Justru Allah diluar semua hukum alam; tapi Allah sendiri yang mencipta segala hukum alam ini; untuk kepentingan ciptaanNya.
--- In [email protected], item abu <itemabu@...> wrote: > > Kalo Quran itu berisi sains yg menunjukkan Quran itu dr auloh, berarti auloh > itu > tunduk pd hukum sains, hehehe... > > Sayangnya, orang Islam yg dungu2 itu umumnya ga bisa ngerti apa yg gua bilang > ini dan konsekuensinya. > > > > > > ________________________________ > From: Jusfiq <kesayangan.allah@...> > To: [email protected] > Sent: Mon, May 2, 2011 10:29:42 PM > Subject: [proletar] Ziauddin Sardar: Between Two Masters: Qurâan or Science? > > > http://ziauddinsardar.com/2011/02/quran-science/ > > Between Two Masters: Qur'an or Science? > > The headline in the Bulletin of the Islamic Medical Association of South > Africa > announces a staggering discovery. Canadian scholar confirms Quran and Ahadith > on > Human Embryology (1). The story tells us that a certain Dr Keith Moore, > Chairman > of the anatomy department of the University of Torontos School of Medicine, > has > discovered the happy marriage between the Islamic revelation and contemporary > human developmental anatomy. I am amazed at the scientific accuracy of these > statements which were made in the seventh centuryIt is quite reasonable for > Muslims to believe that these verses are revelations from God, Moore is > reported > to have said. > > What has Keith Moore discovered that has excited the Muslim doctors, > scientists > and scholars so much? His paper, Highlights of human embryology in the Koran > and > the Hadith, was first presented at the Seventh Saudi Medical Meeting, and has > since then been reprinted in a number of places (2). It simply reads modern > biology into certain Quranic verses, describing the development of a foetus > and > illustrating them with clinical drawings and text book descriptions. For > example, the Quranic verse, verily, we fashioned man from a small quantity of > mingled liquids (Nut-fatin Imthjin) (76:2) is explained by Moore as referring > to > the mixture of a small quantity of sperms with the oocyte and its associated > follicular fluid, or the male and female sexual secretion. The resulting > mixed > drop, made up of the ovum and penetrating sperm, becomes the zygote, the > precursor of the embryo. Similarly, explanation, for example, is given of the > following verses, Verily, we created man from a product of wet earth; then > placed him as a drop (of seed) (Nutfatun) in a safe lodging; then fashioned > We > the drop a clot (alaga), then fashioned We the clot a little lump, (Mudgha) > then > fashioned We the little lump bones (Izam), then clothed the bones with flesh > and > then produced it as another creation. So blessed be Allah, the best Creator! > (23:12-14). Reading these verses, Moore made some clay models and showed them > to > be similar to the description of the verses. He starts with an embryo at 28 > days > and shows that by the sixth week bones begin to form and muscles appear on > the > embryo. By the seventh week the bones give a human shape to the embryo. The > ears > and eyes begin to form in the fourth week and are visible by the sixth, or 42 > days after the zygote has been formed. All these developments are in > conformity > with the Quranic description, Moore tells us. > > So what does all this prove? Does it confirm the Divine origins of the Quran? > Or > does it merely tell us that the Quran is a treasure chest of scientific > facts? > What is the function of the exercise? This incident throws considerable light > on > the state of the Muslim mind: its acute inferiority complex; its obsession > with > science and by extension with modernity; and its pathological concern with > seeing the Quran as the end of knowledge rather than as a text that provides > an > ethical framework for the pursuit of knowledge. On the surface, such attempts > to > legitimise modern science by equating it with the Quran, or to prove the > divine > origins of the Quran by showing that it contains scientifically valid facts, > appear harmless, indeed, even commendable exercises. However, when pursued on > a > nave basis, as is often done by Muslim scholars, such methods can be > dangerous; > and when undertaken deliberately, be it sincerely, often by non-Muslim > scholars, > it can have mischievous consequences. > > The inference drawn by comparing the Quran and science is two-fold: if the > facts > and theories mentioned in the Quran, which was revealed 1400 years ago, are > supported by modern science, the Divine nature of the Quran is confirmed, (if > confirmation is indeed what we are looking for); and conversely, if modern > scientific facts and theories find a reflection in the Quran, then modern > science must also have the same universal and eternal validity as the Quran. > My > counter arguments is simple and though it will be discussed in detail towards > the end, suffice it to say now that the Quran, which is a book of guidance, > does > not need confirmation from any other source. For Muslims, it is a priori > valid > and eternal. Any attempt at reading science in the Quran makes the eternal > scripture subservient to science; and it elevates science to the level where > it > becomes the arbitrator of what is and what is not Truth. It further enforces > the > mythical notion that scientific theories are neutral, universal and eternally > valid. Moreover, trying to read science in the allegorical, metaphorical and > symbolic verses of the Quran often stretches analogical reasoning beyond its > limits and leads to absurd and in some cases, to quite contradictory > conclusions > not intended by the Quran. It is apologia of the worst type. > > Apologetic Muslim authors trying to prove that the Quran is very scientific > and > modern often start by stating that the Quran places great emphasis, and > indeed > it does, on the pursuit of knowledge and the use of reason. Some 750 verses, > almost one-eighth of the Quran, in contrast to only 250 legislative verse, > exhorts the believers to study nature, reflect, make the best use of reason, > make scientific enterprise an integral part of the community life. It is > further > pointed out that the Quran mentions several scientific facts and theories, > all > of which are supported by the most recent discoveries and advances. > > This type of apologetic literature, trying to give scientific legitimation to > the Quran, goes back to the early sixties. In fact, one of the earliest > pamphlets came out of Cairo: On Cosmic Verses in the Quran by Muhammad > Jamaluddin El-Fandy (3). El-Fandy has a sense of religious superiority that > manifests itself in his attempts to prove that every astronomical discovery > and > scientific theory (that is in the 1950s) has already been mentioned in the > Quran. He considers the Quran as the best example of scientific expression > (an > unsuitable claim as the ideal form of scientific expression is a mathematical > equation; and there certainly are no equations in the Quran). Thus, from > almost > any Quranic verse referring to any astronomical phenomenon, El-Fandy can draw > modern astronomical parallels and comparisons. For example, from the verse, > all > is He who raised the heavens without any pillars that you can see, and > neither > can the night outstrip the day, and each revolve in an orbit, al-Fandy draws > the > following inference: > > If we consider the sky a name given to anything which is over our heads, then > it > will surely mean the entire universe which surrounds us and which begins with > the space around the earth followed by the planets, the sun and other stars > found in the depth of space, in our galaxy or in other galaxies. All these > heavenly bodies move in their orbits. This is the sky. It is created by Allah > and each body in the space is similar to the brick in its lofty structure. > All > these heavenly bodies split one after the other and are held in their > relative > positions by centrifugal force and universal gravity. The gravity and this > centrifugal force, produced by rotation in semi-circular orbits or ellipses, > could be treated as actually built pillars. Although we may not detect such > forces with our eyes, yet that does not mean that they are not there in any > case, since we can measure and give their specifications correctly. If anyone > of > us is granted a suitable sense in addition to the normal ones we have, he > will > be able to feel these (tubes of forces) exactly as we can feel any material > body > with our normal senses. (4). > El-Fandy does not stop here. He goes on to argue that the atmosphere can be > regarded as a pillar and that light itself is like a pillar, with the colours > of > the > > spectrum being minor pillars! In the other verses of the Quran, El-Fandy > finds > evidence for the creation of red giants, white dwarfs, existence of ether > (?), > the evolution of the planets and the big bang theory. And there is more: > science > supports the Quranic claim, writes al-Fandy, that life exists on other > planets. > After quoting numerous verse, including, And they Lord best knows those who > are > in the heavens and the earth and to Him submit whosoever is in the heavens > and > the earth, he ventures to describe what aliens may look like (here it is not > clear whether he is drawing inferences from the Quran or science): > > If we try to define the shape or form which developed races living outside > our > planet will have, we should, in this case, and without inviting complication > s > act on the assumption that nature has made no dissimilarity whatsoever in its > method. Accordingly, such creatures, in their attempt to make good show, > share > with us the following: > > 1. The bodys reliance on an inner osteology made of hard material. > 2. The existence of a main centre for nerves (the brain) which communicates > with > various parts of the body directives (thenerves). > 3. The best shelter for the brain which exists inside a safe movable organ > either in the fore or the top part of the body > 4. Creatures dependence upon legs used in motion. > 5. The existence of a mouth for speaking and feeding (5) > > All this is not just bad science. It makes a mockery of the Quran. However, > compared to many others, El-Fandy is quite sane. Azizul Hasan Abbasi, a > Pakistani neuropsychiatrist, manages to find in the Quran modern cures for > diabetes, tuberculosis, stomach ulcers, rheumatism, arthritis, blood > pressure, > asthma, dysentery and paralysis! (6). > > In recent years, this rather banal comparative approach to science and Islam > has > been legitimised by the French surgeon, Maurice Bucaille. His book, The > Bible, > the Quran and Science (7) is essential reading for Muslims with larger than > life > inferiority complexes and has been translated into almost every Muslim > language, > from Arabic, Persian, Turkish, Urdu to Indonesian. Bucaille sets out to do a > detailed and thorough analysis of the holy scriptures in the light of modern > knowledge. He focuses on four topics: astronomy, the earth, animal and > vegetable > kingdom and human reproduction. The methodology followed is the well > established > one of quoting the Quranic verse and then giving a scientific commentary on > them. Bucaille tries to be more objective and takes pains to point out that > the > Quran contains scientific information that was not available at the time of > revelation and, in fact, some of the information contained in it is contrary > to > what people believed at the time of the Prophet. After going through the > standard motions of examining verses about the orbit of the moon and the sun, > the water cycle, the reproduction procedure, he concludes: > > The Quran most definitely did not contain a single proposition at variance > with > the most firmly established modern knowledge, nor did it contain any of the > ideas current at the time on the subjects it describes. Furthermore, however, > a > large number of facts are mentioned in the Quran which were not discovered > until > modern times. So many in fact, that on November 9, 1976, the present author > was > able to read before the French Academy of Medicine a paper on the > Physiological > and Embyological data in the Quran. The data like many others on differing > subjects constituted a veritable challenge to human explanation in view of > what > we know about the history of the various sciences through the ages. Modern > mans > findings concerning the absence of scientific error are therefore in complete > agreement with the Muslims exegetes conception of the Quran as a Book of > Revelation. It is a consideration which implies that God could not express an > erroneous idea. > > The bible, of course, did not meet the stringent criteria of modern knowledge > and the clear-cut conclusion of Bucaille is that it is impossible not to > admit > the existence of scientific errors in the Bible. However, all this simply > states > the obvious with a sense of real discovery: the Muslim belief that the Quran, > as > the Word of Allah, cannot contain any errors and that the Bible, as it exists > today, is not true Divine revelation. > > But where Bucaille stops, Bucaillism takes over. A number of recent studies > have > tried to look further for scientific facts and theories in the Quran. Thus > Shamsul Haq, for example, manages to find the seeds of the theory of > relativity > and quantum ma=echanics in the Quran and produces Quranic evidence to support > the Big Bang Theory (The Quran and Modern Cosmology Science and Technology in > the Islamic World 1 (1) 47-52 (1983). M Manzoor-I-Khuda manages to find the > theory of the development of the biosphere, the water cycles of life on earth > in > the Quran (Creation and the Cosmos in Islamic Scientific Thought and Muslim > Achievements in Science, proceedings of the International Conference on > Science > in Islamic Polity, Islamabad, 1983, Vol 1, p96-113). Moore notwithstanding, > the > entire field of embryology has been discovered several times in the Quran. > > After all this scientific data and support for numerous theories, it seems > that > the Quran has not left anything out. And to enforce the point that scientific > equations are not missing from the Book of Guidance, Rashad Khalifas > statistical > analysis (Miracle of the Quran Islamic Productions International, St. Louis, > Missouri, 1973) even provides that. Khalifa focuses on Quranic initials > letters > which appear at the beginning of some surahs (chapters) and feeds the > frequency > of occurrence of each letter into a computer. The letters are : Alif (A), Ha > (H), Ra , Sin (S), Sad (S), Ta (T), Ayn (A), Qaf (Q), Kaf (K), Lam (L), Mim > (M), > Nun (N), Ha (H), and Ya (Y). His additional data includes the total number of > letters in each of 114 Surahs of the Quran and the number of verse in each > Surah. He manipulates the data to calculate the percentage value and average > frequency of occurrence for each of the 14 letters in each verse of the > Quran. > For the multi-lettered Quranic initials, such as Ta Ha, Ta Sin and Ya Sin, he > calculates the absolute frequency of occurrence, percentage of the frequency > value for each of the 114 Surahs, and the average occurrence per verse for > each > of the multi-lettered Quranic initials in each sura. Finally he arranges all > the > Surahs of the Quran in the ascending order of the absolute frequency of > occurrence of each Quranic initial and percentage frequency of occurrence for > each of the 14 sets of Quranic initials. What does Khalifa find? That the > chapters which begin with the Quranic initials also contain the highest > frequency of the specific letters used at the beginning of the Surah. For > example, Surah Qaf contains the highest frequency of the letter qaf than any > other Surah of the Quran or there is not one Surah in the Quran where all > three > values of nun are higher than their counterparts in the non-initialled Surah, > al-Qqalam. The analysis for Quranci initials Alif Lam Mim which occur in four > Makkan and two Medinan Surahs shows that the four Makkan Surahs are superior > to > all Makkan Surahs in the overall frequency of Alif Lam Mim. > > So what can we conclude from this? In Khalifa's own words: > "The Qur'anic initials as a whole have shown us that every word, indeed every > letter, in the Qur'an was carefully calculated. The Qur'an itself states this > fact very clearly in the first verse of Surah HudPlacement of the Qur'anic > initials in their specific locations proves the existence of advance > knowledge > of the distribution pattern of the alphabet throughout the Qur'an. No one can > claim that such advance knowledge is attainable by man; any man. > > To translate this into physical, tangible evidence, the computer was asked to > calculate the number of manipulations one should master in order to write a > mathematically controlled book such as the Qur'an. The composition of the > Qur'an > involves 114 chapters where 14 alphabet letters were distributed according to > specific combinations. According to the well known mathematical formula, the > number of manipulations involved in this case equals 11414This value, > 626,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,(626b septillions) is certainly beyond > the > capacity of any creature, including today's most sophisticated computers. > When > we look at this number we can readily appreciate the divine statement in > Surah > Al-Isra (The Night Journey), verse 88 â" Say, if all the humans and all the > jinns > banded together in order to produce a verse like this, they will surely fail. > Furthermore, this is the number of controlled manipulations of a specific > distribution pattern of the alphabet, without placing them in useful > sentences. > To place these mathematically distributed alphabetic letters in useful > sentences > is another complete job" > > On the basis of his analysis, Khalifa can also prove that the present order > of > recording the Qur'anic chapters is divinely inspired, the locations of > revelation of the Qur'anic chapters, whether Makkan or Medinan, can be proved > to > be correct, the Qur'an's specific way of dividing each Surah into verses is > divinely prescribed ("the average per verse value is a highly significant > property throughout the Qur'an"), that the opening statement "Bismillah > r-Rahmani-r-Rahim" (In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful) is > an > integral part of each Surah, except Surah Al-Tawba and even the particular > way > of spelling certain words in the Qur'an has a mathematical significance. > > All this adds nothing to the sum of our knowledge. It does, however equate > Qur'anic truth with the mathematical `truth' and makes the Qur'an appear more > and more like a contemporary data-base. From here, it appears, the next > logical > stop ought to be to present the Qur'an as a scientific text book. And Afzalur > Rahman (Qur'anic Sciences, The Muslim schools Trust, London 1981) has obliged > us > with exactly that. Rahman, whose knowledge of science as well as his > understanding of the Qur'an is on a par with a child at nursery school: "The > Qur'an provides a complete picture of the material universe and what is > beyond > in a scientific and rational manner, appealing to the scientific and rational > manner, appealing to the scientific mind as well as to the ordinary layman." > He > finds almost every secondary school science subject, from heat, light, sound > to > even electricity, in the Qur'an and presents them as a long list of subject > headings with appropriate Qu'ranic quotations. The book is meant to be used > in > schools (and probably is) and prepare the next generation of Muslims > scientists! > > The only thing now left for Bucaillism is to be institutionalised and > introduced > in the school curricula. Muhammad Abdus Sami and Muslim Sajjad (Planning > Curricula for Natural Sciences: The Islamic Perspective, Institute of Policy > Studies, Islamabad, 1983) have produced a plan to accomplish this goal. Every > chapter of every textbook on physics, chemistry, biology and Zoology should > contain the appropriate verse from the Qur'an. But unlike Rahman, the two > Pakistani scientists foresee some problems: for example, how are we going to > treat the theory of evolution? "This theory seeks to provide essentially a > rational belief in God." Maybe there are, after all, a few things in science > that do not tally with what the Qur'an tells us! > > Bucaillism appeals particularly to the older generation of Muslim scientists, > scholars and intellectuals because of its psychological message value. It > reinforces their faith in the Qur'an and Islam on the one hand, and confirms > their belief in the superiority and universal validity of western science, on > the other. Their naivete is well reflected by Candide: "all is well in this > best > of all possible worlds." > > However, the dangers inherent in Bucaillism are very grave. There is the > obvious > fact that it generates a strangely dumbfounding theology â" as all > scientific > knowledge is contained in the Qur'an, simply studying the Qur'an from a > scientific perspective will reveal everything and lead to new theories and > discoveries. While the Qur'an obviously contains some passing references to > natural facts, it is by no means a textbook of science. It is a book of > guidance. It provides motivation and only motivation, for the pursuit of > knowledge. Knowledge begins with the Qur'an and does not end with it. > > But, more importantly, by equating the Qur'an with science, Bucaillism > elevates > science to the realm of the sacred and makes Divine Revelation subject to the > verification of western science. Apart form the fact that the Qur'an needs no > justification from modern science, Bucaillism opens the Qur'an to the counter > argument of Popper's criteria of refutation: would the Qur'an be proved false > and written off just as Bucaille writes off the Bible, if a particular > scientific fact does not tally with it or if a particular fact mentioned in > the > Qur'an is refuted by modern science? And what if a particular theory, which > is > "confirmed" by the Qur'an and is in vogue today is abandoned tomorrow for > another theory that presents an opposite picture? Does that mean that the > Qur'an > is valid today but will not be valid tomorrow? > > Moreover, by raising science to the level of sacred knowledge, Bucaillism > effectively undermines any criticism of science. Because the pursuit of > knowledge is so strongly emphasised in the Qur'an, most Muslim scientists > already possess a sense of reverence towards modern science. Bucaillism takes > this reverence to a new level: a whole generation of Muslim scientists do not > just accept all science as Good and True, but attack anyone who shows a > critical > or sceptical attitude towards science. Furthermore, the belief in a > universally > beneficial science leads to a pestiferous kind of fatalism: since science is > universal and for the benefit of all humankind, it will eventually make its > way > to Muslim societies and serve their needs! > > Science is not the pursuit of Truth and its "discoveries", and "facts" do > not, > and cannot have the same validity as the verse of the Qur'an. Science is a > problem solving enterprise: it is a method, a technique, for solving problems > within a given paradigm and worldview. Just as Abdus Sami and Sajjad find > that > the theory of evolution is a rational attempt to undermine belief in God, a > great deal in the modern system of science is an exercise in control and > domination of nature and men. When Bacon said that nature yields her secrets > under torture, he made torture and suppression an integral and legitimate > part > of modern science. Science, as it exists and is practised today, is designed > to > keep a particular culture and its worldview dominant. Reading the verses of > the > Qur'an into modern science is not going to change its essential character and > style. > > That there is something magically objective and neutral about the Scientific > Method is a cruel hoax; and bias-free observation is a myth. Nothing "out > there" > can be perceived without filtering it through our worldview and culture. > Scientists too often modify their observation with their own ideas and > prejudices, values and norms of their society. Not just observation but > experimentation too cannot be made in a cultural vacuum, but have meaning and > significance solely in the framework of a theory itself set in the conceptual > picture of a worldview. Putting a theory into a mathematical code does not > strip > the value content of a proposition of modern science. On the contrary, the > nature of mathematics is such that its application to the world through > science > is purely fortuitous. Mathematical propositions, including the geometric > propositions of Euclid, are a priori analytic â" that is to say, that their > status is determined merely by analysing the term of the proposition. That > one > plus one equals two can be determined as conforming to the principle that one > plus one means two. That some theories can be codified in mathematical > expression is a matter of scientific convenience. The laws of nature are not > expressed in mathematical formulae, in indelible ink across the heavens; they > are manufactured in ballpoints in laboratories and institutes. > > The fact that some of these manufactured laws and theories agree with what > the > Qur'an says is not in itself of any significance. It is a non-statement. The > Qur'an promotes the pursuit of knowledge within a framework of values: it is > these values which should be the focus of our attention and which should > shape > our scientific activity. Only by turning these values into a living reality > can > we truly be honest to the Qur'an and fulfil our obligations towards it. > > References > > 1. April 1985. > 2. Including, Africa Events May 1985. > 3. The Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs, 1961. > 6. The Quran and Mental Hygiene, Karachi, undated. > 7. Seghers, Paris, 1976; and North American Trust Publication, Indianapolis, > 1978. > > From > This essay appeared in Inquiry Vol 2 No 8 37-41 August 1985 > Share > 468 ad > Follow Us on FacebookFollow Us on TwitterFollow Us on RSS > > Contact ZiauddinSardar > > Recent Posts > > Welcome to postnormal times > The Idea of Justice > Displaced Homes > Reading The Qur'an > 367 > > Sign up to our newsletter. > Email: > > Copyright © 2009 > > > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > ------------------------------------ Post message: [email protected] Subscribe : [email protected] Unsubscribe : [email protected] List owner : [email protected] Homepage : http://proletar.8m.com/Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/join (Yahoo! 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