Islam and Science

There are two kinds of knowledge: knowledge of things and knowledge of truth. So far as “things” are concerned, they display no attribute which cannot be elucidated by direct argument. But where truths are concerned, it is only indirect argument which can throw any light upon them. Indeed, in the case of scientific truths, the validity of indirect, or inferential argument is a matter of general acceptance. Since religious truths are proved by the logic of similar inferential argument, it may legitimately be argued that they fall into the same intellectual bracket as scientific truths.

Maulana Wahiduddin Khan | Islam and Science | Al-Risala September, 1987

The emergence of modern science has meant the de-establishment of shirk in all its aspects. In modern times, scientific discoveries have forever destroyed the myth that there is any inherent diversity in the manifestations of nature or that they have any greatness of their own.

Modern science, through observation and experimentation, has proved in the last analysis that all the phenomena of nature, despite their seeming diversity, were composed of atoms. And the atom is a component of electric waves. This discovery has dealt a death blow to the myth of diversity in nature.

The greatest evidence of God before us is His creation. Nature itself and our study of nature, both proclaim the fact that there is one God who, in the infinity of His wisdom, has created and continues to sustain this universe. By ignoring or rejecting this truth, we plunge ourselves into an abyss of murky incomprehension and its attendant evils. The very existence of the universe, with its superb organi¬zation and immeasurable meaningfulness, is inexplicable except as having been brought into existence by a Creator – a Being with an infinite intelligence – rather than by a blind force.