An Islamic Perspective
By M. Basheer Ahmed
Jul/Aug 25
During the early period of Christianity, Christians misinterpreted the Bible, leading to the condemnation of science and philosophy. As a result, during the second and third centuries, Christian fundamentalists burned libraries destroying countless books written by Greek and Roman scholars. Discouraging the teaching of science led to the Dark Ages of Europe which lasted for a thousand years.
The Quran corrected this misinterpretation. The first revealed verse said, “Read! In the Name of your Lord, who has created (all that exists), has created man from a clot. Read! And your Lord is the Most Generous, who has taught (writing) by the pen, has taught man that which he knew not” (96:1-5). This well-known verse does not implore the praising or worshiping of God. Instead, it emphasizes the importance of knowledge and the application of literacy to preserve it. The Quran encourages scientific inquiry throughout its pages; there are over 800 verses in the Quran dealing with natural phenomena.
God gave humans the gift of intelligence, critical thinking, and decision-making (10:101, 2:164, 16:67, and 45:05). From time immemorial, humans processed information and used that information to raise children, teach new skills, set up governments, and develop innovations like agriculture and medicine. In the 20th century, science replaced the information processed in human brains with information processed in technical systems. Today, individuals access and distribute information by contacting electronic networks, databases, and personal computers that are interconnected through various networks. Cognitive processes have thereby been transferred to computers and increasingly, to artificial intelligence systems.
What is Science?
Science is a pursuit of knowledge and a tool for progress, inventing new things to make life comfortable. It revolutionized space travel and modernized medicine. Science is intrinsic to human life and now, we cannot live without it.
Scientific Discoveries and their Influence on Modern Life
Scientific discoveries have had more influence upon human life in the last 200 years than they have in the previous two thousand.
Electricity: Electricity can change night into day. It not only helps us run appliances and utilities but also vehicles, heavy machinery, and other industries. Contemporary society is completely dependent on electricity.
Transportation: Scientific innovations have made traveling faster and easier thereby remaking global society. We progressed from bicycles to cars, from buses to trains and airplanes, and now we travel in space.
Communication and information technology: The internet, smartphones, social media, and satellite technology have revolutionized how we access information, bridging global divides.
Health Care: Science has revolutionized health care, transforming once-fatal diseases into manageable conditions. Vaccines eradicated smallpox and polio, and recently, mRNA technology enabled the rapid development of the Covid-19 development. Penicillin and broad-spectrum antibiotics eradicated deadly diseases like cholera, typhoid, and tuberculosis and controlled serious infections. Imaging technologies like MRI and CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats) have led to gene editing allowing scientists to edit DNA by cutting and modifying specific genetic sequences. This advancement allows for the correction of genetic errors and the development of new medical treatments for a variety of ailments. Advances in surgical treatment make it possible to transplant nearly every part of the physical body. Diabetes and heart disease are now under control. The invention of assistance technology like hearing aids and eyeglasses have made life much more comfortable. These discoveries along with many others have saved millions of lives and have improved millions of others.
Education and accessibility: Online learning platforms and open-access educational apps like the Khan Academy make it easy to access new knowledge. In regions with limited intellectual resources, mobile technology delivers agricultural advice, health care information, and literacy tools. Science education cultivates critical thinking, equipping future generations to tackle emerging challenges.
Environmental science: Early warning systems for natural disasters have saved thousands of lives. Furthermore, renewable energy technologies, solar panels, and wind turbines are helping to preserve the planet for future generations.
Ethical Considerations
And yet, much of science’s progress, which should contribute to our well-being, has been transformed into an instrument of destruction. For example, several global governments misused nuclear power by making weapons of mass destruction.
In other cases, science has led to environmental degradation (e.g., pollution from industrialization). Also, the introduction of robotics, artificial intelligence, cloning, and other forms of transhumanism threatens the dignity of humankind. With sophisticated technology in various industries, machines perform better and more efficiently than humans. As a result, unemployment and widespread poverty are among the most pressing social issues of our time and some regions of the globe still lack access to basic health care or clean energy despite existing advanced technologies. Despite marked technological progress then, there remains a desperate need for equitable distribution of earth’s resources.
Still, when guided by ethics and empathy, science becomes a powerful force for addressing humanity’s most significant challenges – disease, hunger, inequality, and environmental collapse. However, its potential for misuse necessitates careful consideration of ethical implications in scientific research and application. Collaboration among scientists, policymakers, and impacted communities is vital to steer innovation toward equity and sustainability. We should look towards scientific discoveries and technology to make man’s life on earth more human in every aspect.
An Islamic Perspective
Muslims in the early period of Islam did not believe that there was a conflict between science and religion and they made significant advancements in various fields like mathematics, astronomy, medicine, and chemistry. The contributions of Muslim scientists in the Middle Ages transformed science into a structured, rigorous discipline that later laid the foundation for the Renaissance. These Islamic scholars demonstrated that scientific achievement aimed at improving human life is, in fact, a religious duty.
Today, Muslim nations fall behind the rest of the world in industrial and scientific development. Muslim majority countries spend just 0.5% of GDP on research and development while Global Northern states spend up to 10% of GDP in these areas. Globally, only 1% of all working scientists are Muslims.
Still, several Muslim scholars in India and Egypt have inspired Muslims worldwide to study science and technology.
Indian scholars Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (d. 1958) and Maulana Abul Hasan Nadvi (d.1999) were aware that the West learned about science, philosophy, and medicine from the work of great Muslim scientists and scholars from the 16th century. Later, when Muslim majority states taught that science was contrary to religion, they fell into intellectual decline. This in turn led to the overall decline of the Muslim East which coincided with the intellectual ascent of western nations. When religion rivals knowledge, particularly science, nations decline. But when there is harmony between faith, knowledge, and wisdom, nations can reach great heights.
During the ascent of the West, Sir Syed Ahmad Khan (d. 1898) expressed his admiration for England’s scientific progress saying, “If only the youth of my nation could learn from the English, whose young people are constantly engaged in scientific activities and dedicated to advancing society, the situation back home would be vastly improved.”
Renowned Islamic scholar Khaled Abou El-Fadl, the Omar and Azmeralda Alfi Distinguished Professor of Law at the UCLA School of Law, emphasized the importance of reason, critical thinking, and historical context in understanding the Quran’s message. He viewed the Quran as the most important guide for addressing society’s contemporary challenges.
The scientific mindset encourages individuals to make decisions based on reason and evidence rather than blind faith or tradition. By nurturing a scientific mindset, we can build a more informed, innovative, and resilient society capable of addressing the complex challenges of the 21st century.
The time has come to move beyond boasting about past glories. Instead, we must critically assess our present state and implement scientific strategies to shape a brighter future. Muslims can ensure a dignified and prosperous future by integrating scientific progress with critical thinking and a strong ethical framework. With its capacity to expand human knowledge, improve lives, and address global challenges, science is an indispensable force in the service of humanity.
Basheer Ahmed, MD, a former Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in Dallas, is the President Emeritus of the Institute of Medieval and Post-Medieval Studies.
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