Scientists are not the enemies of God
by Helen Ang
Through the rise and fall of empires, many a thinking man has been browbeaten by a tyranny of the majority for adhering to ‘dangerous’ beliefs concerning Reason and Creation.
Two such early intellectuals sentenced to beatings (in the literal, painful sense of the word) for their ideas were rationalist philosophers al-Kindi (805-873CE) and al-Razi (865-925CE).
Reading Dr Syed Alwi Ahmad’s No scientific proof for special creation and the responses to his view published so far, I certainly hope that our own physicist will not be beaten over the head (figuratively speaking) until he retracts his belief in evolution.
Until one or the other is broken
But first, allow me share one of the saddest stories I’ve ever heard. It’s about a great name in mediaeval medicine, Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Zakariya al-Razi, celebrated for his writings on the life sciences and considered one of the foremost scholars of Islam’s Golden Age.
Europe knew al-Razi as Rhazes. It could be that he took his name from his native city, Rayy, a few miles south of Teheran.
A clinical physician, al-Razi headed a hospital in Baghdad – at that time a world-renowned centre of learning – where he recorded his many breakthrough diagnoses. His case notes became the basis of encyclopedic work, among them the Arabic composition Kitab al-Hawi fi al-tibb (The Comprehensive Book on Medicine). Al-Razi’s medical references, translated into Latin in 1279, were in use as European textbooks until well into the mid-16th century.
Versatile and accomplished in many fields, al-Razi was a man of science, a revered teacher as well as compassionate physician. The good doctor’s only ‘fatal flaw’ could have been his rationalist views that were at odds with the Muslim orthodoxy of his times.
He believed in the existence of the five eternal principles: creator, soul, matter, time, and space. However, he refuted traditionalist dogma that the world was created out of nothing. Al-Razi was not averse to challenging tradition and his personal philosophy held that no authority was beyond criticism.
It is said that, a principled man, al-Razi lost his eyesight for his elevation of the power of Reason. According to some sources, al-Razi’s blindness resulted from his irking a conservative emir of Bukhara who ordered him to be hit on the head with his beloved book … until either the book or al-Razi’s head broke.
It is important to ascertain here that even as alleged that he lose his eyesight due his propagation of the elevation of the power of reason thus being hit by the manuscript till either one break, the thought process and arguments presented to elevate reason I take it here against revelation must be stated. To be fair the conservative Emir consternation must also be aired or Helen risk being selective and biased in her argument just to drive home a point. Freedom of thought and freedom to express it in public is a non issue, as if clearly al-Razi is in violation of a proven fundamental principle of Islam here the bigger danger is leading the nation astray and if unexacerbated for generations to come. I liken it though in a small and simple way to allowing a revered Maths teacher to teach the ignorants and the less vocal that 2+3=6.
It is worth to note that his punishment is in itself poetic justice. Notice that the Emir said to hit till either one break NOT untill al-Razi head broke which in itself probably invoking divine intervention and can be seen as showing his reverence and recognition for al-Razi other work. There’s only one Quran and no other books of revelation are in the same league thus Helen I believed if you are privileged enough to study its authenticity from a learned teacher of your choosing and reverence than perhaps you can understand why I claimed as above after having read the Old and New Testament, the Veda and Puranas and why the Emir and Muslims adhered to it with the grit of their teeth.
Rejecting remedial eye surgery, al-Razi replied: “I have seen enough of this world and I do not cherish the idea of an operation for the hope of seeing more of it.” But this poignant reflection could just be apocryphal, similar to Italian astronomer Galileo’s whisper, under his breath, that our Earth did indeed revolve around the sun, after the Christian Inquisition forced him to recant.
Courage of his conviction
Like al-Razi, Abu Yusuf Yaqub ibn Ishaq al-Sabbah al-Kindi was a man of many talents – physician, mathematician, musician and scientist.
Al-Kindi had received an appointment by the Abbasid caliph al-Ma’mun to the House of Wisdom in Baghdad where he translated Greek philosophical and scientific texts in addition to writing commentaries on a number of Aristotle’s works.
Although feted as a great philosopher, al-Kindi was unfortunately still not spared punishment when al-Ma’mun’s nephew, al-Mutawakkil Ala Allah Jafar bin al-Mu’tasim, succeeded to the caliphate.
Al-Mutawakkil was keen to involve himself in religious debates and had little tolerance for other schools of thought or for ‘unorthodox’ Muslims. A Sunni, he oppressed the general population of Shias and destroyed the shrine of Husayn ibn Ali. He also decreed that the synagogues and churches in Baghdad be torn down.
According to one version of events, al-Kindi was subjected, at the age of 60, to a public flogging for incurring al-Mutawakkil’s displeasure when he refused to accede to the caliph’s arguments.
One detail agreed on by historians is that his remarkable personal library – dubbed the Al-Kindiyah – was confiscated. It was a loss that broke the old philosopher’s heart, and from which he never recovered.
Deadly religious intolerance
In any closed society suffering from a deficit of freedom, there is never much leeway given to enquiring minds seeking and speaking impartial truths.
In fact, from recent displays of public keris-waving and the banning of books, I would venture to add that the might-is-right brigade, aided by a barrage of repressive legislation, has clearly demonstrated its will to out-shout and shut out any competing ideas. This approach does not augur well for our intellectual growth.
And there’s no other single source of contention that touches so many raw nerves as ideology surrounding the primacy of particular religions, and no other people more susceptible to zealotry than the religiously dogmatic.
We witness murderous clashes between Muslims and Hindus in India and Pakistan, Muslims and Christians in parts of Europe, Africa and Indonesia, including the breakaway East Timor (now Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste). In Sri Lanka, there have been deadly confrontations between the minority Tamils in the island’s north and the majority Sinhalese Buddhists.
Then there are killings occurring within the same religion, such as the Catholics’ long-running battle against the Protestants in Northern Ireland, only now tapering off, and the Sunni-Shia conflagrations in Iraq.
Very close to home, we see the bloodshed in southern Thailand claiming hundreds of Muslim and Buddhist lives.
But never in the history of human conflict have we seen fanatical bands of scientists taking up arms with the aim of “taking out” those opposed to them.
Room for progressives
Dr Syed Alwi is a scientist and I’ve been impressed with the progressive viewpoints he often sets forth in his series of letters to malaysiakini.
He, together with columnists like Salbiah Ahmad, Dr M.Bakri Musa, Dr Farish Noor and others – I have to add contributors AB Sulaiman and Umar Mukthar’s names to this list – have opened a broader perspective and added nuances to Malay and Muslim public discourse, to our collective benefit.
Their articles have shown that there is indeed a wider interpretation to Islamic tenets and teachings than what we would have gleaned from mainstream reading alone. On the domestic front, the newspaper religious columns by the ustaz-uztaz and Institute of Islamic Understanding (IKIM) officers – pious, learned men though they undoubtedly are – do not push the envelope in terms of exploring ideas, or ijtihad.
On my part, I write this comment piece as a small effort to keep a tiny wedge open in our thin corridor where liberal Malay-Muslim voices are heard. Quite frankly, should a non-Malay raise these issues, there’ll be hell to pay and the spectre of the Sedition Act and ISA immediately set on our heels.
For anyone in this day and age to support the theory of evolution is in itself nothing remarkable. What is out of the ordinary is that in our suffocating society and clouded climate, Syed Alwi has openly stated his stand. Given what we’ve seen of recent adverse developments in the sphere of public religion, he’s brave to have done so.
Under the circumstances, I feel that the least I can do is to let Syed Alwi know: “You have my moral support
Reponse to this article : Islam not hostile to science by Dr Rafidah H Mokhtar