Conflict of Science and Religion: Islam and Sciences
Authors: Efendi Ahmed Midhat 
Published: December 2022

Science has progressed thanks to the interaction of civilizations with each other. The knowledge of one civilization was taken by another and transferred to another civilization by adding something to it. In that case, science is the common heritage of humanity that emerged as a result of the interaction of civilizations with each other on the stage of history. Religions, like science, are another common heritage. Draper wrote his work Nizâ’-ı İlm ü Dîn, namely the Conflict of Science and Religion, with the claim that religion hinders the development of science, as can be understood from the title he used. Under the influence of positivism, Draper prioritises science in the title of his work, and sees religion as the party that causes conflict. Although what the author means by religion, he does not hesitate to say that other religions are against science from time to time, although he states that it was the Catholic Church that drove Europe away from science and into darkness in the Middle Ages, which was the brightest period of Islamic civilization. Europe begins the Enlightenment by meeting with the Islamic civilization through Spain; The developments that followed bring along scientific discoveries and the questioning of the dogmas of the Catholic Church. Draper hds to explain the historical development process of science to prove his claim. Thus, although the work was written for a different reason, it turned into a work that tells the history of science. Thinking that the facts can only be understood with science, Draper wrote his work at a time when the Ottoman Empire was in political and economic difficulties due to the loss of land due to the independence movements that emerged after the French Revolution. Remedies and solutions are sought to get rid of the dissatisfied state it is in. Realizing that the new heir of science is western civilization, Ottoman youth are sent to Europe for a solution. On the other hand, there is a concern that the Ottoman intellectual youth of the future, who met Europe at the height of positivism, will become alienated from their own culture by being influenced by European-based movements of thought. Midhat Efendi’s translation of Draper’s work is a manifestation of this concern. Midhat Efendi not only translates Draper’s work but also occasionally opposes Draper, gives his own views, expresses his concerns, and makes additions. In summary, it provides a critical translation. As an intellectual of the last period of the Ottoman Empire, Midhat Efendi, with this attitude, gives one of the earliest examples of the stance against the Orientalist approach. The publication of Midhat Efendi’s critical translation is very close to the date of publication of Draper’s work. In this respect, the book is also important in that it shows the Ottoman intellectual’s close follow-up of European publications and his command of a foreign language. Today, the Ottoman Empire’s decline and disintegration dates are examined without regard for preconceived notions, and Ottoman history is attempted to be reconstructed from this perspective. At this point, this work, which was prepared for publication by TÜBA, carries a special value in terms of illuminating the knowledge of the late Ottoman intellectuals, their approach to other civilizations, and their efforts to create an intellectual identity in the last period of the Ottoman Empire. This study consists of two parts. In the Preface, which constitutes the first part, Nizâʻ-ı İlm ü Dîn, which is the subject of this study, the approaches of a Western positivist intellectual, Draper, and a conservative Ottoman intellectual to science and religion were discussed, and the orientalist attitude, which contains the answer to the question “Why was there a need for secularism in Europe?”, is examined, and the benefit of bringing the work to the Turkish reader is mentioned. In the title of Ahmed Midhat Efendi, his life, the environment where he was born and raised; It was examined in terms of its relationship with the work, and his struggle for life on his own, his acquaintance with the language, art and culture of the West; his works at state levels, his curiosity about reading, learning and teaching; his interest in writing was expressed and his entrepreneurial personality was mentioned.In the title of John William Draper, his life and the environment where he was born and raised are examined in terms of his relationship with the work, and the reasons for writing the work and why he questions the relationship between religion and science are emphasized. The title “About Nizâʻ-ı İlmü Dîn” provided information about the period in which the work was written, the method of writing, and its reasons, allowing the reader to evaluate the work objectively, as well as information about its French and English copies. The method followed in the transcription of the work is explained in the title of the Method Followed in Translating the Work to Today’s Letters. In the title About the Content of the Work, critical information is given about the parts of the work. In the second part of the work, Nizâʻ-ı İlm ü Dîn was annotated and transferred to today’s letters in order to inform the reader.