Submitted to: Sir Yaqoob

Submitted by:

Sana Fatima Khan(MF19122)

Asma Amjad(MF19155)

Semester: BS English 6th B (Morning)

Course: Islamic History and Culture

Department: English
 Islamic Science
Science and Islam are intimately linked. Islam not only places a high premium
on science but positively encourages the pursuit of science. Indeed, Islam considers
science as an essential prerequisite for human survival.
The Quran, which the Muslims believe to be the very Word of God and clearly
distinguish it from the words of Prophet Muhammad, places immense emphasis on
scientific knowledge. The first Quranic word revealed to Muhammad is ‘Read’. It
refers, amongst other forms of readings, to reading the ‘signs of God’ or the
systematic study of nature. It is a basic tenet of Muslim belief that the material world
is full of signs of God; and these signs can only be deciphered through rational and
objective inquiry. Almost one third of the Quran is devoted to the praise of scientific
knowledge, objective inquiry and serious study of the material world (Ducksters,
2020). ‘Acquire the knowledge of all things’, the Quran advises its readers; and pray:
‘God increase me in my knowledge’. One of the most frequently cited verses of the
Quran reads: “Surely in the heavens and earth there are signs for the believers; and
in your creation, and the crawling things He scatters abroad, there are signs for a
people having sure faith, and in the alternation of night and day, and the provision
God sends down from heaven, and therewith revives the earth after it is dead, and
the turning about of the winds, there are signs for a people who understand” (45:3-
5).
So science and Islam are, and should be, natural bed fellows. It was the
religious impulse that propelled science in Muslim civilization during the classical
period, from the eighth to the fifteenth centuries. It is the neglect of science that has
plunged the contemporary Muslim world in poverty and underdevelopment. The
revival of Islam and the consequent emergence of a modern Islamic culture require
a serious infusion of the scientific spirit in Muslim societies.
THESE ARE JUST SOME OF THE MANY SCIENTIFIC FACTS FOUND
IN THE QURAN.

1. Origin of Life
In Surah Al-Anbya, it was revealed:
“We made every living thing from water, will they not believe?” (Quran, 21:30)
 It was only after the discovery of the microscope that it was concluded that all
living things consist mostly of water – while in the deserts of Arabia, the last thing
a man could guess is that all of life ultimately came from water.

2. Universe: The Big Bang Theory

In Surah Al-Anbya, Allah (SWT) also states:
“Have those who disbelieved not considered that the heavens and the earth were
a joined entity, and We separated them” (Quran, 21:30).
In 1929, American astronomer Edwin Hubble proposed the Hubble’s Law
according to which all entities in space are moving away from the Earth at speeds
proportional to their distance i.e. the greater the distance from earth, the faster they
are moving. Soon after this, he discovered that galaxies are moving away from each
other as well which means that the universe is expanding overall (Ducksters, 2020).
This laid the basis for the Big Bang theory which states that around 12-15
billion years ago the universe came into existence from one single extremely hot and
dense point, due to an explosion of this point the universe came into being. The
universe, since then, has been expanding from this single point (Ducksters, 2020).
In 1965, radio astronomers Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson won the Noble Prize
for the discovery that confirmed the Big Bang theory, When looking at the verse
cited above, while acknowledging Allah Knows best, it remains astounding that the
Quran had already revealed that “the heavens and the earth were a joined entity, and
We separated them”.

3. Universe: The Big Crunch Theory

Again, in Surah Al-Anbya, Allah (SWT) says:
“The Day when We will fold the heaven like the folding of a [written] sheet for
the records. As We began the first creation, We will repeat it. [That is] a promise
binding upon Us. Indeed, We will do it” (Quran, 21:104).
This fits in with the theory of Big Crunch which talks about how the universe
will be pulled back into the black holes and again form a tiny mass.
Indeed, the Big Crunch is one of the scenarios predicted by scientists in which
the Universe may end. Just like many others, it is based on Einstein’s Theory of
General Relativity (Kamal, 2020). That is, if the Big Bang describes how the
Universe most possibly began, the Big Crunch describes how it will end as a
consequence of that beginning, just as the Quran has so beautifully described above.

4. Embryology
In Surah Al-Mu’minun, Allah (SWT) says
“We created man from an extract of clay. Then We made him as a drop in a
place of settlement, firmly fixed. Then We made the drop into an alaqah (leech,
suspended thing, and blood clot), then We made the alaqah into a mudghah
(chewed substance)” (Quran 23:12-14).
Science has only proved this with the help of the latest technology. It is
Professor Emeritus Keith L. Moore who is one of the world’s most well-known
scientists in the fields of anatomy and embryology, who said that “It is clear to me
that these statements must have come to Muhammad from God, because almost all
of this knowledge was not discovered until many centuries later”

5. The Sky’s Protection

In Surah Al-Anbya, Allah (SWT) says:
“And We made the sky a protected ceiling, but they, from its signs, are turning
away” (Quran 21:32).
It is a scientific fact that the sky, with all of its gasses, protects the earth and
life that is present on it from the harmful rays of the sun. If there was no protective
layer, life on earth would cease to exist as the temperature on earth would be freezing
at -270.556°C, the same as the temperature in space.

6. Iron within Meteorites

In Surah Al-Hadid it is written that:
“We sent down Iron with its great inherent strength and its many benefits for
humankind” (Quran 57:25).
According to M. E. Walrath, iron is not natural to the earth. Scientists state
that billions of years ago, the earth was struck by meteorites. It was within these
meteorites that iron was present and due to explosion on earth, we now have iron
available to us (Kamal, 2020). The Quran, as stated above, has already enlightened
us of this fact by stating “We sent down iron with its great inherent strength…”
7. The Meeting of the Seas
In Surah Ar-Rahman, it states
“He released the two seas, meeting [side by side], Between them is a barrier [so]
neither of them transgresses” (Quran, 55:19-20).
Science has discovered that in places where two different seas meet, there is
a barrier that divides them which helps both the seas maintain their own temperature,
salinity, as well as density

8. Sun Moving in Orbit

In Surah Al-Anbya,
“It is He who created night and day, the sun and the moon, each floating in its
orbit.”
Although it was only a widespread belief in the 20th century amongst the
astronomers, today it is a well-established fact that the Sun, the Moon, and all the
other bodies in the Universe are moving in an orbit and constantly moving, not
stationary as commonly thought before.

9. Mountains as Stakes
In Surah An-Naba, Allah (SWT) states:
“Have We not made the earth a resting place? And the mountains as stakes?”
(Quran, 78:6-7).
In a book by geophysicist Frank Press called ‘Earth’ (1986), he explains how
the mountains are like stakes and are buried deep within the earth’s surface. Mt.
Everest which has a height of approximately 9 km above sea level has a root deeper
than 125 km – thus only reinforcing the Quranic revelation of the importance and
strength of mountains on our earth (Kamal, 2020).

10. Expansion of the Universe

In Surah Adh-Dhariyat, Allah (SWT) says
“And the heaven We constructed with strength, and indeed, We are [its]
expander” (Quran, 51:47).
 According to the prominent physicist Stephen Hawking in his book ‘A Brief
History of Time’, “The discovery that the universe is expanding was one of the great
intellectual revolutions of the 20th century”, although centuries before the Quran
had already revealed to us that in regards to the universe, “We are its expander”.

11. Pain Receptors

In Surah An-Nisa, it is stated that
“We shall send those who reject our revelations to the (hell) fire. When their
skins have been burned away, We shall replace them with new ones so that they
may continue to feel the pain: God is almighty, all-wise” (Quran, 4:56).
For a long time it was thought that the sense of feeling and pain was dependent
on the brain. However, it has been discovered that there are pain receptors present
in the skin (Kamal, 2020). Without these pain receptors, a person would not be able
to feel pain– another example of the scientific miracles of the Holy Quran.

12. Internal Waves in the Oceans

In Surah An-Nur, Allah (SWT) has revealed:
“Or [they are] like darknesses within an unfathomable sea which is covered by
waves, upon which are waves, over which are clouds – darknesses, some of them
upon others. When one puts out his hand [therein], he can hardly see it. And he
to whom Allah has not granted light – for him there is no light” (Quran, 24:40).
Incredibly, oceanographers have stated that unlike the belief that waves only
occur on the surface, there are waves that take place internally in the oceans, below
the surface of the water. Invisible to the human eye, these can only be detected
through special equipment

13. Frontal Lobe

In Surah Al-Alaq, in the story of a man named Abu Jahl who was a cruel
oppressive tribal leader in the times of the Prophet Mohammad (peace and blessings
of Allah be upon him), Allah revealed a verse to warn him. Therein Allah (SWT)
says:
“No indeed! if he does not stop, We will seize him by the forehead, his lying,
sinful forehead” (Quran, 96:15-16).
 According to a book titled ‘Essentials of Anatomy and Physiology,’ it is
clearly stated that the forehead or frontal area of the brain is responsible for
motivation and the foresight to plan and initiate movements. All this takes place in
the prefrontal area of the brain. The part of the brain that is responsible for movement
and planning is said to be seized if he does not stop (Kamal, 2020). Other studies
have proved that it is this prefrontal region that is responsible for the function of
lying
Another study at the University of Pennsylvania in which volunteers were
questioned during a computerized interrogation showed that the volunteers who
were lying had increased activity in their prefrontal and premotor cortices.
Subhanallah, there is a deeper meaning behind why the Quran stated: “We will seize
him by the forehead”.

Contradiction
The above section has shed light of the various similarities that are evident
between the Qur’an and modern science. However, it is crucial to note that there are
also a handful of contradictions.

Pork and its harmful effects on health

One of such contradictions is based on the way the two present the mystery
behind the effects of pork on human health. The Qur’an depicts, “He has only
forbidden you carrion, blood” (Qur’an, 1988, al-Baqarah 2: 173). The Qur’an
teaches that pork eating is harmful to human health in many ways regardless of the
methods that one may use to prevent such detrimental effects.

The argument behind this claim is that pigs live in a dirty environment besides
consuming virtually every dirty thing including their own fecal materials. Due to the
filthy environment that the pigs prefer living in, their bodies emit a lot of antibodies
and hormones, which eventually move to their tissues. Pork also contains a lot of
cholesterol and lipids, which are harmful to human health (Zamzam, 2021).
Hormones, lipids, and cholesterol are dangerous to human health.

Proponents of the Qur’an’s teaching on the harmful effects of pork also argue
that trichina, which is a very harmful substance, is found in most pig’s pork. When
human beings eat pork, the substance gets into their bodies and settles in their heart
muscles. Previously, there were no veterinary measures to detect trichina worms.
However, modern science can detect them. It is also possible to protect people
against the worms using the modern science medicine. However, modern science
contradicts the teachings of the Qur’an on harmful effects of pork. Modern science
does not oppose the consumption of pork (Zamzam, 2021). In fact, it has endeavored
to teach people not to eat undercooked or uncooked pork since it hampers tapeworms
and bilharzias worms.

Cooking of pork makes the meat healthy for consumption just like any other
meat. Contemporary science also teaches that pork is a good source of animal
protein. Veterinary medicine and other animal health disciplines are working hard
to ensure that they increase pork consumption in the world. Various breeds of pigs
have also been produced through modern methods of crossbreeding. Scientists have
invested in the production of modern pig feeds.

Darwin’s Theory of Evolution

This Theory was initiated by Charles Darwin in 1859, Darwin proposed

that species can change over time, that new species come from pre-existing
species, and that all species share a common ancestor. Darwin referred to this
process, in which groups of organisms change in their heritable traits over
generations, as “descent with modification." Today, we call it evolution.

Criticisms from the Perspective of Islam

Did Humans Evolve from Apes? No, God Created Man from Dust, and Cursed
Humans who Transgressed into Apes
God Created Adam from Dust, for He Said to him, "Be," and he was, but for those
with whom God Became Angry, He Cursed them and Made them Apes
The main critique towards Darwinism by the Muslim scholars is its negative
implications on the Muslims’ faith (aqidah). Allah is the Almighty Creator who is
capable of doing anything, including the impossible. The evolution of a species
to another species is generally not impossible since it does not contradict with
the statements in the Quran. However, the evolution of mankind is impossible since
Allah has explained in38:71-76 of the Quran that the origin of mankind is from
Prophet Adam. Even though the evolution of other species is possible, it is not
permissible to believe that random mutation and natural selection were the origins
of the living things because the Quran asserts that Allah SWT is the Great Creator
of this universe. To believe that random mutation and natural selection were
the causes of evolution is wrong because it equates the causes to Allah as the cause
of everything.
From the perspective of Islam, only Allah is the Cause of everything.
This is directly related to two of the names of Allah which are al-Ḥayy (the
Most Alive) and al-Muḥyi(the Almighty Giver of Life). Both of these names
lead to two main principles, i.e. living things are not reducible to be lifeless by
mankind, and Allah is the source to all things, whether they are alive or not.
Nothing in this universe could create and bestow life except for Allah. Darwin’s
Theory of Evolution states that living things on Earth occurred naturally, randomly,
and coincidently –and this denies the existence of the Creator of the universe
(Zamzam, 2021). Darwinists who support this statement are the people
who do not fully comprehend Allah’s Divine Name and His nature.

Conclusion

Based on the expositions made in the study, the reader would stand a good
chance of witnessing the conciliation and contradiction of the Islam and modern
science. Although the Qur’an is the holy book of the Islamic religion, it differs with
modern science in some areas. However, the book is seen as a perfect prediction of
various scientific occurrences that are happening today congruent to what the
contemporary science forecasts to happen in the future. Despite of the fact that the
Qur’an was authored about 14000 years ago, it had some valid insights that science
has come to prove in the modern days.

Islam And Technology

Ever since the revelation of Islam, Islam has always encouraged and went
along with anything that enhances the quality of life for human beings. One of the
aspects that greatly enhanced the lives of human beings is technology.
 Early Islamic teaching encouraged and promoted the pursuit of scholarship
and science. Seeking knowledge about the natural world was seen as the duty of
every Muslim as the following Hadith (sayings of the Prophet Muhammad) show:
‘He who pursues the road of knowledge, Allah will direct to the road of
Paradise…’ (From Science in Medieval Islam by H. Turner) ‘The scholar’s ink is
holier that the martyr’s blood…’ Things that improved the quality of life, like
science and technology, were encouraged and welcomed (Dadach, 2019). These
included practical things like navigational aids for travellers, geographical maps,
medical knowledge, ways of measuring and calculating, and tools for agriculture.
Science and technology in Medieval Islam
Astronomy
Astronomy was important to Muslims for very practical and religious reasons:
Astronomy aided navigation for purposes of trade and travel, and it was important
in determining an accurate lunar calendar, prayer times and the direction of Mecca.
Important Islamic observatories were established in many cities across the Islamic
world in order to make accurate observations of the sun, moon and stars. Accurate
calendars were important to determine religious festivals such as the period of
fasting known as Ramadan. Islamic astronomers developed new and improved
instruments for observation such as the astrolabe and quadrant. Astronomers such as
Al-Tusi and Al-Farghani, as distinguished astronomer of the House of Wisdom,
wrote significant books on astronomy which were later translated into Latin and
influenced European astronomers such as Copernicus and Galileo (Dadach, 2019).
Chemistry, Pharmacology and Pharmacy
In chemistry, the works of Jaber ibn Haiyan and Al-Razi formed the basis of
modern science. Jaber, know as Geber in Latin, described in his works the
preparation of many chemical substances: the sulphide of mercury, oxides and
arsenic compounds. Al-Razi in his book Secret of Secrets know as Liber secretorum
bubacaris, described the chemical processes and experiments he conducted. Hill
(1993, p.83) has stated that Al-Razi’s book Secret of Secrets ‘foreshadows a
laboratory manual’ it deals with substances, equipment and procedures. Muslim
chemists developed recipes for products that had industrial and military applications.
The discovery of inorganic acids during chemical experiments had valuable
industrial applications in the centuries that followed. In the fields of pharmacology
and pharmacy Muslims made notable progress. These fields involved scientific
investigation into the composition, dosages, uses and therapeutic effects of drugs.
Having translations of Dioscorides’ De Materis Medica, along with knowledge from
Syria, Persia, India and the Far East, Muslim scholars and physicians showed great
innovative skills. They developed the procedures for the manufacture of syrups and
juleps, and established apothecary shops (Turner, 1995). Ibn al-Baytar’s book Al-
Jami‘fi al-Tibb (Collection of Simple Diets and Drugs) contained detailed records
of the plants in the lands along the length of the Mediterranean coast between Spain
and Syria. In addition, he systematically compared this knowledge with that of the
scientists of previous eras. His book on botany was used until the Renaissance by
Europeans.
Mathematics
Islamic mathematicians developed the work of earlier Greek, Indian, Persian
and Chinese mathematicians and made important advances.
Al-Khwarizmi wrote the first book of algebra, the word ‘algebra’
transliterates into the term aljabr. Al-jabr represents the two basic operations used
by al-Khwarizmi in solving quadratic equations. In the latter half of the twelfth
century, the first part of al-Khwarizmi’s Kitab al-Jabr wa al-Muqabalah was
translated and made available in Europe (Kettani, 1976; Sarton, 1927). Another
famous contributor to this field was Umar Khayyam, who studied cubic equations
and algebra came to be regarded as a science in its own right. Subsequently, in later
centuries Italians took over his methods and extended them (Anawati, 1976). Thus
the Muslims not only developed the methods of solving quadratic equations they
also produced tables containing sine, cosine, cotangent and other trigonometrical
values. Al-Battani (d.929) systematically developed trigonometry and extended it
to spherical trigonometry (Kettani, 1976; Sarton, 1927), with important
consequences for astronomy, geography and exploration beyond the known world,
thus making the construction of better maps and the reconceptualisation of the
structure of the planet Earth (Dadach, 2019).
Medicine
Muslims gained access to the Greek medical knowledge of Hippocrates,
Dioscorides, and Galen through the translations of their works in the seventh and
eighth centuries. These initiatives by Muslims could be seen in the different aspects
of the healing arts that were developed. The translation movement of the twelfth
century in Latin Europe affected every known field of science, none more so than
medicine (Meyers, 1964). Two Muslim physicians who become known in Europe
during this period were Ibn Sina (980- 1037) and Al-Razi (865-925). Ibn Sina
devoted his life to the study of medicine, philosophy and other branches of science.
Renowned throughout medieval Europe as Avicenna, he established free hospitals
and developed treatments for diseases using herbs, hot baths, and even major surgery
(Dadach, 2019). His famous book The Canon of Medicine was translated into Latin
in the twelfth century and it was used in medical schools throughout Europe until
the advent of modern science (Beshore, 1998; Meyers, 1964). The Canon of
Medicine contained all Greek medical knowledge together with Arabic
interpretations and contributions. Ibn-Sina wrote some 99 books dealing with
philosophy, medicine, geometry, astronomy, theology, philosophy, and art. Ibn-Sina
was also known for Kitab al Shifa (Book of Healing), in which he divided practical
knowledge into ethics, economics, and politics, and theoretical knowledge into
mathematics, physics, and metaphysics (Meyers, 1964).
Conclusion
throughout the world, Muslims embraced modern technology just as did the
rest of the world, because of all the benefits it brought us, and because life in the
new world is impossible without using new technology. No matter what, technology
would finally get into people's lives one way or another. And when it is a matter of
necessity, prohibition is senseless.

Islamic philosophy
Islamic philosophy ( (‫اﻟﻔﻠﺴﻔﺔ اﻹﺳﻼﻣﯿﺔ‬is a branch of Islamic studies, and is a
longstanding attempt to create harmony between philosophy (reason) and the
religious teachings of Islam (faith). Islamic philosophy, as the name implies, refers
to philosophical activity within the Islamic milieu. The main sources of classical or
early Islamic philosophy are the religion of Islam itself (especially ideas derived and
interpreted from the Quran); Greek philosophy which the early Muslims inherited as
a result of conquests when Alexandria, Syria and Jundishapur came under Muslim
rule; and pre-Islamic Iranian and Indian philosophy. Many of the early philosophical
debates centered around reconciling religion and reason as exemplified by Greek
philosophy. In early Islamic thought two main currents may be distinguished,
Kalam, dealing mainly with theological questions, and Falsafa, founded on
interpretation of Aristotelian and Neoplatonic philosophy.
From the ninth century onward, owing to Caliph al-Ma'mun and his successor,
Greek philosophy was introduced among the Persians and Arabs, and the Peripatetic
school found representation in Al-Kindi, Al-Farabi, Ibn Sina (Avicenna), and Ibn
Rushd (Averroës). During the Abbasid caliphate in Spain, Arabic
philosophyiterature, translated into Hebrew and Latin, transmitted Greek, Hindu,
and other pre-Islamic knowledge to the Christian West and helped to make Aristotle
known in Christian Europe (Cheap umrah package, 2019). Islamic philosophy
influenced Judaic and Christian thinkers, and contributed to the development of
modern European philosophy. Ibn Rushd’s ideas on the separation of philosophy
and religion, further developed by the Averroist school of philosophy in Europe,
were later influential in the development of modern secularism.

Religion and philosophy

The attempt to fuse religion and philosophy is difficult because there are no
clear preconditions. Philosophers typically hold that one must accept the possibility
of truth from any source and follow the argument wherever it leads. On the other
hand, classical religious believers have a set of religious principles that they hold to
be unchallengeable fact. Given these divergent goals and views, some believe that it
is not possible to be simultaneously a philosopher and a true adherent of Islam, which
is believed to be a revealed religion. In this view, all attempts at synthesis ultimately
fail.
Others believe that a synthesis between Islam and philosophy is possible. One
way to find a synthesis is to use philosophical arguments to prove that accepted
religious principles are true, a technique commonly found in the writings of many
religious traditions, including Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Another way to
approach a synthesis is to abstain from holding any religious principles of one's faith
as true, unless they can be independently arrived at from a philosophical analysis. A
third path is to apply analytical philosophy to religious questions, such as the nature
and existence of God, the nature of revelation and revealed truth, the role of human
beings in the universe, the reconciliation of religious truth with science, and the
meaning and interpretation of religious doctrines (Cheap umrah package, 2019).
Islamic philosophy may be defined in a number of different ways, but the
perspective taken here is that it represents the style of philosophy produced within
the framework of Islamic culture. This description does not suggest that it is
necessarily concerned with religious issues, nor even that it is exclusively produced
by Muslims.

Formative influences
 Islamic philosophy, as the name implies, refers to philosophical activity
within the Islamic milieu. The main sources of classical or early Islamic philosophy
are the religion of Islam itself (especially ideas derived and interpreted from the
Quran); Greek philosophy which the early Muslims inherited as a result of conquests
when Alexandria, Syria and Jundishapur came under Muslim rule; and pre-Islamic
Iranian and Indian philosophy (Ivy panda, 2019). Many of the early philosophical
debates centered around reconciling religion and reason as exemplified by Greek
philosophy.

Early and classical Islamic philosophy

Early Islamic philosophical activity centered around the Academy (House of
Wisdom) in Baghdad, which was supported by the caliphs and was known for its
tolerance and freedom of scientific inquiry. Within the Academy, there were groups
who questioned the authority of the caliph, introducing political issues and
theoretical problems. Another group drew upon older traditions (materialist,
Manichaean, Jewish, Christian, Zoroastrian, Arabian, and Indian) to identify
supposed contradictions and inconsistencies in the fundamental Islamic doctrine of
revealed truth. Greek thought became a popular tool for constructing and defining
Islamic theology, and for providing a rational defense of Revealed teachings. In early
Islamic thought two main currents may be distinguished. The first is Kalam, that
mainly dealt with theological questions, and the other is Falsafa, founded on
interpretation of Aristotelian and Neoplatonic philosophy.

Kalam
Ijtihad (“to endeavor” or “to exert effort”) was a method of discourse used in
Islam before the second century to develop legal or doctrinal solutions, based on the
Q’uran and the Hadith, to new problems as they arose. Since it generally took the
form of individual opinion (ra'y), ijtihad gave rise to a wealth of conflicting and
chaotic opinions, and was replaced in the second century by a formal procedure of
deduction based on the texts of the Qur'an and the Hadith, called qiyas (reasoning
by strict analogy). Certain outstanding Muslim thinkers, such as al-Ghazali (died
1111 C.E.) continued to claim the right to use ijtihad (Ducksters, 2020). Independent
minds exploiting the methods of ijtihad sought to investigate the doctrines of the
Qur'an, which until then had been accepted in faith on the authority of divine
revelation. One of first debates was that between partisan of the Qadar (Arabic:
Qadara, to have power), who affirmed free will, and the Jabarites (jabar, force,
constraint), who maintained the belief in fatalism. At the second century of the Hijra,
a new movement arose in the theological school of Basra, Iraq. A pupil, Wasil ibn
Ata, who was expelled from the school because his answers were contrary to then-
orthodox Islamic tradition, became the leader of a new school, and systematized the
radical opinions of preceding sects, particularly those of the Qadarites. This new
school was called Mutazilite (“Muʿtazilah” (Arabic ‫اﻟﻤﻌﺘﺰﻟﺔ‬al-mu`tazilah) (from
i'tazala, to separate oneself, to dissent). Its principal dogmas were three:
1. God is an absolute unity, and no attribute can be ascribed to Him.
2. Man is a free agent. (It is on account of these two principles that the
Mu'tazilites designated themselves the "Partisans of Justice and Unity.")
3. All knowledge necessary for the salvation of man emanates from his reason;
humans were able to acquire knowledge before, as well as after, the existence
of Revelation, solely by the light of reason. This fact makes knowledge
obligatory upon all men, at all times, and in all places.
The Mutazilites, compelled to defend their principles against the orthodox Islam
of their day, looked for support in philosophy, and were among the first to pursue a
rational theology called Ilm-al-Kalam (Scholastic theology); those professing it were
called Mutakallamin. This appellation became the common name for anyone seeking
philosophical demonstration in confirmation of religious principles (Dadach, 2019).
The first Mutakallamin had to debate both the orthodox Muslims and the non-
Muslims, and they may be described as occupying the middle ground between those
two parties. But subsequent generations were, to a large extent, critical towards the
Mutazilite school, especially after formation of the Asharite concepts.
The Ash'ari theology was instrumental in drastically changing the direction of
Islamic theology, separating its development radically from that of theology in the
Christian world. In contrast to the Mutazilite school of theologians, the Asharite
view was that comprehension of the unique nature and characteristics of God were
beyond human capability, and that, while man had free will, he had no power to
create anything. It was a Taqlid-based view which did not assume that human reason
could discern morality.

Falsafa
From the ninth century onward, owing to Caliph al-Ma'mun and his successor,
Greek philosophy was introduced among the Persians and Arabs, and the Peripatetic
school began to find able representatives among them, such as Al-Kindi, Al-Farabi,
Ibn Sina (Avicenna), and Ibn Rushd (Averroës), all of whose fundamental principles
were considered as criticized by the Mutakallamin.
 During the Abbasid caliphate a number of thinkers and scientists, many of
them non-Muslims or heretical Muslims, played a role in transmitting Greek, Hindu,
and other pre-Islamic knowledge to the Christian West. They contributed to making
Aristotle known in Christian Europe (Kamal, 2020). Three speculative thinkers, the
two Persians al-Farabi and Avicenna and the Arab al-Kindi, combined
Aristotelianism and Neoplatonism with other ideas introduced through Islam. They
were considered by many as highly unorthodox and by some were even described as
non-Islamic philosophers. In Spain, Arabic philosophic literature was translated into
Hebrew and Latin, contributing to the development of modern European philosophy.
The philosopher Moses Maimonides (a Jew born in Muslim Spain) was also
influenced by Arab philosophical literature.

Differences between Kalam and Falsafa

Aristotle attempted to demonstrate the unity of God; but his view that matter
was eternal implied that God could not be the Creator of the world. The assertion
that God's knowledge extends only to the general laws of the universe, and not to
individual and accidental things, is tantamount to denying prophecy. The faith of
the Mutakallamin was also challenged by the theory of intellect. The Peripatetics
taught that the human soul was only an aptitude, a faculty capable of attaining
every variety of passive perfection—and that through virtue and the acquisition of
knowledge and understanding, it became qualified for union with the active
intellect which emanates from God. To admit this theory would be to deny the
immortality of the individual soul.
The Mutakallamin therefore sought to establish a system of philosophy
which would demonstrate the creation of matter, and they adopted the theory of
atoms as enunciated by Democritus. They taught that atoms possess neither
quantity nor extension. Originally, atoms were created by God, and God continues
to create them as occasion requires it. Bodies come into existence or die, through
the aggregation or the separation of these atoms. This theory did not remove the
objections of philosophy to a creation of matter.
If it is supposed that God commenced His work at a certain definite time by
His "will," and for a certain definite object, it must be admitted that He was
imperfect before accomplishing His will, or before attaining His object. In order to
obviate this difficulty, the Motekallamin extended their theory of the atoms to
Time, and claimed that just as Space is constituted of atoms and vacuum, Time,
likewise, is constituted of small indivisible moments (Zamzam, 2021). Once the
creation of the world was established, it was easy for them to demonstrate the
existence of a Creator, and that God is unique, omnipotent, and omniscient.

Main protagonists of Falsafa and their critics

The twelfth century saw the apotheosis of pure philosophy and the decline of
the Kalam, which, attacked by both the philosophers and the orthodox, gradually
perished. This supreme exaltation of philosophy may be attributed, in a sense, to two
opponents of philosophy, the Sufi mystic theologian Al-Ghazali (1005-1111) among
the Persians, and the poet Judah ha-Levi (1140) among the Jews. Ghazali wrote
Tahafut al-Falasifa (The Destruction of the Philosophers), an attack on philosophers,
asserting that philosophy had no role in the discovery of truth. This work produced
a reaction favorable to philosophy, including a refutation by Ibn Rushdi, inducing
the philosophers to make their theories clearer and their logic more consistent. The
influence of this reaction brought forth the two greatest philosophers of the Islamic
Peripatetic school, Ibn Bajjah (Avempace) and Ibn Rushd (Averroes), both of whom
undertook the defense of philosophy.
The Jewish poet, Judah ha-Levi, also seeking to free his religion from what
he saw as the shackles of speculative philosophy, wrote the "Kuzari," in which he
sought to discredit all schools of philosophy. He censured the Mutakallamin severely
for seeking to support religion by philosophy, saying, "I consider him to have
attained the highest degree of perfection who is convinced of religious truths without
having scrutinized them and reasoned over them" ("Kuzari," v.). He reduced the
chief propositions of the Mutakallamin, to prove the unity of God, to ten in number,
describing them at length, and concluding in these terms: "Does the Kalam give us
more information concerning God and His attributes than the prophet did?" (Ib. iii.
and iv.) Judah ha-Levi also opposed Aritotelianism for its preoccupation with details
and criticism; Neoplatonism had some appeal to his poetic temperament.
Ibn Rushd (or Ibn Roshd or Averroës), the contemporary of Maimonides,
closed the first great philosophical era of the Muslims. The boldness of this great
commentator of Aristotle aroused the full fury of the orthodox, who, in their zeal,
attacked all philosophers indiscriminately, and had all philosophical writings
burned. The theories of Ibn Rushd did not differ fundamentally from those of Ibn
Bajjah and Ibn Tufail, who follow the teachings of Ibn Sina and Al-Farabi. Like all
Islamic Peripatetics, Ibn Rushd admitted the hypothesis of the intelligence of the
spheres and the hypothesis of universal emanation (Dadach, 2019). These
hypotheses, in the mind of the Arabic philosophers, did away with the dualism
involved in Aristotle's doctrine of pure energy and eternal matter. Ibn Rushd’s ideas
on the separation of philosophy and religion, further developed by the Averroist
school of philosophy in Europe, were later influential in the development of modern
secularism. Ibn Rushd is, thus, regarded as the founding father of secular thought in
Western Europe.
While Al-Farabi, Ibn Sina, and other Persian and Muslim philosophers barely
touched subjects that encroached on religious dogmas, Ibn Rushd devoted
considerable attention to them. He said, "Not only is matter eternal, but form is
potentially inherent in matter; otherwise, it were a creation ex nihilo" (Munk,
"Mélanges," 444). According to this theory, the existence of this world is not only a
possibility, as Ibn Sina declared—in order to make concessions to the orthodox—
but is also a necessity.
Driven from the Islamic schools, Islamic philosophy found a refuge with the
Jews, who transmitted it to the Christian world. A series of eminent thinkers, such
as Ibn Tibbon, Narboni, and Gersonides—joined in translating the Arabic
philosophical works into Hebrew and commenting upon them. The works of Ibn
Rushd especially became the subject of their study, due in great measure to
Maimonides, who, in a letter addressed to his pupil Joseph ben Judah, spoke in the
highest terms of Ibn Rushd's commentary (Cheap umrah package, 2019).
Some historians and philosophers do not agree with this account, claiming
that it is based on Western understanding, and describe this era in a completely
different way. Their main objection concerns the influence of different philosophers
on Islamic philosophy, especially the comparative importance of eastern
intellectuals such as Ibn Sina and of western thinkers such as Ibn Rushd.

Later Islamic philosophy

Ibn Rushd was the last major proponent of the discipline of Islamic philosophy
usually called the Peripatetic Arabic School. After his death, philosophical activity
declined significantly in western Islamic countries, Spain and North Africa, though
it persisted for much longer in the Eastern countries, in particular Iran and India.
The shift of political power in Western Europe (Spain and Portugal) from
Muslim to Christian control ended the practice of Muslim philosophy in Western
Europe, and led to some loss of contact between the "west" and the "east" of the
Islamic world. Muslims in the "east" continued to do philosophy, as is evident from
the works of Ottoman scholars and especially those living in Muslim kingdoms
within the territories of present day Iran and India, such as Shah Waliullah and
Ahmad Sirhindi. Logic has continued to be taught in religious seminaries up to
modern times. Later schools of Islamic philosophy, such as those founded by Ibn
Arabi, Suhrawardi and Mulla Sadra, are of particular importance, as they are still
active in the Islamic world.

Post-classical Islamic philosophy

Post-classical Islamic philosophers are usually divided into two main
categories according to their affiliation with the Sunni and Shia denominations
(Dadach, 2019). Many contemporary philosophers and thinkers such as Professor
Seyyed Hossein Nasr and Imam Musa Sadr do not accept the importance of this
classification, but there is a general consensus that the thinkers of this era can be
categorized into those who mainly worked within the Shi’a tradition, and those who
did not.

Social philosophy
Ibn Khaldun (1332-1406), in his Muqaddimah (the introduction to a seven-
volume analysis of universal history), advanced social philosophy in formulating
theories of social cohesion and social conflict.

Modern Islamic philosophy

The tradition of Islamic philosophy is still very much alive today, despite the
belief in many Western circles that this tradition ceased after the golden ages of
Suhrawardi’s Hikmat al-Ishraq (Illumination Philosophy) or, at the latest, Mulla
Sadra’s Hikmat-e-Mota’aliye or Transcendent (Exalted) Philosophy. In the early
twentieth century, Allama Muhammad Iqbal reshaped and revitalized Islamic
philosophy amongst the Muslims of the Indian sub-continent.[5] Besides his Urdu
and Persian poetical work, The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam.[6] is
a milestone in the modern political philosophy of Islam.
From the mid-nineteenth century, Islamic philosophers have sought to
redefine Islamic philosophy, seeking to establish a distinctive form of thought and
the meet the challenge of Western culture. Writers such as Hasan Hanafi and Ali
Mazrui have aimed to give Islamic thought a global perspective and provide an
agenda for world unity. There is a continuing interest in mystical and illuminationist
thought, especially in Iran. Modern Islamic philosophers also seek to relate non-
Islamic philosophical concepts such as Hegelianism and existentialism to Islam
(Cheap umrah package, 2019).
References
Cheap umrah package. (2019). What are the difference between Islam and Science?
Retrieved from Cheap umrah package:
http://www.cheapumrahpackage.us/blog/islam-and-science/
Dadach, Z. E. (2019). 13 SCIENTIFIC FACTS IN THE HOLY QURAN. Retrieved
from themuslimvibe: https://themuslimvibe.com/faith-islam/13-scientific-
facts-in-the-holy-quran
Ducksters. (2020). Early Islamic World. Retrieved from ducksters:
https://www.ducksters.com/history/islam/science_and_technology.php
Ivy panda. (2019). Conciliation and Contradiction of Qur’an Miracles with Modern
Science Essay. Retrieved from ivypanda:
https://ivypanda.com/essays/conciliation-and-contradiction-of-quran-
miracles-with-modern-science/
Kamal, F. (2020). The Quran, Modern Science, and More. Retrieved from
easilyunderstandislam:
https://www.easilyunderstandislam.com/5quranscience.html
Zamzam. (2021). 9 Scientific Facts In The Quran That Will Surprise You. Retrieved
from zamzam: https://zamzam.com/blog/scientific-facts-in-quran/