From: milind@agni.cc.nd.edu (Milind Saraph)
Subject: Re: The Quran and the Modern Science
Reply-To: milind@agni.cc.nd.edu (Milind Saraph)
Organization: Univ. of Notre Dame 
Date: Thu, 31 Dec 1992 22:54:14 GMT

In article <1992Dec31.140947.13158@topaz.ucq.edu.au>,
salama@topaz.ucq.edu.au writes:

|> Is science some kind of taboo? Or is science some
|>kind of the holy of the holy not to be touched by the people who talk about
|>religion?

|> Science is no longer a taboo in religion. People like
|>Dr.B and Paul Davies (theoretical physicist who wrote "the mind of Gad")
|>are talking about God and religion. 

No, science is not a taboo.  But the dangers of Bucaille type of analysis
is obvious.  Here is repost of an excerpt from Hoodbohoy's book.

-- Milind Saraph

Islam and Science, Pervez Hoodbhoy, Zed Books Ltd., 1991
ISBN 1-85649-025-4 (Paperback), Foreword by Prof Abdus Salam.

Appendix: They Call it Islamic Science
--------------------------------------

[This is an extended version of the author's article published in
Jan 1988 issue of the Karachi monthly Herald]

"There has emerged, in recent years, a remarkable manifestation of 
orthodox religiousity which is, in essence. an attempt to extend the
scope of Islamization in Pakistan beyond the sphere of social concerns
and into the domain of natural phenomena.  They call it Islamic
Science."

"Rising like a phoenix from the ashes of a long gone medieval age,
this new science seeks to establish that every scientific fact and
phenomenon know today was anticipated 1400 years ago and that all
scientific predictions may, in fact, be based on the study of the
Holy Book.  Once again, as in medieval times, theology is being 
crowned as the Queen of Sciences."

****

"Ordinary secular science, according to the proponents of the new
Islamic science, has no business being here in the Land of the 
Pure.  Together with various other foul products of godless 
secular civilizations - such as capitalism or socialism or 
democracy - modern science also needs to be unceremoniously
shipped back to the West, where it supposedly belongs."

The Scientific Miracles Conference
----------------------------------

"I had the privilege of recently observing at close range the new
Islamic Science.  The occasion was provided by the international
conference on Scietific Miracles of Qur'an and Sunnah,
inaugurated by President General Mohammed Zia-ul-Haq in Islamabad
on October 18, 1987. ...... About half the total conference expenses
around 66 lakh rupees ($400,000) - were borne by the brotherly 
government of Saudi Arabia which often subsidizes such excellent
causes.  ..... it had been preceeded by two others of a similar
nature some months ago in Karachi, as well as many earlier ones.
New ones are doubtlessly being planned......"

"...the following shortlist of rather suggestively titled papers
presented at the Scientific Miracles Conference by itself speaks
volumes:

(1) Chemical Composition of Milk in relation to Verse 66 of 
    Surat An-Nahl of the Holy Qur'an.

(2) Description of Man at High Altitudes in Qur'an.

(3) Cumulonimbus Clouds Description in Qur'an.

(4) Have You Observed the Fire?

(5) Revelation of Some Modern Oceanographic Phenomena in Holy 
    Qur'an."

"Sixty-five other papers of similar nature were also presented by the
pious, bearded participants. ......I felt out of my depth, finding
even the titles of some sessions to be incomprehensible.  For
example, one of these was advertised as a Panel Discussion on
Things Known Only To Allah.... I was unable to attend, but
subsequently have often wondered what secrets the panelists were
privy to."

The Amazing Conclusions of Islamic Science
------------------------------------------

"....A selection follows:

- Dr Mohammed Muttalib, who teaches earth sciences at the famous
  Al Azhar University of Egypt, presented ... paper on the relation
  of geological facts and phenomena to Qur'anic verses. .......
  Mountains have roots in the earth, said the good doctor, and the
  Allah made them act like pegs which tether a tent to the ground
  and kept it from blowing away.  Without mountains, he emphasized,
  the earth's rotation would cause everything to fly apart.  It would
  be totally catastrophic -- no mountains, no earth.

- Engineer Abdal Fequi of Egypt, drawing on his experience with
  armour piercing anti-tank ammunition gained during service in 
  the Egyptian army in 1976, gave very impressive evidence that 
  Allah intends us to use empty copper shells in order to destroy
  such men and jinns as may dare to venture in spaceships into
  forbidden regions of heavens.

- Munafiqat (hypocrisy) is certainly an endemic problem in our
  society. .... at the International Seminar on Qur'an and Science,
  organized in June 1986 by the Pakistan Association of Scientists
  and Scientific Professions, one intrepid scientist presented a 
  bold new scientific theory of munafiqat.

  Dr Arshad Ali Beg, a senior scientist at the PCSIR has a 
  mathematical formula by which, he says, the degree of munafiqat
  in a society can be calculated. ..... So everything happens 
  through chemical reactions such as:

     Infidels + Teaching of the Prophet -----> Religious Society

  ...Western society is calculated to have a munafiqat value of 22,
  while Spain and Portugal have a value of only fourteen.  It is
  a bit of a mystery that no munafiqat values are given for Pakistan
  society......

- In a paper read at the Karachi Qur'an and Science Conference, Mr
  Salim Mehmud [Chairman of SUPARCO] proposed that an explanation
  for the Holy Prophet's Mairaj (ascension to heaven) be sought
  in Einstein's theory of relativity."

*****

" ... Science and Technology in the Islamic World, this journal
  is an important advocate and means of propagation of the new
  Islamic science. ..... Here is a small sample of articles ....
  which have actually appeared in this journal in recent issues.

(1) Some Qur'anic Ayaat Containing References to Science and
    Technology;

(2) Symmetry of Universe and the Qur'anic Principle of Creation
    in Pairs;

(3) Some Ahadith Containing References to Jihad;

(4) The Monograms of Two Popular Pakistani Banks and Their
    Probable Significance.

(5) Dichotomy of Insan (Man) and Jinn & their Destiny

.... the last mentioned paper above, authored by Dr Safdar Jung
Rajput, a senior scientist with DESTO (the Defence Science &
Technolgy Organization).  ...... A summary of his principal 
results in jinnology, published in the above quoted article,
is as follows:

(1) It is highly probable that the origin of jinns is methane gas,
    together with other saturated hydro-carbons, because these
    yield a smokeless flame upon burning.  This conclusion is 
    predicated on the know fact that God made jinns out of fire,
    together with the known fact that no jinn emitting smoke has
    even been seen.

(2) .... it follows that both men and jinns are similar and
    isogenotypes. QED.

(3) .... the final conclusion .... is ... 'I cannot help but say
    that the jinss are white races.'"

*****

"A senior director of Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission, 
Mr Bashiruddin Mahmood, in 1980 has recommended that jinns,
being fiery creatures, ought to be trapped as a free source of
energy."

****

"Incredible as it may sound, a German delegate to the Islamic 
Science Conference held in Islamabad in 1983 claimed to have
calculated the Angle of God using mathematical topology.  He 
states the angle to be pi/N, where pi = 3.1415927... and N
is not defined."

****

Falsifiability: A Criterion for Science
---------------------------------------

****

"Look at Figure 2.  It contains a formula by which you can calculate
the total sawab (reward) earned for namaz, as a function of the 
number of people praying alongside you.  The author of this formula
is Dr M. M. Qureshi, ...., ex-chairman of the physics department
at Quaid-e-Azam University, ......."

[Poster's note: Figure not reproduced]

"Per-Capita Spiritual Activity = 

       1.22          2.44 (+ or -) 0.3
   ( N )    {1 + ( N )                 }**(-1)
   ( N0)    {    ( N0)                 }

 Total Spiritual Activity =

       2.22          2.44 (+ or -) 0.3
   ( N )    {1 + ( N )                 }
   ( N0)    {    ( N0)                 }"

[There is a response by Mr Bashiruddin Mahmood and the author's
 reply to the response]





****