All opinions are that of the author and not necessarily those of the website that it is published under.
A few days ago I attended a conference in Brussels on “Science and Religion” (organized by the CILE). As a student I was glad to see there was free coffee and biscuits (free food is one of the major techniques to get a student to attend anything…and evenmore if the student is Arab). I took my cup of coffee (because I felt more “intellectual” with a cup of coffee, and also because I had pulled an allnighter the day before and I needed to keep my eyes open). I walked into the amphitheatre and listened to an astrophysician who proposed that the theory of evolution was not contradictory to Islam…a few minutes later (trying to make my coffee last as long as possible) a Chemist this time, proved that evolution WAS in contradiction with the teachings of Islam. The astrophysician then cited Sheikh al Qaradawi “If the theory of evolution is proven to be correct, we will find the Quranic proof”. This troubled me greatly and as I left the conference (grabbing another free cookie…because it was free and not because I wanted it), I pondered upon this last sentence, “If evolution is proven to be true, then we will find quranic proof.” Meaning that if it is proven to be UNTRUE we will also find proof discredting evolution in theQuran. In my third year of medical school, one of my teachers said “Keep an open mind when diagnosing a patient because the danger is that if you are convinced that the patient has cardiac insufficiency your rationatlity will drown in bias and you will force yourself to see all the symptomes of cardiac insufficiency even if they are not there”…he then continued, “You only find what you look for…if you are convinced the cloud in the sky forms the shape of a head, you will see a head…if two seconds later you decide to NOT see a head, the clouds will no longer form a head”.
This got me thinking; does science and religion have a common ground? Do they intersect? If so, where? If a scientist proves a theory to be true (and I am simplifying greatly), do I then have to go to the religious texts and try to find all the elements that go in that particular direction and say “Aha!! Religion said so, this is the proof that my religion is Truth!” Or are we to dissociate between religion and science? Does religion take care of Man’s spiritual dimension exclusively or are we to integrate even the “unspiritual” side of life in religion. I pose these questions naively and I unfortunately have no answer. If we choose to believe that science and religion DO have an intersection point, what are the sources of scientific knowledge? Is science the source, and the Quran the proof? Or is the Quran the proof and science the source? Let me elaborate. Are we to experiment and then verify in the Quran? Or are we to extract the “scientific” information from the Quran and try to find proof in science.
Religion gives us guidelines and leaves a large space for creativity (within the limits of ethics and morality). Science I believe must not be “extracted” from religious texts (this is my modest opinion) and therefore it should not be the “source” of scientific knowledge. Religion however has a different “role”. It is the source of spirituality because spirituality transcends science and is unpalpable and incomprehensible. Religion gives sense to the matters that exist but are unverifiable (the soul, death, life, love etc). It answers existential dilemmas. I am not a scholar in Islam, and I am certainly not qualified to give any religious advice, but I will have to disagree with Sheikh al Qaradawi (I feel ridiculous saying this) on this point ; Evolution, whether it be proven to be true OR false, should stay within the realm of science and should not be given credit or discredit by Religion. The reason I say this is because, science is CONSTANTLY evolving, one day a scientist will prove some matter to be true (and win a nobel prize), and a few year later another scientist will come along and disprove what the former proved (and will also receive a nobel prize). If at every seemingly proven scientific theory we rush to the religious texts and say “Here! Religious says so!” and then a few years later that very theory is contradicted, this discredits Religion as a whole. Therefore (and as a believer), I prefer to dissociate between science and religion. The constant remodelling of science and knowledge is of paramount importance to our society, however ,it should remain in a different dimension. Religion is a source AND a proof and it is selfsufficient. It has a different goal to that of science and it answers the questions that science is incapable of answering. Science is not selfsufficient, it can (and should) be questioned constantly,proven and discredited, it may be a reference today and completely falsified tomorrow.
All opinions are that of the author and not necessarily those of the website that it is published under.
Science is continually “upgraded” as new knowledge comes our way. Religion, however, seems never to be upgraded…even when new information dictates that religion should be upgraded. This is the biggest problem with religion…it fails to respond to new knowledge…and mostly continues to be based in knowledge that is centuries old…when people were much more superstitious and uninformed. There are about 4,700 different religions on our Planet Earth…and most all believe that their religion is truth…and all other religions are not truth. Is this the principle cause for the wars that are now devastating our Arabic Peoples of the Middle East ? I believe that it is indeed.
A much respected person, Dr. Tawfik Hamid, has opened a new website at http://www.IC4CR.com
Dr. Hamid is one of the foremost minds of our time, in my opinion. Thank you.
My “rant” is not to think about the “religious” wars or the politics behind them. One must not be naive. The wars in the middle east are seemingly religious but they are mostly political and certainly more complex than what you’re proposing. I am also not going to talk about violence because it is something I cannot stop as a 23 year old student, all I can say is “I hope it stops soon because it is all very sad”. I am also not trying to justify my religion or say it is “Truth”. Religion is a personal matter keeping me “balanced” in my daily personal struggles and that is all. I do not preach and I do not care to preach. I m a student studying in a scientific field and I was wondering how science and religion fit together and that is all (because in medicine their are so many situations where I think to myself “is this ethically and morally ok?”. I will not talk about politics because I do not understand politics (not because I do not try to, but because I CANNOT know what/who is TRULY behind all this religious-political mess). My “article” is just my questioning about whether we can associate science and religion. It is literally a “stream of conciousness”. I hate that everytime we speak of religion (any religion) we speak of war and violence. I don’t care for those kinds of hysterical animals who kill in the name of God. I am one who loves science, nature and people and would like to see what religion proposes for us in those fields. And I disagree with you on one matter, religion gives us a lot of liberty and space to develop and improve, it is clear in it s principles (theft, lying, killing, etc) but open to sain,peaceful,scienftific and personal advancements. Thinking that religion doesn t allow for change is simplistic and naive (at least I cannot think of any POSITIVE advancements in todays world that go against religion). Obviously you’re allowed to think that, but it’s not what I believe.
Yasmina
I feel that the reason why religion and science rub shoulders or there being a seeming of difficulties is because on some important issue they deal with the same subject, that of reality as we know it and how we know it. For sometime religion dealt with this on its own. But because of the experiences in the reformation and enlightenment religion(christianity) became discredited. Science came to take the space of religion in explaining reality. of course science has its limitations but it has come to be successful to a great extent. So, religion now relegates itself to question of subjectivity and non facts. Morality, spirituality, private practice of rituals, issues of the unssen. But this is not always the case. Religion for some has not taken a step back. It is still overarching and meaningful, especially for muslims where religion influences law, politics and is the basis of knowledge of the world. Can we separate the two and their areas of authority? And if we can, what is that way of separation: for some they have thrown religion out of their lives; for others, they have made religion a private affair; and for some it is the only meaningful thing. I take yet another view, that of a mutual entanglement, a necessary need to reconcile, where religion has definite impacts on science and science on religion. But because i am a student and not qualified in either fields the judgment is differed. However both religion and science have to deal with each other. We cannot subsume one over the other without clear justification. In modernity, science seems to hold the most authority and repute for now when it comes to facts, history, knowledge of the world; so religion has to effectively show it merits. It cannot just be something private, or only deals with subjectivity. What matters are both the subjective and objective world. if this is not the case, then the most promising position is the support of science over religion. Because science is responsive to human assessment, where religion is immune to such assessments.
I disagree.
And I will clarify.
History aside, and on a purely philosophical point of view, I believe that science and religion do (although they should not) rub shoulders, only NOT because they both deal with “reality”. Religion is a personal matter, I reiterate this point because I believe it IS a personal matter. It is not only personal but private. I am not talking of the complex manipulation of religion in politics or the craziness of mass brainwashing in the name of Religion. I am talking about religion at an individual level; and at an individual level religion does not deal with reality but it deals with “Truth”, MY truth (or anybody elses respective truth). It is the each person’s respective “ideal” and undeniable truth that guides him. Whether your God is Allah, or nature, or Yoga, or a cup, or lady Gaga, or a cheesecake or facebook or whatever, it is YOUR truth. What makes me believe is faith and faith is born via the acceptance of the miracle. A miracle that cannot be explained by Science. I will not speak of Religions I do not know of, but as a Muslim, the miracle for me is the Quran (for many reasons, you can google it and see how we Muslims consider that the Quran cannot be man-made) but as I said I don’t care to preach….now whether faith is born of the miracle or the miracle of faith I don’t know. What I do know however is that if we base religion on reality, then EVERYTHING falls apart because reality is a purely subjective matter. If a realist believes then the miracle will be undeniable to him/her despite his realism. If a realist is not a believer then he will deny the miracle because of his realism. So for me science can help us define and understand reality through advancements and experimentation. And as a medical student I hope to see more proof and scientific advancement explaining reality. As a Muslim, I do not expect religion to explain reality or science, I expect religion to be a guideline for my life and a personal and solid “Truth” on which I can rely on when I am confused, lost, suffering, happy, sad etc. Unfortunately science does not give me this unconditional energy to move on when things aren’t going so well. This is why I choose to dissociate between the two. And to go back to your point, I believe that science and religion rub shoulders because we THINK they deal with the same issues. For me they are two, non contradicting, complementary philosophies that deal with two different dimensions of Man.
Yasmina
I totaly agree with your opinion. I also wonder why Dr. Tariq Ramadan doesnt talk this issue? I am sure that he is one the courageous muslim thinkers concerning the renew of the islamic fiqh…etc . AND I THINK THAT HE HAS ALSO TO GIVE AS HIS OPINION ABOUT THIS QUESTION. According to my experience muslim are against the evolution only because they are ignorants. Dr. Tariq could you plz write an article about your opinion concerning the evolution theory and about what we have to tell to our kids. Thank in advance
Sayed qutb in his tafsser of surat alhijr go in the same sens of your thinking. Evolution theory … must be studied purely using the scientific approach and that islam doesnt interfer in this question