Peace,
Islam is purely based on reason, it is the only faith that even rejects the idea that everyone should have blind belief in God. God demands that even your belief in Him should be based on proof, not on hope or emotions.
If,in our Deen, it is even demanded that your belief in God should be based on scientific proof, how is it then that the majority of the Muslims still follow history-books as Buchari and Muslim blindly, when it is scientificly proven they contain many contradictions and false reports? How is that Buchari can reject 595.000 Hadith based on his judgement, and we cannot reject the ones we find incorrect? How is it that we lost the scientific approach and interpretation to the Quran, when all demands made in the Quran are based on scientific thinking? Please think this thoroughly through....
17:36 And you shall not follow blindly any information of which you have no direct knowledge. (Using your faculties of perception and conception) you must verify it for yourself. In the Court of your Lord, you will be held accountable for your hearing, sight, and the faculty of reasoning. (And so, the insane and the disabled will have their incapacities taken into account in a court of law.)
3:191 (Such men and women of understanding keep reflecting upon how Allah’s Laws operate in the Universe.) Standing, sitting, and reclining, they observe, and reflect upon Allah's creation of the Heavens and the Earth and wonder, "Our Lord! You have not created all this without Purpose. High Above You are from creating anything in vain! Save us, then, from being negligent in attaining knowledge and thus, getting condemned to Fire.” (When humans harness the forces of Nature and use them for the common good of all, they move away from Hell and close to Paradise in both lives 45:13-14).
88:17 Will they not, then, look at:
- the water-laden clouds, how they are made? (15:22).
88:18 - And at the sky, how it is raised high? (Without visible pillars 13:2).
88:19 - And at the mountains, how they are entrenched?
88:20 - And at the earth, how it is spread out? (That you do not even feel the
sphere, nor feel its speedy rotations 31:10, 39:5, 79:28-30).
88:21 (This is some evidence, O Messenger!) Remind them, for you are one
to remind.
50:6 Do they not look at the sky above them how We have built it and
beautified it, and there are no flaws therein!
50:7 And the earth. We have spread it out, and scattered mountains firm on it,
and caused it to bring forth plants on it of all beauteous kind. (This gives us a
scenario of a huge ball with carpets spread out on it held in place with
weights. And the mountains serve as great water reservoirs that help grow
the vegetation 13:3, 15:19, 31:10, 39:5, 79:28-30, 88:20).
6:99 (He took care of your provision even before you were created.) He it is Who sends down water from the heights. With it We produce vegetation of all kind; green multitudes, complex grains, palm trees, from their pollens spring pendant clusters, and gardens of grapes, olives and pomegranate; fruits that are similar and diverse. Look upon the fruit thereof and look upon its ripening. These are signs for those who reach conviction through reason.
16:66 And, behold, in the cattle too there is indeed a lesson for you. We give you to drink from their bellies, from between the refuse and the blood, pure milk pleasant to those who drink it. (23:21).
16:67 And of the fruits of the date-palm, and grapes, from which you make intoxicants, as well as wholesome sustenance. In this indeed is a message for those who use their sense.
16:68 And consider how your Lord inspired the bee, “Build for yourself dwellings in hills and in trees, and in what people may build.”
16:65 (This Divine Writ has the power to revive the intellectually dead, and those who are going through a life unlived. The likeliness of the Qur’an is that) Allah sends down water from the sky, giving life thereby to the earth after it had been lifeless. Herein, behold, is a message for those who hear and listen.
16:66 And, behold, in the cattle too there is indeed a lesson for you. We give you to drink from their bellies, from between the refuse and the blood, pure milk pleasant to those who drink it. (23:21).
16:67 And of the fruits of the date-palm, and grapes, from which you make intoxicants, as well as wholesome sustenance. In this indeed is a message for those who use their sense.
16:68 And consider how your Lord inspired the bee, “Build for yourself dwellings in hills and in trees, and in what people may build.
51:20 And in the earth are signs for those who wish to attain conviction. (And
its resources must remain open for all 15:20, 41:10, 55:11-12).
51:21 And also in yourselves, your individual psyche and soma, your folk and
the unity in diversity among your human communities. Can you not then use
your inner vision? (‘Anfusikum’ entails all the meanings rendered here).
Islam the faith of reason and empirical thinking
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Mahmood Qasmi
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shez
- Posts: 27
- Joined: Sat Dec 23, 2006 3:43 pm
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Islam the faith of reason and empirical thinking
Arnold, as ever, a great post but I have a question that I must ask. We know that science is advancing in its fastest pace ever and our knowledge is increasing rapidly.
How do you think Prophet Muhammad would have taught his followers the message of Quran in a "scientific way"? For example verse about black holes or evolution?
Best regards
How do you think Prophet Muhammad would have taught his followers the message of Quran in a "scientific way"? For example verse about black holes or evolution?
Best regards
Thanks & Regards
- Shez
[Dust is my bed...]
- Shez
[Dust is my bed...]
-
Arnold Yasin Mol
Islam the faith of reason and empirical thinking
Salam,
To understand this question, you must have insight into the 6th century. Ok, for 1: Did the Prophet recieve any Revelation/Wahi outside of the Quran, and even if so, would it have been on Blackholes?
Or is it maybe that the Quran tells us that even the Prophet didn't understood all of its verses, only that he believed full heartly that the verses were true, without really understanding some? This is no crime and doesn't make the Prophet less the mercy of the worlds. It makes him human, just as he claimed to be. The Prophet also didn't know about the future or other matters as explained in the Quran in many verses. There were many verses about Al-Sa'ah, the Hour of Change, in the Quran, while the Quran also clearly says the Prophet didn't knew anything about it except what the Quran explains itself. See:
7:187 (They even venture into predicting the end of the world.) They ask you (O Messenger), about the Hour, when the end of the world will come to pass. Say, "That knowledge is only with my Lord. He alone will manifest it at the appropriate time. Heavy it is in the heavens and the earth. It will come upon you suddenly." They ask you as if you could gain insight into this mystery with persistent inquiry. Say, “The knowledge thereof is with Allah only. But most people do not know that even Messengers were not given this knowledge.”
As you can see, the Quran tells us clearly that the Prophet didn't knew anything about these matters except what the Quran told him to say. So did the Quran explain physics to the Prophet? No. So could he have understood the verses on blackholes when people asked? No. As he didn't knew physics as such. So does the Quran contain an answer he would have given to such matters?
Well, yes. The Quran is meant for all times, and thus contains knowledge that would only be discovered centuries after the prophet, as knowledge of the Universe goes in stages:
3:7 (The Book He has sent down bears an important Principle.) He it is Who has revealed to you (O Prophet) the Scripture. In it some verses are Literal, while some verses are Allegorical. The verses that pertain to Permanent Values have been presented literally. These verses, MUHKAMAT, are the Essence of the Divine Law. On the other hand, abstract phenomena, historical events, and the World of the Unseen are described in similes, metaphors and allegories for your understanding (MUTASHABIHAT). But those who are given to crookedness in their hearts pursue the allegories and try to give them literal meanings, thus creating dissension of thought. None encompasses their final meaning (of such as the Essence of God, His Throne, His Hand, His Book of Decree, the exact mode of Revelation on the heart of the Messengers, the Eternity) but Allah. Those who are well founded in knowledge understand why the allegories have been used and they keep drawing lessons from them (74:31). They proclaim the belief that the entire Book is from their Lord. As the human knowledge evolves, more and more allegories will unfold their literal meaning (41:53). But only the men and women of understanding will bear this fact in mind. (Each of the verses in the Qur’an is MUHKAM, Absolute Truth and you can understand which ones are to be taken literally and which ones are to be taken allegorically, by the context 11:1, 47:20. And each verse in the Book complements the other 39:23).
But does this mean the verse didn't have a meaning for the Prophet and his people. No. The Arabic is wide enough to allow several meanings.
56:75 Nay, I present the stellar orbits as witness. (‘Mawaqi’ = Different
locations in the orbits).
That we today also know the verse also refers to black holes shows the many depths the Quran has.
This can been seen for example with the Surah:
Sura 86 Al-Tariq
Allegorical approach:‘Tariq’ literally means a night-visitant who arrives with a lamp in his hand andknocks at the door. (‘Taraq’ = Knock at the door).Metaphorically, it applies to any star that shines at night, and also thebrightest star on the horizon at any given time that 'knocks' at the darkness.Keeping these meanings in mind, it dawns upon us that ‘At-Tariq’ = The Tariq,is very fittingly applicable to the exalted Messenger who arrived when theworld was sunk in the Darkness of Ignorance. With the Radiant Lamp of theQur’an in his hand this noble visitant knocked at the doors of minds andhearts and gave Light that has been spreading over the entire planet earth.
86:1 The sky and the Tariq are witness to what is being said.
86:2 And what will enlighten you as to what the Tariq is!
86:3 The Brightest Star! The noble night-visitant with the Radiant Lamp of the
Qur’an in his hand knocking at the doors of minds and hearts, giving Light.
86:4 There is no person without a watch being kept over him. (The Law of
Requital is ever-vigilant).
Literal approach:
86: 1- By the heavens and The Knocker. 2- How will you comprehend what the The Knocker is? 3- It’s a piercing star.
The word “Tariq” stems from the root “TaRaQa” meaning “knocking, striking.” In many translations of the Quran this word was taken for a name and left untranslated. The word may also mean “to pulsate” like a beating heart, from which the word “pulsar” is derived, denoting an object that is far away in space, and like a star produces a regular radio signal.LITTLE GREEN MEN OF THE UNIVERSEIn 1967 Jocellyn Bell accidentally stumbled on a gravity time warp a million times greater than that produced by the sun. The object she detected was emitting regular pulses. These pulses were reminiscent of heart-beats. At the time, such a pulsating object was not known to exist in space. At first, it was concluded that these signals might well have been propagated by intelligent beings, inhabitants of other planets. Invitation cards were printed, the media were notified and a seminar was arranged.
LGM (Little Green Men) signified that intelligent creatures had been detected and were contacted by radio signals. Not long after, the source of the signals in question was discovered: it was a spinning neutron star, an object whose velocity was incommensurably great. The neutron star had another name: “pulsar.” Bell’s discovery failed to establish contact with the inhabitants of space, but she had found pulsars. The words “pulsar” and “pulsating” seem to accord with the word Tariq of the Quran, which means “knocker.”CAN YOU COMPREHEND WHAT A PULSAR IS?In the second verse of the sura, The Knocker, we read: “How will you comprehend what The Knocker is?” A spoonful of matter taken from a pulsar would weigh one billion tons. Were we to depose a small particle of it on earth, the particle would pierce it and end up in its center. Just think of it, a spoonful of any matter on earth hardly weighing more than a few grams! This shows how difficult it is to conceive of a pulsar. A pulsar is produced by the compression of stars a couple of times bigger than the sun. The diameter of a pulsar can be about 15-20 km. Were we to compress our world in a like manner, we would have a sphere of 100 meters of diameter. It takes the earth 24 hours to rotate around its own axis, whereas the pulsar rotates around its own axis many times per second; all these things show how difficult it is to comprehend this striking, pulsating star.LET’S SEE IF YOU CAN WORK A MIRACLESome have tried to identify the star mentioned in the verse and have claimed it to be a certain celestial body, like Saturn or Venus. Mustafa Mlivo, who claims these assumptions are not correct and that “Tariq” is none other than a pulsar, says the following: Characteristics of the celestial object mentioned in 86:1-3 are: 1- It pulsates (knocks); 2- It is a star; 3- It penetrates, pierces, drills. None of the solar system planets meets all those criteria because: A- None of the planets produces pulsations that give the impression of knocking, beating. B- None of them is a star. They are cold celestial bodies. C- None of them produces such an intensive radiation. As one can see, the Quran had already mentioned a star that was to be discovered. This star was indeed discovered, but in the year 1970. Since the concept of a “pulsating star” could not be imagined at that time, it was rendered in translation as it stood, i.e., “Tariq,” the meaning of it being explained in footnotes, in dictionaries and interpretations. The Quran whose every sentence, every word is based on the finest of meanings, wherein lie hidden realms still to be discovered. The more we study the Quran, the more we are enlightened, the more we learn.
CONCLUSION:
The Quranic Arabic has such wide meanings. When it comes to the scientific verses, in the Prophet's time they were approached as allegorical. As they didn't knew the scientific message it was telling. Now we do know the scientific fact as being told in those verses, BUT we must never neglect the allegorical meanings. The Quran is the Message meant for ALL times to come. The Arabic has also such depths, it will not surprise me that in the future new layers of understanding will be discovered.
We are warned not to make the Quran Mahjoor, make the Quranic Message of no account by immobilizing its meaning to only one understanding. This warning is the ONLY and FIRST complaint made by the Prophet....
25:30 And the Messenger will say, “O my Lord! These are my people, the ones who had disabled and made this Qur'an of no account." (MAHJUR = They had immobilized it like villagers who bind a cow by tying her front foot to her horn).
To understand this question, you must have insight into the 6th century. Ok, for 1: Did the Prophet recieve any Revelation/Wahi outside of the Quran, and even if so, would it have been on Blackholes?
Or is it maybe that the Quran tells us that even the Prophet didn't understood all of its verses, only that he believed full heartly that the verses were true, without really understanding some? This is no crime and doesn't make the Prophet less the mercy of the worlds. It makes him human, just as he claimed to be. The Prophet also didn't know about the future or other matters as explained in the Quran in many verses. There were many verses about Al-Sa'ah, the Hour of Change, in the Quran, while the Quran also clearly says the Prophet didn't knew anything about it except what the Quran explains itself. See:
7:187 (They even venture into predicting the end of the world.) They ask you (O Messenger), about the Hour, when the end of the world will come to pass. Say, "That knowledge is only with my Lord. He alone will manifest it at the appropriate time. Heavy it is in the heavens and the earth. It will come upon you suddenly." They ask you as if you could gain insight into this mystery with persistent inquiry. Say, “The knowledge thereof is with Allah only. But most people do not know that even Messengers were not given this knowledge.”
As you can see, the Quran tells us clearly that the Prophet didn't knew anything about these matters except what the Quran told him to say. So did the Quran explain physics to the Prophet? No. So could he have understood the verses on blackholes when people asked? No. As he didn't knew physics as such. So does the Quran contain an answer he would have given to such matters?
Well, yes. The Quran is meant for all times, and thus contains knowledge that would only be discovered centuries after the prophet, as knowledge of the Universe goes in stages:
3:7 (The Book He has sent down bears an important Principle.) He it is Who has revealed to you (O Prophet) the Scripture. In it some verses are Literal, while some verses are Allegorical. The verses that pertain to Permanent Values have been presented literally. These verses, MUHKAMAT, are the Essence of the Divine Law. On the other hand, abstract phenomena, historical events, and the World of the Unseen are described in similes, metaphors and allegories for your understanding (MUTASHABIHAT). But those who are given to crookedness in their hearts pursue the allegories and try to give them literal meanings, thus creating dissension of thought. None encompasses their final meaning (of such as the Essence of God, His Throne, His Hand, His Book of Decree, the exact mode of Revelation on the heart of the Messengers, the Eternity) but Allah. Those who are well founded in knowledge understand why the allegories have been used and they keep drawing lessons from them (74:31). They proclaim the belief that the entire Book is from their Lord. As the human knowledge evolves, more and more allegories will unfold their literal meaning (41:53). But only the men and women of understanding will bear this fact in mind. (Each of the verses in the Qur’an is MUHKAM, Absolute Truth and you can understand which ones are to be taken literally and which ones are to be taken allegorically, by the context 11:1, 47:20. And each verse in the Book complements the other 39:23).
But does this mean the verse didn't have a meaning for the Prophet and his people. No. The Arabic is wide enough to allow several meanings.
56:75 Nay, I present the stellar orbits as witness. (‘Mawaqi’ = Different
locations in the orbits).
That we today also know the verse also refers to black holes shows the many depths the Quran has.
This can been seen for example with the Surah:
Sura 86 Al-Tariq
Allegorical approach:‘Tariq’ literally means a night-visitant who arrives with a lamp in his hand andknocks at the door. (‘Taraq’ = Knock at the door).Metaphorically, it applies to any star that shines at night, and also thebrightest star on the horizon at any given time that 'knocks' at the darkness.Keeping these meanings in mind, it dawns upon us that ‘At-Tariq’ = The Tariq,is very fittingly applicable to the exalted Messenger who arrived when theworld was sunk in the Darkness of Ignorance. With the Radiant Lamp of theQur’an in his hand this noble visitant knocked at the doors of minds andhearts and gave Light that has been spreading over the entire planet earth.
86:1 The sky and the Tariq are witness to what is being said.
86:2 And what will enlighten you as to what the Tariq is!
86:3 The Brightest Star! The noble night-visitant with the Radiant Lamp of the
Qur’an in his hand knocking at the doors of minds and hearts, giving Light.
86:4 There is no person without a watch being kept over him. (The Law of
Requital is ever-vigilant).
Literal approach:
86: 1- By the heavens and The Knocker. 2- How will you comprehend what the The Knocker is? 3- It’s a piercing star.
The word “Tariq” stems from the root “TaRaQa” meaning “knocking, striking.” In many translations of the Quran this word was taken for a name and left untranslated. The word may also mean “to pulsate” like a beating heart, from which the word “pulsar” is derived, denoting an object that is far away in space, and like a star produces a regular radio signal.LITTLE GREEN MEN OF THE UNIVERSEIn 1967 Jocellyn Bell accidentally stumbled on a gravity time warp a million times greater than that produced by the sun. The object she detected was emitting regular pulses. These pulses were reminiscent of heart-beats. At the time, such a pulsating object was not known to exist in space. At first, it was concluded that these signals might well have been propagated by intelligent beings, inhabitants of other planets. Invitation cards were printed, the media were notified and a seminar was arranged.
LGM (Little Green Men) signified that intelligent creatures had been detected and were contacted by radio signals. Not long after, the source of the signals in question was discovered: it was a spinning neutron star, an object whose velocity was incommensurably great. The neutron star had another name: “pulsar.” Bell’s discovery failed to establish contact with the inhabitants of space, but she had found pulsars. The words “pulsar” and “pulsating” seem to accord with the word Tariq of the Quran, which means “knocker.”CAN YOU COMPREHEND WHAT A PULSAR IS?In the second verse of the sura, The Knocker, we read: “How will you comprehend what The Knocker is?” A spoonful of matter taken from a pulsar would weigh one billion tons. Were we to depose a small particle of it on earth, the particle would pierce it and end up in its center. Just think of it, a spoonful of any matter on earth hardly weighing more than a few grams! This shows how difficult it is to conceive of a pulsar. A pulsar is produced by the compression of stars a couple of times bigger than the sun. The diameter of a pulsar can be about 15-20 km. Were we to compress our world in a like manner, we would have a sphere of 100 meters of diameter. It takes the earth 24 hours to rotate around its own axis, whereas the pulsar rotates around its own axis many times per second; all these things show how difficult it is to comprehend this striking, pulsating star.LET’S SEE IF YOU CAN WORK A MIRACLESome have tried to identify the star mentioned in the verse and have claimed it to be a certain celestial body, like Saturn or Venus. Mustafa Mlivo, who claims these assumptions are not correct and that “Tariq” is none other than a pulsar, says the following: Characteristics of the celestial object mentioned in 86:1-3 are: 1- It pulsates (knocks); 2- It is a star; 3- It penetrates, pierces, drills. None of the solar system planets meets all those criteria because: A- None of the planets produces pulsations that give the impression of knocking, beating. B- None of them is a star. They are cold celestial bodies. C- None of them produces such an intensive radiation. As one can see, the Quran had already mentioned a star that was to be discovered. This star was indeed discovered, but in the year 1970. Since the concept of a “pulsating star” could not be imagined at that time, it was rendered in translation as it stood, i.e., “Tariq,” the meaning of it being explained in footnotes, in dictionaries and interpretations. The Quran whose every sentence, every word is based on the finest of meanings, wherein lie hidden realms still to be discovered. The more we study the Quran, the more we are enlightened, the more we learn.
CONCLUSION:
The Quranic Arabic has such wide meanings. When it comes to the scientific verses, in the Prophet's time they were approached as allegorical. As they didn't knew the scientific message it was telling. Now we do know the scientific fact as being told in those verses, BUT we must never neglect the allegorical meanings. The Quran is the Message meant for ALL times to come. The Arabic has also such depths, it will not surprise me that in the future new layers of understanding will be discovered.
We are warned not to make the Quran Mahjoor, make the Quranic Message of no account by immobilizing its meaning to only one understanding. This warning is the ONLY and FIRST complaint made by the Prophet....
25:30 And the Messenger will say, “O my Lord! These are my people, the ones who had disabled and made this Qur'an of no account." (MAHJUR = They had immobilized it like villagers who bind a cow by tying her front foot to her horn).
-
shez
- Posts: 27
- Joined: Sat Dec 23, 2006 3:43 pm
- Contact:
Islam the faith of reason and empirical thinking
Great, I really appreciate your answer. It surly tells me what I was looking for. I'll speak to you on MSN if i need to know more.
Thanks & Regards
- Shez
[Dust is my bed...]
- Shez
[Dust is my bed...]