SECULAR KNOWLEDGE AT ITS ISLAMIC BEST
Freedom of Science from Religion
Revealed knowledge is the only source from which to learn how to make spiritual progress, while material progress is based on a knowledge of nature.
SUCCESS or failure in the Hereafter rests entirely on the revealed knowledge passed on to mankind by the Prophet. The Prophet Muhammad is enjoined to proclaim to mankind that ’God’s guidance is the only guidance.’ (THE QURAN 2: 120)
Nevertheless, Islam holds that while the principles for attaining salvation in the Hereafter derive solely from divine revelation, the attainment of material progress is got through knowledge of the laws of nature as discovered and established by secular scientific research.
Islamic schema therefore, by reason and by tradition, has always accorded secular sciences the status of an independent branch of learning. The Quran repeatedly urges us to give serious thought to the natural phenomena of the heavens and the earth, as being ’signs for men of sense—those who remember God when standing, sitting and lying down, and reflect on the creation of the heavens and the earth, saying, ‘Lord, You have not created this in vain‘ (3: 191). These verses clearly suggest that we should proceed to our own conclusions on the basis of logical reasoning in matters of the world.
What is demonstrable in nature, yielding itself to research and experiment, will be accepted by Islam as established, empirical knowledge.
The difference between the scientific and the religious approach to practical matters has been made clear in a Hadith. Fifty out of the sixty three years of the Prophet’s life were spent in Makkah, a desert city where there was no agriculture. Later, he migrated to Madinah where agriculture and horticulture were practiced—in particular, the growing of date palms. Naturally, the Prophet had no experience of either farming or fruit growing. One day, as the Prophet passed through the outskirts of Madinah, he noticed some people, who had climbed up the date palms, were engaged in some activity. On inquiring what they were doing, they explained that they were fertilizing the trees. Traditionally, they did this through artificial pollination of the date flowers to ensure a good crop. But when the Prophet said, “What if you don’t do it?” In deference to his question they climbed down the trees without completing their task. That year the yield was very low.
When the Prophet inquired about the low yield that particular year, the orchard keepers replied that the yield depended on the pollination, which they had been carrying out when he had stopped them. On hearing this, the Prophet replied: “Continue doing as you used to, since you know the matters of the world better than I do.”
This incident illustrates how the Prophet separated religious knowledge from practical matters. This principle is applicable to all matters governed by the laws of nature. The clear inference is that what is demonstrable in nature, yielding itself to research and experiment, will be accepted by Islam as established, empirical knowledge.
Revealed knowledge is the only source from which to learn how to make spiritual progress, while material progress is based on a knowledge of nature.
The same principle may be applied to all other scientific disciplines—geology, astronomy, engineering and so on. Islam is quite clear that these are the subject matter not of religion but of scientific research. This Islamic policy of the division of religion and science is extremely important, as it opened the door to scientific progress for the first time in human history. Prior to the advent of Islam, this policy of division had never been followed, so that science remained the mere handmaiden of religion. Attempts at true scientific research were generally hampered or stopped altogether by the forces of dogmatism and superstition.
Independent progress was an impossibility. The division recognized by Islam was epoch-making precisely because it freed secular science from the grip of religion. This facilitated conducting of research and experiment without any fear of interference. This process of liberation continued for a thousand years, until the modern era, now known as the scientific age.