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Portal: Islam and Science: Difference between revisions
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==Overview== | ==Overview== | ||
Discussions on the religion of Islam and science usually revolve around pieces of Islamic scripture which appear to comment on or imply something related to topics of modern scientific interest. Modern Islamic scholars argue that these portions of scripture, read in the orthodox literal manner, meet and even forecast the findings of modern science. Critics argue to the contrary and cite historical research, all of which indicates that the Quran drew on the proto-scientific ideas circulating in the world during, and often from well before, the seventh century. | |||
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{{PortalArticle|image=Quran and Science.png|title=Islam and Science|summary=|description=Among the many and diverse matters discussed in or touched upon by Islamic scriptures are topics of direct or indirect scientific interest. These topics include reproductive science, embryology, cosmology, medicine, and a slew of other topics. While mainstream academic scholars and scientists have found the discussion of these topics contained in Islamic scripture to be unremarkable in its seventh-century context, in recent times, many traditional Muslim scholars and figures have argued that Islamic scriptures contains statements which not only adhere to but also predict modern science. Criticism of these ideas has been widespread and has even come from Muslim scholars themselves.}}{{PortalArticle|title=Scientific Miracles in the Quran|image=Cosmicquran.png|description=In recent times, many Muslim scholars have interpreted certain Quranic verses as being miraculously predictive of modern scientific discoveries and have presented these interpretations as evidence of the Quran's divine origin. Interestingly, no verse contained in the Quran has ever prompted a scientific discovery, and modern Muslim scholars have also generally not tried to argue that this has ever been the case.|summary=}} | {{PortalArticle|image=Quran and Science.png|title=Islam and Science|summary=|description=Among the many and diverse matters discussed in or touched upon by Islamic scriptures are topics of direct or indirect scientific interest. These topics include reproductive science, embryology, cosmology, medicine, and a slew of other topics. While mainstream academic scholars and scientists have found the discussion of these topics contained in Islamic scripture to be unremarkable in its seventh-century context, in recent times, many traditional Muslim scholars and figures have argued that Islamic scriptures contains statements which not only adhere to but also predict modern science. Criticism of these ideas has been widespread and has even come from Muslim scholars themselves.}}{{PortalArticle|title=Scientific Miracles in the Quran|image=Cosmicquran.png|description=In recent times, many Muslim scholars have interpreted certain Quranic verses as being miraculously predictive of modern scientific discoveries and have presented these interpretations as evidence of the Quran's divine origin. Interestingly, no verse contained in the Quran has ever prompted a scientific discovery, and modern Muslim scholars have also generally not tried to argue that this has ever been the case.|summary=}} | ||
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==Biology== | ==Biology== | ||
Islamic scholars read in literal terms the accounts found in the Quran regarding the original creation of mankind, reproductive science, and other passages which, when read literally, appear to be of biological interest. It has, as a result, been extremely challenging for modern Islamic scholars to come to terms with recent discoveries made in evolutionary and reproductive science. Attempts to achieve this reconciliation have, however, not been wanting and have formed the subject of heated polemical exchanges. | |||
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{{PortalArticle|image=Khnum creation from clay.gif|title=Creation of Humans from Clay|description=Islamic scriptures state that Adam, the first human being and man, was created from clay. The Islamic scholarly tradition has read this, as with the rest of scripture, in literal terms. In modern times, Islamic scholars have argued that there is scientific merit to the idea. Historians, on the other hand, see the idea of creation from clay as yet another adaption of a widespread ancient myth.|summary=}}{{PortalArticle|image=Galenembryology.jpg|summary=|description=Islamic scriptures give a detailed account of what Muhammad understood to be the process of embryological development. While modern scientists and historians agree that the presentation found in Islamic scripture is an adaption of the (inaccurate) ideas of ancient physicians, many modern Islamic scholars have argued that the embryology of Islamic scriptures is perfectly sound.|title=Embryology in Islamic Scripture}}{{PortalArticle|description=The Quran contains a detailed account of what Muhammad understood to be the process of embryological development. This account has received immense attention from modern Islamic scholars who have argued that it is scientifically sound. Outside the Saudi-financed publications of a handful of Western scientists, the scientific community has found these ideas to have no special scientific or historical merit.|title=Embryology in the Quran|summary=|image=Human Embryo.jpg}} | {{PortalArticle|image=Khnum creation from clay.gif|title=Creation of Humans from Clay|description=Islamic scriptures state that Adam, the first human being and man, was created from clay. The Islamic scholarly tradition has read this, as with the rest of scripture, in literal terms. In modern times, Islamic scholars have argued that there is scientific merit to the idea. Historians, on the other hand, see the idea of creation from clay as yet another adaption of a widespread ancient myth.|summary=}}{{PortalArticle|image=Galenembryology.jpg|summary=|description=Islamic scriptures give a detailed account of what Muhammad understood to be the process of embryological development. While modern scientists and historians agree that the presentation found in Islamic scripture is an adaption of the (inaccurate) ideas of ancient physicians, many modern Islamic scholars have argued that the embryology of Islamic scriptures is perfectly sound.|title=Embryology in Islamic Scripture}}{{PortalArticle|description=The Quran contains a detailed account of what Muhammad understood to be the process of embryological development. This account has received immense attention from modern Islamic scholars who have argued that it is scientifically sound. Outside the Saudi-financed publications of a handful of Western scientists, the scientific community has found these ideas to have no special scientific or historical merit.|title=Embryology in the Quran|summary=|image=Human Embryo.jpg}} | ||
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==Cosmology== | ==Cosmology== | ||
The cosmology described and implied in Islamic scripture holds the earth to be the topmost of the seven earth-like terrestrial surfaces stacked above a cosmic whale and held in place by peg-like mountains. this super structure rests in the midst of a universal ocean high above which is the throne of Allah. Between the throne and the earth are seven heavens, the bottom-most of which contains all the stars of the night sky and which, as a corporeal firmament, could collapse in pieces upon the Earth, save for the perpetual intervention of Allah. Islamic law, as outlined in Islamic scriptures, appears to be ignorant of the phenomenon of global poles. While some modern Islamic scholars, particularly those in the West, have made efforts to reinterpret this cosmology to reconcile it with modern science, others have held firmly to it. | |||
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{{PortalArticle|image=Ancient-Cosmology.jpg|summary=|title=Cosmology of the Quran|description=Islamic cosmology draws on the cosmologies of its ancient neighbors and predecessors while being at the same time notably less sophisticated, developed, and accurate than the cosmologies of the Greeks and Romans. Islamic scholars, reading scriptures literally, accept at face value the descriptions found in religious scriptures of seven stacked disks, a sky-firmament, a universe centered around the Earth, the identity of stars and meteors, and a universe seated atop a cosmic ocean-dwelling whale and below the throne of God.}}{{PortalArticle|title=Islamic Views on the Shape of the Earth|image=Flat Earth The Wonders of Creation.jpg|summary=|description=Islamic scriptures imply, adhere to, and describe a flat-Earth cosmography (arranged in a geocentric system) which conceives of the earth as existing in the form of a large plane or disk. While some early Islamic authorities maintained that the earth existed in the shape of a "ball", such notions are entirely absent in the earliest Islamic scriptures.}}{{PortalArticle|image=Islamicwhale.png|summary=|description=The Islamic whale (in Arabic الحوت الإسلامي, ''al-hoot al-islami''), is a mythological creature described in Islamic texts that carries the Earth on its back. It is also called Nun (نون), which is also the name of the Arabic letter "n" ن. Two alternative names of the whale are Liwash and Lutiaya. The details behind the mentioning of this creature is a unclear topic. There is little mention of Nun in the Quran, however there is further mention of it in other Islamic scriptures such has Hadith and Tafsir along with context verses.|title=The Islamic Whale}} | {{PortalArticle|image=Ancient-Cosmology.jpg|summary=|title=Cosmology of the Quran|description=Islamic cosmology draws on the cosmologies of its ancient neighbors and predecessors while being at the same time notably less sophisticated, developed, and accurate than the cosmologies of the Greeks and Romans. Islamic scholars, reading scriptures literally, accept at face value the descriptions found in religious scriptures of seven stacked disks, a sky-firmament, a universe centered around the Earth, the identity of stars and meteors, and a universe seated atop a cosmic ocean-dwelling whale and below the throne of God.}}{{PortalArticle|title=Islamic Views on the Shape of the Earth|image=Flat Earth The Wonders of Creation.jpg|summary=|description=Islamic scriptures imply, adhere to, and describe a flat-Earth cosmography (arranged in a geocentric system) which conceives of the earth as existing in the form of a large plane or disk. While some early Islamic authorities maintained that the earth existed in the shape of a "ball", such notions are entirely absent in the earliest Islamic scriptures.}}{{PortalArticle|image=Islamicwhale.png|summary=|description=The Islamic whale (in Arabic الحوت الإسلامي, ''al-hoot al-islami''), is a mythological creature described in Islamic texts that carries the Earth on its back. It is also called Nun (نون), which is also the name of the Arabic letter "n" ن. Two alternative names of the whale are Liwash and Lutiaya. The details behind the mentioning of this creature is a unclear topic. There is little mention of Nun in the Quran, however there is further mention of it in other Islamic scriptures such has Hadith and Tafsir along with context verses.|title=The Islamic Whale}} | ||
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==Islamic practices and rituals== | ==Islamic practices and rituals== | ||
Islamic medicinal practices draw almost exclusively on the folk medicine of 7th century Arabia. In reading scriptures literally, Islamic scholars devised an entire literature on "the medicine of the prophet", or ''tibb al-nabi''. Islamic law also ritually prescribes devotional practices known to 7th century Arabs, such as the hijab and fasting, which, in recent scientific studies, have been shown to have a detrimental impact on adherents' physical, financial, and social health. In other cases, as with the legality and even encouragement of cousin marriage, Islamic law permanently legalized practices which were later discovered to lack scientific merit. While a minority of modern Islamic scholars have remained silent on these topics of growing controversy in the Muslim world, the remainder have persisted in encouraging and authorizing them. | |||
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{{PortalArticle|title=Islamic Medicinal Practices|summary=|image=Blistering.jpeg|description=Islamic scriptures instruct a variety of medicinal practices that have consequently been practiced through centuries, including consuming cumin, drinking camel urine, consuming honey, using indian incense, dipping houseflies in drinks, cupping, and more.}}{{PortalArticle|image=Ramadanimpact.jpg|title=Islamic Fasting and Health|description=Islamic fasting (''sawm'') entails fasting from sunrise till sunset without any water or food. In the month of Ramadan, Muslims are obligated to fast the entire month. Empirical research has found the consequences of Islamic fasting (as it is practiced) on practitioners' health, society, and economy to be largely (but not entirely) adverse.|summary=}}{{PortalArticle|image=Burqa9.jpg|title=Islamic Attire and Health|summary=|description=It is generally agreed Muslim women are obligated by Islam to cover all parts of their body excluding their faces, hands, and sometimes feet. Empirical research has found that this practice has largely adverse effects on its practitioners' health and society. Adverse health effects primarily include Vitamin D deficiency as well as the enabling of obesity.}} | {{PortalArticle|title=Islamic Medicinal Practices|summary=|image=Blistering.jpeg|description=Islamic scriptures instruct a variety of medicinal practices that have consequently been practiced through centuries, including consuming cumin, drinking camel urine, consuming honey, using indian incense, dipping houseflies in drinks, cupping, and more.}}{{PortalArticle|image=Ramadanimpact.jpg|title=Islamic Fasting and Health|description=Islamic fasting (''sawm'') entails fasting from sunrise till sunset without any water or food. In the month of Ramadan, Muslims are obligated to fast the entire month. Empirical research has found the consequences of Islamic fasting (as it is practiced) on practitioners' health, society, and economy to be largely (but not entirely) adverse.|summary=}}{{PortalArticle|image=Burqa9.jpg|title=Islamic Attire and Health|summary=|description=It is generally agreed Muslim women are obligated by Islam to cover all parts of their body excluding their faces, hands, and sometimes feet. Empirical research has found that this practice has largely adverse effects on its practitioners' health and society. Adverse health effects primarily include Vitamin D deficiency as well as the enabling of obesity.}} | ||
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==Prominent figures and movements== | ==Prominent figures and movements== | ||
Public figures who have spoken openly and enthusiastically on Islam and science have tended to attract controversy, whether Muslim or non-Muslim. The most prominent Muslim speakers to speak on Islam and science include the preachers Zakir Naik, Hamza Tzortzis, and Harun Yahya, all three of whom have, since their public inception, become infamous to a greater or lesser degree. The two non-Muslim scientists who have produced academic publications on Islam and science, Keith Moore and Maurice Bucaille, were at various points directly patronized by the Saudi Arabian government and have attracted derision from the wider scientific community. | |||
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{{PortalArticle|image=Zakir Naik.png|title=Zakir Naik|description=A medical doctor by training, Naik is famous for theorizing and employing correlations between Islamic scripture and modern science for the purpose of ''dawah'', or evangelism.|summary=}} | {{PortalArticle|image=Zakir Naik.png|title=Zakir Naik|description=A medical doctor by training, Naik is famous for theorizing and employing correlations between Islamic scripture and modern science for the purpose of ''dawah'', or evangelism.|summary=}} | ||
{{PortalArticle|image=Dr. keith moore.jpg|title=Dr. Keith Moore|description=In the 1980s he accepted an invitation by the Embryology Committee of King Abdulaziz University to produce a special 3rd edition of his most successful book ''The Developing Human'' specifically for use by Muslim students in Islamic Universities. The additions to the text for this new edition were those of co-author Abdul Majeed al-Zindani. Moore's name is frequently cited by modern Islamic scholars.|summary=}} | {{PortalArticle|image=Dr. keith moore.jpg|title=Dr. Keith Moore|description=In the 1980s he accepted an invitation by the Embryology Committee of King Abdulaziz University to produce a special 3rd edition of his most successful book ''The Developing Human'' specifically for use by Muslim students in Islamic Universities. The additions to the text for this new edition were those of co-author Abdul Majeed al-Zindani. Moore's name is frequently cited by modern Islamic scholars.|summary=}} | ||