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This shows us that science and religion are not
conflicting sources of information, but that, on the contrary, science is a
method that verifies the absolute truths provided by religion. The clash
between religion and science can only hold true for certain religions that
incorporate some superstitious elements as well as divine sources. However,
this is certainly out of the question for Islam, which relies only on the pure
revelation of God. Moreover, Islam particularly advocates scientific enquiry,
and announces that probing the universe is a method to explore the creation of
God. The following verse of the Quran addresses this issue:
“Do they not look at the sky above them? How We have built it
and adorned it, and there are no rifts therein? And the earth - We have spread
it out, and set thereon mountains standing firm, and caused it to bring forth
plants of beauteous kinds (in pairs). An insight and a Reminder for every
slave who turns to God. And We send down from the sky blessed water whereby We
give growth unto gardens and the grain of crops. And tall palm-trees, with
shoots of fruit-stalks, piled one over another.” (Quran 50:6-10)
As the above verses imply, the Quran always urges people
to think, to reason and to explore everything in the world in which they live.
This is because science supports religion, saves the individual from ignorance,
and causes him to think more consciously; it opens wide one’s world of thought
and helps one grasp the signs of God self-evident in the universe. Prominent
German physicist Max Planck said:
Anybody who
has been seriously engaged in scientific work of any kind realizes that over
the entrance to the gates of the temple of science are written the words: Ye
must have faith. It is a quality which the scientist cannot dispense with. (J.
De Vries, Essential of Physical Science, Wm.B.Eerdmans Pub.Co., Grand Rapids, SD
1958, p. 15.)
All the issues we have treated so far simply put it that
the existence of the universe and all living things cannot be explained by
coincidences. Many scientists who have left their mark on the world of science
have confirmed, and still confirm this great reality. The more people learn
about the universe, the higher does their admirations for its flawless order
become. Every newly-discovered detail supports creation in an unquestionable
way.
The great majority of modern physicists accept the fact
of creation as we set foot in the 21st century. David Darling also maintains
that neither time, nor space, nor matter, nor energy, nor even a tiny spot or a
cavity existed at the beginning. A slight quick movement and a modest quiver
and fluctuation occurred. Darling ends by saying that when the cover of this
cosmic box was opened, the tendrils of the miracle of creation appeared from
beneath it.
Besides, it is already known that almost all the
founders of diverse scientific branches believed in God and His divine books. The
greatest physicists in history, Newton, Faraday, Kelvin and Maxwell are a few
examples of such scientists.
In the time of Isaac Newton, the great physicist,
scientists believed that the movements of the heavenly bodies and planets could
be explained by different laws. Nevertheless, Newton believed that the creator
of earth and space was the same, and therefore they had to be explained by the
same laws. He said:
“This most beautiful system of the sun, planets, and
comets could only proceed from the counsel and dominion of an intelligent and
powerful Being. This Being governs all things, not as the soul of the world,
but as Lord over all, and on account of His dominion. He is wont to be called
Lord God, Universal Ruler.” (“Principia”)
As is evident, thousands of scientists who have been
doing research in the fields of physics, mathematics, and astronomy since the Middle-Ages
all agree on the idea that the universe is created by a single Creator and
always focus on the same point. The founder of physical astronomy, Johannes
Kepler, stated his strong belief in God in one of his books where he wrote:
“Since we astronomers are priests of the highest God in
regard to the book of nature, it befits us to be thoughtful, not of the glory
of our minds, but rather, above all else, of the glory of God.” (Dan Graves,
Scientists of Faith, p. 51)
The great physicist, William Thompson (Lord Kelvin), who
established thermo-dynamics on a formal scientific basis, was also a Christian
who believed in God. He had strongly opposed Darwin’s theory of evolution and
totally rejected it. In 1903, short before his death, he made the unequivocal
statement that, “With regard to the origin of life, science... positively
affirms creative power.” (David Darling, Deep Time, Delacorte Press, 1989, New
York.)
One of the professors of physics at Oxford University, Robert Mattheus states the same fact in his book published in 1992 where he
explains that DNA molecules were created by God. Mattheus says that all these
stages proceed in a perfect harmony from a single cell to a living baby, then
to a little child, and finally to an adolescent. All these events can be
explained only by a miracle, just as in all the other stages of biology. Mattheus
asks how such a perfect and complex organism can emerge from such a simple and
tiny cell and how a glorious human is created from a cell even smaller than the
dot on the letter ‘I’. He finally concludes that this is nothing short of a
miracle. (Robert Matthews, Unraveling the Mind of God, London Bridge, July,
1995, p.8)
Some other scientists who admit that the universe is
created by a Creator and who are known by their cited attributes are:
Robert Boyle (the father of modern chemistry)
Iona William Petty (known for his studies on statistics
and modern economy)
Michael Faraday (one of the greatest physicists of all
times)
Gregory Mendel (the father of genetics; he invalidated
Darwinism with his discoveries in the science of genetics)
Louis Pasteur (the greatest name in bacteriology; he
declared war on Darwinism)
John Dalton (the father of atomic theory)
Blaise Pascal (one of the most important mathematicians)
John Ray (the most important name in British natural
history)
Nicolaus Steno (a famous stratigrapher who investigated
earth layers)
Carolus Linnaeus (the father of biological
classification)
Georges Cuvier (the founder of comparative anatomy)
Matthew Maury (the founder of oceanography)
Thomas Anderson (one the pioneers in the field of
organic chemistry)
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