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Hi! This is my first day in the forum. I’m a Muslim Egyptian girl and I’ve taken interest in astronomy since I was a child, though not a serious one. I’m a computer engineering student. From what I’ve seen, I think the forum needs an unbiased honest look at Islam, because -honestly- there’s much more to it than (from what I see) most of you know. I’ll talk about Islam & Science.
The information you got in this forum before that in Islam “research in condemned and philosophic discourse is ill advised” is absolutely not true. The main source of Islamic teachings is our holy book the Quran, and prophet Mohammed’s sayings, which are separate and distinct. The Quran was revealed to the prophet by God. So let’s see what the two have to say about Science:
* “Read! In the Name of your Lord, Who has created (all that exists) “ (The first revealed verse. The Quran: ‘The clot‘ Chapter, verse 1)
* “Say: Travel in the land and see how creation started…” (Quran: ‘The Spider’ Ch., verse 20)
* “Say: Are those who know equal to those who know not? It is only men of understanding who will remember (i.e. get a lesson from Allâh's Signs and Verses). “(Quran ‘The throngs’ Ch., verse 9)
* The grace of a knowing man over a (only) worshiping one is like that of the full moon over other planets.
The time Muslims were at the peak of human knowledge was the time they were better Muslims, more attached to their religion’s teachings.
Also, the Quran openly invites you to think. It doesn’t demand blind faith. Another thing that makes the Quran different from other holy books is that it was kept as it was, since the time of its revelation in the 7th century. That’s because God promised to keep it that way, unlike the case with earlier holy books, which were meant for a specific time span.
But why the Quran? Because it is the last revelation from God to humanity. Moses, Jesus (peace be upon them) were all God’s prophets, but prophet Mohammed was his last messenger. (Belief in earlier prophets is essential for a Muslim). The time of Miracles is over. A 21st century person needs another way of knowing God, and that should be the age’s most powerful weapon, And the Quran has it: SCIENCE.
And How is that? If you are a non-Muslim, then you’d expect the Quran to be, well, an old 7th century book. If we leave aside the beauty of the words, the inner peace you get, and take a scientific view, we’ll find that the Quran talks about a lot of scientific phenomenon so precisely and without mistakes at a time human “knowledge” was very primitive. Things we only formed a clear idea about in the last century or so. And it challenges you to find mistakes in it: “Do they not consider the Quran? Had it been from any other than God, they would surely have found therein much discrepancy“ (Quran: ‘The Women” Ch., verse 82)
Let’s see this verse: “It is He who made the sun a shine and the moon a light” (Quran: ‘Younes’ Ch., verse 5). I’m not sure if the translation is quite correct, but the word shine is in place of the Arabic word of something giving out light by itself. The Quranic description matches perfectly with the true nature of the moon, which is an inert body that reflects the light of the sun; contrary to the sun that generates heat and light by its internal combustion. In other verses the sun is describes as a lamp, but never the moon.
However could prophet Mohamed know about this? This is only a small example aimed only at making you stop and consider. There are more examples at these websites:
www.islam-guide.net
www.it-is-truth.org
God willing, I’ll talk more about this. And I’d love to hear any questions.
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