Science and Religion

From the sixteenth century to the present time, men of the cloth or men of religious conviction have put forth scientific concepts, which were not always popular in religious circles. If these ideas had been successfully suppressed, Modern Western Society would not be as it is today.

Nicolaus Copernicus was born in 1473 and lived until 1543. He was a Polish Catholic cleric, mathematician and astronomer; he is credited with putting forth the concept, of the planets revolving around the sun. Both Greek and Islamic astronomers influenced his work. The church did not attack his work at first. Galileo Galilei, renowned for his work in physics, mathematics and astronomy (father of modern science), supported Copernicus's theory. Galileo an Italian was born in 1564 and died in 1642. Even though he was a Roman Catholic, he advocated scientific ideas that were contradictory with church doctrine. His scientific work brought him criticism by the Catholic Church. Near the end of his life, he was put on trial for heresy. But the noble ideas of Man and Science prevailed. Georges Lemaitre (1894-1966) developed the modern day Big Bang Theory (the Universe started as an explosion of energy, space, time, and matter). Lemaitre was a Belgian mathematician and Catholic priest.

Man's advancements of science and his personal religious beliefs can coexist. Because of Science, modern technology has transformed Mankind. Science and the concept of Democracy have freed man from the past and oppression.

But the world finds itself in two camps, the clash of the Muslim world with the non-Muslim world. But like in the sixteenth century, there is a beacon of hope. A Pakistani Scientist by the name of Dr. Pervez Amirali Hoodbhoy, published an article entitled "Science and the Islamic world-The quest for rapprochement" (August 2, 2007). From the perspective of a Muslim Scientist, he addresses the relationship between today's Science and Islam. He speaks of the Golden Age of Islam, from the ninth to the thirteenth century. The Golden Age of Islam brought about major advances in the sciences, mathematics and medicine. Algebra, principles of optics, the human body’s circulation of blood, the naming of stars and the creation of schools of higher learning, were the results of Islam. He asks what will it take to bring science back into today’s Islamic world? He remarks, that it will require behavioral changes in Islamic philosophy and attitude. He further states, that the battle to reinstall Science will require a wider struggle, to replace non-compromising orthodoxy with modern thought, philosophy, the arts, pluralism and democracy.

Speaking on my behalf, maybe this Jihad or struggle (for Science and the positive changes it brings about), will replace the Jihad of war, conquest and conversion. Maybe other voices of moderation exist in Islam, maybe the Islamic world and the non-Islamic world can co-exist. With temperance for all beliefs and nonbelievers.