I. The Holy Quran and Science
2. Modern Science, A Greco-Islamic Legacy
3. The Decline of Sciences
in Islam
4. The Limitations of Science
5. Faith and Science
6. The Present Picture of Sciences in the Islamic
Countries
7. Renaissance of Sciences in Islam
8. Steps Needed for Building up Sciences in the Islamic
Countries
9. Concluding Remarks
Ash-hadu an-la ilaha illallahu wa ash-hadu
anna Muhammadan abduhu wa rasuluhu.
Awuzu billahi min ash-shaitanir rajim.
Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim.
Part I
1. The Holy Quran
and Science
Let me say at the outset that I am both a
believer as well as a practising Muslim. I am a Muslim because I believe
in the spiritual message of the Holy Quran. As a scientist, the Quran
speaks to me in that it emphasises reflection on the Laws of Nature, with
examples drawn from cosmology, physics, biology and medicine, as signs for
all men. Thus
"Can they not look up to the clouds, how
they are created; and to the Heaven how it is upraised; and the
mountains how they are rooted, and to the earth how it is outspread ?"
(88: 17)
and again,
"Verily in the creation of the heavens
and of the earth, and in the alternation of the night and of the day,
are there signs for men of understanding. " (3: 189-190)
Seven hundred and fifty verses of the Quran
-(almost one eighth of the Book) -"exhort believers to study Nature, to
reflect, to make the best use of reason in their search for the ultimate
and to make the acquiring of knowledge and scientific comprehension part
of the community 's life". The Holy Prophet of Islam (Peace be on him)
emphasised that the quest for knowledge and sciences is obligatory upon
every Muslim, man and woman.
This is the first premise on scientific
knowledge with which any fundamentalist thinking in Islam must begin. Add
to this the second premise - eloquently reinforced by Maurice Bucaille in
his essay on "The Bible, the Quran and Science". There is not a single
verse in the Quran where natural phenomena are described and which
contradicts what we know for certain from our discoveries in sciences.
Add to this the third premise: in Islamic
history there has been no incident like that of Galileo. Persecution,
excommunication (takfeer), which unfortunately continues even today over
doctrinal differences, but not, to my knowledge, directly for scientific
beliefs. [1]
2. Modern Science, A
Greco- Islamic Legacy
How seriously did the early Muslims take
these injunctions in the Holy Quran and of the Holy Prophet?
Barely a hundred years after the Prophet's
death, the Muslims had made it their task to master the then-known
sciences. Founding institutes of advanced study (Bait-ul-Hikmas), they
acquired an absolute ascendancy in the sciences that lasted for the next
350 years.
An aspect of reverence for the sciences in
Islam was the patronage they enjoyed in the Islamic Commonwealth. To
paraphrase what H.A.R. Gibb has written in the context of literature: "To
a greater extent than elsewhere, the flowering of the sciences in Islam
was conditional. ..on the liberality and patronage of those in high
positions. So long as, in one capital or another, princes and ministers
found pleasure, profit or reputation in patronising the sciences, the
torch was kept burning".
The Golden Age of Science in Islam was
doubtless the Age around the year 1000 CE, the Age of Ibn-i-Sina
(Avicenna), the last of the mediaevalists, and of his contemporaries, the
first of the moderns, Ibn-al-Haitham and Al Biruni.
Ibn-al-Haitham (A1hazen, 965-1039 CE) was
one of the greatest physicists of all time. He made experimental
contributions of the highest order in optics. He "enunciated that a ray of
light, in passing through a medium, takes the path which is tlie easier
and 'quicker'. [2] In this he was anticipating Fermat's Principle of Least
Time by many centuries.
He enunciated the law of inertia, later to
become Newton's first law of motion. Part V of Roger Bacon's "Opus Majus "
is practically an annotation to Ibn al Haitham's Optics. [3]
Al Biruni (973 -1048 CE), Ibn-i-Sina's
second illustrious contemporary, worked in today's Afghanistan. He was an
empirical scientist like Ibn-al-Haitham; as modern and as unmediaeval in
outlook as Galileo, six centuries later .
There is no question that western science
is a Greco-Islamic legacy. However, it is commonly alleged that
Islamic Science was a derived science, that Muslim scientists followed the
Greek theoretical tradition blindly and added nothing to the scientific
method.
This statement is false. Listen to this
assessment of Aristotle by Al Biruni:
"The trouble with most people is their
extravagance in respect of Aristotle's opinions, they believe that there
is no possibility of mistakes in his views, though they know that he was
only theorising to the best of his capacity".
Or Al Biruni on mediaeval superstition:
"People say that on the 6th {of January)
there is an hour during which all salt water of the earth gets sweet.
Since all the qualities occurring in the water depend exclusively upon
the nature of the soil. ..these qualities are of a stable nature.
..Therefore this statement. ..is entirely unfounded. Continual and
leisurely experimentation will show to anyone the futility of this
assertion".
And finally, Al Biruni on geology, with
this insistence on observation:
". ..But if you see the soil of India
with your own eyes and meditate on its nature, if you consider the
rounded stones found in earth however deeply you dig, stones that are
huge near the mountains and where the rivers have a violent current:
stones that are of smaller size at a greater distance from the mountains
and where the streams flow more slowly: stones that appear pulverised in
the shape of sand where the streams begin to stagnate near their mouths
and near the sea -if you consider all this you can scarcely help
thinking that India was once a sea, which by degrees has been filled up
by the alluvium o f the streams".
In Briffault's words: [3] "The Greeks
systematised, generalised, and theorised, but the patient ways of detailed
and prolonged observation and experimental inquiry were altogether alien
to the Greek temperament. ..What we call science arose as a result of new
methods of experiment, observation, and measurement, which were introduced
into Europe by the Arabs. ..(Modern) science is the most momentous
contribution of the Islamic civilisation ...".
These thoughts are echoed by George Sarton,
the great historian of science: "The main, as well as the least obvious,
achievement of the Middle Ages was the creation of the experimental spirit
and this was primarily due to the Muslims down to the 12th century".
One of the tragedies of history is that
this dawning of the modern spirit in sciences was interrupted; it did not
lead to a permanent change of direction in scientific methodology .Barely
a hundred years after Al Biruni and lbn-al-Haitham worked, creation of
high science in Islam effectively came to a halt. Mankind had to wait 500
years before the same level of maturity and the same insistence on
observation and experimentation was reached once again with Tycho Brahe,
Galileo and their contemporaries.
3. The Decline of
Sciences in Islam
Why did creative science die out in Islamic
civilisation? This decline, which began around 1100 CE, was nearly
complete two hundred and fifty years later .
No one knows for certain why this happened.
There were indeed external causes, like the devastation caused by the
Mongol invasion. In my view however, the demise of living
science within the Islamic commonwealth had started much earlier. It was
due much more to internal causes -firstly, the inward-turning and the
isolation of our scientific enterprise and secondly -and in the main -of
active discouragement to innovation (taqlid). The later parts of the
eleventh and early twelfth centuries in Islam (when this decline began)
were periods of intense politically-motivated, sectarian, and religious
strife. Even though a man like Imam Ghazali, writing around 1100 CE, could
say "A grievous crime indeed against religion has been committed by a man
who imagines that Islam is defended by the denial of the mathematical
sciences, seeing that there is nothing in these sciences opposed to the
truth of religion", the temper of the age had turned away from creative
science, either to Sufism with its other worldliness or to a rigid
orthodoxy with a lack of tolerance (taqlid) for innovation (ijtihad-), in
all fields of learning - including the sciences.
Does this situation persist today? Are we
encouraging scientific research and inquiry?
Of the major civilisations on this planet,
science is the weakest in the Islamic Commonwealth. Unfortunately, some of
us Muslims believe that while technology is basically neutral, and that
its excesses can be tempered through an adherence to the moral precepts of
Islam, science -on the contrary - is value-loaded. It is believed that
modern science must lead to "rationalism", and eventually apostacy; that
scientifically trained men among us will "deny the metaphysical
presuppositions of our culture".
Leaving aside the fact that high technology
can not flourish without high science and also leaving aside the insult to
the "presuppositions of our culture" for implied fragility, I believe that
such an attitude towards science is a legacy of the battles of yesterday
when the so-called "rational philosophers", with their irrational and
dogmatic belief in the cosmological doctrines they had inherited from
Aristotle found difficulties in reconciling these with their faith.
One must remind oneself that such battles
were waged even more fiercely among the Christian schoolmen of the Middle
Ages. The problems which concerned the schoolmen were mainly problems of
cosmology and metaphysics: "Is the world located in an immobile place;
Does God move the primum mobile directly and actively as an efficient
cause, or only as a final or ultimate cause? Are all the heavens moved by
one mover or several? Do celestial movers experience exhaustion or
fatigue?" When Galileo tried, first to classify those among the problems,
which legitimately belonged to the domain of physics, and then to find
answers only to those through physical experimentation, he was persecuted.
This persecution damaged the progress of
science in Italy at least till the eighteenth century. Ideological
restitution for this however, is being made now, three hundred and fifty
years later. At a special ceremony in the Vatican on 9 May 1983, His
Holiness the Pope John Paul II, declared:
"The Church's experience, during the
Galileo affair and after it, has led to a more mature attitude. ..The
Church herself learns by experience and reflection and she now
understands better the meaning that must be given to freedom of
research. ..It is through research that man attains to Truth. ..This is
why the Church is convinced that there can be no real contradiction
between science and faith. ..(However ), it is only through humble and
assiduous study that (the Church) learns to dissociate the essential of
the faith from the systems of a given age".
4. The Limitations
of Science
In the remarks I have quoted, the Pope
stressed the maturity which the Church had reached in dealing with
science; he could equally have emphasised the converse -the recognition by
the scientists from Galileo's times onwards, of the limitations of their
disciplines -the recognition that there are questions which are beyond the
ken of present or even future sciences and that "Science has achieved its
success by restricting itself to a certain type of inquiry". And even in
this restricted area the scientist of today knows when and where he is
speculating; he would claim no finality for the associated modes of
thought. In physics, this happened twice in the beginning of this century,
first with the discovery of relativity of time and space, and secondly
with quantum theory. It could happen again.
Take Einstein's discovery of relativity of
time. It appears incredible that the length of a time interval -the age
one lives -depends on one's speed -that the faster we move the longer we
appear to live to someone who is not moving with us. And this is not a
figment of one's fancy. Come to the particle physics laboratories of CERN
at Geneva which produce short-lived particles like muons, and make a
record of the intervals of time which elapse before muons of different
speeds decay into electrons and neutrinos. The faster muons take longer to
die, the slower ones die early. Incredible but true.
Einstein's ideas on time and space brought
about a revolution in the physicist's thinking. We had to abandon our
earlier modes of thought in physics. In this context, it always surprises
me that the professional philosopher who in the nineteenth century and
earlier used to consider space and time as his special preserve has
somehow failed to erect any philosophical systems based on Einstein's
notions so far!
The second and potentially the more
explosive revolution in thought came in 1926 with Heisenberg's discovery
of limitation on our knowledge. Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle affirms
that while experiments can be made to discover where the electron is,
these experiments will then destroy any possibility of finding
simultaneously whether the electron is moving and if so at what speed.
There is an inherent limitation fu our knowledge, which appears to have
been decreed "il:' the nature of things". I shudder to think that what
might have happened to Heisenberg if he was born in the Middle Ages -just
what theological battles might have raged on the question whether there
was a like limitation on the knowledge possessed by God.
As it was, battles were fought, but within
the twentieth century physics community. Heisenberg's revolutionary
thinking -supported by all known experiments -has not been accepted by all
physicists. The most illustrious physicist of all times, Einstein, spent
the best part of his life trying to find flaws in Heisenberg 's arguments.
He could not gainsay the experimental evidence -but hope was entertained
that such evidence may perhaps be explained within a different theoretical
framework. Such framework has not been found; but no one -at least no
physicist -would say that this is the end;
5. Faith and Science
But is the science of today really on a
collision course with metaphysical thinking? Again the problem -if any -is
not peculiar to Islam; the problem is one of science and faith in general.
Can science and faith at the least, live together in "harmonious
complementarity"? Let us consider some relevant examples of modern
scientific thinking.
My first example concerns the metaphysical
doctrine of creation from nothing. Today a growing number of cosmologists
believe that the most likely value for the density of matter and energy in
the Universe is such that the "mass" of the Universe adds up to zero,
precisely. If the mass of the Universe is indeed zero -and this is an
empirically determinable quantity -the Universe shares with the vacuum
state the property of masslessness. A bold extrapolation, made ten years
ago, then treated the Universe as a quantum fluctuation of the vacuum -of
the state of nothingness in a space and time created ex nihilo ...What
distinguishes physics from metaphysics however is that by measuring the
density of matter in the Universe we shall know empirically whether the
idea can be sustained in the physicist's sense. If it cannot be, we shall
discard it.
My second example concerns the recent
excitement in physics -which follows on our success in unifying and
establishing the identity of two of the fundamental forces of Nature, the
electric and the weak nuclear.
We are now considering the possibility that
space-time may have ten dimensions. Within this context we hope to
unify the electroweak force with the remaining of the two basic forces
-the force of gravity and the strong nuclear force. Of the ten, four are
the familiar dimensions of space and time. The curvature of these familiar
space and time dimensions determines the size and life-span of our present
Universe, according to Einstein's ideas. The curvature of the extra six
dimensions one has newly postulated gives the electric and the nuclear
charges we are familiar with.
But why don't we apprehend these extra
dimensions directly? Why only indirectly through the existence of the
electric and the nuclear charges?
Why the difference between the four
familiar space-time dimensions and, the extra internal dimensions which,
according to our present thinking, have sizes no larger than 10-33
cms?
At present, we make this plausible by
postulating a self-consistency principle. The theory works if and only if
the number of extra dimensions is six. However, there will be subtle
physical consequences; for example remnants, like the recently discovered
three degree black-body radiation which fills the Universe and which we
know was a remnant of an early era in the evolution of the Universe. We
shall search for these signs. If we do not find them, we shall abandon the
idea.
Creation from nothing, extra dimensions -
strange topics, for late twentieth century physics - which appear no
different from the metaphysical preoccupations of earlier times. But so
far as science is concerned, mark the provisional nature of the conceptual
edifice, the insistence on empirical verification at each stage and the
concept of driving self-consistency.a
For the agnostic, self -consistency (if
successful) may connote irrelevance of a deity:
Faman yudlilhu fala
hadiya lahu.
"Whomsoever Allah causes to err,
there is no guide for him."
[The Qur'an/7/al-Araf/186]
for the believer, it is part of the Lord's
design -its profundity, in the areas it illuminates, only enhances his
reverence for the beauty of the design itself.
As I said before, personally for me, my own
faith was predicated by the timeless spiritual message of Islam, on
matters on which physics is silent, and will remain so. It was given
meaning to by the very first verse of the Holy Quran after the Opening:
"This is the Book,
Wherein there is no doubt,
A guidance to the God-fearing,
Who believe in the Unseen".
"The Unseen " -"Beyond the reach of human
ken" - "The Unknowable" -the original Arabic words are
yu'minuna bil ghaib
[who] believe in the unseen [The Qur'an/2/al-Baqara/3]
Part II
6. The Present
Picture of Sciences in the Islamic Countries
What is the picture of science and
technology in the Islamic Commonwealth? For purpose of identification, the
Islamic peoples fall into six geographical regions. First and foremost are
the nine countries of the Arabian Peninsula and the Gulf. The second
region consists of the Arab northern tier; Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, the
Palestinian West Bank and Gaza. The third region comprises Turkey, Muslim
Central Asia, Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan. The fourth (most populous)
region consists of Bangladesh, Malaysia, Indonesia, (plus the large Muslim
minorities in India and China). In the fifth region are the Arab countries
of North Africa, while the sixth region would comprise the non-Arab
African countries. (Tables l, II)
If we consider the present enrolment in
scientific and technological education in the 18-23 year age group at the
universities as an index of high scientific potential, the Islamic
countries average 2% of the relevant age group compared to the norms of
around 12% for the developed countries (Table III). A similar ratio of 1:
6 prevails also in respect of GNP expenditures on scientific and
technological research and development.
No detailed statistics of numbers of those
engaged in scientific research are available. However, in the Background
Paper submitted to the first meeting of the Science Commission of the
Organisation of Islamic Conference, held in Islamabad during 10-13 May
1983, a figure of around 68,000
******************************
Table I [To be added]
The number of visitors from Arab-Islamic Countries to the
International Centre for Theoretical Physics, Trieste
************************************
******************************
Table II [To be added]
R & D Manpower in Islamic Countries
************************************
research and development scientists and
engineers was given for the entire Islamic world, compared to one and a
half million in the USSR and four hundred thousand in Japan.
According to A.B. Zahlan, who taught at the
American University, of Beirut, an analysis of these and similar figures
reveals that at least as far as physics is concerned, the Islamic
community is around one-tenth in size and one-hundredth in scientific
creativity in research publication, compared to the international norms.
Pakistan, which is one of the most scientifically advanced of Islamic
countries, had in 1983 nineteen universities, but only 13 professors of
physics, and a total of 42 physics Ph.D. teachers and researchers in all
its universities -this for a population of 90 millions. To compare the
corresponding numbers at one college at one university in the United
Kingdom -the Imperial College of Science and Technology -there are 12
professors and more than US researchers.
To give an outside observer's assessment,
writing in the prestigious scientific journal, Nature, of 24 March 1983,
Francis Giles raises the question "What is wrong with Muslim Science?"
This is what he says: "At its peak about one thousand years ago, the
Muslim world made a remarkable contribution to science, notably
mathematics and medicine.
Baghdad in its heyday and southern Spain
built universities to which thousands flocked: rulers surrounded
themselves with scientists and artists. A spirit of freedom allowed Jews,
Christians and Muslims to work side by side. Today all this is but a
memory.
"Expenditure on science and technology may
have increased in recent years though that increase has been, perforce,
limited to oil-rich countries. ..Some of these countries are busy fighting
wars which cost billions of dollars -no doubt they have little time for
science. Trade structures are dominated by imported technology and most
countries have economic and scientific systems geared to imitation rather
than originality. ... Even the recent wealth provided by oil exports makes
relatively little difference. ..science policy and politics, much to the
displeasure of many scientists, are closely linked in the Middle
East. The region is dominated by dictatorships, benevolent or otherwise.
..further complicating any attempt to allow science to take root
indigenously. Not surprisingly the brain drain to industrialised countries
continues to debilitate intellectual life throughout the Middle East".
Harsh criticism, but much of it factual and
deserved.
The same issue of Nature contains another
article on research manpower in Israel from which I quote: "The need for a
substantial increase in the number of academically trained people to work
in research and development is widely accepted. The National Council for
Research and Development has urged that their country will need 86,700
such people in 1995, compared with 34,800 in 1974 -an increase of 150 per
cent". Compare the Israeli figure of 34,800 with around 68,000 researchers
in all Islamic countries (the population ratio is 1:200).
Fa'tabiru ya ulil absar
"So learn a lesson, O ye with eyes
(to see)!" [The Qur'an/59/al-Hashr/2]
The article continues: "In the 1960s
Professor Derek de Solla Price of Yale University developed a method for
measuring scientific manpower in various countries based on the total of
researchers who had papers published in major professional journals and
concluded that in this country there are five times as many scientists as
would be expected for its population and gross national product. Price
insists that 'the situation is no different today; the country still
possesses an enormous reservoir of trained people, something for which she
has every reason to be grateful because her scientists and technicians
more than compensate for the lack of oil and minerals"'.
7. Renaissance of
Sciences in Islam
Can we turn the pages of history back and
once again lead in sciences? I would humbly like to submit that we can
-provided society as a whole -and our youth in particular -come to accept
this as a cherished goal, in keeping with our ideological beliefs, and in
keeping with our own experience of early centuries of Islam. We must,
however, remember that there are no short cuts to this Renaissance. In the
conditions of today a nation 's youth have to be fired and the nation
commit itself with a passionate commitment to this goal; it must impart
hard scientific training to more than half of its manpower; it must pursue
basic and applied sciences with 1-2% of its GNP spent on research and
development; at least one quarter to one third of this on pure sciences
alone.
This was done in Japan with the Meiji
revolution when the Emperor took an oath that knowledge will be acquired
from wherever it can be found from the far corners of the earth. This was
done in the Soviet Union sixty years ago when the Soviet Academy of
Sciences, created by Peter the Great, was asked to expand its numbers and
was set the ambition of excelling in all sciences. Today it numbers a
self-governing community of half a million scientists working in its
institutes, with priorities and privileges accorded to them in the Soviet
system that others envy.
According to Academician Malcev, this
principally came about in 1945, at a time when Soviet economy lay
shattered by the war. Stalin decided at that time to increase the emphasis
on sciences. Without consulting anyone else, he apparently decided to
increase the emoluments of all scientists and technicians connected with
the Soviet Academy, by a factor of three hundred per cent. He wanted
bright young men and bright young women to enter massively the profession
of scientific research.
A similar emphasis on sciences is now being
placed in a planned manner and at a frantic speed by the People's Republic
of China, with a defined target of catching up and surpassing the United
Kingdom in space sciences, in genetics, in microelectronics, in high
energy physics, in fusion physics and in the control of thermo-nuclear
energy by the end of this century.
The Chinese have recognised that all basic
science is relevant science; that the frontier of today is tomorrow's
application and that they must remain at the frontier. In this context one
may recall that the GNP of the Islamic nations exceeds that of China,
while the human resources are not significantly smaller. And China has a
lead of no more than a few decades over us in sciences. Shall we set
ourselves the goal, at the least, of emulating the Chinese?
The societies I have mentioned are not
seduced by diversionary slogans of "Japanese" or "Chinese" or "Indian"
science. They recognise that though the emphasis in the choice of
disciplines on which to research may differ from society to society, the
laws, the traditions and the modalities of science are universal. They do
not feel that the acquiring of "western" science and technology will
destroy their own cultural traditions: they do not insult their own
traditions by believing that these are so weak.
I have spoken earlier of patronage for
sciences. One aspect of this is the sense of security and continuity that
a scientist-scholar must be accorded for his work. Today, an Arab or a
Muslim scientist and technologist -and on Zahlan's count, there are more
than thirty thousand of them -can be sure of a life-long welcome in the
United States or in the United Kingdom if he possesses the requisite
quality. He will have security, respect and equality of opportunity for
his work and advancement. We must ask ourselves if this is true within our
societies. We must ask ourselves if we discriminate against, or even at
times terminate the services of scientists because they happen to have
originated in a country with which our government may temporarily have
differed.
There is no question but that the United
States of America built up its present ascendance in sciences in a
telescoped period of time, by welcoming the community of scientists who
had to flee from Europe of the inter-war years. But this welcome was not
superficial; these men were accorded rights of citizenship; there was no
expectation that they would return to their countries of origin after
"their tour of duty "was finished. These scientists learned English,
settled and raised families in the United States. There is the well-known
story of Enrico Fermi, who went to USA, just after the ceremony in
Stockholm, paying his own and his family's fare from the Nobel Prize he
was awarded in December 1938. In the USA he was commissioned to build the
first atomic reactor, while still waiting for official clearance for his
immigration: the higher authorities dared not accelerate these procedures
for fear of alerting the Axis intelligence. But all security rules were
bent, for the US had faith in Fermi. The question is -are our countries
making a similar bid for at least the highest level among
the scientists they have imported? Do we accord such men security and
personal peace: do we welcome them with open arms, so that they can build
up schools of research for us with the fullest involvement?
In my view, there is need of a Commonwealth
of Science for the Islamic countries, even if there may be no political
commonwealth yet in sight. Such a Commonwealth of Science was a true
reality in the great days of Islamic Science, when Central Asians like
Ibn-Sina and Al-Biruni would naturally write in Arabic, or their
contemporary and my brother in physics, Ibn-ul-Haitham could migrate from
his native Basra in the dominions of the Abbasi Caliph to the Court of his
rival, the Fatmi Caliph, sure of receiving respect and homage,
notwithstanding the political and sectarian differences, which were no
less acute then than they are now. A new Islamic Commonwealth of Science
needs conscious articulation, and recognition once again, both by us, the
scientists, as well as our governments. Today we, the scientists from the
Islamic countries, constitute a very small community -one-hundredth to
one-tenth in size, in scientific resources, and in scientific creativity
compared to international norms. At the least, we need to band together,
to pool our resources, to feel and work as a community, at science centres
which run for all Islamic countries. To foster this growth, could we
possibly envisage from our governments a moratorium, a compact, conferring
of immunity, for say the next twenty five years, during which the
scientists from within this Commonwealth of Science, this Ummat-ul-llm,
could be treated as a special sub-community with a protected status, so
far as internal political and sectarian differences are concerned, just as
was the case in the Islamic Commonwealth of Sciences in the past?
And finally, there is the isolation of our
scientific effort from international science. It is amazing to find that
with the exception of Egypt, which is a member of sixteen unions, no other
Islamic country uniformly subscribes to more than five International
Scientific Unions in the diverse subjects of science. No international
centres of scientific research have been created or are located within our
confines; few international scientific conferences are organised there;
very few of us, if living and working in our own countries, can travel to
scientific institutions and meetings outside; such travel, as a rule, is
considered wasteful luxury.
It was this isolation which prompted me to
propose the creation of the International Centre for Theoretical Physics
so that physicists from developing countries do not make exiles of
themselves in order to keep themselves abreast in newer developments in
their subject. This Centre belongs to two United Nations Agencies -IAEA
and UNESCO; some one hundred and seventy five Arab and Muslim physicists
(out of around 1,000 from developing countries as a whole) are supported
at the Centre every year. Of these, fifteen are supported by the Kuwait
Foundation for Science and Kuwait and Qatar Universities; the rest come
with benefactions I may secure for them from Italy or Sweden.
And it is not just the physical isolation
of the individual scientist that we suffer from. There is also the
isolation from the norms of international science, the gulf between the
way we run the scientific enterprise in our countries and the
self-governing manner in which it is run in the West or within the
community of scientists in the USSR Academy. We seem to have no developed
system of professional organisations, no internal review committees,
no independent studies of state of art or quality, no science foundations
administered by the scientists, no independent sources of grants.
To summarise, the renaissance of sciences
within an Islamic Commonwealth is contingent upon five cardinal
preconditions: passionate commitment, generous patronage, provision of
security, self-governance and internationalisation of our scientific
enterprise.
inna Allaha
la yughayyiru ma biqawmin hatta yughayyiroo ma
bi-anfusihim
"... surely Allah does not change the condition of a people until they
change their own condition ..." [The Qur'an/13/ar-Ra'd/11]
That such an orientation towards sciences
will be resisted by some should not be doubted. The tragedy is that such
people wrongly claim to speak in the name of the Islamic theological
tradition. Even today there are those whose views on science are
represented by the following quotes from a widely circulated Islamic
monthly, published from London.
"Was the science of the Middle Ages really
'Islamic' science? ...
"The story of famous Muslim scientists of
the Middle Ages such as Al Kindi, Al Farabi, Ibn-al-Haitham and Ibn-Sina
shows that, aside from being Muslims, there seems to have been nothing
Islamic about them or their achievements. On the contrary , their lives
were distinctly unlslamic. Their achievements in medicine, chemistry,
physics, mathematics and philosophy were a natural and logical extension
of Greek thought. ..
"Al-kindi held Mutazalite beliefs. ..Ibn-al-Haitham
was another Aristotelian. In the words of one scientific historian, De
Boer," Al Haitham considered the various doctrines and came to recognise
in almost all of them more or less successful attempts to approximate the
truth." Truth to him was only that which was presented as material for the
sense perception. No wonder that he was generally regarded as a heretic,
and has been almost totally forgotten in the Muslim world. .."
There is no question about it, we do not
speak the same language. After this incredible outburst against men in
whose work most Muslims take pride, the writer goes on to advocate a
policy of the same type of isolationalism that destroyed our scientific
tradition in the past:
"Countries that have escaped the political
dominance of the West have done so by unilaterally imposing an eclectic
isolation on themselves. This is the case with both Russia and China, and
would also have been the case with Japan had not Commander Perry made the
opening of trade ties between Japan and America a precondition for
postponing the conquest of Japan ...
". ..Muslim countries must develop a
science policy that makes them capable of dispensing with the need to
import both western science and western technology ."
al-hikmatu daalatul mu'min
"wisdom/scientific knowledge are lost treasures for the believers" [hadith:
Sunan Ibn Majah,
#4169]*
I could not agree more, so far as
technology is concerned. But for science, one is reminded of the story of
Al-Biruni, who was accused by a contemporary divine of heresy when he used
the Byzantine (solar) calendar for an instrument he had invented for
determining the times of the prayers. Al Biruni retorted by saying, "The
Byzantines also partake of bread. Will you now promulgate a religious
sanction against bread?"
Part III
8. Steps Needed for
Building up Sciences in the Islamic Countries
I shall outline in brief the concrete steps
needed for building up sciences in Islam. One must realise at the outset
that the pursuit of science is not cheap and we are trying to redress the
neglect of centuries.
8.1 Science Education
The Holy Book places strong emphasis on Al-Taffakur
(reflection on and discovery of laws of nature) and Al-Taskheer (acquiring
a mastery over nature through technology). Taking this and the realities
of modern living into account, one of the first requisites of the Ummah in
Islam is to encourage scientific and technological education from the
secondary and the tertiary, through the university stages.
The present level of net enrolment as
percentage of population receiving education in the Islamic countries is
illustrated in the accompanying Table III. This table (issued by the World
Bank in April 1980) unfortunately makes no distinction between scientific
and technical or other categories. It, however, illustrates the stark fact
that many of the Islamic countries have a long leeway to make to reach
even the average level achieved by the developing countries in general -
let alone the averages achieved by the developed countries.
Without availability of reliable figures
for science versus non-science student-enrolment for the Islamic
countries, one cannot make firm statements. It is, however, my impression
that comparatively, the situation for science enrolment is much worse; we
reach on average a proportion of science enrolment ranging between 1/4 and
1/3 compared with the norms prevailing in developed countries, with a much
lower level in comparative quality. In the latest report of the United
Kingdom University Grants Commission (issued in 1984) the figure of 52:48
is cited for populations of scientists and technologists versus art
students.
And at the secondary level, whereas in
China, or Japan, all science subjects are compulsory -in the USSR, even
the future musicians or footballers or seamstresses must study physics,
chemistry, mathematics and biology till they are sixteen -there is no such
compulsion, for example, in Pakistan's educational system.
Thus, proportionately, too few Muslims are
learning sciences. We simply must encourage more of our students to study
scientific and technical subjects at the school and the university.
To ensure this, there is need for provision
of science teaching at schools, there is need of qualified teachers and of
science equipment. And perhaps even more important, there is need for
inducements to be provided to the brighter ones among the young students,
to remain in science and not drop out. Such dropout takes place in many
cases, for reasons of financial
**********************************
TABLE III
Net Enrolment in Islamic
Countries and Countries with Large Muslim Minorities 1983
***********************************
stringency. The parents cannot afford to
give their charges the long years of education needed for careers in
sciences.
Treating the Ummah as a whole, there is
thus a need for a Talent Fund for Sciences which should encourage young
Muslims to pursue scientific and technological studies say from the age of
14 upwards. In a recent visit to India, at a meeting of Muslim
educationalists, it was estimated that for twenty of the larger cities in
Northern India alone, there would be need of scholarships for this
purpose, amounting modestly to around five million dollars a year, if
Indian Muslims are at all to come up to the level attained by the other
Indian communities. This would mean the setting up of a fund capitalised
at around 50 million dollars to guarantee five millions annually of talent
scholarships for sciences. Unfortunately, the Indian Muslim community is
too depressed financially to afford this. Such a fund must be created for
them and for other indigent parts of the Ummah.
To cater for the whole world of Islam one
would need an Islamic Science Talent Fund, available to all Islamic
countries, of around fifty million dollars a year. Since the creation of
such a fund on a cooperative Islamic basis is not an easy project, at
least the Muslim OPEC countries may take a lead and set up their own
Science Talent Funds on a liberal scale. Such funds may then be thrown
open to other Muslim countries, with specialisation to geographical areas.
8.2 Science Foundations in Islam
In 1973, the Pakistan Government, on my
suggestion, requested the Islamic Summit in Lahore to sanction at least
one Foundation for science for Islam, equal in size to the Ford
Foundation, with a capital of one billion dollars. Eight years later, in
1981, such a Foundation was created but with just 50 million dollars
promised instead of the one billion requested. It may have been more
charitable not to have deceived ourselves by this creation. At any rate,
what I wrote then (1973) in my memorandum, I will reproduce below.
ISLAMIC SCIENCE FOUNDATION
(i) This is a proposal for the creation of
a Foundation, by Islamic countries, with the objective of promotion of
science and technology at an advanced level. The Foundation (working in
conjunction with the Islamic Conference) would be sponsored by the Muslim
countries, and operate within these, with an endowment fund of $1 ,000
million and a projected annual income of around $60- 70 million. The
Foundation will be non-political, purely scientific, and run by eminent
men of science and technology from the Muslim world.
(ii) Need. No Muslim country, in the Middle
East, in the Far East or Africa possesses high-level scientific and
technological competence attaining to any international levels in quality.
The major reason is the persistent neglect by Governments and society in
recent times in acquiring of such competence. In relation to international
norms (around .3% of economically active manpower engaged in higher
scientific, medical and technological pursuits, with around 1% to 2% of
GNP spent on these) the norms reached in the Islamic world are one-tenth
of what one should expect for a modern society.
(iii) Objectives of the Foundation. It is
suggested that a well-endowed Islamic Science Foundation be created with
two objectives; building up of high level scientific personnel and
building up of scientific institutions. In pursuit of these objectives:
(a) The Foundation will create new
communities of scientists in disciplines where none exist. It will
strengthen those communities which do exist. This will be done in a
systematic manner, with the urgency of a crash programme.
(b) The Foundation will help in building
up and in strengthening institutions for advanced scientific research at
international level, both in pure and applied fields, relevant to the
needs of Muslim countries and their development.
The emphasis of the Foundation's work would
lie in building up sciences to international standards of quality and
attainment. Of the two objectives listed above, the building up of high
level scientific personnel will receive the higher priority in the first
stages of the Foundation's work.
(iv) Programme. In pursuance of its twin
objectives (a) of building up high-level scientific manpower in a
systematic manner, and (b) of employing this manpower for advanced work
for the betterment and strength of Islamic societies the Foundation will
pursue the following programme:
(a) Building up of scientific communities
(i) Scholars will be sponsored by the
Foundation to acquire knowledge of advanced sciences, wherever available,
in areas where gaps exist and where there are no existing leaders of
sciences.
After their return to their countries, the
Foundation will help them to continue with their work. Funds of the order
of $10 million would support some 4,000 scholars annually while they are
receiving advanced training, and support around 1,000 scholars and the
needed facilities on their return.
(ii) Programmes will be organised around
existing scientific leaders in order to increase high-level scientific
manpower. For this purpose, contracts will be awarded to university
departments to strengthen their work in selected fields. Quality of the
university faculties will be the criterion for the award of these
contracts.
Funds to the total of around $15 million
may be spent annually for these contracts.
(iii) Contact of scholars from the Islamic
world with the world scientific community. Existing science in Muslim
countries is weak because of its isolation. There are no contacts between
scholars in Muslim countries and the world scientific community,
principally on account of distance. Science thrives on the interchange of
ideas and on continuous criticism. In countries with no international
scientific contacts, science ossifies and dies. The Foundation will
endeavour to change this. This will entail frequent two-way visits of
fellows and scholars, and holding of international symposia and
conferences. Funds of the order of around $5 million will subsidise some
3,000 visits a year of around two months' duration. This, spread over
around ten sciences and over 15 countries, is about 20 visits a year from
anyone country in anyone science.
(b) Sponsoring of relevant applied research
The Foundation may spend around $25 million
for the strengthening of existing, and the creation of new research
institutes on problems of development in the Middle East and the Islamic
world.
These new institutes of international level
and standing would be devoted to research in problems of health,
technology (including petroleum technology), agricultural techniques and
water resources.
These institutes may also become units of
the United Nations University system in order to attain international
standards of quality and achievement through contact with the
international community. (A successful institute like the International
Rice Institute in the Philippines costs about $5 -$6 million to create,
and about the same amount to run annually at an international level ).
(c) The Foundation may spend around $5
million in making the general population of Islamic countries
technologically and scientifically minded. This will be achieved through
instruction using mass media, through scientific museums, libraries and
exhibitions, and through the award of prizes for discoveries and
inventions. An appreciation of science and technology by the peoples is
crucial if there is to be a real impact of science and technology .
(d) The Foundation will help with the task
of modernising syllabi for science and technology at the high school as
well as university levels.
(v) Functioning of the Foundation
(a) The Foundation will be opened to
sponsorship by all Islamic countries which are members of the Islamic
Conference.
(b) The Foundation will have its
headquarters office at the seat of the Islamic Conference. In order to
retain active and continuous contact with the research centres and
projects it endows, it may set up subsidiary offices as well as employ
scientific representatives, resident or at large.
(c) The Board of Trustees of the
Foundation, which will be responsible for liaison with the Governments,
will consist of representatives of the Governments, preferably scientists.
The endowment fund of the Foundation will be vested in the name of the
Board of Trustees.
(d) There will be an Executive Council of
the Foundation which will consist of scientists of eminence from the
Muslim countries.
The first Council and its Chairman (who
will also be the Chief Executive of the Foundation) will be appointed by
the Board of Trustees for a five-year term. This Council will decide on
the Foundation's scientific policies, the expenditure of the funds, their
disbursement and their administration. The work of the Foundation and the
Executive Council will be free from political interference. The Board of
Trustees, through the statutes, will be charged with the responsibility of
ensuring this.
(e) The Foundation will have the legal
status of a registered non-profit-making body and would have a tax-free
status both in respect of its endowments as well as
emoluments of its staff.
(f) The Foundation will build up links with
the United Nations, UNESCO and the United Nations University system, with
the status of a non-Governmental organisation (NGO).
(vi) Financing of the Foundation
(a) It is envisaged that the sponsoring
countries would pledge themselves to provide the endowment fund of
$1,000 million in four yearly instalments.
(b) The proportion of the endowment fund
to be contributed by each sponsoring country will be a fixed fraction of
the export earnings of the country.The 1972 schedule of export earnings
for the Muslim countries is appended. In future years these earnings are
expected to increase. However, even at the 1972 level of 25 billion
dollars per year, a contribution of less than one per cent per country
per year would suffice to build up the initial endowment capital of one
billion dollars over four years.
2 July 1973"
This memorandum was written in the economic
climate of 1973. If I were writing today, I would not be content with one
Ford-size Foundation. On standard norms, the Islamic world needs and
deserves fifty independent foundations for science, technology and science
education. This is because in the twelve intervening years, the GNP of
Islamic countries as a whole has risen many fold -it is in excess of 400
billion dollars now. There are five giants among our countries (Saudi
Arabia, Iran, Turkey, Indonesia and Nigeria) each with GNP in excess of 50
billions, with another eight countries (Iraq, Pakistan, Malaysia, Algeria,
Libya, Kuwait, Egypt and UAE) with GNP in excess of 20 billions each.
Regarding our collective responsibility
towards the Ummah, on the Day of Judgment, nations as well as individuals
-those designated as mutrafiha in the Holy Book -will surely be questioned on
the uses they made of what Allah had bestowed on them.
rabbana la
tu-akhithna in naseena aw akhta/na
rabbana wala tahmil AAalayna isran kama
hamaltahu AAala allatheena min qablina
"..."Our Lord! Condemn us not if we forget or fall into error; our
Lord! Lay not on us a burden Like that which Thou didst lay on those
before us;..." [The Qur'an/2/al-Baqara/286]*
8.3 Technology in our countries
And this brings me to technology. The Holy
Book throughout places equal emphasis on Taskheer and Taffakur - on
acquiring mastery of nature, through scientific knowledge as much as on
the creation of knowledge. The Holy Book holds forth for us the examples
of David and Solomon, with their mastery of the technologies of their day.
Walisulaymana
alrreeha ghuduwwuha shahrun warawahuha
shahrun ... wamina aljinni man yaAAmalu bayna yadayhi bi-ithni
rabbihi
"And to Solomon (We made) the Wind (obedient): ... and there were Jinns
that worked in front of him, by the leave of his Lord" [The
Qur'an/34/al-Saba/12] *
"And we made iron soft for him ..." "We
subjected the winds for him" and "under his command he had jinns ..."
that is, in my humble interpretation,
controlled powers of technology of his day, which were used to fashion
building blocks, palaces, dams and reservoirs. And then we are reminded of
Dhul-qarnain, building defences with blocks of iron and molted copper.
Thus are the technologies of metallurgy, heavy construction, technology of
wind-power and of communications emphasised. As every Muslim knows, the
Holy Book does not related, except as an exhortation for the future and as
an example to be followed by the community.
watilka al-amthalu
nadribuha lilnnasi laAAallahum yatafakkaroona
" ... We set forth these parables to men that they may reflect..." [The
Qur'an/59/al-Hashr/21] *
An example of this was set by our Prophet,
who was avid to acquire the latest technology of defense. Witness his use
of the "Khandaq" for the first time in Arabia. Or his ordering of the
setting up of Byzantine "manjaniqs" to reduce "Khaibar" - though as it
was, the fort fell before these - for the Arabs, novel - instruments of
war could be erected.
What are the obstacles in our societies to
our acquiring the highest proficiency in technology -and in particular
with newer science- based high technologies? After all, never before in
human history has so much effort and such magnitude of funds gone into
creating technical facilities in such a short duration of time as in the
Arab Muslim lands during the last decade. Thus, according to Zahlan, even
by 1978 more than 400 billion dollars had been spent on major
technological contracts between these countries and foreign suppliers.
These projects ranged over hydrocarbons and petrochemicals (160 billions),
civil works including transport (80 billions), industrial plant including
iron and steel, pharmaceuticals, fertiliser plant (40 billions).
Unfortunately, most of these projects were
executed in the technology - free turnkey mode; their execution had no
association, no employment of the incipient (research and development)
community of Arab men of technology and engineering. And one of the
reasons was the fragmentation of the projects. Thus, according to Zahlan,
the 584 projects executed by 1976 in the field of petrochemicals, were
designed by 83 international firms. The projects included 16 for urea
plants; of these Algeria had one, Egypt one, Iraq two, Kuwait four, Libya
one, Qatar two, Saudi Arabia one, Sudan one, Syria one, UAE one. No Arab
country or combination of countries in the entire Arab Commonwealth had
-or now has, after the experience -the technical base to provide the
design and construction services for these projects, nor the competence to
upgrade these and modify them if need arises.
As contrasted with this, consider Japan
with a population nearly equal in size to the Arab nations, and which
entered the field of petrochemicals machinery twenty years ago. Right from
the outset the Japanese had made up their minds to export such machinery;
thus, during the last twenty years every third Japanese plant has been
exported. The Japanese had the will as well as the competent men. If
competent men in the technology concerned did not exist, they were easy to
produce for the basic scientific knowledge within the nation was there.
And such men, respected for their high scientific attainments, knew
precisely what to go for, when it came to transplant technology.
To emphasise how we have lagged behind in
these matters, with neglect which dates back over centuries, one may
recall that in the year 1800 CE, William Eton, the then British Ambassador
in Istanbul, wrote of his impressions of the Sublime Porte as follows: "No
one has the least idea of navigation and the use of the magnet. ..Travelling,
that great source of expansion and improvement to the mind is entirely
checked by arrogant spirit of their religion and by the jealousy with
which intercourse with foreigners. ..is viewed in a person not invested
with an official character. ..Thus the man of general science. ..is
unknown: anyone, but a mere artificer who should concern himself with the
founding of cannons, the building of ships or the like, would be esteemed
little better than a mad man." He concludes with the remark, with an
ominous modern ring: "They like to trade with those who bring to them
useful and valuable articles, without the labour of manufacturing".
What has been the reason today for this
lack of attention to the concept of attaining self-sufficiency in
manufacture? Except for a few Islamic countries, like Indonesia, the
answer is uniformly the same: the decision-maker is as a rule a
non-technical person; our countries, at best, are the paradise of the
planner, the administrator; by and large, the technologist has no part in
decision-making. In Pakistan, for example, the Planning Commission
did not have a science and technology cell until three years ago. Even
worse, inheriting a tradition from the British -Indian Civil Service, in
Pakistan at least, it is still assumed that a technologist is incapable of
making any decisions; his is not the broad vision. We seem not to have
noticed that in Japan, in China, in Korea, in Sweden, in France -in all
the countries with successful records of self-reliant growth :- the most
complete accord, participation, involvement and trust exists between the
scientist, the technologist, and those who run the development machinery
of the state and of the industry.
Besides industrial and science -based
technology , there is the whole area of science in agriculture, in public
health, in biotechnology, in energy systems, in science- based
communications and in defense. The story in all these spheres, and
particularly defense, is unfortunately the same - defense purchases, yes;
defense production and technology, no. One despairs of whether we shall
ever wake up. In the forceful words of Ibn Khaldun: [4] "What sets some
above others is their seeking of higher qualities. ..When parsimony (in
respect of these) ...becomes rampant in a city or a nation, then will
Allah's decree. ..come into force and this is the meaning of His words in
the Holy Quran:
Wa-itha
aradna an nuhlika qaryatan amarna mutrafeeha
fafasaqoo feeha fahaqqa AAalayha alqawlu fadammarnaha
tadmeeran
"When We decide to destroy a population, We (first) send a definite order
to those among them who are given the good things of this life and yet
transgress; so that the word is proved true against them: then (it is) We
destroy them utterly." [The Qur'an/17/al-Isra/16]
*
Part lV
9. Concluding
Remarks
Why am I so passionately advocating our
engaging in this enterprise of creating scientific knowledge? This is not
just because Allah has endowed us with the urge to know, this is not just
because in the conditions of today this knowledge is power and science in
application the major instrument of material progress; it is also that as
members of the international world community, one feels that lash of
contempt for us -unspoken, but still there -of those who create this
knowledge.
I can still recall a Nobel Prize winner in
physics some years ago from a European country say this to me: "Salam, do
you really think we have an obligation to succour, aid, feed and keep
alive those nations who have never created or added an iota to man's stock
of knowledge?" And even if he had not said this, my self-respect suffers a
shattering hurt whenever I enter a hospital and reflect that almost every
potent life-saving medicament of today, from penicillin upwards, has been
created without our share of inputs from any of us from Islam. I am sure
our men of religion feel exactly the same way; for didn't Imam Ghazzali in
the first chapter of his great Ihaya ulum -ud -din ("The Revival of
Religious Learning") lay stress upon the acquiring and creating of at
least those sciences that are necessary for the development of Islamic
society, specifically mentioning medical sciences? He designated active
cultivation and advancing of such sciences as Farz-e-Kefaya -an obligation
for the whole community, but one which can be discharged on its behalf, by
a certain number of its members -otherwise the entire community would
consist of transgressors.
I have addressed in this paper three
categories of "those with the word" among us: these are the affluent whom
Allah has endowed with substance, our ministers and princes responsible
for our science policies, and our men of religion.
As I have repeatedly emphasised, science is
important because of the underlying understanding it provides of the world
around us, of the immutable laws and of Allah's design; it is important
because of the material benefits and strength in defense its discoveries
can give us; and finally it is important because of its universality. It
could be a vehicle of co-operation of all mankind and in particular among
the Islamic nations. We owe a debt to international science, which, in all
self-respect, we must discharge.
I am now living and working in a small and
not particularly rich city of one-quarter of one million inhabitants. In
this city there is a bank - Cassa di Risparmio -that donated 1.5 million
dollars in 1963 for the building in which the International Centre for
Theoretical Physics (which I had suggested the creation of) is housed.
This city has now pledged from its regional resources 40 million dollars
for the proposed UNIDO Centre for Biotechnology. I feel amazed at their
love of science and their perceptiveness. Shall our cities and banks not
rival this example? Just a few days ago I learned with envy that the Keck
Foundation -founded by a (relatively obscure) US oil family -has given the
California Institute of Technology a sum of 70 million dollars to build
the largest telescope on earth -ten meters in diameter. And this in a
discipline we -in the past -used to take pride in cultivating -Astronomy.
The international norms of one to two per
cent of GNP I have spoken about would mean expenditures of five to ten
billion dollars annually for the Islamic world on research and
development, one-quarter to one-third of this spent on basic sciences. In
the past centuries we had rich traditions in this respect. Imam Ghazzali,
you may recall, paid a tribute in the 11th century, to the lands of Iraq
and Iran when he said: "There are no countries in which it is easier for a
scholar to make a provision for his children." This was at the time when
he was planning to become a recluse and to cut himself off from the world.
Today, we need not one but many such science foundations, run by the
scientists themselves; we need international centres of higher learning
within and without our universities, providing generous and tolerant
continuity, for our men and their ideas.
Let no future Gibb record that in the
fifteenth century of the Hijra, the scientists were there in Islam, but
there was a dearth of merchants, ministers and princes to provide for the
facilities needed for their work.
Rabbana waatina
ma waAAadtana AAala rusulika wala tukhzina
yawma alqiyamati innaka la tukhlifu almeeAAada
"Our Lord! Grant us what Thou didst promise unto us through
Thine messengers, and save us from shame on the Day of Judgment: For Thou
never breakest Thy promise." [The Qur'an/3/Ale Imran/194]*
And let me finally repeat, for those who
are worried about the impact of modern science on Islam, that to know the
limitations of science, one must be part of living science; otherwise one
will continue fighting yesterday's philosophical battles today. Believe
me, there are high creators of science among us.- and potentially among
our youth. They have the strongest urge to join in the adventure of
knowing. Trust them; their Islam is as deeply founded, their appreciation
of the spiritual values of the Holy Book as profound, as anyone else's.
Provide them with facilities to create science in its standard norms of
inquiry. We owe it to Islam. Let them know science and its limitations
from the inside. There truly is no disconsonance between Islam and modern
science.
Let me conclude with two thoughts. One is
regarding the urge to know. As I said before, the Holy Quran and the
teachings of the Holy Prophet emphasise the creating and the acquiring of
knowledge as bounden duties of a Muslim, "from cradle to the grave". I
spoke of Al Biruni who flourished at Ghazna one thousand years ago. The
story is told of his death by a contemporary who says: I heard, Al Biruni
was dying. I hurried to his house for a last look; one could see that he
would not survive long.
When they told him of my coming, he opened
his eyes and said: Are you so and so? I said: Yes. He said: I am told you
know the resolution of a knotty problem in the laws of inheritance of
Islam. And he alluded to a well-known puzzle. I said: Abu Raihan, at this
time? And Al Biruni replied: Don't you think it is better that I should
die knowing, rather than ignorant? With sorrow in my heart, I told him
what I knew. Taking my leave I had not yet crossed the portals of his
house when the cry arose from inside: Al Biruni is dead.
As my last thought, I would like to quote
again from the Holy Book - a Book, the very sounds of which, in the words
of Marmaduke Pickthall "move men to tears and ecstacy". More than anything
else I know of, it speaks of the eternal wonder I have personally
experienced in my own Science:
"Though all the Trees on earth were Pens
and the Sea was Ink
Seven seas, after, to replenish-it,
Yet would the Words of .Lord be never spent,
Thy Lord is Mighty and All Wise. " (31- 27)
Note:
*The translation or the Hadith
reference is not in the original essay
aHeinz Pagels recounts the
following story about Feynman, one of the great physicists of our times,
perhaps the greatest physicist alive. "He was in a sensory-deprivation
tank and had an exosomatic experience -he felt that he came "out of his
body" and saw the body lying before him. To test the reality of his
experience he tried moving his arm, and indeed he saw his arm on his body
move. As he described this, he said he then became concerned that he
might remain out of his body and decided to return it. After he concluded
his story, I asked him what he made of his unusual experience. Feynman
replied with the observational precision of a true scientist: 'I didn't
see no laws of physics getting violated'".
REFERENCES
1. A.J. Arberry , Revelation and Reason in
Islam (George Allen and Unwin, London, 1957) p. 19.
2. H.J.J. Winter, Eastern Science (John
Murray, London, 1952)p. 72- 73.
3. Briffault, Making of Humanity, pp.
190-202 quote taken from Muhammad Iqbal, The Reconstntction of Religious
Thought in Islam (M. Ashraf, Lahore, 1971)pp.129-130.
4. Ibn Khaldun, Al-Muqaddimah Part IV,
Chapter 18.
