By: Allama Mohammed Shihabuddin Nadvi
Certain Principles of Biology
This branch of science deals with the structure and behaviour of living organisms. Both the plants and the animals are considered to be living according to science. They share many common characteristics of life, which distinguish them from minerals. Biology has unravelled many mysteries concerning the ‘appearance’ and ‘character’14 of the living organisms through meticulously organised studies, which would be dealt with very briefly here.
The invention of microscope has unravelled quite a few providential mysteries of the biological world on the intellectual horizon. It was discovered that all the plant and animal species of the world are made up of microscopic particles called ‘cells’ in the same way as a building is composed of bricks. These cells, or the basic units of living organisms, are so minute that more than six million of them may be found in a drop of human blood. All living cells are composed of a vitally active and colloidal substance called ‘protoplasm.’ This living substance is composed of the following 14 elements: oxygen, hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, calcium, phosphorus, chlorine, sulphur, potassium, sodium, magnesium, iron, iodine, and silicon.
The animal cells are enclosed in a thin pliable sheath called cytoplasmic membrane, whereas cellulose walls cover the plant cells; thus, all the cells are unique, possessing uniform and common characteristics. Food, water, and air constantly reach every single cell, and the waste material continues to be excreted. Every cell contains a nucleus, consisting of chromosomes and genes. It is this nucleus that controls the cell; however, its mechanism is complex enough to be still defying human knowledge.
Plants and animals enjoy quite a few shared characteristics. The systems pertaining to growth, respiration, sensation, ingestion and digestion, excretion, and sex and reproduction are common to both of them. Similarly, they share between them some disparities as well. If a blood circulatory system exists in the animals, the plants carry a greenish pigment called ‘chlorophyll’ in them. If the animals breathe oxygen in and carbon dioxide out, the plants perform the same conversely. This contradiction between the plants and the animals ensures balance in the air. This is an astonishing phenomenon of the divine providence carrying many insights for man.
Analysis of the food that we eat has indicated that it comprises such chemical substances as carbohydrates, proteins, fats, mineral salts, and vitamins. These nutrients produce different effects in the human body.
There are numerous such phenomena that have and continue to produce uniform results all through the laboratories and observatories of the world. There is no disagreement in the scientific fraternity on these counts either.
Some Observations of Astronomy
Astronomy and astrophysics are the branches of science concerned with the systematic study of the heavenly bodies and their physical and chemical properties. These sciences contain observational facts as well as presumptions based thereupon.
The invention of telescope has revolutionised human knowledge of the celestial world. Observation of the sun, for instance, has revealed that it contained dark spots that regularly shifted between visibility and obscurity. It was gathered, thus, that the sun too revolves around its axis continually. Similarly, it was found that the orbits of the planets of our solar system, including that of our own earth, were elliptical. It is for this reason that the seasons change periodically. The heat and light of the sun is due to the continuous burning of hydrogen gas in it. When all its hydrogen is used up, the sun would eventually become a cold body and meet its natural death.15
The solar eclipse occurs as a result of the continuously rotating moon passing between the sun and the earth, thus concealing the solar light from the earth for a while. This providential phenomenon happens when the sun, the moon, and the earth all fall in a straight line. Likewise, the lunar eclipse occurs when the constantly rotating earth passes between the moon and the sun and obscures the former from the latter. The movements of all these bodies are so well defined that astronomers could predict decades and centuries in advance the precise periodicity and the duration of both these natural events accurately.16
During certain days of a year, a diffuse band of light is visible to our naked eyes stretching across the night sky. It is, in fact, a part of our own Milky Way galaxy consisting of millions of faint stars, nebulae, etc. There are billions of such known galaxies all through this vast universe. They are scattered over an expanse billions of light years across. It must be noted here that one light year is equivalent to 9,460,000,000,000 kms. Due to their inconceivable distance, they could be viewed only through telescopes. Each of these galaxies is estimated to consist of at least one hundred billion stars, which are as luminous or big as our own sun. Astronomers have, with the help of a range of some extremely powerful telescopes, observed and photographed several of them. Indeed, a glimpse at this extraordinarily marvellous phenomenon reveals the providential elegance and the divine majesty like never before.
Thus, all the phenomena of nature are filled with such observational and practical realities, and carry assorted insights in them. It doesn’t serve any religious end to deny them. To the contrary, it alienates the religion further. In fact the persistence of this negative psyche should attract the charge of obscurantism and illogicality. This is when Islam is the most knowledge-friendly and scientific religion, which is never at variance with any of the sciences, human as well as natural, of any period, and addresses the ultimate solutions to all the intellectual and philosophical issues concerning the man. The Muslims amply demonstrated this for more than 800 year in the medieval period. It’s high time, therefore, they adopted the right approach vis-à-vis the natural sciences and prepared themselves for the leadership of the humanity yet again.
Riddles of Modern Science
It would be an incomplete discourse if both the scope and the limitations of science were as well not dealt with at this point of time. At the very outset, it has to be acknowledged that the human senses are limited both in time and space, and so do their perceptions. Science always acquires the knowledge of the phenomena, contrary to the noumena, that is, the human perception never gets to the ultimate reality embedded in the natural world. This is a settled issue in the realm of science with no scope for disagreement.17
Man could gain the knowledge about the natural phenomena only to such an extent that could be sufficient to serve the purpose of intellectual argumentation and material exploitation. The Qur’an proclaims that man has been endowed with ‘very little knowledge’ (17:85).
This is why man is constrained to reason out and draw conclusions either through induction or deduction in the matters of his ignorance. His presumptions, based mainly on experience or experimental evidence, could both get to the reality or go haywire. It is this proverbial grey area of modern science where the materialists tend to deviate due to their atheistic interpretations, just to keep the issue of divinity at bay. Thus, it is these ‘interpretations’ of the unknown world that undergo constant changes on account of further developments in science. The duly established facts of the natural world have nothing to do with these changes. This difference has to be kept in mind all the time; an uninformed person would, otherwise, be naive enough to consider the whole of science to be a collection of some perplexing assumptions.
The conceptual and hypothetical issues are those that can never be strictly brought under the realm of observation and experiment. For instance, the origin of the universe and its gigantic matter, its derivation of heat, formation of atoms, cells, and elements, the ultimate reality of various physical forces operating in the universe, their origin and impact on the matter, the origin of the matter itself from electric or subatomic particles, reality of gravity, life, spirit, the correlation between the internal and external senses of man are beyond our ken.
These are some of the philosophical issues, which the modern science cannot deal with decisively18. Man has not been bestowed with such ‘knowledge of the invisible’ (ilmul ghaib). This has been done in order to keep his arrogance that arises consequent to his acquainting himself with the knowledge of ‘everything’ under check. His vulnerability before the absolute knowledge would continue to remind him of his limitations forever. This is why the Almighty bestows man with the knowledge of the natural phenomena too in stages. Knowledge is, thus, infinite.
Amazing Arguments upon Divinity
The Almighty has created this universe in accordance with a definite code, and has embedded many of his manifestations into his creations to serve as clear signs to man. He, therefore, calls upon man forcefully to reflect upon the natural phenomena in their precise details and witness for himself the sort of universal reality they convey through their behavioural parlance. These manifestations, considered in the Qur’anic terminology as a‘yaat, serve as valid points of arguments from both religious and logical viewpoints. This is why the Qur’an stresses in varied idioms the need to explore these signs of providence in detail. Those who neglect them or overlook the natural realities have been reprimanded thus:
Haven’t the disbelievers witnessed that the heavens and the earth were joined together in the beginning before we split them? And, likewise, from water we made every living thing. Will they not believe then?19
This verse carries quite a few insights for both the disbelievers and the believers alike. The very first reality conveyed in it is that scientific knowledge is valid according to the Almighty himself. Secondly, some of the human assumptions in pursuit of the reality could also be relied upon. The Qur’anic declaration of the joining together of the heavens and the earth is now being explored in the form of the Big Bang theory. It assumes that they existed in the form of a primordial gassy ball. This universe came into being as a result of a big bang in it. Thirdly, human experiments too are authentic according to the Almighty. Modern science has today amply substantiated the Qur’anic assertion that all living organisms are made up of water. It has demonstrated that the protoplasmic structure of all the plant and animal species is predominantly composed of water; thus, all the living beings are made up of nearly 75 per cent water. Fourthly, the Qur’an uses the phrase ‘every living thing’ in a marvellous way without specifically mentioning either the animals or the plants. Modern science has practically demonstrated that this amazing expression applies to both the animal and the plant kingdoms, as the manifestations of life are apparent in either of them equally. And finally, when the science was able to substantiate a divine assertion, it amounts to affirming the Qur’an itself to be the word of the Almighty. It could be gathered from this providential phenomenon that there exists a majestic being beyond this physical world who is the most informed about all his creations, and that he has equipped his book with the ‘knowledge of the unknown’ in order to emphasize his eternal existence. It has been quizzed on different occasions thus:
Isn’t Allah the most informed of what is in the chests of all creatures?20
Do they not bow to Allah who brings forth what is hidden in the heavens and the earth?21
All Natural Phenomena Praise Allah
It could be seen how significant and faith-enhancing are the modern scientific findings in substantiating all the basic precepts of the Islamic faith, particularly the existence, eternal knowledge, and the potential and creative prowess of the Almighty. The Qur’an has been equipped with various providential arguments enabling it to offer absolute guidance in any advanced scientific age. Such decisive arguments have been presented before the disbelievers on many an occasion in the Qur’an. This is, thus, the word of the most informed, which has left no room for any absurdity to creep in. These arguments cannot be overlooked as insignificant according to one’s own discretion. A couple of more verses concerning the providential phenomena are as follows:
Don’t you see that all beings in the heavens and the earth praise Allah; and the birds too, extend their wings? Every one knows his prayer and praise, and Allah knows well all that they do.22
This verse reveals numerous realities:
- The heavenly bodies too consist of ‘rational’ creatures. The pronoun mun appearing here is used to indicate only the rational beings.
- This presupposes that there exist other man-like rational creatures in the universe that disobey the Almighty by denying his existence.
- All creatures, whether possessive of intellect are not, praise the Almighty.
- As far as the praising of the natural phenomena is concerned, it could be either behavioural or verbal. If it is the former, then it is much evident in the form of their strict adherence to the code of natural conduct. And if it is the latter, then man is at loss to recognize it. The Almighty says:
There is none in the universe that doesn’t praise him, but you don’t understand the nature of their praise.23
Future developments could possibly shed more light on this aspect. Some observations of an eminent Indian plant physiologist and physicist, Sir Jagadish Chandra Bose, are quite significant in this regard. He had astonished the world in the early 20th century with his demonstration of the instincts of satisfaction and frustration in plants, exemplified by the trembling of injured plants. To support this contention, he constructed automatic recorders capable of registering extremely slight movements of the plants that produced some striking results.
Study of Universe Reinforces Faith
At another place the Qur’an refers to variation in colours of animals, plants, mountains, and men as the sign of the divine existence itself, understood only by the ‘knowledgeable.’ As a result of this insightful understanding, god-fearing emotions begin to shape up in them:
Don’t you see that Allah sends down water from the sky, and thereby We produce fruits of various colours? In the mountains also are tracks of various colours: white, red, and intensely black. Likewise, the colours of men, beasts, and cattle are also diverse. Only his knowledgeable servants, upon the observation of these phenomena, truly fear Allah.24
Study of nature is, therefore, no ordinary knowledge. It instils piety and devotion in man. Its careful study can stamp out all the misleading philosophies. Hence, the repeated stress in the Qur’an on the study of all the natural phenomena, and the condemnation of those who fail to draw appropriate lessons from them:
We have, indeed, created many jinns and men for hell. They have hearts, wherewith they do not understand; they have eyes, wherewith they do not see; they have ears, wherewith they do not hear. They are like cattle. Nay, they are even more misguided; they are the unmindful ones.25
From the whole host of such verses, we have very briefly dealt with only a few, just to serve as an illustration. Many volumes would be required to account for all of them in detail. A meaningful interpretation of such verses is, thus, highly unlikely without broaching the modern scientific knowledge.
To sum up, the scientific facts that are based upon observation and experiment never undergo any change. They just reflect the laws of providence, instead. When the same result is obtained upon repeated experiments, it transforms itself into the law of providence. The science utilises and benefits from such laws. Thus, it is the Creator of the universe who controls these natural laws, and man has absolutely no role to play in their operation. It was due to this great value that this knowledge was conferred upon Prophet Adam. He and his descendants were supposed to utilize it to their benefit, and thereby attain the vicegerency of the earth. It is this knowledge that plays a vital role in containing rebellious tendencies in man. As a result of this knowledge, the divine signs or arguments begin to manifest all through the nature, offering light and guidance to man and demolishing his misleading ideologies. It is for this reason that the Qur’an lays great emphasis upon the study of the providential arguments present in the nature. Today, the materialists benefit from just the material aspects of this science. Its intellectual and argumentative value remains untapped. It is up to the Muslims to demonstrate this very neglected worth of science and conclude the divine argument before the disbelievers:
This is no less than an admonition and a clear Qur’an. It has been revealed that it may caution the one whose conscience is alive, and that the argument is concluded upon the disbelievers.26
Reference:
14. Plants and animals are studied under two of the most distinct branches of biology: morphology and physiology. The former deals with the structural aspects of living organisms, whereas the latter studies the behavioural ones. We have, thus, interpreted them as ‘appearance’ and ‘character.’
15. For a detailed discussion on the subject, please refer Gamow, George, The Birth and Death of the Sun, The New American Library, New York, 1956, P.140 and Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1983, V.17, P.808.
16For an account of such predictions, please see Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1983, V.6, P.190.
17This matter has been dealt with at greater length in another of my books, Qur’anic Concept of Knowledge in the Light of Modern Science, published by Furqania Academy Trust in 2002.
18. It has to be borne in mind that the sphere of science is confined to matter. It could make assumptions concerning the material or the physical phenomena. Spirituality or metaphysics falls completely outside its realm. Seeking solutions from it in all sorts of issues is no more than burdening it with whose weight it cannot withstand.
19. Qur’an, 21:30
20. Qur’an, 29:10
21. Qur’an, 27:25
22. Qur’an, 24:41
23. Qur’an, 17:44
24. Qur’an, 35:27-28
25. Qur’an, 7:179
26.Qur’an, 36:69-70