Does science offer evidence of a transcendent reality and purpose?

Islam & Science, June, 2003 by Mehdi Golshani

In this paper, we elaborate on several crucial theological problems dealing with the role of science in providing some evidence for the existence of God and purpose in nature. It has become fashionable to eliminate notions of purpose and goal for the universe. Even many believing scientists ignore teleological considerations in their scientific work. In the Qur'anic view, however, God is the Creator and the Sustainer of the universe. He has created everything in measure and has decreed for it telos. In our view, modern science does offer some clues to the teleological aspects of our universe, as recent debates on anthropic principle suggest. Furthermore, some inferences from science can be used as a premise to construct philosophical arguments for the existence of God. Two theories have generated heated discussions about this matter: the theory of Big Bang and the Darwinian theory of evolution. We believe that empirical science can give us only a cognition of the works of God, but the deduction of God from His works is a matter of intellection or intuition.

Keywords: Theological problems; teleology; Qur'anic view of cosmos; modern science; anthropic principle; arguments from design; telos; Qur'anic epistemology.

Introduction

Modern science arrived in the Muslim world in the beginning of the nineteenth century. What affected Muslim intellectuals mostly was not science itself, but rather it was the transfer of various philosophical currents entangled with science that had a profound effect on the minds of Muslim scientists and intellectuals. Schools like Positivism and Darwinism penetrated the Muslim world and dominated its academic circles and had a noticeable impact on some Islamic theological doctrines.

Response of Muslim Scholars to Modern Science

In the Muslim world, there were four kinds of responses to modern science.

(1) Some Muslim scholars rejected modern science as corrupt foreign thought, considering it incompatible with Islamic teachings, and in their view, the only remedy for the stagnancy of Islamic societies would be the strict following of Islamic teachings.

(2) Other thinkers in the Muslim world saw science as the only source of real enlightenment and advocated the complete adoption of modern science. In their view, the only remedy for the stagnation of Muslim societies would be the mastery of modern science and the replacement of the religious worldview by the scientific worldview.

(3) The majority of faithful Muslim scientists tried to adapt Islam to the findings of modern science; they can be categorized in the following subgroups: (a) Some Muslim thinkers attempted to justify modern science on religious grounds. Their motivation was to encourage Muslim societies to acquire modern knowledge and to safeguard their societies from the criticism of Orientalists and Muslim intellectuals. (b) Others tried to show that all important scientific discoveries had been predicted in the Qur'an and Islamic tradition and appealed to modern science to explain various aspects of faith. (c) Yet other scholars advocated a re-interpretation of Islam. In their view, one must try to construct a new theology that can establish a viable relation between Islam and modern science. The Indian scholar, Sayyid Ahmad Khan, sought a theology of nature through which one could re-interpret the basic principles of Islam in the light of modern science. (d) Then there were some Muslim scholars who believed that empirical science had reached the same conclusions that prophets had been advocating several thousand years ago. The revelation had only the privilege of prophecy.

(4) Finally, some Muslim philosophers separated the findings of modern science from its philosophical attachments. Thus, while they praised the attempts of Western scientists for the discovery of the secrets of nature, they warned against various empiricist and materialistic interpretations of scientific findings. Scientific knowledge can reveal certain aspects of the physical world, but it should not be identified with the alpha and omega of knowledge. Rather, it has to be integrated into a metaphysical framework--consistent with the Muslim worldview--in which higher levels of knowledge are recognized and the role of science in bringing us closer to God is fulfilled.

The Impact of Modern Science on Islamic Theology

When we compare medieval science with modern science, we notice that they are different in several important aspects. This is especially noticeable in the case of some theological perspectives. When modern science penetrated the Muslim world, some Muslim scientists adopted western philosophical theological perspectives intact. Muslim philosophers and theologians, however, resisted the adoption of some doctrines which were considered to be harmful to basic Islamic teachings. Several crucial theological problems grappled with the role of science in proving the existence of God and purpose in nature.

Teleological Explanation of the World

For medieval scientists, every created thing had its especial place in the hierarchy of the created world, because it was created by a God who had a designed telos for the universe. The founders of modern science, however, ignored the notion of telos for the universe. Believing scientists did not deny the relevance of purpose to the created universe, but they believed that teleological considerations should not play a role in scientific descriptions. Weinberg's well-known statement is typical of their view: