It is important for Muslims to be aware that the manner knowledge is understood in any given society very much determines the way sciences develop, whereas the way any given society regards knowledge depends on its predominant worldview, or vision of truth-reality. As a revealed religion which projects a certain worldview, Islam promotes an understanding of knowledge and science which is substantially different from what is prevalent in the other societies and civilizations-including that of the modern West-and which gives rise to a particular intellectual tradition and civilization. As such, any serious deliberation on the orientation of science within an Islamic state-whether understood in a specific sense to refer to any division of the natural sciences or considered in a broad sense to cover any organized knowledge and discipline of study-will have to attend to the worldview of Islam and the attendant system of knowledge such a worldview projects. In fact, when one talks about sciences as being “Islamic,” one basically and ultimately refers to the worldview of Islam and its attendant system of knowledge. And one should bear in mind that the difference lies primarily at the level of understanding, at the level of concepts and conception. In short, one is here concerned with a distinct epistemology and intellectual framework.
Natural sciences (NS), taken as a group and considered thus as a branch of knowledge in Islam, can be understood in at least two ways: one is to approach it as a particular human process of knowing and the other is to approach it from the angle of the peculiar object it studies and seeks to know further. The former, in other words, attempts to understand NS as a particular epistemic act of man, involving necessarily specific methods of study and research deemed appropriate and sufficient to realize the intent of such an act, while the latter tries to grasp it in the context of its subject-matter, or what is being studied by it.
These two approaches, rather than being exclusive, are nonetheless interdependent and mutually complementary, just like two sides of the same coin. For, as Islam is characterized by tawhid (unity-in-diversity as well as unifying), this characteristic is also manifested in the approach, or method, of study it propounds. In fact, just as the nature of the object being studied very much determines the most appropriate manner for man to approach it, so does the most suitable epistemological method adopted in studying a particular subject-matter determine what man can know of the object. The unity of these two approaches, therefore, is neither artificial nor enforced from an external source but arises from within the intimate relation that exists between knowledge and reality-truth.
Dealt with using the latter approach, NS is basically any discipline of study which has, as its object of study, the Universe and aims accordingly at knowing its nature or reality. In today’s understanding and practice particularly, NS as systematic empirical and intellectual endeavours is primarily focused on man’s discovery and understanding of the nature of the various physical dimensions, layers and parts of the Universe. Such endeavours basically consist of observations and experiments, necessarily involving human sensory perception and attempts at conceptualization by the human mind, apart from the reliance on authentic reports of the scientific community. These dimensions, layers and parts of the Universe are what is generally referred to as matter (maddah) and its concomitants (lawazim al-maddah). Such being the main focus and aim of NS, the methods adopted in it must necessarily be tailored to its major focus and aim.
As far as Islam is concerned, such focus and aim as well as the method(s) so tailored, if properly viewed and applied within the larger context of reality-truth, are not inherently wrong. What is wrong, is when NS-particularly physics-is taken to be the model, the prototype, or the benchmark, of true knowledge and science; when knowledge as well as the methods and approaches leading to knowledge and truth is reduced in one’s understanding, attitude and action to NS; when reality and existence is reduced merely to what NS basically seeks to study, that is, the physical dimensions, layers and parts of the Universe. In fact, this reductionistic idealogy and tendency constitutes what in the modern West is referred to as scientism, something which is fundamentally opposed to Islam and its worldview. According to Islamic cosmology, there are generally two levels of cosmic existence: one is the visible world (‘alam al-mulk wa’l-shahadah) and the other, the hidden world (‘alam al-malakut wa’l-ghayb). In between, according to many authoritative scholars and metaphysicians, is the imaginal world (‘alam al-mithal) known theologically as barzakh.
Therefore, in order to ensure that the sciences-NS included-as developed by the Muslims are islamic, it is important that they be conceived of and caused to unfold in line with the worldview of Islam and its attendant system of knowledge. As the Universe is conceived of in this worldview primarily as an open, grand, created Book, consisting of Divine ayat (signs or symbols), the Muslim attempt to develop sciences ought to include their formulation of a scientific framework which incorporates such a conception of the Universe. This framework, if rightly imbued and disseminated through proper education, can determine a totally different orientation for the development of science in Muslim societies.
