THE first revelation to the Prophet Muhammad some 1,400 years ago begins with the word iqra’. This Arabic word can be translated as “read”, thus signifying the importance of knowledge in Islam. As has been mentioned time and again, reading is the key to knowledge. Islam has indeed highlighted the simple fact that to live in this world, one must have knowledge.
The Prophet of Islam was reported to have said to the effect that: “If one wants success in this world, one must have knowledge. If one wants success in the hereafter, one must have knowledge. If one wants success in both worlds, one must have knowledge.” Basically, knowledge is a prerequisite for success either in this world or the next or even both. We note that an enormous amount of knowledge comes from the power of observation. The ability to notice and to interpret natural phenomena such as the flight of insects and birds, formation of clouds and rain, growth of plants, and so on, has allowed mankind to develop knowledge on many things. This knowledge is often referred to as “science”. Some Western scholars have argued that the purpose of science is to develop laws and theories to explain, predict, understand and control phenomena.
In essence, this understanding of how nature works can be regarded as crucial for mankind to carry out his duties as the khalifah or vice-regent of God on this planet.
It is necessary for man to have scientific knowledge to utilise the many things available on this planet. The knowledge and ability to manage all these things responsibly and carefully hinge mainly on the understanding that man has through science.
This is one of the reasons why science is regarded as important. In truth, no civilisation could have succeeded without the knowledge, and control of knowledge that is science, which could then be developed and applied to become technology.
The factor that determines whether or not a society or civilisation is advanced is very much dependent on the advances made in science and technology.
It is interesting to note that the very first revelation in the Quran itself is scientific. The first five verses contained in Surah al’Alaq details the formation of an embryo in the womb. While modern science could only prove and observe this in the last century, the Quran possessed this scientific fact nearly 15 centuries ago.
If there indeed is no conflict between Islam and science, then it is a great pity that many Muslims today shy away from science. The attitude of some Muslims towards science has been rather negative.
Science is sometimes viewed as something that has a secular connotation. It is as if science and religion are two poles at the opposite ends of the globe. If Muslims have this view, that is, classifying science as worldly and saying it has nothing to do with Islam, then this view in itself is secular.
Muslims should look at science as part and parcel of Islam. This is apparent from the fact that the very first relevation is scientific in nature. Not only that, this revelation also touches on scientific methodology, in that it directs mankind to read.
In conducting research, one must first conduct some literature review, and this is very much in line with the first word iqra’.
The first revelation also uses the word qalam referring to “pen”. A researcher using scientific methods knows that after any literature review or observations have been made, the next thing to do is to write his or her thoughts down whether his or her opinion on the literature reviewed or what has been observed.
This is important so that whoever wants to verify the information given by a researcher can replicate the experiment or refer to the same literature. This, in fact, is a way in which knowledge is disseminated. This scientific exercise is an on-going cycle that creates knowledge for the use of mankind.
Even this is mentioned in the first revelation where God says that through this process, He “taught man that which he knew not”. If mankind were to undertake this scientific exercise as prescribed in the first revelation of the Quran, without a doubt, mankind would be able to obtain the necessary knowledge.
It is also equally interesting in that the Quran enjoins mankind to observe nature and consequently think of how nature works. As was mentioned earlier, it is very clear that much of the knowledge that we have in the area of science is a result of observations.
Why then would God instruct mankind to observe nature if science is not important? Perhaps a more fitting question would be, why are there so many verses in the Quran that touch on the scientific process, either explicit or implicit, if science is separate from al-deen (the way of life)? Is it not, therefore, possible that science should be given the necessary attention by Muslims as it is part of al-deen? To learn science is a must for Muslims. It is a collective responsibility or fardu kifayah that must never be ignored, lest Muslims themselves be left further behind. We know for a fact that during Islam’s great days, science prospered among Muslims, so much so that we had a canon of great Muslim scientists, philosophers and thinkers in those days.
Names like Ibn Sina, al-Khawarizmi, alBiruni, Ibn al-Haytham, al-Kindi and many more have been quoted again and again in this connection.
Knowledge and centres of learning promoting science and technology were at the focal point of Islamic civilisation.
This attracted the Europeans, who were then living in an age of darkness, to send their brightest and best to centres such as Baghdad to learn and bring back this invaluable knowledge that is science. The Europeans learnt Arabic to learn science at that time. And the rest, as they say, is history. Europe leapt out of the age of darkness to become a superpower over the next few centuries, conquering many parts of the world and expanding its influence over others, including Muslim nations. This was among the reasons for the decline of Islamic civilisation.
However, one important lesson Muslims of today can learn from the Europeans is that if great emphasis is placed on the need to acquire knowledge, language should not be a barrier. If the Europeans could learn Arabic, then surely Muslims can learn whatever language is necessary to get hold of the scientific knowledge we have today.
Language is not and should not become a barrier to learning and acquiring knowledge. If, for instance, something can be known only through one of the African languages, someone in the Muslim community must learn this language to acquire this important piece of information.
Therefore, the issue of learning science using English should not really be an issue. Using English as a medium of instruction does not mean forsaking the position of the Malay language. Rather, it could increase the quality of the Malays, who can be proficient in more than one language. The bottom line is that we would like more Malays and therefore Muslims to be able to master science and technology. If we divert our attention from this objective, then we would end up occupying ourselves with matters that have long been established and agreed upon.
It is high time we realised that acquiring the knowledge of science should be the main agenda. The time has also come for us to take measures to realise this aim. It is also time for us to shift our energies from merely talking to implementing what needs to be done.
Perhaps on that note, we should reflect on what God says in verse 2 of Surah al-Saff in the Quran, to the effect that: “O ye who believe! Why say ye that which ye do not?”