a thousand thousand worlds (alfa alfi 'awalim) beyond this world such that each one of those worlds be bigger and more massive than this world as well as having the like of what this world has.'[46]Ali Kuşçu's (1403–1474) support for the Earth's rotation and his rejection of Aristotelian cosmology (which advocates a stationary Earth) was motivated by religious opposition to Aristotle by orthodox Islamic theologians, such as Al-Ghazali.[47][48]

According to many historians, science in the Muslim civilization flourished during the Middle Ages, but began declining at some time around the 14th[49] to 16th[38] centuries. At least some scholars blame this on the 'rise of a clerical faction which froze this same science and withered its progress.'[50] Examples of conflicts with prevailing interpretations of Islam and science – or at least the fruits of science – thereafter include the demolition of Taqi al-Din's great Constantinople observatory in Galata, 'comparable in its technical equipment and its specialist personnel with that of his celebrated contemporary, the Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe.' But while Brahe's observatory 'opened the way to a vast new development of astronomical science,' Taqi al-Din's was demolished by a squad of Janissaries, 'by order of the sultan, on the recommendation of the Chief Mufti,' sometime after 1577 CE.[50][51]

Science and religious practice[edit]

Scientific methods have been historically applied to find solutions to the technical exigencies of Islamic religious rituals, which is a characteristic of Islam that sets it apart from other religions. These ritual considerations include a lunar calendar, definition of prayer times based on the position of the sun, and a direction of prayer set at a specific location. Scientific methods have also been applied to Islamic laws governing the distribution of inheritances and to Islamic decorative arts. Some of these problems were tackled by both medieval scientists of the Islamic world and scholars of Islamic law. Though these two groups generally used different methods, there is little evidence of serious controversy between them on these subjects, with the exception of the criticism leveled by religious scholars at the methods of astronomy due to its association with astrology.[52]

Arrival of modern science in the Muslim world[edit]

At the beginning of the nineteenth century, modern science arrived in the Muslim world but it was not the science itself that affected Muslim scholars. Rather, it 'was the transfer of various philosophical currents entangled with science that had a profound effect on the minds of Muslim scientists and intellectuals. Schools like Positivism and Darwinism penetrated the Muslim world and dominated its academic circles and had a noticeable impact on some Islamic theological doctrines.' There were different responses to this among the Muslim scholars:[53] These reactions, in words of Professor Mehdi Golshani, were the following:

  1. Some rejected modern science as corrupt foreign thought, considering it incompatible with Islamic teachings, and in their view, the only remedy for the stagnancy of Islamic societies would be the strict following of Islamic teachings.[53]
  2. Other thinkers in the Muslim world saw science as the only source of real enlightenment and advocated the complete adoption of modern science. In their view, the only remedy for the stagnation of Muslim societies would be the mastery of modern science and the replacement of the religious worldview by the scientific worldview.
  3. The majority of faithful Muslim scientists tried to adapt Islam to the findings of modern science; they can be categorized in the following subgroups: (a) Some Muslim thinkers attempted to justify modern science on religious grounds. Their motivation was to encourage Muslim societies to acquire modern knowledge and to safeguard their societies from the criticism of Orientalists and Muslim intellectuals. (b) Others tried to show that all important scientific discoveries had been predicted in the Quran and Islamic tradition and appealed to modern science to explain various aspects of faith. (c) Yet other scholars advocated a re-interpretation of Islam. In their view, one must try to construct a new theology that can establish a viable relation between Islam and modern science. The Indian scholar, Sayyid Ahmad Khan, sought a theology of nature through which one could re-interpret the basic principles of Islam in the light of modern science. (d) Then there were some Muslim scholars who believed that empirical science had reached the same conclusions that prophets had been advocating several thousand years ago. The revelation had only the privilege of prophecy.
  4. Finally, some Muslim philosophers separated the findings of modern science from its philosophical attachments. Thus, while they praised the attempts of Western scientists for the discovery of the secrets of nature, they warned against various empiricist and materialistic interpretations of scientific findings. Scientific knowledge can reveal certain aspects of the physical world, but it should not be identified with the alpha and omega of knowledge. Rather, it has to be integrated into a metaphysical framework—consistent with the Muslim worldview—in which higher levels of knowledge are recognized and the role of science in bringing us closer to God is fulfilled.[19]

During the twentieth century, the Islamic world was introduced to modern science. This was able to occur due to the expansion of educational systems, for example, 1900 in Istanbul and 1925 Cairo opened universities. Unlike some of the discords between science and Islam in the past, the concerns for some of the modern students were different. This discord for Islam was naturalism and social Darwinism, which challenged some beliefs. On the other hand, there was a new light into thinking of the harmony between science and Islam. An example is the study of Kudsî of Baku, looking at astronomy with religious implications, this occurred in the mid-nineteenth century. This allowed him to connect he discovers from what he knew from the Qur’an. These included “the creation of the universe and the beginning of like; in the second part, with doomsday and the end of the world; and the third was the resurrection after death”[54]here is a passage in the Qur’an that is made by God about modern science, that they should be congruent with the truth attained by modern science, “hence they should be both in agreement and concordant with the findings of modern science”.[55] This passage however, was used more often during the time where ‘modern science’ was full of different discoveries. However, many scientist thinkers through the Islamic word still take this passage to heart when it come to their work. However, many scientist thinkers through the Islamic word still take this passage to heart when it come to their work. However, there are also some strong believers that with modern viewpoints such as social Darwinism challenged all medieval world views, including that of Islam. Some didn't even want to be affiliated with modern science, and thought it was just an outside look into Islam.[55] Many followers who tend to see the problems with the integration of Islam and science, there are many that still stand by the view points of Ibn Hanbal (855). That the meaning of science is also knowledge, that of many different aspects. There is a sense of wonder, an open mind that allows for people to have both religious values and scientific thought.Along with positive outlooks on modern science is the Islamic world, there are many negative ones as well. It has become the idea for some that the practice of modern science, is that of studying Western science. A large issue that concerns those who don't believe in the study of Western science, is where the knowledge originated. For Muslims the knowledge comes from God, not from human definition of forms of knowledge. An example of this in the Islamic world is that of modern physics. modern physics is considered to be Western instead of an international study.Islam values claim 'knowledge of reality based not on reason alone, but also on revelation and inspiration'.[56] The ideals of modern science contradict these views and many criticisms of modern science come from the value systems that some modern scientists up hold.

Decline[edit]

In the early twentieth century, Shia ulema forbade the learning of foreign languages and dissection of human bodies in the medical school in Iran.[57]

In recent years, the lagging of the Muslim world in science is manifest in the disproportionately small amount of scientific output as measured by citations of articles published in internationally circulating science journals, annual expenditures on research and development, and numbers of research scientists and engineers.[58] Concern has been raised that the contemporary Muslim world suffers from scientific illiteracy.[7] Skepticism of science among some Muslims is reflected in issues such as resistance in Muslim northern Nigeria to polioinoculation, which some believe is 'an imaginary thing created in the West or it is a ploy to get us to submit to this evil agenda.'[59] Also, in Pakistan, a small number of post-graduate physics students have been known to blame earthquakes on 'sinfulness, moral laxity, deviation from the Islamic true path,' while 'only a couple of muffled voices supported the scientific view that earthquakes are a natural phenomenon unaffected by human activity.'[7]

Muslim scientists and scholars have subsequently developed a spectrum of viewpoints on the place of scientific learning within the context of Islam.[1]

The conflicts between these two ideas can become quite complicated. It has been argued[by whom?] that 'Muslims must be able to maintain the traditional Islamic intellectual space for the legitimate continuation of the Islamic view of the nature of reality to which Islamic ethics corresponds, without denying the legitimacy of modern science within their own confines'.[56] With the large conflicting ideas coming into the light, that helped to continue the decline of Islam and science. While science in the modern Islamic world, is quite popular there are still many Western values that are associated with it. Engineering is one of the most popular career choices of Middle Eastern students. With this huge popularity with engineering, which could be argued as one science that would work in conjunction to religion, the Natural sciences have not been fully institutionalized in predominately Islamic countries.[60]

Muslim Nobel laureates[edit]

As of 2018, three Muslim scientists have won a Nobel Prize for science (Abdus Salam from Pakistan in physics, Ahmed Zewail from Egypt and Aziz Sancar from Turkey in Chemistry). According to Mustafa Akyol, the relative lack of Muslim Nobel laureates in sciences per capita can be attributed to more insular interpretations of the religion than in the golden age of Islamic discovery and development, when society was more open to foreign ideas.[61]

Abdus Salam, who won a Nobel Prize in Physics for his electroweak theory, is among those who argue that the quest for reflecting upon and studying nature is a duty upon Muslims.[62]

Biological evolution[edit]

A faction of Muslims are at odds with current scientific theories about biological evolution and the origin of man. A recent Pew study[63] reveals that in only four of the 22 countries surveyed that at least 50% of the people surveyed rejected evolution. For instance, a relatively large fraction of people accept human evolution in Kazakhstan (79%) and Lebanon (78%), but relatively few in Afghanistan (26%), Iraq (27%), and Pakistan (30%); a total of 13 of the countries surveyed had at least 50% of the population surveyed who agreed with the statement that humans evolved over time. The late Ottoman intellectual Ismail Fennî, while personally rejecting Darwinism, insisted that it should be taught in schools as even false theories contributed to the improvement of science. He held that interpretations of the Quran might require amendment should Darwinism eventually be shown to be true.[64]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ abSeyyed Hossein Nasr. 'Islam and Modern Science'
  2. ^The 'first true scientist'
  3. ^Haq, Syed (2009). 'Science in Islam'. Oxford Dictionary of the Middle Ages. ISSN1703-7603. Retrieved 2014-10-22.
  4. ^Robert Briffault (1928). The Making of Humanity, pp. 190–202. G. Allen & Unwin Ltd.
  5. ^ abcHuff, Toby (2007). Islam and Science. Armonk, Ny: M.E. Sharpe, Inc. pp. 26–36. ISBN978-0-7656-8064-8.
  6. ^Egyptian Muslim geologist Zaghloul El-Naggar quoted in Science and Islam in Conflict| Discover magazine| 06.21.2007| quote: 'Modern Europe's industrial culture did not originate in Europe but in the Islamic universities of Andalusia and of the East. The principle of the experimental method was an offshoot of the Islamic concept and its explanation of the physical world, its phenomena, its forces and its secrets.' From: Qutb, Sayyad, Milestones, p. 111, https://archive.org/stream/SayyidQutb/Milestones%20Special%20Edition_djvu.txt
  7. ^ abcHoodbhoy, Perez (2006). 'Islam and Science – Unhappy Bedfellows'(PDF). Global Agenda: 2–3. Retrieved 1 July 2015.
  8. ^Cook, Michael, The Koran: A Very Short Introduction, Oxford University Press, (2000), p. 30
  9. ^see also: Ruthven, Malise. A Fury For God. London; New York: Granta (2002), p. 126.
  10. ^Pitock, Todd (July 2007). 'Science and Islam in Conflict'. Discover Magazine. Retrieved 15 June 2019.
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  12. ^ abchttps://giftsofknowledge.files.wordpress.com/2016/01/hans-wehr-searchable-pdf.pdf Searcheable PDF of the Hans Wehr Dictionary
  13. ^Qur'an and Science, Encyclopedia of the Qur'an
  14. ^ abAli, Shamsher. 'Science and the Qur'an'(PDF). In Oliver Leaman (ed.). The Qurʼan: An Encyclopedia. p. 572. Retrieved 13 May 2018.
  15. ^Nidhal Guessoum (2010-10-30). Islam's Quantum Question: Reconciling Muslim Tradition and Modern Science. I.B.Tauris. p. 63. ISBN978-1848855175.
  16. ^Nidhal Guessoum (2010-10-30). Islam's Quantum Question: Reconciling Muslim Tradition and Modern Science. I.B.Tauris. p. 75. ISBN978-1848855175.
  17. ^https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Bucaille
  18. ^Nidhal Guessoum (2010-10-30). Islam's Quantum Question: Reconciling Muslim Tradition and Modern Science. I.B.Tauris. pp. 132, 134. ISBN978-1848855175.
  19. ^ abMehdi Golshani, Can Science Dispense With Religion?
  20. ^Toshihiko Izutsu (1964). God and Man in the Koran. Weltansckauung. Tokyo.
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  23. ^ abNidhal Guessoum (2010-10-30). Islam's Quantum Question: Reconciling Muslim Tradition and Modern Science. I.B.Tauris. p. 56. ISBN978-1848855175.
  24. ^Nidhal Guessoum (2010-10-30). Islam's Quantum Question: Reconciling Muslim Tradition and Modern Science. I.B.Tauris. pp. 117–18. ISBN978-1848855175.
  25. ^Nidhal Guessoum (2010-10-30). Islam's Quantum Question: Reconciling Muslim Tradition and Modern Science. I.B.Tauris. pp. 58–59. ISBN978-1848855175.
  26. ^ abQutb, Sayyid, Milestones, p. 112
  27. ^Stark, Rodney, The Victory of Reason, Random House: 2005, pp. 20–21.
  28. ^Edis, Taner (2007). An Illusion of Harmony: Science And Religion in Islam: Taner Edis: 9781591024491: Amazon.com: Books. ISBN978-1591024491.
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  31. ^Cook, The Koran, 2000: p.29
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  35. ^Angelika Neuwirth, Cosmology, Encyclopedia of the Qur'an
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External links[edit]

Wikiquote has quotations related to: Qur'an on science
  • Science and the Islamic world—The quest for rapprochement by Pervez Hoodbhoy.
  • Islamic Science by Ziauddin Sardar (2002).
  • Can Science Dispense With Religion? by Mehdi Golshani.
  • Islam, science and Muslims by Seyyed Hossein Nasr.
  • Islam, Muslims, and modern technology by Seyyed Hossein Nasr.
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Current discussions in the West on the relation of science and religion focus mainly on science’s uneasy relationship with the traditional Judeo-Christian view of life. But a parallel controversy exists in the Muslim world regarding ways to integrate science with Islam. As physicist Taner Edis shows in this fascinating glimpse into contemporary Muslim culture, a good deal...more
Published January 2nd 2007 by Prometheus Books (first published 2007)
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While I think have come to different conclusions about the nature of reality than Prof Edis, I have to say that I still found this to be an enjoyable read. While I expected from the title to see merely a debunking of popular pseudoscientific myths, this is actually a fairly extensive discussion of the topic of Muslim responses to modernity and experiences with varieties of science, both historically and in the present.
In contrast to the anti-intellectual drivel produced by the likes of Sam Harri
...more
Apr 25, 2013Luke rated it it was amazing
Shelves: evolution, history, islam, philosophy, science, religion
I am in utter amazement at this book. I expected it to be a classic debunking of various forms of Islamic pseudo-science such as that advocated by Harun Yahya and Maurice Bucaille analogous to similar books that debunked Christian creationist pseudo-science. I was wrong. It certainly critiqued the views of the two men just named but it went far beyond that, presenting a critical view of the place modern science holds in the Muslim world and the potentials for both advancement and retardation of...more
Nov 06, 2014Yousuf rated it did not like it
This book has been completely debunked by Mohamed Ghilan (a neuroscientist). There are a lot of points to make so I won't go into details here, but here's the link.
'For a book carrying the subtitle “Science and Religion in Islam,” one would reasonably expect the author to be well-versed in three subjects: science, religion, and Islam. However, Taner Edis readily admits from the very beginning of An Illusion of Harmony that he is no expert in Islam. He cites having grown in a Muslim land, Turkey, and how “Islamic” culture is part of his non-Muslim identity. This, in addition to his cursory reading of Islamic history as presented by the anti-Islam polemicist...more
This book is written by a Turkish-born atheist physicist working in the US and religious people might very well find it offensive. It falls somewhere in between an academic analysis and an essay expressing personal thoughts and feelings and should be treated as such.
The author is obviously frustrated by the lack of scientific progress in most Muslim countries, including the still secular Turkey. What irritates him even more is the constant claims that Islam is a religious compatible with science
...more
Jun 24, 2011Book rated it really liked it · review of another edition
An Illusion of Harmony: Science and Religion in Islam by Taner Edis
An Illusion of Harmony by Taner Edis is a well-written even-handed book about the level of harmony that exists between science and religion. The author covers the diverse range of Muslim thinking about science and Islam. It focuses on the overall reluctance of Muslims to allow science into their societies for fear that it may threaten their faith. The book is composed of the following seven chapters: 1. To Seek Knowledge in Chin
...more
Edis writes: “‘Materialism’ is a symbolic enemy that has little to do with scientists and philosophers skeptical about gods and ghosts. Creationists lead a moral crusade; they aim to protect the community of the faithful from spiritual corruption.” (p. 143) This is probably true for creationists in general, regardless of religious affiliation. For Muslims in particular, in the late 20th century, “[t]he work of ‘Harun Yahya,’ said to be a pseudonym for Adnan Oktar, was central to the newest wave...more
Aug 10, 2011

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Adam Lewis rated it it was amazing
Shelves: religion, skepticism, history, general-science
The tensions between modern scientific conceptualizations of the world and traditional supernatural accounts have a unique dynamic in Turkey and in other Islamic lands. While they are immersed in a science and technology driven global economy, they have come to recognize its power and importance to their lives. But, they have also come to recognize its implications that erode their traditional ways of thinking about and relating to the world and to other humans.
The literalist rhetorical traditi
...more
Apr 16, 2012Josh rated it really liked it
This is a good book for those of us who didn't grow up with Islam. It helped me understand the approach Muslim creationists take to their religion and science, which, in many ways, mirrors the Christian resistance, but also has its nuances.
Martin Riexinger rated it really liked it
Mar 01, 2013
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