Modern Science and Islamic Essential Ism

7/31/2019 Modern Science and Islamic Essential Ism

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Modern Science and Islamic EssentialismAuthor(s): S. Irfan HabibReviewed work(s):Source: Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 43, No. 36 (Sep. 6 - 12, 2008), pp. 55-61Published by: Economic and Political WeeklyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40277927 .

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Modern Science and Islamic EssentialismS IRFANHABIBEarlyMuslim ivilisationas open to criticalhinking,reason ndconsequentlycceptedeclecticismthat ncluded cientificbservation ndtheory.ncontrast he slamic undamentalistsaverejected hiseclecticismnd havefavoured closedand inwardlookingworld iew hatrestrictstselfo a literalistreadingndunderstandingf heQuran.A trend astaken hapeto "Islamicise"cience,which ees modernscience ntitheticalo Islam nd hasdeterioratedntoobscurantism.hishasonly esultedn hevandalisationof hecore difices f slam,which xhorttsbelieversoconstantlyeekknowledge.

may oundbanal tosaythat cience n slamwas part fpluralistroject.t oaredduring period,whichwas markedby he tate-sponsoredree hinkingndborrowingromllpossible ources vailable at the time Lindberg 983: 202-03].Nobody an dispute hefact hat heearlyMuslim ivilisationwasheir oa rich nd diverse ntellectualtock Greek,ndianandPersian accomplishing unique synthesisf deas in allbranches fknowledge. onGrunebaumscertainlyightn ay-ing hat he stupendousise f his ivilisation etween 50and950 ad was the result f thespontaneous ollaboration f thebestminds fall theempire's ationalities"Grunebaum953].The interminglingfcultures, isciplinesndpeoples' ontrib-uted to the nternationalityf slamic cience Lindberg 978].Abdus alam, heNobel aureate lso hadan"ecumenicalictureof cience"n mindwhenhewroten1988, My wnviewhasal-ways eenthat ciences the hared reationnd ointheritagefall mankindnd that s along s a society ncouragest, ciencewillcontinueo flourishnthat ociety"Hasanand Lai 1984].This can also be an effectiventidote, sing he xpressionromJJClarke,to heEurocentricarrownessf ntellectualistorio-graphy",dominantaradigm uringhepastfew enturies.t sthis ross-civilisationalerspectivehatwillhelp odisplace hereigningmyth f "Greekmiracle" nd not the essentialist is-tancing rommodern cience.Thescientificfflorescencef he8th to 13th enturywas possiblebecause reason and criticalthinking erecentral o slam.Theprophet imselfeft ehindseveral fhissayings'hadises')where earch ndpromotionfknowledgeookprecedence verreligious ituals. may gaintake recourse o an oft-quotedaying f theprophet hereheexhortedhebelieverso"seekknowledgevenuntoChina".1etmeremindhepresent ay slamistshat he ixth/seventhen-tury hinahad neitherMuslims or nyreligiousmadrasa;how-everChinawas the foremostentre fscientificearning.2heprophetf slam onsciouslyncouragedhebelievers oborrowideas and expandthe horizon fknowledge rom ll possiblesources.He even said once that"he who travels n search ofknowledge,ohimgod shows thewaytoparadise".3 e neverqualifiedhat ne has to travel nlywithin arul slam nd notelsewhere. here s no instancewhere heprophetnsists hatQuranhas to be theonly ource of scientificnowledge. hefinalityeing spoused oday ame nfrom th enturynwards,when free hinkersikeMutazilitesost totheAsharitesedbynone ther hanAl-Ghazali. his edtoa decisive reak etweenthe wophasesof slam one,an early hasewhere clecticismwas thespiritwhilethe latterphasewas marked yclosure,wherenwardookingslamwasprojecteds the rue ace f hereligion.t sunfortunatehat his atter hase sbeingglorified,

Thispaperwaspresentedn tsdifferentersionsttheUniversityofHyderabad,EHSEIS,Paris,MITatCambridgend theUniversityofWisconsintMadison, nited tates, uringhepasttwoyears.thank ll theparticipantsor heir ommentsndsuggestions.amparticularlyratefulo Karine hemla, verettMendelssohn,ervezHoodbhoy,onaldNumbers,tluriMurali, hruvRaina andMichelPaty. am alsogratefulo two nonymouseferees f hisournalfortheiromments.S Irfan abib [email protected])s atNISTADS,New Delhi.EconomiePoliticaleekly GEES September6, 2008 55


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SPECIAL ARTICLE - and Islamic ivilisation,ncludingtsscience, s being proudlyprojecteds a monolith,olely ependentnQuranic evelation.Today's undamentalistsakea deliberatelyntiquated tance:either cientificbservationndtheorymust e made tofit heunalterable extofscriptures,r itmustbe shown hatthosescripturesnticipated odern cientificindings. iven hat heQurandid not nticipatercannotegitimate anymodern is-coveries,tbecomes ecessaryo disaffirmhosediscoveries,ndto divide cience tselflong ulturalines; hat s, ofabricatenIslamic cienceconsistent ith the Quran in opposition o a"western" cienceunsuitable or slamicsocietiesbecause itsepistemologys basically in conflictwith the Islamicview[Kaiw.ar 992].Suffocatingrom he oss ofpluralismndpro-gressive hought, hichwere distinctiveraits ftheMuslimpast,howlongwill theglobalMuslim ommunity'ummah')continue o sufferfterhe foreclosurefthegatesof reasonedargument'ijtihad') millenniumgo? [Anees2001].We havereached pointwhere omeofus areready o disown urpast;the contributionsfbelievers rebeing hrown ut s works fheretics. iteralism as so profoundlyaken overa section fMuslim cholarshat hey reready o rewriteheir istoryf ci-ence n he ightf his ll-conceivedslam.SyedAhmad Khan'sReformistMovementI want o discuss he ttemptsf ne uchgroup alled heMuslimAssociation or heAdvancement f Science (maas) based inAligarh. t is an irony hat such an exercise s beingcarriedoutfrom ligarh, centre fMuslim eformnd modernisationledbySyedAhmadKhan n the19th entury. e aimed tturn-ing"outfree-spirited,ntellectuallyccomplished,motionallymaturegenerationsf youngMuslimswhose self-definitionswould reflectiberationromhe control freligiousndtradi-tional ources f oyaltynd an unchallengedommitmentosuchunderlyingeaturesfmodernisms science ndthe dealofprogress"Hasan2004]. SyedAhmadKhancountereduchforces uring ismovementndtried ard oconveyhat thereisnot single ationntheworldwhich cquired xcellence,ma-terialprogress,nd spiritual appiness ntirelyyvirtue f tsownefforts"Habib 000]. SyedAhmadKhanfelthat rejudiceCtaassub') ndprogressouldnotgo together. unshi akaul-lah, close ssociate fSyedAhmadKhan nda mathematicianwas of heviewthat the arlyMuslimsArabs)didnothesitateto earn romthers. hey ccepted on-Muslimsnd non-Arabsas their eachers nd throughheir nventionnd researches[sic]; hey xpanded hefrontiersfknowledgendachieved heprivilegefbeing eacherso other ommunities."yedAhmad'sreformistovementrom ligarh utforth refreshinglyod-ern nterpretationfQuranic erses,which, espiteomeopposi-tionfromheorthodoxlama,was accepted yMuslims y ndlarge.Themultipleeadings f theQuranweremuchmore c-ceptablenthe19th enturyhan n the21st enturyoday. heearlymodernistsikeMaulviKaramatAli,whopreceded yedAhmad, ouldcomfortablyeconcileslamwithmodern cienceanddid not ee any ntagonismetween hetwo Habib2004].The 19th enturyntellectualsnd religiouseaders onfrontedthe ituation here he vangelicalsnd theEast ndiaCompany

officiais ereusingmodern cience oundermineocalreligiousbeliefs bothMuslim s well as Hindu.Bythe endofthe19thcenturyhey eckonedwith hefutilityf heenterpriseRainaandHabib2004;Gosling 976]. nfact,hefirstenerationf n-dian scientistsnd intellectualsfa relativelyrogressiveer-suasionegitimatedhepursuitfmoderncience yneutralisingthe deathatmodern ciencewas western. ordoing o they r-guedthatwhile ciencewas morallyworthwhilend economi-cally eneficial,his cience evealed ousthe aws hat overnedthe xternal orld. ut herewasanothercience hat he asternreligionsadgrasped hat evealed o usthe nnerworld fman.Thisdualseparationfthetworealms nabled hem oprotectsciencefrom eligionnd to shield heir wn culture romheculturalmperialismf he olonisersRaina2003].Colonial PresenceWe also need tokeep nmind hatmost fthesereformersndmodernists,hoespoused he auseofmoderncience, erenotscientistshemselvesnd quitea fewwerenot eventrainednwesternducation. heneedtoacquirenewknowledge,ackofwhichwas heldresponsibleor olonial ubjugation,ecamebattle ry or ll 19th entury roups xcept small ection f heulamawho alled or he evivalf he slamicpiritualnd thicalnorms.MunshiZakaullahavowedwhile attendingheDelhiDurbar hathe felt egradedbybowingbefore foreignulerandturningoMuslim ule nSpainwhenCordoba mergeds acentre f ight ndlearning. ewould ay:"We reasking ackfrom urope oday omepaymentor hedebtyouoweto usonaccount fwhatwedid for ou ntheMiddleAges. tudentsromOxfordndCambridgesedtogotoSpain o earn rom sscienceandmathematics;owwe cometoyou nstead"Hasan2005].Here Zakaullah did notmerely xpresshis discomfort ithcolonialism uthe also made a profoundtatementbouthisnotion fknowledge, uite t oddswith hepresent ayunder-standing, hichwas succinctlyutbyhisfriendndbiographerC F Andrewsn thefollowing ords: Therewas more hankindly umourn such phrase; herewastherecognitionf hetruth,hatknowledgesa universal ossession, owheldbyonerace,nowheldbyanother or hegoodofall" [Andrews911].Now he ameengagement ithmodernciencesbeing ubbedas the colonised iscourse" y ome cholars.na recent ork,Muzaffarqbalgoes nto he arly ears f slam o concludehat"unlikehe slam nd sciencenexus hat addeveloped aturallyin theeighth entury.thenewdiscourses strained,abouredand carries heburden ssigned o slam n thediscourse:he e-gitimisationf hemodernists'genda" Iqbal2002].And his snottrueof slamists lone,we have ourownanti-modernists,whofindmodern ciencedevilish nd against hevery piritfIndian ivilisation.ikeMuzaffarqbal, hey lsoendupdubbingscientistsike JC Bose as colonisedminds Nandy 995]- heirony ftheir bsessionwithcolonialism,he"West" nd the"imperialismf ategories"sthat heir roject rantsoomuchpowero he erydeas nd nstitutionshat hey ant ochallenge[Baber 006].AkeelBilgrami'seferenceo the neuroticbses-sionwith hewesternndcolonial eterminationf heir resentcondition"nd hisremark hat itwillprove final ictoryor

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imperialismhat fter ll the humiliationsthas visited..., tlingerednourpsychesnthe ormfgenuineelf-understandingto make self-criticismnd free, nreactivegency mpossible"[Baber2006], althoughmade in a differentontext,s notirrelevantor hekind fprojectqbalandothers ave mbarkedupon. here sno doubt bout hefact hat olonial resenceon-ditionedmost f theresponses utthatdoes not meanthat tcannot e viewedon itsown terms nd each timewe raise theissue of cience nd Islamwe need to getbacktothe so-calledgolden geof ciencen slam almost millenniumpart romeach other.t sallpart fhistoryhatmost f henon-Europeancultures ere n thedefensive hen t ametoconfrontingost-Enlightenmenturope nd colonisationurtherlosed ts ptions.Eventoday, hepost-colonialslamic societies re facedwithsomereal as well as perceived estern ultural nd intellectualhegemonisation.his sbeingmisused y ome deologues f s-lamic cience o dub modern cience s partofthe evilcolonialbaggage obe accepted tyour wnperil.For hemmodern ci-ence san epistemologicals wellas cultural reak romn ear-lierunadulteratedslamicpast.4Fortheproponents f slamicscience,moderncience isnotuniversallyerifiableor ts elfimposed mpiricalimitationsut t outside hepale ofa uni-fied ystem fknowledge"Aneesand Davies 1988: 249-60].They indt subjectiveatherhanobjectiveince t s colouredwith he ocial,cultural ndhistorical alues of hesociety ywhich t s manufacturednd distributed"ibid).Thisis theircritique f the Eurocentric istoryfscience, nd Islamic ci-ence s proposed s an alternativeo modern cience, ecausemoderncience sembedded na particularulture ndepiste-mology ot ompatible ith slamic alues. Thisparticularul-turehas thrown p an exploitativend unethical cience ndIslamic ciencefor hem s a valid alternative o this monstercalledmodern cience. t s a tragic act fhistoryhatmoderntechnoscienceasbeen an active gent n theglobalEuropeanconquest,whichhasbrought evastating onsequences orna-ture swell as for olonised ultures. n this ount, riticismfmoderncience snothing ew;ratherthasgrown rom ithinsciencetself. owever his ectarian, eligion nspiredriticismofmodern cience idespiggybackn somevalidcritiques f t.Theprojectsikethe MuslimAssociation or he AdvancementofScience s one suchcritique,which s inspired yan antipa-thy owardsmodern cience, eenbythem s western cienceinspiredyChristiandealsand values.Effects fthe IranianRevolutionThe1980s awa shiftnglobal slamic oliticss wellas its elf-perceptionnd themajorcause for hischangewas the1979Islamic evolutionn ran.ForZiauddin ardar the eginningfthe1980s,with pec power t itspeak,the ranianrevolutionand a growingonsciousnessn Muslim ocieties f heir ulturalidentity,asa period fparticularptimismntheMuslim orld"[Sardar 2004]. It unleashedan aggressive earchfor slamicidentitynall spheres f ife, nd also thefoundingf slamicessentialistnstitutionsndplatformsn ciences s well s socialsciences.smailRFaruqi,n eminentrofessorf slamic tudiestTempleUniversitynPhiladelphia,nitiated movementmong

Muslimcholars o slamiseknowledge. number fSaudibusi-nessmen ame forward ith $ 25million ndowmentoestab-lishthe nternationalnstitute f slamicThoughthit) in1981and thefollowing earFaruqipublished ismanifesto:Islami-sation fKnowledge: eneral rinciplesndWorkplan*.he nextstepwas the aunchingf heAmerican ournalf slamic ocialSciencesm1984.M ZakiKirmani, howasthe ll-India residentof he tudentsslamicMovementf ndia simi) ill 981, oundedtheCentre or tudies nScience csos) in1982 tAligarh,longwith hosewhothought Islamically"bout cience nd relatedissues.Thiswas followed ytheformationfmaas in1983forcultivatingimilar deas amongworking cientists. irmani'smajornitiativeame n1985whenhe started ublishinghemaasJournalf slamic cience nd remained ts ditorill1998.1haveused somerepresentativeamples f he ournalformy nalysisin thispaper,picking fewfrom achdecade,beginningromthemid-1980s fthe astcentury. irmani's rimemotivation,inhis own wordswas tovisualise"a strong hilosophicalndsociologicalbase for cience,which could be developed ndarticulatedn thebasisof heQuranic houghts".HNasr pokeabout t n1987 tthemitMuslim tudents ssociation,ailingt"as a unique nstitutionounded y20 or 30 scientists....howantto absorb, irst,slamicscience,thento absorbwesternsciencewell".5Nasr ven declared hatmaas has beenfoundedat the initiative f theAligarhUniversity,hichhe calls the"major slamicuniversity hose Islamicitys nowverymuchthreatened".he statementsre misleading; eithermaas hasanythingodowith heuniversityor s t n Islamic niversity.amu is a secular nstitution,rimarilyimedat the educationandprogressf heMuslim ommunity,et pen o all. Aperusalof omeof he ssuesof is makes tclearthat heobjectivewasnotreally o absorb Islamic cience" r"westerncience" ut oarticulaten epistemologicallyistinctategoryalled "Islamicscience". Utopia, hich xists nlynthe maginationf ts ro-tagonists. owZiauddin ardar lso seems to be disenchantedwith the "Muslim ptimism" fthe 1980s. He had imaginedthat his ultural evivalwouldwork owards emanding,thatthehistoryfscience nMuslim ivilisation as given ts dueimportancendrightfullace inthe overall cheme f thehis-tory f science".However, heearly1990ssaw a definitehiftawayfrom ardar'shopesand "towardsmore bscurantistnddangerousirections.he slamic ciencediscourse owfollowstheway f heTaliban" Sardar 004].The ssues f is arerepletewith rticlesmaginingIslamic cience" s a viable lternativetomoderncience Kirmani990].islamic Science'I would ike to beginwithSeyyedHosseinNasr,whowrotepiece none oftheearly ssues oftheJournal f slamic ciencetitledIslamic cience ndWestern cience:CommonHeritage,DiverseDestinies'.He beginsbyhighlightingheearly nherit-ances of slam from iversecultures ikeGreek ciences ndphilosophy, assanid astronomynd pharmacology,ndiansciences, speciallymedicine,stronomyndmathematics,tc.They lso obtainedknowledge fcertain spects fBabyloniansciencehatwere ot ven ransmittedo heGreeksNasr 987: 2].

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SPECIAL ARTICLE = -Not ll ofthese trands fthe ciences fantiquityeached heChristian est.But hefact emains hatbothwereheirs o thesciencesf he ameworld nd heir nowledgef henaturalrder,concept f aw,causalityndgeneral osmologyrewfrom hesamesources lthoughachdeveloped hese nheritedonceptsdifferentlyibid). This diverse nheritancewas imbibed ndfurthereveloped y cholars nder hegazeof hevibrant ewfound aith. ill fewyears go, itwas a widely cceptedbeliefthat he slamic ivilisation erelyranslatedheGreek cientificknowledgentoArabic ndtransmittedttoEurope,tsrightfulinheritor,tthe pportunemoment. asr ndothersre ustifiedin questioninghe Eurocentrismehind thiserroneous elief;however,t hould e concededhat slamic ivilisationmproved,perfectednd developedthe receivedknowledgewithin heparametersf vailable ompetence. oone civilisationas everperfected nowledgenthepast. slamplayed ts rucial ole ntransmittinghe cientificnowledgethasperfected,hichwasenthusiasticallyeceivednthewest nd furthereveloped,ead-ingtothebirth f modern cience.Nasr and otherswhotry omake qualitativeistinctionetween he cience uringhe s-lamic hase ndthe atermodern cience hould lso make dis-tinction etween slamic ndpre-Islamicnowledge.fwe con-cedewith omepride hatknowledge ent hrough qualitativechange fterslamicntervention,henwe should epsychologi-cally ndhistoricallyrepared oaccept hat hewestplayedsimilar ole nadvancinghe cientificnowledgehey ad bor-rowed romslam. nstead,cholars ikeNasrget nto heologicalniceties oemphasisehedivergenceetween heearly cienceunder slam andthe atermodern cienceunderChristianity.Nasr lmost alorises he fact hat slamor Chinadid notpro-ducea DescartesorGalileobutEuropedid,which ed to thedestructionf thevision f raditionalosmos n thewest ndwhichblindedwesternman to thecomparativealue ofwhatwas lost and what was gained in thatprocesswhichtrans-formed uropefrom he and oftraditional hristian ivilisa-tion othecitadel f hefirst ivilisationn historicimes asedon thenegation fthe traditionalworldview" (ibid: 13-14)-However,his haracterisationsnotwhollyrue.We know hata largemajority f contributorso sciencewere professingChristians.Eventoday, ccording oa recent urvey, pproxi-mately0 per ent fAmerican cientistsrofess eliefn "a godto whomonemaypray nexpectationfreceivingn answer"[LindbergndNumbers 003: 1-2].) feelNasr shouldkeep nmind he radical hiftwithinslam,from th/i2thenturyn-wards, oth heologicalswellas political, shift hichwas nomore onducive o independenthinking. his does notmeanthat cience eased to exist n the slamicworld;however hefocus urelyhiftedowards hedefence f he o-called slamicsciences is-a-vishe awail'sciences foreignciences).Gettinginto hilosophicalndtheological elusionswill nothelp o dis-placeEurocentrism,eigningince heheydaysf mperialistx-pansion.Wehavetoreadthe nextpaper nthe is tofind owdeplorablend suicidal sthepathbeing readed y omeof heIslamic cholars.Thearticles titledPreface o slamic cience' ndbegins yproclaiming ost f he ontributorso the slamic olden geof

science s heretics, ho wereeitherMutazilites'free hinkers)or gnostics. aleemur ehman urtherays:Many fthem tudied ndpractisedmusic...Al-Razi id notbelieveinrevelations.arabi epended npurereason andnot hariyah)ordiscriminatingetweengood and bad.Al-Kindi enieddivine ttri-butes. bn-Sina id notbelieve nMaadJismaniresurrectionf hebody)... here was gradual oss of Islamicvalues from hesociety[Rehman 987: 5-56].He finds t regrettablehat "no two Muslimphilosophersagreedwith achother s far s source fknowledge ere on-cerned.For each ofthem he sourceofknowledgewas differ-ent...."Rehmans notprepared o concede hat t sthis iversityof he arlyslamic ivilisation,hich nabled t o contributeorichlyo he umulativerowthfmodern cience.Healso refersto ome f he arly ommentatorsmufassereen')fQuranwhocommittedrave rrors y aying hat here sa rivernthe kyfromwhere heclouds collectwater nd bring t to the earth(ibid).He concludes hatMuslim cience f l-Kindi tal was aproductf uchchaotic imes nd informationollution, hichcouldhardlye called ciencewith slamicnspiration.here sno

disagreementere, he arlycientistsf slamic ivilisationereneitherooking or nythingxclusivelyslamic ntheir ciencenortheyhad anythingo do with theweirdcommentariesfQuran referred o above. Some of the earlycommentators(mufassereen)fQuranhave doneseriousdamagebyreadingscience n theQuran and this exercisecontinues vennow.However,am more oncernedbout he informationollution"causedby omeMuslimcientists,otmerely y ommentatorsftheQuran,whowant oharnesshe irepowerfjinns'o olve heenergyrisisodayHoodbhoy991]. hepaper dvisesthose hoareresponsibleor haping he sciencebasedon Islamic aluesshould everyareful ot obasetheirpistemologyndmethodo-logy n the xamples erived romheworks fmedievalMuslimscientistsndphilosophers.the slamic cience'structurehouldbasefromhebeginningnQuran nd Sunnah"Rehman 987].The shift eferredo bySardarhad threemaincomponentsandthey re reflectednthepaperspublishednthe is.Thefirstisbased onthefundamentalistdeathat llknowledge,ncludingscientificnowledgeanbe foundn theQuran.This hesis otboostfrom hewell-fundedaudiproject n Scientific iraclesin theQuran'.The secondcomponentanbestbe describedsmysticalundamentalism.ndthe ast stherhetoricf slamicvalues.The isharpsuponthe slamic thics ndmorality ith-outsubstantiatingowthat an be realised n concreteerms.Islamic cience anbeproperlyultivatednly y hose nspiredby hefaith ndvaluesof slam. tsexclusivismecomes bviouswhenRaisAhmad pprovinglyitesAnees ndDavies aying:

Islamic cience s an integral artof slam s a complete ayof ife,the nly rameworkithinwhicht anbedenned; t annot e ncul-cated n solation romhemainstreamf he slamicntellectualndmoral andscape. slamic cience hat ssub-speciesf slam andnotofscience)generates worldviewwithin heoverallframeworkfIslamic alues Ahmad 990].While alkingfmoralityndfaith,am remindedfJawaharlalNehru ho rticulatedhe ossibilityfmoralitynd thicseyondreligiousaith.When eligionsbeing eldupasa unique ource f

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SPECIAARTICLEfaith,we need to remind urselvesthatthereare otherfirm oun-dationsuponwhichwe canbuild moral and ethicalprojects,n bothprivate ndpublic ife. .Inourownrecenthistory,here sperhapsno betterpracticalinstance of the effort o find a non-religiousbedrock formorality hanthatof Nehru himself Khilnani2002].Explaininghisposition n faith,Nehruwrote to Gandhi n1933:

Religions not amiliarroundorme, nd as I havegrown lder,havedefinitelyriftedwayfromt. have omethinglse n tsplace, ome-thinglder hanust ntellectndreason,which ivesmestrengthndhope.Apart rom his ndefinablend ndefiniterge,whichmayhavejusta tinge freligionn t andyet swholly ifferentromt, havegrownntirelyorelyn theworkingsf hemind. erhapsheyreweaksupportsorelypon, ut earch,s will; can ee nobetternes ibid).

Modernist ReformersAnotherrotagonistf slamic cience, WA Husaini,goesastepfurthery rejectinghe term slamic cience n favour fSharriyahcience ndpleads hat hariah ules eappliedwhereit is applicable n the acquisition f rationalknowledge.Heproposes hedevelopmentfShariyyah hilosophyfscience,Shariyyah istory f science,Shariyyah ociologyofscienceandShariyyaholicyf cienceHusaini 986]. orhim hariyyahsciencemeant he otal xclusion f omedisciplinesikenumero-logy, lchemyndmusic Husaini 985].Contrast his pproachwiththe19th enturyndian modernist eformernd maulvibasedinCalcutta.MaulviKaramatAH,who was a teacher t amadrasanthe ate19th enturynd alsoanexpertnmusic,ndwhowrotehus nhisbookMakhiz-i-Uloomn1867:

Alas! That urnobility,o devoted omusic, houldhaveneglectedtsofar s not o arryt o hat erfectionhen twouldmelt nd oftenthehuman eart.Had they aken his rouble,twouldhavebecomenecessaryo them odirect heir ttentionowardsmathematics.t sa matterfpain ndregrethat heyhouldhear s well s learnmusicfromgnorantuffoonsp78).Even mamGhazali nthe11th entury evoted chapter nmusic nhis hyaUlwn l-Deenwherehesays hat here ssome-thing rongwith hemanorwomanwhodoes not ikemusic.Hedeclared One who s not movedbymusic s unsound f mindand ntemperate;sfar rompiritualitynd s denser hanbirdsandbeastsbecauseeveryones affectedymelodious ounds"[Joommal 985]. Amongour modernday Islamic scholars,MaulanaAbulKalamAzad has this osayaboutmusic,which sin tark ontrastotheperversionfHusaini ndhis lk:I can lwaysemainappyoing ithouthenecessitiesf ife,utcannotivewithout usic. weet oicestheupportnd ropfmylife, healingormymentalabours.weetmusicsthe ure orllthe lls nd ilmentsfmy odyndheart.6Azadwas awarethat heprophet nlydenounced xcessivemusic rpoetrys corrupting,usic s suchwasnotprohibited.While igginghe renchroundMedinah npreparationor attle,theprophetndhiscompanionsweresinging ongs Bukhari/Muslim).7t is clear thatmusic s an anathemaonlyforthemyopic, igoted, poilsport postlesofself-righteousslam andregrettably,ost f heMuslims ave uccumbed o their iciouscampaigngainst his ignificantulturalxpression.M Riaz Kirmani,hepresentditor f the ournalcomesoutwith nother lternativeerm orslamic cience,whichhe calls

"ilm l-mashiyah"Kirmani987].Hefindshis ermlosero slambut akestfurtherwayfromcience ybringingn he ole f hecreatorndalso acknowledgingther ources fknowledge.hetermmashiyyah"eansAllah'swill othroughilm lmashiyyah"Kirmanintendsocarryut the tudy fAllah'swilloperativenthe ffairsf heuniverse,e tnature r ociety.eaccepts evela-tion s a source,whichmay rovide aradigmsor enerationndapplicationf cienceAhmad 990:26-27].Most f he ssential-ist rojectsre elf-righteous;hey eride he rrogancefmodernscience utdrag heQuran nd Allah ohumble otonly ciencebut lso other eligions.Church oughthebattlewithscience'on falsegroundsnd ost hebattle". TheChurchost hebattlebecausethey ave not thescripturentheoriginal orm".Theypolluted ivine uidancewith actsgainst ruth"Khan 990]. tendswith final tatementhat wehavegot l-Furqan,he rite-rion ofrightndwrong)whichsthe ssence f ll scripturesnoriginalorm", eaning herebyhat llother nowledgendfaithsare mere alsehoods. his o-called slamic ositionsun-Islamicas it acks he slamichumility,hich s thevery ornerstonefQuranicphilosophys well as central o the prophet'swnconduct. heQuranicerm or umilityskhushu. heoppositefhumilitys arrogancekibr nQuranic erminology).heQuranspeaksofSatan iblis)as thearrogantnewhorefusedoobeygod'scommandoshowhumilityowardshecreatures.notherwords, nemay onsider he absenceofhumilityantamountoarrogance, hich s not an angelic, uta satanic ttribute. rro-gancedefinestsownboundaries,oreclosingewpossibilitiesfknowledge. urther,heQuranstates hat rrogance eads totyrannyzulm) Anees 001].Besides, llthis xclusivistxercisesto define ciencenterms fQuranic evelationndAllah's ill, oto undermine hevery nterprisef cience. n Islamic ciencerationalitys notdenied ut ncase of ontradictiont srevelationthatwillprevail ver ationalityRehman 987:54]. nthis ase tis no more hepursuitf heunknownutmerelyhe ediscoveryofknowledge,ncludingcientificnowledge,lready evealedntheQuran ndthe ayingsf heprophet.LackofSymbolic nterpretationNone ofthepresent ay Islamicaficionados are to read theQuran ndpropheticraditionsymbolically,sing heirntelli-gencefor nterpretation,s repeatedlyrged ntheholy ook.Muslims ere ocultivate sacramental r ymbolicttitude:

Verily,nthe reation f heheavens nd of he arth nd the ucces-sionofnightndday nd n the hips hat peed throughhe ea withwhat s useful o man: and nthewaterswhich odsendsdownfromthe ky, ivingife herebyothe arth fter thad been ifeless,ndcausing llmanner f iving reatures omultiplyhereon: nd n thechange f thewinds, nd the loudsthat un heir ppointedoursesbetween ky ndearth: inall this) here remessages ayat) ndeedfor peoplewhouse their eason.8TheQurannowhere nsists or he iteralnterpretationf hetext, athertconstantlytresses heneed for ntelligencendecipheringhe"signs" r"messages" fgod.Muslims re nottoabdicate heir easonbut o ookattheworld ttentivelyndwith uriosity.twas this ttitudehat ater nabledMuslims obuilda fine raditionfnatural cience,whichhasnever eenseen as sucha dangerto religion s in Christianity.9unshiEconomicPolitical eekly 13323 September6, 2008 59


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SPECIALARTICLE - -Zakaullah, 19th enturyndian cholar ndeducationist,lsowrote hatGod asgivenumaneingshe bilityalled easonodiscoverndcomprehendhe ealworld,nd he pplicationf his bilityy hehumaneingseads o he reationf nowledge.10Forhim eason s thefountainheadr ource fknowledge. sa matter ffact, eason s toknowledge hat un s to ight ndeye ovision.11Seyyed osseinNasr egins ne ofhis rticlesn slamand theEnvironmentalrisis' ith nobservationayingWhen ne ooksatthe slamicworld oday,ne seesblatant igns ftheenviron-mentalrisisnnearlyveryountryromhe irpollutionfCairoandTeherano he rosion f hehills fYemeno the eforestationofmany reas fMalaysiandBangladesh"Nasr 990].Butwhyshouldone lookat the Muslimworld lone to locateenviron-mental risis?s thecrisis ny ess n Brazil rMexico, ountrieswith o Muslim opulationt all or n ndia, countryith sub-stantialMuslim opulation? oes religion eallymattern such"secular"rises? find his ssentialisationfthevarious cienceandtechnologyelated risesxtremelyroblematicndquestion-able. Nasr evengoesto theextent fclaiming hat he slamicworld as refusedto urrenderompletelyo thedicta f hema-chine espitehe ttemptf he eaders f hatworld o ntroducewesternechnologys much s and as soon as possible"Nasr1990:33]. t s difficultocomprehendhe slamic orldNasr as nmind. orme all those slamic ationswhich an usepetro-dollarsareunabashedlynjoyinghefruitsf westernechnology".heyhavecertainlyept wayfrom cience nd tsprogressiveoliticsthat heregimesear o ntroduce.t s only he mpoverisheds-lamic egimesfAfricandAsia,who havebeendeprivedfthefruitsfmodernechnologicalevelopments,nd t s sheerack fresourcesnd not slamwhich askept hemway. amsureNasristalkingbout hese slamic ations henhesays hatIslam ontinueso ive sa powerfuleligiousnd piritualorcendits iew fnaturend henaturalnvironmenttill as hold ponthemind nd oul f ts dherentsspeciallyn essmodernisedreasand lso n ome f he eeperttitudesoward atureibid).

Does Nasrhave Islamic ountriesikeAfghanistann mind?Islam is certainly isiblethere n its crudestpossibleformbutwhat bout hebasic menitiesndsecurityf hebelievers.have no doubt hat hewesthastoshare heblamefor hemessbut hatsnot hewhole ruth. heMuslim ntellectualsikeNasrand several thers avepropounded self-righteousorld iewof slam,whichmeans returnothebasics orfundamentalsfIslam. henature,n ts ariousmanifestations,anbesavedfromtherapacityfmoderncience, nly ycategorical istancingsno amount fprotestationn thepartof theMuslimmodernist"will reventhiskind f cience romorrodinghefoundationsof he itadel f slamic aith"Al-Azm 994:116].Endless Warof RhetoricThere s one detailed rticlen oneof the ssuesofthe ournal,which ries ohighlighthe nner ensions nd contrastsf thevarious chools f slamic cience. tbeginswithMaurice ucailleandhisQuranand Hadis centred slamic cience;goes aheadto Waqar Husaini and his Husainism the Islamic science

developed hroughmitative-innovativessimilationfmodernsciencebased onthe haria;next s SeyyedHosseinNasr ndhissufistic,acred ndmysticalslamic cience,ndthe ast mportantschool f slamic cience eferredoby BM Zain sthe jmalist'sview on slamic cience edbyZiauddin ardar Zain1990].Allthese ositionsanbe viewed sa wish ist f he slamicnthusiastswhile he uthoramentsnthe nd ayingmostMuslimcientistsunfortunatelytill subscribe o orbelieve n thispositivistic-universalvalue ree iewonscience ndtechnology"ibid).Thewhole ebateooks ike n endlesswarof hetoricmongMuslimsandagainsthewestwhere rthodoxyndtotalitarianuritanismseems o havewonover eason nd cepticism.The ournal ontinues ith ts earch or n slamic ciencentothe 21st centuryand published a detailed piece calledTowards evelopingslamic cience'n2001 Islam 001:121-36].Itbegins yreiteratinghat an intrinsicart fwesternivilisa-tion sthewesterncience' r moderncience', hichsquite if-ferentromhe cience ractiseduringhegolden ra of slam"(ibid).Nobody andispute hatmoderncience sdifferentromanearlymedievalcience-Islamic,hinese,ndian r ny ther orthatmatter.achcivilisationad ts eminal ole n he rogressfknowledge, hich urocentrismenied hroughhecenturiesfimperialistxpansionnto henon-westernorld.However, ecannot onclude,s the uthor oes n this aper hat the ind fscience hat asbeendevelopedndpractisedn hewest,ppearsas quite ntitheticalndinimicalo slam, nd henceweneedtocall the sciencedevelopedbythe Muslimsnthegolden raofIslam s Islamic cience, ndthepresentcience ervasiven thewest as 'western cience'...." ibid). Likeother rticulatorsfIslamic cience, e alsofails oputforth viable ndconvincingdefinitionf slamic cience,mere laims hatslamic ciencewillbe ableto "meet hephysical,ultural nd spiritual eedsandrequirementsfMuslimocieties"ibid)serves opurpose.Letme end this discussionwith theNobellaureateAbdusSalamandseehowhemanaged o broach hewesternntinomyof cience ndreligion.alamsuccessfullyrgued romconcep-tion thatkeptthe scientificnd religiousdomainsdistinct.Though ll his cientificresentationsegan nthename fAllahyet t was never constraintnhispursuit f science.Salam'sbiographeragjit inghnformssthat or alam

...science ndreligion eferodifferentorlds; eligionothe nnerworld fthe humanmind nd sciencetothe outerworld f matter.Toexplore is nnerworld f soul'andAllahoneneedsfaithndtoexplore he uterworld fmatter,eason Singh 992].On bothscienceas well as religion, ne wouldagreewith

Salam,whowasnot nly successfulcientistut lsoa practisingMuslim nstead f hosewhomisinterpretoth. alam'snotionfilm was notmerely he sacredknowledgeboutgodbutalsoabout heprofane. eratherelievedn theprophet'sxhortationsto seekknowledgevenuntoChina nd not ikeouressentialistinterlocutorsor slamicsciencewhosemyopiadoes nottakethem eyond uran nd Sunnah.Arecenttudy ubs ll 19th enturyeformistxhortationsopursuemoderncience s reductionistecausetheword lmwasconvenientlysed toproduce new strand f slam nd sciencediscourseIqbal2002:244]. nthat ase, s tnot eductionismo60 September6, 2008 EEEQ EconomicPoliticaleekly


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- SPECIAL ARTICLElimitlm omeanmerely nowledgeboutgod? f hatwasso thenwhy id heprophet ake his istinctionnhisfamousayingTolisten othe nstructionsf science nd learningor nehour smore meritorioushanstanding p in prayer ora thousandnights".12heprophetf slam xhortedisnewfoundollowersopursue oth he acred s well s secular nd both he xercises or

himwereultimatelysearch or he ruthfgod.Theconceptfilm rknowledgesbeingmisreadndmisinterpretedy largenumberf slamic cholarsndactivistsodaynthe amemanneras the notion f ihad isbeinghijacked ndtrivialisedy omeIslamicextremists.13othare akin to thevandalisation fthecore difice f slamwhere lm nd ihadoccupied centrallace.

NOTES1 Misbah sh-Shariat,itednAmeer li, he piritfIslam, ewDelhi, 978, irstublishedn1922, 61.2 Needham, oseph,ciencendCivilisationnChi-na,Cambridge,954.This multi-volumengoingprojectwas initiated yNeedham n the1950s,which unfolded he richscientific eritageofChinese ivilisation.3 Jami l-Akhbar,ited nAmeer li, pcit 61, lsoAbuDawud, Bab l-ilm",unanAbuDawud, 634,fromAhmadHasan'stranslation, ahore,1984,AhmadbnHanbal,Musnad,V, 39, stanbul, 992,cited nAlparslan CIKGENC,TheEmergencefScientific radition n Islam* n S M RazaullahAnsari ed),Science ndTechnologyn the slamicWorld,urnhout,elgium, 002, 13.4 Bakar, sman, awhid ndScience, ahore, 998.

Even thispast, perceived s unadulterated, asnotreally o.Thismost ought fter ndpristineIslamic asthad ts llustrious estorianhristian,Jewish, indu, hinesend Buddhistontributors,who were welcomedby the liberalCaliphs ofBaghdad o ngagen he roductionf his orpusofscientificnowledge, hich ater ame to becalled Islamic cience.Todayone tries oforgetor deliberately verlook ts multicultural ndmultireligiousrigins.5 S H Nasr, Islamand ModernScience',http://web.mit.edu/mitmsa/www/NewSite/libstuff/nasr/nasrspeechi.html6 Ghubaar-i-Khatirited n AS KJoommal,Musicand Islam',Al-Balaagh,Vol 28, No 3, August-September003.7 Cited n Is Music Haraam?'Al-Balaagh,Vol 28,No1,February-March003,5.8 Quranicverseas cited nArmstrong, aren,AHistoryfGod, ondon, 999,167-68.9 Ibid, 68.10 Munshi akaullah, harqiUlumkiAbjad Begin-ning f he asternciences), elhi,1900,2.11 Ibid.12 Ameer li, pcit, 62.13 The notion f ihad in slam s not o simple ndeasy s it sbeingmadeout to be to ervenarrowanddeviouspolitical bjectives. ihad nArabicmeans to strive,which has nothing o do withviolence. t sa multilayeredoncept ndnotustone-dimensionals t sbeing rojected.hegreaterjihadorihad-i-akbarsto ontrol ne'sgreed ndselfish esires nd esserihador ihad-i-asgharswarwithwordndefencef slam.

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Baber, Zaheer (2006): Secularism,Communalismand the Intellectuals, hree Essays Collective,NewDelhi, 9-40.Gosling, avid (1976):Science ndReligionn ndia,Madras.Grunebaum,Gustavevon (1953): Medieval slam,Chicago, 01.Habib, S Irfan 2000): 'Reconciling cience withIslam in 19thCenturyndia',ContributionsoIndian ociology,4,1.- (2004): 'Viability f Islamic Science: Some In-sights rom9th enturyndia\ conomic Politi-calWeekly,une .Hasan, Mushirul 2004): FromPluralism oSepara-tism, UP,Delhi, 02.- (2005): AMoralReckoning, uslimntellectualsinNineteenthenturyelhi,OUP,NewDelhi, 1.Hasan,Z andC HLai eds) 1984): deals ndRealities:Selected ssays fAbdus alam,World cientific,Singapore.Hoodbhoy, ervez (1991): Scienceand Islam, ZedBooks, ondon.Husaini, WA (1985):Towards heRebirthndDeve-lopment f Shariyya cience and Technology',Journalf slamic cience, ol1,No2.- (1986): Birth, ecline ndRebirth f slamic ci-enceandTechnology',ournal f slamic cience,Vol2,No 1.Iqbal,Muzaffar2002): Islam and Science,Ashgate,Burlington.Islam,Mohd Saidul (2001):TowardsDevelopings-lamic Science:A Review ndAppraisal', ournalof slamic cience, ol17,Nos1-2, p121-36.Joommal,ASK (1985):Al-Balaagh, upplementoAugust/September.Kaiwar,Vasant (1992): 'Science, Capitalism, nd

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Khilnani, unil (2002): 'Nehru's aith', conomicPoliticalWeekly,ovember0, 1-15.Kirmani,M Riaz (1987): Epistemologicaloundationof slam', ournal f slamic cience, ol3,No 1.Kirmani, aki (1990): 'Editorial', ournal f slamicScience, ol6,No 2.Lindberg, avidC (ed) (1978):SciencentheMiddleAges,UniversityfChicago ress, hicago, 4.- (1983): 'The Transmissionf Greek nd ArabicLearningo theWest' nDavidCLindberged),Sci-encen heMiddle ges, niversityfChicago ress,Chicago, 2-90,also Colin A Ronan 1983),TheCambridgellustratedistoryf heWorld'science,Cambridge niversityress, ambridge,02-03.Lindberg,avidC and RonaldNumberseds) 2003):When cience ndChristianityeet,UniversityfChicago ress, hicago, -2.Nandy,Ashis 1995):Alternativeciences, reativityandAuthenticityn Two ndianScientists, UP,NewDelhi.Nasr, H (1987):Islamic cience nd Westerncience:CommonHeritage, iverseDestinies', ournal fIslamic cience, ol3,No1,January-June,2.- (1990): 'Islam and the Environmental risis',Journal f slamic cience, ol6,No2, 33.Raina,Dhruv 2003): Images ndContext,UP,NewDelhi.Raina,Dhruv ndHabibS Irfan2004): DomesticatingModerncience: SocialHistoryf ciencendCul-turenColonialndia, lilikaublications,ewDelhi.Rehman,M Kaleemur 1987): 'Preface to IslamicScience',ournalfslamiccience,ol ,No1, 5-56.Sardar, iauddin 2004):Desperatelyeekingaradise,Granta, ondon.Singh,Jagjit 1992):AbdusSalam, PenguinBooks,NewDelhi,157.Zain, ShaharirBin Mohammad 1990): 'Modes ofOperations in the Quest of Islamic Science',Journalf slamic cience, ol6,No2.

TheDepartmentf chool Education ndLiteracy, inistryfHRD,invitespplicationsromligible andidates or ppointmento thepost fJoint irector,andit underlalharmaCentralnstitutefVocationalducationPSSCIVE,a nationalesourcenstitutionn hearea of vocational ducation),Bhopal,a constituentnit f theNational ouncil fEducationalResearchandTrainingNCERT)in thepayscale of Rs.16,400-22,400/-lususual allowances sadmissible nder heRules f heCouncil. etails egardingligibilitycriteria,enure, ducational ualifications,xperience, ge limit,application ormat,tc. are given in the ministry'sebsitewww.education.nic.inndNCERT'swebsite www.ncert.nic.in.Applicationompleten llrespects,s statedn he bovewebsites,should each heMinistryatest y 5October 008.

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