Islam and Modern Science

*~part of the lecture by Seyyid Hossein Nasr *~

Now today, I shall limit my discourse to Islam and its relation to modern science. This is a very touchy and extremely difficult subject to deal with. Many people feel that that in fact there is no such thing as the Islamic problem of science. They say science is science, whatever it happens to be, and Islam has always encouraged knowledge, al-ilm in Arabic, and therefore we should encourage science and what’s the problem? -there’s no problem. But the problem is there because ever since children began to learn Lavoiser’s Law that water is composed of oxygen and hydrogen, in many Islamic countries they came home that evening and stopped saying their prayers. There is no country in the Islamic World which has not been witness in one way or another, to the impact, in fact, of the study of Western Science upon the ideological system of its youth. Parallel with that however, because science is related first of all to prestige, and secondly, to power, and thirdly, without [science] the solution of certain problems within Islamic society [is difficult], from all kinds of political backgrounds and regimes, all the way from revolutionary regimes to monarchies, all [governments] the way from semi-democracies to totalitarian regimes, all spend their money in teaching their young Western science.

And therefore I want to begin by first of all by expressing for you, (making things easier, categorizing it a bit), three main positions which exist in the Islamic world today as far as the relationship between Islam and modern science is concerned, before delving a bit more deeply into what my own view is. First of all, is the position that many people re-iterate.

This position itself is not something new. It is something that was inculcated in many circles of the Islamic world during the past century and going back historically, it was the position taken up by Jamaluddin Al-Afghani who migrated to Egypt and called himself Al-Afghani. The famous reformer, a rather maverick [figure], of the nineteenth century was at once a philosopher, political figure, Pan-Islamist and anti-Caliphate organizer.
He came up with views :~

1) science per se is what has made the West powerful and great. And the West is dominating over the Islamic world because it has this power in its pocket. And since this is being allowed, this is being done, there must be something very positive about this science, that science itself is good, because it gives power.

2) science came from the Islamic world originally and therefore Islamic science is really responsible for the West’s possession of science and the West’s domination of the Islamic world itself. And therefore, all the Muslims have to do is to reclaim this science for themselves in order to reach the glories of their past and become a powerful and great civilization.

And the gist of his views :~
1) it equates the Islamic science with Western science which, in fact, it is not the same.

2) it equates the power of the West with the power of science. To some extent this is true, but not completely so.

3) it believes that acquisition of this science of the West [by the Muslims] is, no more no less, than the
Muslims claiming their own property which has somehow been taken over by another continent and [the
Muslims] just want back what is really their own.

Now, this point of view had a great deal of impact upon the Islamic world, upon the modernist circles, and in order to understand what is going on in the Islamic world today it is important to see what consequences flow from this.

I want to pursue what happened to Jamaluddin’s thesis in the nineteenth century. The modernists in the Islamic world [are] one of three important groups that came into being in the nineteenth century. The other two being those who are now being dubbed as the fundamentalists, a term which I do not like at all but which is now very prevalent, and third, those who believe in some kind of Mahdiism, some kind of apocalyptic interference of God.

The modernists took on this thesis of Jamaluddin, and during the last century and a half, they have carried the banner of a kind of rationalism within the Islamic world which will accord well with the simple equation of science with Islamic science and with the Islamic idea of knowledge, al-ilm. [Interestingly,] as a consequence of this, the Islamic world during this one hundred and fifty year period produced very few historians of science and very few philosophers of science. It produced a very large number of scientists and engineers, some of whom very brilliant and studying in the best institutions of the world like here, but it produced practically no major philosopher and historian of science until just a few decades ago. This problem [was just left aside] because it was uninteresting and irrelevant, and all the debate that was being carried out in the West itself about the impact of science upon religion, upon the philosophy of science, [about] what this kind of knowing meant, these were circumvented, more or less, in the Islamic educational system.

The modernists forces within the Islamic world, decided to neglect and overlook the consequences of Western science, either philosophical or religious and felt that Islam could handle the matter much better than Christianity. [They felt] that there was something wrong with Christianity [as] it buckled under the pressures of modern science and rationalism in the nineteenth century, and this would not happen to Islam. Certain Western thinkers, in fact, followed this trend of thought.

Today, every Thursday evening when you turn on Cairo radio there are one or two very famous lecturers who are, in fact, very devout Muslims, loved by the people of Egypt, [and] the heart of their message is every single verse of the Quran which deals with either Ta’akul or Taffakur, that is intellection or knowledge or observation or mushahida. These [verses] are interpreted ``scientifically’’, that is, as an attempt to preserve Islam through scientific support for the Islamic revelation, for the Quran itself. And this is a very strong position in the Islamic world today. Therefore [the Muslim] thinks in fact there is no problem as far as Islam and modern science are concerned.

Today people of that kind of background, again want nothing to do with a discussion of the philosophical implications of science, but very much identify themselves with the Al-Afghani position, that science is al-ilm and let’s get on with it, let’s not bother with its implications. This is a [very important] position which I have traced for you rather extensively, because it is still very much alive in the Islamic world today.

p/s: This is the first position of the science in Islamic world today.......The 2nd position i will post it soon......with the other discussion......Hope you can understand what he trying to say....If not......

Download the soft copy of his lecture in my 'Islamic file' on this blog (on the side frame of this blog)........

NICE STORY - from Ibrahim Ali........

A traveler once came to the mosque to see the prophet Muhammad (S.A.W) after greeting
the prophet, he was asked where he was from. The traveler replied that he came from very
far just to get a few questions answered.
Following is the dialog between the traveler and the prophet.
Traveler : I do not want adha'b (punishments) to be written in my account.
*Prophet : Behave well with your parents *
Traveler : I want to be known amongst people as an intelligent person.
*Prophet : Fear Allah (Jalla Jalaluh), always. *
Traveler : I want to be counted amongst Allah's favorites.
*Prophet : Recite Quran every morning and evening. *
Traveler : I want my heart to always be enlightened. (Roshan and Munawer)
*Prophet : Never forget death. *
Traveler : I never want to be away from Allah's blessing.
*Prophet : Always treat fellow creatures well. *
Traveler : I never want to be harmed by my enemies.
*Prophet : Always have faith in only Allah. *
Traveler : I never want to be humiliated.
*Prophet : Be careful of your actions. *
Traveler : I wish to live long.
*Prophet : Always do Silat-Arahem. (Goodness towards blood Relations) *
Traveler : I want my sustenance to increase.
*Prophet : Always be in wudhoo (Ablution). *
Traveler : I wish to stay free of adhahb in the grave.
*Prophet : Always wear pure (paak) clothes. *
Traveler : I never want to be burned in hell.
*Prophet : Control your eyes and tongue. *



Traveler : How do I get my sins forgiven?
*Prophet : Always ask forgiveness from Allah with a lot of humility.
Traveler : I want people to respect me always.
*Prophet : Never extend your hands of need at people. *
Traveler : I want to always be honored.
*Prophet : Never humiliate or put down anyone. *
Traveler : I don't want to be squeezed by fishare qabr. (Squeezing in the grave)
*Prophet : Recite surat Al-Mulk (The Dominion) often. *
Traveler : I want my wealth to increase.
*Prophet : Recite surat Al-Waqiah (The Inevitable) every night. *
Traveler : I want to be safe and at peace on Day of Judgment.
*Prophet : Do zikr (Praises) of Allah from dusk to night. *
Traveler : I want to be in full attention and concentration during prayers.
*Prophet : Always do wudhoo (Ablution) with concentration and attention.

ENEMY WITHIN........

SIAPA MUSUH ANDA?

BIODATA IBLIS

Pengenalan Diri

Nama: Iblis La’natullah

Tarikh lahir: Sejak ia enggan sujud kepada Adam setelah diperintahkan oleh Allah

Status diri: Fasiq kelas pertama

Agama: Kufur

Tempat tinggal: Hati² orang yg. lalai

Kawasan/Daerah: Semua tempat yg. tidak ada di dalamnya usaha mengingati Allah

Tunjuk arah perjalanan: Bengkang bengkok (tiada haluan)

Tempat tinggal tetap: Neraka Jahanam

Isteri di dunia: Setiap wanita yg tidak menutup aurat

Kaum kerabat: Semua golongan Taghut

Satus Perniagaan

Modal pusingan: Angan-angan kosong

Tempat pertemuan: Pasar (not mean we cannot go to pasar, but see the purpose of

going there)

Musuh/Saingan: Setiap orang Islam

Dalil/Hujah: Fatamorgana (maya)

Motto kerja: “Hipokrasi asas akhlak”

Uniform kerja: Segala warna, seperti sesumpah. Setiap tempat ada warnanya (pemutar belit)

Kesukaan: Orang lalai dari mengingati Allah

Yang melemahannya: Istighfar

Lambang korporat: Sebarang tatu

Pejabat: Tandas dan bilik air

Sifatnya: Muzabzab. (Ikut suka hati mak bapak dia)

Rakan kongsi: Golongan munafiq

Sumber rezeki: Harta haram

Jenis perkhidmatan: Menyeru manusia berbuat mungkar

Jawatan: General Manager golongan al-Maghdhubi alihim dan golongan ad Dhallin

Tempoh perkhidmatan: Sampai hari kiamat

Hala perjalanan: Neraka

Laba perniagaan: Habaan Manthura (masuk angin keluar asap)

Rakan kongsi: Syaitan dari kalangan jin dan manusia

Teman sejawat: Orang yg berdiam diri dari menegakkan kebenaran

Jenis tanggungan: Pembohongan

Ganjaran: Dosa dan segala jenisnya

Kaedah komunikasi: Mengumpat, mengadu domba, fitnah

Makanan kesukaan: Daging org mati (ghibah)

Yang ditakuti: Orang mu’min yg. bertaqwa

Yang dibenci: Lelaki dan perempuan yg. mengingati Allah

Daya tahan: Lemah (Sesungguhnya daya tahan syaitan sangatlah lemah [4:76])

Perangkap: Wanita

Kegemaran: Menggoda dan menyesatkan

Cita-cita: Supaya semua manusia jadi kafir

Ajal: Waktu tertentu menjelang kiamat

Kerja yg. paling disukai: Homoseks dan lesbian

p/s: Setelah mengetahui sifat2 musuh anda, masihkah anda mahu menjadi rakan kongsi/ teman sejawat/ sahabat syaitan? Be wise in choosing your f!r!i!e!n!d

created by chickncheese...... (chickncheese@yahoo.com)

wanita dlm islam-nilainya tinggi di sisi Allah

assalamualaikum wbt..

izinkan saya quote cerita yg bagi saya personally sungguh indah n penuh makna...

Bertanya si adik kecil pada sang bidadari berwajah manusia..."Wahai kakakku, kenapakah lemah sungguh kaum hawa itu, asyik berteman tangis dan sendu sahaja."

Lalu berbicara si bidadari berwajah manusia;"wahai adikku. Bukan wanita itu lemah dek kerana
tangis dan sendunya. Tapi disitulah wahai adikku, kekuatan utuh tak ternilai andai pandai digunakan sebaiknya. Tangis sendunya wanita itu wahai adikku, bisa meleburkan ego seorang lelaki... menjadi 'izzah' yg plg gah bahkan lebih gah dr egonya seorang lelaki. Kerana sendu rayunya wanita itu, Musa a.s terselamat dr kekejaman Firaun. Duhai adikku, lembut wanita itu bukan lemah, tp senjata."

Si adik tidak berpuas ati. Lalu dipertikaikan lagi..."Namun wahai kakakku, wanita itu fitnah dunia."

Tersenyum sang bidadari berwajah manusia."Pernahkah adikku dengar akan pesanan Ilahi pd hambanya? Wahai para lelaki yg beriman, tundukkanlah pandanganmu. Lalu Allah berfirman lagi antaranya bermaksud, wahai para wanita yg beriman, tundukkanlah pandanganmu, dan
tutuplah auratmu. Lantas cuba adik nilai, pd siapa terlebih dahulu ALLAH dahulukan pesanannya?

Pada hamba yg bergelar ar-Rijal. Kerana, andai sang lelaki menjaga pandangannya, maka tidak
mungkin terlihat akan wanita yg menjadi fitnah pd dirinya. Dan tidak ALLAH lupakan pesanan buat wanita, agar memelihara auratnya kerana disitu lah kehormatannya. Sesungguhnya para wanita-wanita syurga bergelar Hurun 'Ain itu, mereka tidak memperlihatkan diri mereka kecuali pd para suami mereka sahaja. Dan mereka dikatakan wanita2 yg suci. Namun... wanita yg beriman itu, kata Rasulullah, lebih tinggi martabatnya! Bukan fitnah semata-mata jikalau ar-Rijaal dan an-Nisa' sama2 mematuhi pesanan Ilahi itu! Sesungguhnya wanita yg beriman yg solehah itu lebih baik dari ribuan lelaki yg soleh."

Adik masih x puas ati.

"Tapi kakakku, kenapa wanita itu menjadi peragaan? Tidakkah mereka merasa malu??"

Sang bidadari berwajah menguntum senyum penuh makna. Adus, semakin terasa mendalam
kasih sayang pd penghuni jannah ini!"Wahai adikku sayang. Al-Haya' itu dalam diri setiap insan. Wujudnya seiring dengan nafas insani. Dan al-Haya' itulah pakaian iman. Pada diri wanita itu, indah al-Haya' sebagai pembenteng diri. Namun, bila mana al-haya nya lebur, imannya runtuh.Kenapa mereka merelakan diri menjadi peragaan? Kerana mereka sebenarnya paranoid.
Merasakan diri tidak cukup menarik... merasakan belum cukup lagi dunia melihat diri mereka.
Mereka sebenarnya golongan yg kalah dr segi psikologi. Namun adikku... wanita solehah itu pasti melindungi diri mereka dr perbuatan murahan itu."

Adik garu2 kepala."Jadi kakak, masih adakah wanita yg solehah didunia ini? Bagaimana hendak adik kenali mereka???"

Sang bidadari tersenyum lagi. Hati terdetik moga ALLAH merahmati mujahid kecil ini. Berjihad
dalam dunianya sendiri.

"Wahai adikku. Di zaman Rasulullah, diperintahkan wanita2 yg beriman itu untuk menutupi aurat mereka, dengan itu mereka mudah dikenali sebagai wanita yg bermaruah. Maka demikianla adikku menilai mereka. Tp perlu juga dilihat pd hatinya... pd akhlaknya...

Di zaman ini, tidak susah membezakan wanita yg solehah dan yg toleh. Namun adikku... jgn dikau cemuh wanita yg toleh itu... kerana dlm hati2 mereka, tetap ada satu permata indah... perasaan cinta pd ALLAH... Kerana fitrah cinta pd Rabb itu sentiasa ada dlm jiwa insan. Adikku, mereka ini, tetap punyai keinginan utk kembali pd jalan yg mereka th hak ALLAH. Cuma kadang2 term solehah itu terasa berat di bahu mereka... Kadang mereka takut pd persepsi wara dan alim. Sedangkan itu cumalah persepsi. Hakikatnya, wara' itu bermaksud menjaga.

Maka sesiapa sahaja yg menjaga adalah wara'. Alim itu maksudnya mengetahui. Barangsiapa yg berilmu maka dia adalah alim dlm bidangnya. Persepsi yg salah pd dua perkataan ini menjadikan mereka takut untuk berubah kepada stage yg lebih baik. Kerena begitulah persepsi
masyarakat. Sedangkan mereka alpa... ALLAH tidak menjadikan makhluk (ciptaan) ini tanpa tujuan dan garis panduan. ALLAH tidak zalim kepada ciptaanNYA. bila mana dia menciptakan hawa itu dari rusuk adam... Dia telah mengetahui apakah sebaik2nya buat makhluk bergelar Hawa ini... Ditinggikan martabat golongan HAWA ini... Tapi sayang... golognan HAWA ini kadang2 merendahkan martabat mereka yg ALLAH jdkan penuh kemuliaan...

Wahai adikku... 1001 keindahan penciptaan wanita.Pandai2lah dikau menilai... antara permata dan debu2 kilauan pasir.

Wahai adikku... Wanita ibarat epal. Epal yg tak berkualiti...amat mudah diperolehi kerana ia berguguran ditanah... Tapi epal yg tak mampu dibeli, ia berada di puncak. Susah dipetik, susah di gapai. Terkadang epal itu risau, kenapalah diriku belum dipetik. Lantas ia merendahkan martabatnya dan menggugurkan diri menyembah tanah. Sedangkan ia sebenarnya telah ALLAH jadikan begitu tinggi martabatnya. Sebenarnya..epal itu terlalu tinggi... elok
sifatnya... sehinggakan tiada siapa yg berani memetiknya. Hanya pemuda yg benar2 hebat sahaja bisa memperolehinya... Mungkin bukan di dunia... tp mungkin di akhirat? Biarlah jodohnya bukan di dunia... asalkan cinta ILAHI mengiringinya...tak semestinya dipetik di taman dunia rite? Tp lebih bermakna bile ALLAH sendiri yg mengarahkan hamba yg disayanginya utk memetik di taman akhirat kelak."

aimi says,

masyaAllah!! betapa indahnya penceritaan ini pada jiwa yg mahu mengerti. sebagai manusia yg sentiasa mendambakan kasih sayang Nya, sesungguhnya beruntunglah bg sesiapa yg beriman. sama2lah kita berjuang mendapat tempat di syurga, iA..moga kita kekal di jalanNya

Why do we 'read'?

Taken from email.....

Dear All,
This is an email sent to me by my father.. And I would love to share this with all of my other brothers and sisters. Have a blessed day.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I wonder if you have seen this before if so it is a good reminder.

An old American Muslim lived on a farm in the mountains of eastern Kentucky with his young grandson. Each morning Grandpa was up early sitting at the kitchen table reading his Quraan .

His grandson wanted to be just like him and triedto imitate him in every way he could. One day the grandson asked, "Papa, Itry to read the Quraan just like you but I don't understand it, and what I do understand I forget as soon as I close the book. What good does readingthe Quraan do?"

The Grandfather quietly turned from putting coalin the stove and replied, "Take this coal basket down to the river and bring me back a basket of water." The boy did as he! was told, but all thewater leaked out before he got back to the house. The grandfather laughedand said, "You'll have to move a little faster next time," and sent him back to the river with the basket to try again.This time the boy ran faster, but again the basket was empty before hereturned home. Out of breath, he told his grandfather that it wasimpossible to carry water in a basket, and he went to get a bucket instead.

The old man said, "I don't want a bucket of water;I want a basket of water. You're just not trying hard enough," and he wentout the door to watch the boy try again.

At this point, the boy knew it was impossible, but he wanted to show his grandfather that even if he ran as fast as he could,the water would leak out before he got back to the house. The boy again dipped the basket into river and ranhard, but when he reached his grandfather the bas! ket was again empty.

Out of breath, he said, "See Papa, it's useless!"

"So you think it is useless?" The old man said,"Look at the basket."

The boy looked at the basket and for the first time realized that the basket was different. It had been transformed from adirty old coal basket to a clean one, inside and out.

"Son, that's what happens when you read the Quraan. You might not understand or remember everything, but when you readit, you will be changed, inside and out. That is the work of Allah in our lives."





~ Jazakallahukhairank athira ~

Problems in the Heart of Teens...

Nowadays....so many teenagers don't know about their own problems, and bad to say, they thought that some of the problems are the good things to do. O Allah please forgive them....

Below are the problems pointed out by the teenagers themselves during a speech by Dr. Abu Ameenah Bilal Philips. His speech is focuses on the various Haram things that us teenagers are exposed to in modern day society. He answers questions that are relevant to a modern day teenage Muslims.


1) Music
2) Girls
3) Media
4) Video Games
5) Smoking
6) Fashion
7) Body piercing
8) Lazy
9) Crime
10) Disobedience to parents
11) Dissatisfaction of ourselves
12) Gossip and etc.




In fact, all those problems are the symptoms of another big and main problems - like peer pressure, etc

What peer pressure is? Is it good or is it bad?

A group of friends or the people that you are with, they all doing something or they all want to do something and you may not want to do it because you think it is not right, but you may want to do it because everybody near to you do the things. End up by you do the things. This is called peer pressure.

But, what Islam said about peer pressure?

Islam told us not to follow anybody blindly. In other words, dont be blind followers.

Rasulullah said, "The believers or muslims should not to be IMMA'AH".

What is imma'ah...? It is arabic word and there is no exact word in english to describe this word.
We can just say imma'ah is when people are good, you are good, but when people are bad, you are bad.

From this discription, we can say that it is ok when people are good, and this is really trouble when people are bad. That's why Rasulullah taught us not to be blind followers. This is one of the signs of the weakness of the iman and also the weakness of the muslims personality. This is not good.

Besides that, after we are awaken by Allah from the grave, who will be with us is our friends.
If they are bad, wake up with a ugly face because of 'mungkar' they do, is it good to have them besides us in front of Allah? Allah might ask us about our friend that we choose. How to answer it? Nauzubillah. Think of it.

Now, we go to 'music' problem.
What you can say about music that is HARAM? Of course there is Halal music like nasyeed, zikrullah, etc. What do you think they are called Haram and Halal music?

Haram Music is the musics that are contradict with the akhlaq of the muslims. Example, the musics that contain bad languages. In islam, it is haram to say bad thing, even to hear it. Other, example, the haram music instruments like guitar or other string type instruments.
Why they are haram?

They are haram because of they are addictive and hypnotics. They have the ways to go through and sneaking into your heart (capture your heart). This was naturally experimented, when you are always listened to a music, you will remember it. If you left the song for a long time ( not listen to it anymore), you will not remember it, but if there is a little nodes of the song you hear somewhere, for the whole song you will remember it again. That's the power of the music. So, music instruments that make someone can not leave his music instrument when he start playing it is haram. Even bad, he forgot to play his role as a muslim(solat, zikrullah, etc) if he start to play it. Nauzubillah minzalik.


Therefore, for all above problems, what is the solution?

First, make a lot of dua' because it is our 'weapon' to kill all enemy within and outside us.

Second, do not leave Al-Quran, always read It because Al-Quran is the 'direction' of life. There are also some chapter from Al-Quran as our 'spiritual protection. An-Nas, Al-Falaq and Al-Ikhlas. Please read those chapter before you go to bed and also after ecah fardh solat.




Third, make a lot of zikrullah.




Fourth, have a good friends. because of what Rasulullah said, who will be your partner after your grave is your friends. So, please make sure your friend is good.

Fifth, know all your intention when to do something (your intention to Allah).

Sixth, gain as much as possible your knowledge, because knowledge can make you more confident of yourself and then have the personality of a muslim, insyaAllah.

And etc.

Wallahua'lam.......Assalamualaikum w.b.t

Ya 'Abidal Haramain

Ya 'Abidal Haramain O ye who worships in the vicinity of the Two Holy Masjids! ‘O ye who worships in the vicinity of the Two Holy Masjids! If you but see us, you will realise that you are only jesting in worship. He who brings wetness to his cheek with his tears should know that our necks are being wet by our blood. He who tires his horses without purpose, now that our horses are getting tired in battle. Scent of perfume is yours, while ours is the glimmer of spears and the stench of dust [in battle]. We were narrated about in the speech of our Prophet, an authentic statement that never lies. That the dust that erupts by Allah’s horses and which fills the nostrils of a man shall never be combined with the smoke of a raging Fire. This, the Book of Allah speaks among us that the martyr is not dead, and the truth in Allah’s book cannot be denied.’