God
and Science
In the West,
the news media often represent the interaction of religion and science as a
battle to
death between religious scholars and scientific atheists. But for many
scientists,
who belong
to the mainstream faith, things look entirely different. Throughout the last
millennium,
the Church was looked upon as a controlling mother with two defiant sons
called
physics and biology. Yet, despite strained relations, there is always optimism that
religion and
science can benefit from each other.
Medieval scientists, assured by their
faith that the universe is rational, took their
first steps towards uncovering God’s
Design. The first great conflict happened between
the Church on one side and Galileo on
the other side. In 1595 Galileo supported the
Copernican theory that the earth
revolves around the sun against the Aristotelian and
Ptolemaic assumption that planets
circle a fixed earth. Galileo was condemned by the
Church for his scientific beliefs and
was ordered in 1616 not to discuss Copernicanism
either orally or in writing. Only in
1984 a papal commission acknowledged that the
church was wrong, but it was not until
1992 that the church actually reversed its
condemnation of Galileo. It took the
Church about 4 centuries to admit that it was wrong.
Therefore,
the son physics moved out of the house, and for a while, science enjoyed
its
freedom. The telescopes of the following centuries saw many stars in a huge
void,
evoking
the dream of infinite universe with no sign of a beginning or a prospect of an
end.
Some scientists thought that the universe was never changing. To them, there
was
no need
for a God! This simple view did not last. Edwin Hubble discovered the red shift
of the distant stars, and in 1920’s the whole world knew that the universe had
a beginning called the
Big
Bang. The fact that the universe had a beginning asserted the existence of an
Omnipotent
Designer that started the Big Bang. Cosmology used physics to uncover a
magnificently
organized universe; fine-tuned to foster life within it. In its adulthood,
physics
realized that mother is much smarter than she had been credited. The son
physics
started to have a tremendous appreciation for creating the universe and his
mother’s
wisdom.
Biology
moved out of the house later than physics and is later to return as well.
Darwin
introduced a concept of evolution of species by natural selection. It was an
interesting
guesswork, but where in this scheme was the Designer? In the 19th century
the
foundation of life was in a total mystery. Scientists of the time hoped that
the
complexity
of humans and animals would resolve into simplicity when more was learned
about
life. Darwinists had no way of knowing about proteins, amino acids, the genetic
code
and other mysteries of the living cell.
In
the last 50 years biology has uncovered some of the mysteries of the living
cell,
and the results firmly indicate another Grand Design. The marvels of the living
cell
include
precisely tailored microscopic systems that include molecular trucks to haul
neatly
tagged cargo from one end of the cell to the other along a molecular railroad
tracks.
It also includes power plants to generate the cell’s energy; disciplined
biological
armies
standing ready to fight the invaders; and a centralized genetic government to
maintain
order. Darwin’s natural selection lies in smoking ruins. Darwinism may explain
simple
things like the shape of finch beaks, but for the more complex questions of how
life
evolved and why, biology is still reluctant to admit God’s Grand Design.
At
the present time biology seems to be in a state of complete denial that
controlled
physics when the concept of the Big Bang was first introduced. Some modern
biologists
look for anything to reject the prospect of intentional design of life. Their
denial
won’t
last long, though; evidences are too strong. Other biologists suggested an
interesting
compromise. It is called creative evolution. They believe that God created
Adam,
but they may exclude the controversial Biblical statement that God created Adam
in
His own image. Now, they ask the question: Who was really Adam? Could he be the
first
living cell on Earth? Creative evolution advocates evolution not by natural
selection
but
by the guidance of God. This conclusion is based upon incomplete evidences. And
all
the conflicts and contradictions of evolution will have to be defended by the creative
evolutionists
and that was never done successfully.
The
news media often ask scientists how science can be reconciled with religion.
A
better question would be how could anyone with some knowledge of science avoid
watching
the overwhelming evidences of One God?
Humans managed to divide science into three
main categories:
• Physical: such as physics, chemistry, and engineering.
• Biological: such as medicine, embryology, botany, and zoology.
• Sociological: such as psychology, economics, anthropology, and history.
However, the great scientific pioneers in
the human’s history could not really be
classified as physicist, biologists, or
sociologists. Most of them had knowledge in many
branches of science. An inspiring list of
those pioneers includes Newton, Galileo, Albattani(Albatenius), and Ibn Sina.
Without exception, true scientists were devout
religious people. They simply understood
that science would never have answers to all
complex questions.
At present, in trying to deal with the enormous
scientific and spiritual information
that is available to us, it may help to
abandon the above categorization of science and put the above three categories
under a new name called Evidences of God! Or attach the Name of God to all
branches of science such as physics of God, biology of God, etc. If we do that,
the simplest physical law, biological and sociological phenomenon can then make
sense. Asking questions about: who, why, and how can then have one answer, and
one answer only. Some scientists are limiting their creativity by rejecting the
concept of God. If scientists make it their business to uncover some of God’s
Grand Design,humanity will enjoy a much greater scientific achievements,
paralleled only to the great scientific advances that Islam inspired in the
Middle Ages.
This would certainly require a major
overhaul in the entire educational system.
Teachers would be required to be more
inspirational. Books would have to be rewritten to include the thoughts of the
scientific pioneers, and not merely their works without any
human attachments. This would change the
life of physicists, biologists, engineers,
botanists, and all other professionals.
Every simple physical law, biological test or
analysis is approached within the framework
of the Grand Design. If that happens, the
entire human family would be in a state of
submission to the Will of God. And that is
what Islam is all about.
The attitude of Islam towards continuous
knowledge and scientific development is
quite remarkable. As a matter of fact, the
first word revealed in the Quran was “Read.” It
was an order from the Creator to the
Muslims to seek true knowledge, because this is the
only way to achieve an appreciation for the
Glory and Greatness of God. With this order,science took on an international
character in the Islamic universities of the Middle Ages.During that time,
Muslims had a great advantage because the Quran inspired the Muslims to study
the sky and the earth to find proof for their faith. Muhammad encouraged the
Muslims to seek knowledge from the cradle to the grave, no matter if their
search took them as far as China. Studying is considered an act of worshipping
God. It is an established fact that scientific upsurge by Muslims came as a
result of religious influence.
Anyone who knows something about Islamic
history is aware of the period of the Middle
Ages, which saw cultural and scientific
peaks in the Islamic world.
Muslims made great contributions in the
fields of mathematics, astronomy,
physics, botany, medicine etc. There is no
numeral of greater significance than the zero,
which came from the Arabic word “sifr” or
empty. Solutions of algebraic equations were
introduced early in the Islamic world,
where it was known as the “science of restoration
and balancing.” (The Arabic word for
restoration, al-jabr, is the root of the word algebra,
and algebra as a science is an Islamic
contribution.) Al-Khwarizmi (780-850) of Baghdad popularized the use of the
decimal numbering system and wrote the first clear textbook on algebra. The
title of this influential Arabic book was “al-jabr wa al-muqabala”, which means
“ the art of bringing together unknowns to match known quantities.” The key
word“al-jabr” or “bringing together” gave rise to the word algebra. Al-Battani
(850-929) in Damascus is considered the greatest Muslim astronomer and
mathematician. He improved trigonometry and calculated the first table of
cotangents. The Latinos called al-Battani “Albatenius”. Other Muslims such as
Abu Kamil, and Omar Khayyam are only few names that contributed in Algebra.
Ibn Al-haitham (965-1039), known as
“Alhazen” in the West, was one of the
greatest investigators of optics of all
times. He was also a physician. His fame came froma book on optics that became
known to Kepler during the seventeenth century. This
masterpiece, “Ketab Al-Manazeer” (Book of
Mirrors) had great influence on the training
of later scientists in Europe, in which he
described the nature of light as consisting of
particles which carry heat and energy. Thabit
Ibn Qurra (833-902) in Baghdad was the
commentator on higher mathematics, and
wrote on the theory of numbers. He, also, wrote about gravity and its
relationship with mass, stating that when there are two bodies, the larger body
exerts a stronger influence on the lesser mass. Islamic astronomers of the
Middle Ages, having learned how to build mathematical instruments, were setting
up observatories and charting the movements of stars and planets, while
contemporary Europeans were ignorant of nearly all sciences.
During the 10th century, Cordoba, the largest city in Europe, was a
center for Islamic learning. Its mosque, known as La Mezquita, was one of the largest in the
Islamic world. Ibn Rushd (1126-98), born in
Cordoba, known in Latin as Averroës, was a
Spanish-Arab Islamic philosopher, jurist,
and physician. He also studied theology,
philosophy, and mathematics under the Arab
philosopher Ibn Tufayl (1105? -85) and
medicine under the Arab physician Avenzoar
(1090-1162). It is interesting to note that
prominent Muslim scientists were given Latin
names with the effect of obscuring their
identity and origin, and their association with the
Islamic civilization. The Caliph’s library
at Cordoba included 400,000 books. Scholars
from all over Europe went to study at
Cordoba. As the signs of mathematical awakening
in Europe appeared in the thirteenth
century, the Christian monks made contact with
Islamic universities in Spain, opening the
way to the Renaissance, and the translation
from Arabic to Latin started.
The first
university on earth, Al-Azhar (the resplendent) was established after the
founding of
Cairo itself in 969 AD. This university has an important effect upon the
development
of educational institutions in Europe. The wearing of black academic
gowns,
traditions of public disputations, and division of undergraduate and graduate
faculties
originated at Al-Azhar University. Non-Arab speaking students from Europe
had to take
a crash course in Arabic for 6 months, because Arabic was the language of
science.
