Islam and Science

Its prevalent view in the world today , that Muslims have played very less or no role at all  in contribution & development of science, and even we Muslim do feel sense of inferiority for this , and off course we get the same in our schools and colleges text books , and whatever sources of information we are limited in..

Now let us take a very brief look at Islamic teachings in Quran & Ahadiths

If any non-Muslims demands the miracle of our prophet, we can present Quran, now let us briefly go through in what way is Quran miracle in this age of science??

There are several scientific facts mentioned in Quran which was revealed 1400 years ago and which scientists are just discovering or yet to discover

If we ask a biologists 

Where and how did life originate?"

 He will begins - "Well, billions of years ago primeval matter in the sea began to generate protoplasm out of which came the amoeba and out of all the mire in the sea came all living things. In one word all life came from Water!""And when did you discover this fact that all living beings are came from water?""Only Yesterday!" he replies. Fifty years, after all, is only yesterday in the history of human race.

But Quran says'

AND WE MADE FROM WATER EVERY LIVING THING

WILL THEY (THE UNBELIEVERS, THE ATHEISTS AND THE AGNOSTICS)

THEN NOT BELIEVE

Holy Quran 21:30

Similarly Quran has got several other facts like 'BIG BANG THEORY and expanding Universe, ORIGIN OF LIFE, etc

"It was under Muslims revival of culture and not in the 15th century, that a real renaissance took place."Science is the most momentous contribution of Arab civilization to the modern world "For Although there is not a single aspect of European growth in which the decisive influence of Islamic Culture is not traceable "In Greek mathematics, the numbers could expand only by the laborious process of addition and multiplication. Khwarizmi's algebraic symbols for numbers contain within themselves the potentialities of the infinite. So we might say that the advance from arithmetic to algebra implies a step from being to 'becoming' from the Greek universe to the living universe of Islam. The importance of Khwarizmi's algebra was recognized. Until the sixteenth century this version was used in European universities as the principal mathematical text book. But Khwarizmi's influence reached far beyond the universities. We find it reflected in the mathematical works of Leonardo Fibinacci of Pissa, Master Jacob of Florence, and even of Leonardo da Vinci."

"It will suffice here to evoke a few glorious names without contemporary equivalents in the West:

·         Jabir Ibn Haiyan, (Algaebra)

·         Al-Kindi, Al-Khwarizmi,

·         Al-Fargani,

·         Al-Razi, Thabit Ibn Qurra,

·         Al-Battani, 

·         Al-Farabi,

·         Ibrahim Ibn Sinan,

·         Al-Tabari,

·         Abul Wafa,

·         Ali Ibn Abbas,

·         Abul Qasim,

·         Ibn Al-Jazzar,

·         Al-Biruni, Ibn Sina,

·         Al-Kashi, Ibn Al-Haitham,

·         Al-Zarqab,

·         Omar Khayyam. Etc

A magnificent array of names which it would not be difficult to extend. If anyone tells you that the Muslims are sterile with science & technology, just quote these men to them, all of whom flourished within a short period, 750 to 1100 A.D."

What we are being thought in schools is

“The first man in flight was by Roger Bacon or Leonardo da Vinci but in truth it was Ibn Firnas of Islamic Spain invented, constructed and tested a flying machine in the 800's A.D

“The Glass mirrors were first produced in 1291 in Venice but Glass mirrors were in use in Islamic Spain as early as the 11th century.

It is Known that Isaac Newton's 17th century study of lenses, light and prisms forms the foundation of the modern science of optics but  In the 11^th century Al-Haytham determined virtually everything that Newton advanced regarding optics centuries prior and is regarded by numerous authorities as the "founder of optics. " we know that The Greeks were the developers of trigonometry. But it was Muslims who had invented it

The use of decimal fractions in mathematics, using algebraic symbols, and Cubic equations as well as numerous equations of even higher degrees were solved with ease by Muslim Mathematicians

During 800-1500 C.E. essentially all scientific works were written in Arabic. It is only after colonization of Muslim lands that this practice became less prevalent and in many instances was eliminated

However this was all in brief, several books are written on this topic

I conclude by saying that Islam teaches us everything but if we are ignorant of it

That’s our fault and flaw but blame goes to religion and what Islam aims with science is that we should get closer to ALLAH by observing his creatures furthermost I can also say that no religion is as related with science as Islam is…, and no religious book is as related with science as Quran is….