Religion and science.
According to anthropologists and sociologists, the present state of civilization is a halting station in man’s journey to expose the Truth about his own and his environments including all other species that live there. In the course of this journey, the man started from myth. The second step in this course was magic, the third religion and now the age of science. According to E.O James, in his Myth and Ritual in the near east, myth is ‘not aetiological but fidejussive’. Its business is not to satisfy curiosity but to confirm faith. It is there to cater, not for the speculative man with his ‘why?’ but for the practical man with his ‘How if not thus?’
From age of myth man entered into age of magic to which even the Holy Quran bears witness. In the story of Musa (A.S) and Samry for example Samry would throw his rope which would become a serpent and Musa would throw his rod which would become a cobra and devour the serpent. Musa was also an heir to school of Ibrahim (The ancestor of prophets). In that story of Ibrahim being thrown into pyre and the pyre becoming golden for Ibrahim is also reckoned as a stage of maturity of intellect of mankind when the concept of one man being supreme lord of all others is disproved and the supreme authority of God, the Creator and the Master of entire universe, is introduced. Even though man successfully travelled from myth to magic and from magic to religion, yet the imprints of myth and magic did not leave traces on human intellect. It is also reflected in the Quran when it requires man to seek Divine protection against sorcery in last but one Surah of Quran (Surah Falak).
The Quran which is the last word of Creator for guidance of mankind always invites man to ponder about natural phenomena and to conquer the same. It does not, like other religions, intimidates mankind from natural phenomena like Sun, moon and galaxies or winds storms and delude. The Quran also encourages man to explore oceans and what lies in their bottoms and to expose the power and mystery of mountains.
In such circumstances when we look into niceties of our religion and requirements of our religion, we cannot say that there is any inconsistency or rivalry between religion and science. However, being cognizant of man’s desire and craze to become supreme, he does have a tendency to be licentious, therefore; it commands man to remain within limits and not to be detrimental to other species. Islam requires man to work for virtue and abhor vice. It draws a line between Khayr(Virtue) and Shar(Vice), thus if the modern scientists would not have crossed such limits, the threat posed to humanity and other species and the hand of modern scientific progress would not have happened.
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