By: Allama Mohammed Shihabuddin Nadvi

Qur’an is the Final Adjudicator
A believer in Islam has no other way out except to follow the commandments of the Almighty. As detailed above, the assertions obtained through the nusoos are the divine commandments, ought to be enforced compulsorily. There is no scope for picking holes in them. There cannot be a better and more authentic word than the Almighty’s:

Who can be a better adjudicator than Allah for the people who firmly believe in him?59

The command lies with Allah alone; he declares the Truth; and he is the best of the judges.60

This is why the Qur’an has been revealed as a judge between all the contentious issues. The Almighty says:

Humankind was one single community in the beginning. Thereafter, when differences erupted between them, Allah raised prophets as bearers of glad tidings for the righteous and as warners for the wrongdoers. He sent down with them the book with truth so that it might judge between people in their disputes.61

This holy verse reveals that it has been a constant practice of the Almighty to provide the prophets in every age with a scripture that adjudicated between people in their disputes. It flows naturally from this that the glorious Qur’an is a judge for us in all our intellectual discords. The Ummah has, hence, been ordained to have recourse to it in resolving its differences:

O believers! Obey Allah, the Prophet, and those amongst you who are vested with authority, but if you were to differ in anything among yourselves, refer it back to Allah and the Prophet, if you believe in Allah and the Last Day. That is better and more commendable in the end.62

This renders the Qur’an and the Hadith as the final authority. All the contentious issues have to be settled with recourse to just these two primary sources. There is no third source here, howsoever-learned one might be.

Religious Obligation of Community Leaders
It has to be remembered at this moment that there exists a difference between the respective laws pertaining to the Shariah and the nature. Contrary to the laws of the Shariah, every Muslim is not obliged to act upon those of the nature. This is why distinct variation in the choice of phrases and their imports is to be found between them. But the class of the Muslims, which has the privilege of being ‘vested with authority,’ cannot afford to overlook their significance. For these intellectual realities to miss their sight costs the entire Ummah very dearly. It is, thus, obligatory upon these community leaders to remain sensitive to the collective needs of the Ummah and lead it from the front. Obviously, the collective ignorance of the entire community concerning these commandments and issues is a religious crime that devastates the entire Ummah. The current ignorance or negligence of the Muslims towards the divine scripture is grossly unfortunate. The following verse, revealed with respect to the Jews, is broadly reflecting the present situation thus:

The similitude of those who were laden with the Torah, but who did not bear it, is that of an ass bearing tomes. Hapless is the similitude of people who belie the signs of Allah, as he does not guide the people who exceed their limits.63

This verse is graphically accounting the intellectual degeneration of the Ummah today. The phrase ‘belying the signs of Allah’ here as well represents the current negative attitude of the Muslims and serves as another warning to them. As a matter of fact, modern science has uncovered many of these signs of the Almighty, but, instead of utilising them in guiding the humankind or presenting before it a conclusive argument, the Muslims are themselves bent upon as if belying them by considering them to be unreliable. The moot point here is, how could the humanity be provided with the guiding material if the Muslims themselves remain in dark about the marvellous nature of their own book of guidance?

The present state of the Muslim mind is not a regional phenomenon. Instead, it has assumed universal dimensions. Religious circles of the Indian sub-continent and Egypt are no exceptions. The entire Islamic world is just emulating them blindly on this count.

Invalid Claims
To sum up, the Almighty himself proclaims that there exist for the knowledgeable and wise people arguments in the natural phenomena that are obtained through pondering, understanding, and receiving admonition. These arguments are such that they generate emotions of faith and belief and feelings of gratitude and recourse to the Almighty in man. This is the essence of the study of the natural phenomena. But, contrary to this, the contemporary religious circles dispute that no definite knowledge could be obtained through observation and practice; thus, it is improper to argue from its findings upon the divinity. Now it is anybody’s guess as to whose word has to prevail. There is, in fact, not even a single verse in the Qur’an that either speaks of the unreliability of the natural sciences or prohibits compilation of the divine arguments based upon them. Hence, to start arguing in religion basing on mere speculation and conjecture and discarding the nusoos of the Qur’an in a dialectical way is, as if, may Allah forbid, belying the holy book itself. I am forced to draw this assumption after duly considering the general mindset prevalent in the religious circles today.

The Qur’an, in its entirety, is a book of arguments. It advances reasons and arguments at every point and calls upon its adversaries to base their claims similarly. The charge, which the Almighty had made concerning the infidels and the polytheists of Arabia at the advent of Islam, applies to the present Muslims thus:

Say unto them O Muhammed: “Have you any intellectual proof that you may adduce before us? In fact, you are just fancying and purely speculating.”64

Say: “Bring forth your argument if you are truthful.”65

As the Almighty is the creator and nourisher of this universe and is the most knowledgeable about his creations, not even a semblance of misgiving should arise in his proclamations concerning them. It is, hence, said:

Whose word could be more truthful than Allah’s?66

My Lord has covered everything with his knowledge. Don’t you receive admonition then?67

What ails these people that they do not understand anything?68

Then, in what discourse will they believe after this?69

Conclusion
In a nutshell, the Muslims have declined on both the religious and mundane fronts, and have taken a back seat in the realm of the vicegerency of the earth as a result of unnecessarily shying away from modern material sciences without any valid reasoning from the Shariah point of view. They have even turned a blind eye to all the explicit Qur’anic assertions in this direction. One cannot be more unfortunate than this. This negative approach is, thus, ought to be discarded in no time:

Allah certainly does not change the condition of a nation unless it changes it itself.70

O you who believe! If you help the cause of Allah, he will help you and establish you on a solid footing.71

O you who believe! If you fear Allah, he will grant you a criterion, cleanse you of your sins, and forgive you, as he is the owner of mighty grace.72

Do not be like those who said, ‘we did hear,’ though they were not heeding.73

An Appeal to the Community Leaders
To end with, this humble writer makes an earnest plea to the community elders to reconsider their stand vis-à-vis the modern natural sciences, which are possessive of immense argumentative and material value. In the realm of argumentation, they reveal the personal and dynamic attributes of the Almighty, which in turn uncover his unity and the potential and creative genius. These are the arguments, which have the potential to counter atheism and materialism and pave the way for spirituality effectively. When compiled with a dawah outlook, a revolution could be brought about through them in the domain of contemporary thought. As far as the material aspect of these sciences is concerned, wonders are being performed in the military and civilizational spheres by manipulating the forces that are buried in the natural phenomena. It is these forces, which the Qur’an refers to as the ‘unseen bounties’ (31:20).

Thus, the significance of these sciences cannot be overlooked. It is in consideration of their immense value that their knowledge was imparted to Prophet Adam immediately after his creation as a vicegerent. Hence, they bear a profound relationship with the vicegerency of the earth. The nation that embraces them attains vicegerency, and the one that spurns them is consigned to the margins. The present situation bears ample testimony to this law of nature. The miserable plight of the Muslim world in both the material and argumentative spheres is the most exemplary aspect of this situation. It has to be kept in mind that physical sciences reign supreme today. As such, conventional arguments have lost much of their sheen in the changed circumstances; thus, arguing from science is the most effective tool to convince the present scientific minds. The faith that ignores these arguments would itself be considered an object of the past. In fact, revival of the true spirit of Islam is essential in every age in the light of the emerging realities on the intellectual horizon as it affords new dynamism to the religion in solving newer ideological and philosophical issues generated by the ever-advancing human knowledge. This has been the constant practice in Islam since its inception more than 1,400 years ago. Moreover, this is the clarion call of the holy book, and it is all equipped to offer guidance to its followers in this direction.

We, therefore, cannot afford to ignore the significance of these sciences anymore. Neither the Shariah nor the human wisdom permit our present course. There should always be a batch of competent scholars engaged in this field; however, every religious scholar is supposed to possess the elementary knowledge of science so that he is not taken unawares by any intellectual fact. It would harm the religion, otherwise. Muslim religious seminaries or madaris should take the lead and bring in necessary changes in their educational curricula. Still, these sciences have to be taught from an Islamic perspective and in accordance with the aims and objectives of the Qur’an. A team of talented scholars well informed in both the religious and material sciences could be constituted to prepare the new teaching material. The spread of scientific knowledge would usher in an enlightened phase in the Muslim world, and the humanity as whole would be immensely benefited in the realm of guidance. They would succeed on both the material and spiritual fronts alike, thus.

Finally, it is pertinent to clear another misgiving prevalent in the religious circles concerning modern science. The fine distinction between science and materialism has greatly blurred here, and both have come to be regarded as synonymous with each other. It has to be remembered that materialism is just the customary ritual of explaining the laws of nature or the laws of divine providence in an atheistic fashion, whereas there is not even an iota of materialism in the pure sciences. Let the science be defined in howsoever-materialistic terms, nevertheless it is the study of divine providence in Islam. It was known as ilm takween in the earlier period. Takween or creation of the natural phenomena is, in fact, the personal attribute of the Almighty. In this way, the study of the phenomena of nature is the study of a divine attribute, which in turn reveals his other qualities as well. Different aspects of the divine providence or the personal and dynamic qualities of the Almighty are, thus, being revealed through modern science. This is further unveiling the divine decree or taqdeer ilahi that these material phenomena came into being at a certain point of time in history and would like wise cease to exist at a future date. That would be the sign of the Last Day. As such, study of the nature today not only yields conclusive arguments upon the existence of a divine being and his eternal decree, but the other Islamic principles of prophethood and the Last Day would as well be intellectually authenticated. It has to be particularly noted that these arguments are being marshalled by the intellectual endeavours of the materialists themselves. Thus, the materialists are just serving the cause of religion unconsciously. This is, in fact a contemporary marvel of the divine scripture, which could even amaze the materialists and the atheists. As the materialists have remained absorbed in their materialism turning a blind eye towards the arguments of providence in the nature, it is up to the Muslim scholars to reveal this ‘concealed aspect’ so that man is guided to the right path, or the divine argument is concluded upon him at the least. It is something of a natural obligation upon the Muslims. Materialism can never be countered, otherwise. Even if the Muslims remain inferior in material development today, they have the realm of argumentation wide open before them. Let their condition be anything, yet they could serve this obligation effectively. It is, thus, a Shariah obligation upon the Muslims to raise a new ‘army’ of intellectuals for this job, today. **

Footnotes:

58. For a detailed discussion on the matter, please refer Epistemology of Qur’an: Insights from Modern Science by this writer, published by Furqania Academy Trust in 2002.
59. Qur’an, 5:50
60. Qur’an, 6:57 61. Qur’an, 2:213
61. Qur’an, 4:59 63. Qur’an, 62:5
62. Qur’an, 6:148 65. Qur’an, 27:64
63. Qur’an, 4:87 67. Qur’an, 6:80
64. Qur’an, 4:78 69. Qur’an, 7:185
65. Qur’an, 13:11 71. Qur’an, 48:7
66. Qur’an, 8:29 73. Qur’an, 8:21