From: jamal@dip.eecs.umich.edu (Jamal Mubarak)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.pakistan
Subject: Science and Islam.
Date: 5 Oct 92 02:54:23 GMT
Distribution: World
Organization: University of Michigan EECS Dept., Ann Arbor


No, this is not Jamal.  I  am  having  difficulty  posting  from  my own 
account.  Therefore I am using my brother's.

Much has been discussed about this subject in recent postings.  One side
argues that by accepting any religious restrictions, the mind is limited
in its freedom to think.  The other side says there is  nothing  in  the
Qur'an which discourages research.  All this has been said without  many
references.  

So I thought I would pull out some references. Let  us  begin  with  the 
Qur'an.  The very first revealed verses of the Qur'an are as follows:

96:1  Proclaim! (or  Read!) in  the  name of thy Lord and Cherisher, who
      created

96:2  Created man, out of a leech-like clot:

96:3  Proclaim! And thy Lord is Most Bountiful

96:4  He Who taught (The use of ) the Pen,

96:5  Taught man that which he knew not.

Prophet Muhammad emphasized learning on several occasions:

     Acquire knowledge, it enables its possessors to  distinguish  right
     from wrong; it lights the way to heaven.  It is our  friend in  the
     desert, our company in solitude and companion when  friendless.  It
     guides us to happiness, it sustains us in misery, it is an ornament
     amongst friends and an armour against enemies.

     To seek knowledge is the duty of every Muslim (male and female).

     Angels offer their wings to the seeker of knowledge.

     Seek knowledge even though you may have to go to China.

The fourth Caliph of Islam, Ali Ibn Abu Talib, was a very  knowledgeable
man.  There are several sayings attributed to him:

     Knowledge is the legacy of the prophets, wealth is the  inheritence
     of the pharoahs.  Therefore knowledge is better than wealth.

     You are to guard your wealth but knowledge guards you. So knowledge
     is better.

     A man of wealth has many enemies, while a man of knowledge has many
     friends.  Hence knowledge is better.

     Knowledge is better because it increases  with  distribution, while
     wealth decrease by that act.

     Knowledge is better because a learned man is  apt  to  be  generous
     a wealthy man is apt to be miserly.

     Knowledge is better because it cannot be stolen while wealth can be
     stolen.

     Knowlege is better because time cannot harm knowledge.  But  wealth
     rusts in the course of time and wears away.

     Knowledge is better because it is boundless while wealth is limited
     and you can keep account of it.

     Knowledge is better because it illuminates the mind while wealth is
     apt to blacken it.

     Knowledge is better  because  knowledge  induced  humanity  in  our
     Prophet to say to God, "We worship Thee as we are  your  servants,"
     while wealth engendered in pharoah and Nimrod the vanity which made
     them claim God-head.

Of course theory is one thing and  practice  another.  What  came  as  a 
result of these sayings also concerns  us  directly.  Certainly, Muslims
claim the wonders Islam did to science, but is this claim substantiated?
Reverend  G.  Margoliouth   wrote   in  his  introduction  to  Rodwell's
translation of the Qur'an:

     Research has shown  that  what  European  scholars  knew  of  Greek
     philosophy,  of  mathematics,  astronomy,  and  like  sciences, for
     several centuries  before  Renaissance, was, roughly  speaking, all
     derived  from  Latin  treatises   ultimately  based   upon   Arabic
     originals; and it  was  the  Koran  which, though  indirectly, gave
     the  first  impetus  to  these  studies  among  the Arabs and their
     allies.  Linguistic investigations, poetry, and other  branches  of
     literature, also made their appearance soon after or simultaneously
     with the publication of the Koran; and the literary  movement  thus
     initiated has resulted in some of the finest products of genius and
     learning.

I am sure there are many who will disagree  with  the  opinion  rendered
above.  Would those who disagree produce quotations from the  Qur'an  or
Hadith to the contrary?  Are there opinions  contrary  to  this  in  the
literature?

I am sure there are many Christians,  Hindus, Jews  etc. who  read  this
newsgroup.  Is knowledge valued as much in  the  Bible, Talmud, Vedanta,
Gita, or Upanishad?  Any quotations?

It  has   also  been  implied  in  various  postings  that  there  is  a
contradiction between the Qur'an and the theory of  evolution.  For  the
purposes  of  the  argument, I  will  maintain  that  life  began  in  a
primordial  sea, and  man  descended  from  the  apes; that  Darwin  was
absolutely correct; and therefore every school curriculum should include
this fundamental biological fact.  Would anyone care to quote  from  the
Qur'an and contradict me?

Wassalaam.

Kamal Mubarak.

PS.  It is  incumbent  on  every  Muslim  to  carry  out  research  into
homosexuality to find a cure for this disease so as to put those sinners 
onto the *straight* path :-).
Newsgroups: soc.culture.pakistan