Science and Religion
The doctors and nurses who have risked their lives to treat patients have defied these explanations and proved that altruism can be genuine. The idea of selfish self-interest needs revision. John Nash gave the idea that everybody does what’s best for him and the group. Referring to humans as a group, Dawkins think that Selfish Gene has no inherent morals and only has survival instincts. Morality is then just an instrument to achieve survival of the fittest.
In the Islamic framework, there is an emphasis on conservation, preservation and responsible use of resources. There is a discouragement for excessiveness, extravagance, lavishness and wastefulness in the use of resources. These norms are especially needed in the present times to foster a healthy, livable and sustainable ecosystem. In 2019 alone, humans have used up resources for the whole year within 7 months according to World Economic Forum.
Islam and science are not at odds as commonly perceived. According to World Values Survey Sixth Wave results, 32.73% Muslim respondents completely agreed that science and technology are making our lives healthier, easier, and more comfortable as compared to 24.89% others citing the same opinion.
Qur’an is not a book of science. But, to present its basic message, it focuses our attention on different realities, both within our consciousness and in the outside natural phenomena. Modern science has not found any error in Qur’an’s descriptive statements about nature.
In 763, The House of Wisdom was founded in Baghdad. For every translated book, the state used to pay quantity of gold equal to the weight of the book so as to provide state patronage and incentives.
As far as understanding the properties of matter is concerned with the objective of making our lives useful, religion does not oppose science at all. There is no inherent conflict between science and religion if the scope of both science and faith are duly understood and acknowledged. Islamic worldview does not oppose the use of various tools for obtaining useful knowledge and then using that knowledge for material ends both at an individual and at the societal level.
Our outlook to the universe will be different based on the meaning we attach to our relationship with the universe. From Physics perspective, extinction is merely a rearrangement of atoms, even if it happens to millions of humans via nuclear weapons.
It is pertinent to ask what Stephen Hawking also finds perplexing: “We find ourselves in a bewildering world. We want to make sense of what we see around us and to ask: What is the nature of the universe? What is our place in it and where did it and we come from? Why is it the way it is?”
Stephen Hawking has recently died after living a difficult life physically, but one which was highly productive in terms of intellectual journey and contributions. While acknowledging the tremendous value of the contribution of Stephen Hawking in Cosmological Physics, an attempt is made to clarify the limitations of science in exploring the meaning of life.
Animals wake up, find food, eat, sleep and wake up again. As per Atheism, humans are also supposed to have only that same purpose. If I believe in this life only, then as long as I can avoid conflict with material law, control legislation by funding political cronies and muster military and diplomatic strength, I can commit genocide, kill, steal, rob for 50 years of my life and the victims and society cannot do anything unless they gain same power and make me powerless and define a different standard of justice and ethics.
Islamic Economics Project 