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Madinat al-Muslimeen Islamic Message Board
| THE SOUL IN SCIENCE |
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| deenb4dunya |
| 06/09/03 at 17:33:30 |
| [i]In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful CAIR-CAN PUBLISHES OP-ED IN THE GLOBE AND MAIL Piece is twenty fourth op-ed published to date (Ottawa, Canada - 6/9/03) - Alhamdulillah (All praise is due to God), CAIR-CAN has published an op-ed on Islam and science (reproduced at the end of the alert) in the Globe and Mail today. CAIR-CAN has now published twenty four commentaries in papers such as the Globe and Mail, the Ottawa Citizen, the Toronto Star, the Montreal Gazette and the Calgary Herald. Topics include multiculturalism, the misinterpretation of the Qur'an, racial profiling, the Islamic headscarf and the merit principle in the marketplace, the recent deportation of Maher Arar, and numerous pieces on Iraq. All CAIR-CAN's comment pieces are now available online at their website: http://www.caircan.ca/op_ed.php[/i] ---- [center]THE SOUL IN SCIENCE Globe and Mail, 6/9/03 Sheema Khan[/center] (Sheema Khan, chair of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (Canada), holds a PhD in chemical physics from Harvard University) Last November, while the world's attention was focused on Iraq, thieves stole a rare first edition of Isaac Newton's Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica from the Russian National Library in St. Petersburg. A few weeks later, police announced its recovery to an uninterested world. Principia, first published in 1687, is a key work in modern science. In it, Newton proposed the three laws of motion and the law of universal gravitation, foundations of physical sciences and engineering. Less well-known is Principia's final chapter, in which Newton expounded on his beliefs: "This most beautiful system of the sun, planets and comets could only proceed from the counsel and dominion of an intelligent and powerful Being,...eternal and infinite, omnipotent and omniscient. . . . He governs all things, and knows all things that are, or can be done. . . . We adore Him as His servants." While Newton's science propagated through time and space, his harmonization of faith and scientific inquiry did not. Instead, battles between Newton's persecuted contemporaries and the Roman Catholic Church left an indelible mark on Western thought, causing a dichotomy between science and faith that prevails today. Reconciling the two has never been an issue in Islamic thought. The Koran invites contemplation of the natural world, pointing to signs of a wise Creator. Nothing is left to fuzzy uncertainty, or in the words of Albert Einstein: "I shall never believe that God plays with dice with the world." The study of the world is a means to attain faith, as exemplified by the Prophet Abraham. As a boy, Abraham observed the rising and setting of a star, the moon and finally the sun, each object more dazzling than its predecessor. He realized, like Newton, that no matter how awe-inspiring, each object had no inherent power but was subject to a far greater power. Empirical research and deductive reasoning paved his way towards belief in God. He also understood that it was useless to worship objects created through human agency, inanimate creations that could not respond to the innate spiritual calling of the heart. Some would argue that the West's infatuation with technical achievements is akin to the idol worship of Abraham's time. The exhortation towards God-consciousness impelled the nascent Islamic empire to learn from other civilizations, and to collect and translate works of the Greeks, Persians and Chinese. For 1,000 years, Muslims reviewed and refined prior thought, and -- remaining within the guidelines of Islamic principles -- established new frontiers in medicine, mathematics, astronomy and geography. The Muslim world was filled with universities, observatories, and hospitals, while Europe remained in the Dark Ages. Within Islam's moral framework, ethics and social responsibility intertwined with scientific inquiry. As the empire waned, scientific progress shifted to the West. Today, Muslim countries are home to 1.3 billion people and three-quarters of the world's fuel reserves. Yet their combined GNP is less than half that of Germany; illiteracy levels are among the world's highest; and science spending is a meager 0.2 per cent of GNP. At a recent meeting of research ministers and academics in Trieste, delegates searched for the reasons. Some blamed governments that spent on arms rather than education. Others warned of excessive dogma. Yet others cited the lack of free expression and creative thinking in authoritarian regimes. Yet in environments that prize hard work and ingenuity, Muslim scientists thrive. It's no surprise that a Muslim woman, Dr. Tyseer Aboulnasr, is dean of engineering at the University of Ottawa, or that Egyptian-born Ahmed Zewail, now of Stanford University, won the 1999 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. London-based intellectual Ziauddin Sardar has formulated a paradigm of Islamic science in which God-consciousness leads to accountability for one's scientific activities. The scientist strives to use knowledge to promote social justice and public interest, and to avoid pursuits that lead to one's own destruction and that of the environment. Such a model has implications for emerging technologies such as stem-cell research. Pending Canadian legislation forbids the creation of embryos expressly for research purposes. Only extra embryos discarded at fertility clinics can be used. The couple involved must give full consent; and no money can be exchanged for the creation or use of the embryos. The embryo can develop for a maximum of 14 days before use. Islamic scholars issued an almost identical ruling one year earlier, based on Islamic jurisprudence and consultation with leading scientists. The additional requirement of marriage between the couple safeguards the family unit, while a two to three-day limit for embryo development has roots in theological texts. This example suggests further exploration of common ground. The West can assist with technological transfer to Muslim countries; Muslim scientists can in turn help foster a holistic paradigm in which social responsibility and ethics are integrated into science policy. Perhaps scientists can work towards a much-needed symbiosis, rather than clash, of civilizations. |
| 06/09/03 at 17:34:26 |
| deenb4dunya |
Madinat al-Muslimeen Islamic Message Board |