Faculty of Islamic Civilization

PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE AND CIVILIZATION

UICI 2022 SCIENCE AND ISLAM
Dr. Abdul Azeez Yusuf
LL.A, LL.B, MA, FCBAN, FIIMUM, FCGSIG, PhD Law

S45-C05-11 yusufaazeez@utm.my 07-55-35033 innovative entrepreneurial global

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1- INTRODUCTION: PROMOTION OF KNOWLEDGE IN ISLAM - Muslims excelled in Science and Technology from the eighth century until the early part of fourteenth century due to the fact that:
(I) Islam introduced new ethics which unified Muslims under the concept of one Ummah that gave them a sense of unity and common purpose. This in turn ignited in them the will to succeed in all their effort. (II) The will to succeed made Muslims adopt a system of government and economic policies that made them the worlds first economic power from the seventh to twelfth centuries.
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- (III) Islam unified knowledge whether it was revealed in the Glorious Quran or

acquired by man through reason. This gave Muslims the motives to acquire and develop Science and technology and to utilize it in all spheres of development activities.

All these elements put together gave rise to the Islamic Civilization which carried with it, the seeds for the quest for learning and inquiry which made science flourish for several centuries in the Muslim world.
The acquisition of knowledge and learning was propelled by the great cultural diffusion brought forward by Islam between Arabs, Persians, Turks, Indians, Afghans, and others, and by the correct understanding of the role of knowledge and its relation to Islamic faith. innovative entrepreneurial global

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2- CONCEPT OF SCIENCE IN ISLAM:

A- Websters Dictionary defines Science as: Accumulated and accepted knowledge that has been systematized and formulated with reference to the discovery of general truths or the operation of general laws. B- Islamically, Science is: (i) A systematized body of knowledge, or knowledge that deals with facts that are systematically organized showing the operation of general laws.

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(ii) The knowledge concerned with the Physical world and its phenomena that is obtained and tested through the use of Scientific method. (iii) A branch of study that is concerned with observation and classification of facts, especially the strictly establishment of quantitave formulation of verifiable general laws chiefly by induction and hypothesis.
(iv) Knowledge obtained deductively.

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- Basically: The Islamic Concept of scientific knowledge are as follow: A- Knowledge is a divine gift to man, and gift should be used to observed nature, to reflect, and to reason.

B- The purpose of all knowledge, including scientific knowledge, is to serve the Creator and to secure the absolute unity of God.
C- Science being an organized knowledge has a unifying perspective by combining the pursuit of science and the pursuit of virtue. D- It is the duty of every individual Muslim to seek knowledge wherever it may be available.

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E- Dissemination of knowledge is the duty of every Muslim that possesses knowledge. F- All natural resources are a trust from the Creator, therefore scientific knowledge should deal with this trust in a manner that is compatible with this responsibility. G- Knowledge is the source of abundant good of for man, therefore it should be used in the service of life. H- Knowledge is infinite, but the ultimate knowledge is only known by the Creator.

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3- METHODOLOGY OF

ISLAMIC SCIENCE: - The above definitions include terms involving: - (a) scientific method, (b) induction, and deduction: a- Scientific method: The Principles and procedure used in the systematic pursuit of inter-subjectively accessible knowledge and involving as necessary conditions: - the recognition and formulation of a problem, - the collection of data through observation, and, - if possible experiment, the formulation of hypothesis, and - the testing and confirmation of the hypothesis formulated
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b- Induction:
An instance of reasoning from a part to a whole, from particulars to generals, or from the individual to universal. c- Deduction: It is used for deriving a conclusion by reasoning. The deductive method is a method of reasoning which yields concrete conclusions on particulars which are deducted from general principle, or yields theorem which are deduced from definitions and postulates.
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- The Scientific works left by great Muslim scientists such as al-Battani, al-Biruni, al-Buzjani, ibn Haytham, ibn Rushd, ibn Sina, al-Khawarizmi, ibn Ishaq and others shows us that the scientific methodology they used consisted of four stages.
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These stages are summarized as follow: - (i) Observation and experimentation of natural phenomena. - (ii) Observation and experimentation to arrive at the laws of nature. - (iii) Hypotheses and theories to explain the laws of nature. - (iv) Prediction and discovery based on hypotheses and theories to discover new natural phenomena.
M.A Kazi in The Pursuit of Scientific Knowledge in Islam, in Islamic Thought and Creativity, Vol. 1., COMSTECH, Islamabad, January, 1990).

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The Methodology of Islamic Science Can, therefore, be summarized as follows: A- By Observation B- By Description C- By Experiment D- By Testing or Application.
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4SCIENCE: A MISUNDERSTANDING KNOWLEDGE IN ISLAMIC/MUSLIM EDUCATION? - Issues, Questions and challenges: (i) There are some people who claim that there is no inconformity between science and the Quran and the Traditions, hence everything the science present is correct. (ii) Others say that the views of science clash with the Quran. ANSWER: A- It must be understood that the purpose of science is to explore the fundamental forces which Allah has created in this universe. - If these forces are used for the welfare and well-being of mankind, it is not only permissible but desirable in Islam. - In this connection, Islam only demands that these forces should be used for the purpose that are permissible and useful in the view of Islam. innovative entrepreneurial global

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For example: - Science has provided mankind with the means of comfort and ease, - At the same time its wrongful use has converted the whole world into the hell of turmoil and disturbance. Correct. - It is the science that invented the high speed means of travel like jet, planes and helicopters.

- At the same time the science is responsible for creating disastrous nuclear bombs, missiles and chemical and biological weapons. - Hence true benefits from it can be achieved only when it is used according to the principles laid down by Allah.
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BThe second thing to understand is that scientific discoveries are of two kinds: Firstly: - Those which pertains to human observation. - Such discoveries are never in opposition to the Quran and traditions of the Messenger Of Allah. - In fact, they have helped to affirm the Quran and traditions in many things which were difficult for people to understand.

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For example: - The tremendous speed of the Buraq (The Heavenly Horse) on which the Prophet travelled from Makkah to Jerusalem on the night of Ascension, was regarded as unimaginable by the so-called intellectuals of that time. - But today, science has proved that the speed is a relative entity that cannot be bound to any limits. Secondly: - There are some views that are based on conjectures and presumptions due to lack of knowledge, rather than observation and certainty. - The scientists are yet to reach any definite conclusions on these matters so far. Such findings often opposed to the explicit views of the Quran and traditions of the Messenger of Allah.

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- In such situations, the proper way is to maintain firm faith in them without making new interpretation to the Quran. - The scientific researches that clash with them should be regarded as yet inconclusive due to lack of knowledge about them. - Therefore, the more scientific research keeps growing the more it will help to expound the realities described by the Quran and Sunnah.
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For example:
- The scientists think that the sky has no physical existence. - Obviously this hypothesis is not based on observation and definite proof but on assumption that they have not been able to get any trace of the existence of the sky. Hence, they do not accept its existence. - According to the Quran, the skies do exist but due to its lack of knowledge, science has not been able to discover it.
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- However, if scientific knowledge continue to increase.
- It is quite possible that scientists realize their mistake and they accept the existence of the skies, just as they have accepted many other things they denied earlier. - Particularly, when it is often observed that scientific views and theories are changing from time to time.

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Thirdly: - It must be remembered that the case of Islam is quite different from that of Christianity.

- The latter (Christianity) did not have the very force to stand against newly arising needs and scientific discoveries of man.
- Hence it threatened science as a great danger. - Thus in order to uphold the prestige of the church, it was essential for Christianity either to oppose scientific achievements or make amendments in the religion itself. innovative entrepreneurial global

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- In the beginning, the Roman Catholic church adopted the first choice. - Having full power and authority over the people, the Scientists like Galileo, and Copernicus who had offered a totally different account of the solar system , different from the official conception of the church were persecuted and had to face tremendous punishments.
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- Later when the authority of church loses the grip of power, they had no alternatives than to make new interpretations and fabricate the religion itself. - This happened because the whole edifice of Christianity was based on extremely unnatural and baseless grounds.
- Islam on the way, is a natural religion. It is fully capable of fulfilling the needs of the time and to satisfy the demands of new circumstances without making any changes in the religion.
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Thirdly:
- We should remember that the only limit Islam sets to this immense freedom of man to seek knowledge is his submission to God, the Creator. - However, if science by its ideological content, pushes man to trespass this limit , Islam will not condone such a science because it will amount to Kufr (denial of God or ungratefulness to God). - Our belief, therefore, is that the truth of Islam will flourish more and more with the advancement of science and scientific knowledge, provided that scientists point of view remains scientific in the real sense and not by conjectures.
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5- ISLAMIC SCIENTIFIC ACHIEVEMENTS: - The most important achievements made by Muslim scientists was that they formalized the scientific methodology for producing new scientific knowledge.
- Scientists during the Hellenistic period used observation and experimentation in their scientific activities.

- However, the Muslims were the pioneers of the modern scientific knowledge which revolutionized the process of scientific inquiry.
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