Separation of Religion
and Science
It was for the first time in history that the Prophet Muhammad proposed the separation of science from religious belief.
In Srinagar many of my companions have initiated a series of activities for social welfare. One such endeavour is the setting up of a blood bank, which I have been invited to inaugurate. I pray to God to grant success to these philanthropic ventures, strengthen all those involved and bless their noble efforts.
When I was preparing to leave for Srinagar, I happened to meet a gentleman who enquired about the purpose of my travel. I told him that a blood donation camp was being organized and I had been requested to inaugurate it. This gentleman was rather conservative in his views. He asked me if it was at all lawful in Islam to give one’s own blood to another person. I decided to not directly reply to him, however, I continued to ponder over the matter. I was astonished at the degeneration of the present Muslim mindset. They seem to be busy engaged in trying to ascertain the permissibility or impermissibility of something that has already been decided long ago!
It must be borne in mind that Islam had taken a revolutionary step in the seventh century AD. During the lifetime of the Prophet Muhammad an extremely significant event had taken place, which changed the course of entire history. All such questions as the above gentleman asked me are directly related to this incident from the Prophet’s life. Since we are largely unaware of this important event, we are today beset by many unnecessary doubts.
This incident occurred after the Prophet’s migration from Makkah to Madinah. It so happened that one day when he was on his way to some place, the Prophet noticed few men resting on the branches of the date palm tree and engrossed in something. The Prophet’s hometown, Makkah, was a mountainous terrain unfavourable for plantation of trees such as the date palm. Makkan diet thus consisted mostly of meat and milk. On the other hand, since Madinah was suitable for agriculture, dates constituted the dominant part of the diet. When the Prophet saw the local men of Madinah using techniques such as pollination, he became curious and enquired, “What are you all doing?” They replied, “We are transferring pollen from the male part to the female part of the plant.” This method is called ta’bir nakhl in Arabic and “pollination” in English.
It is well known that animals give birth to new offspring through reproduction. Plants also have processes for generating new plants, one among them being sexual reproduction. The male and female parts in plants produce reproductive cells which combine through a process called pollination. Pollination is the mechanism of transferring pollen grains from the anther – male part of a flower, to the stigma – female part of a flower. The resulting fertilization of the female part of the plant gives rise to fruits. Pollination is generally performed by insects, birds and the wind – they help in transferring pollens grains from the male part of the plant to its female part. Humans can also be involved in this process by hand pollination.
When the Prophet witnessed the local residents of Madinah performing pollination in the date palms, he remarked, “If you didn’t do this, it would make no difference.” Hearing this, the locals abandoned the practice. Consequently, the production of dates decreased significantly in the following season. The Prophet passed by these people once again and asked them about the reason for the decline in yield. The people of Madinah informed him that they had been performing pollination for centuries. “Since you discouraged the practice, the produce was affected.” In resignation, the Prophet allowed them to continue with pollination, saying, “You have better knowledge of your worldly affairs.” (Sahih Muslim 2363)
This was neither acknowledgement of ignorance on the Prophet’s part nor an expression of humility, rather the promulgation of a great truth, illustrated in the form of the unique incident quoted above. The Prophet’s statement was an encouragement to separate belief from scientific research. In ancient times, for thousands of years, religious belief was intermingled with knowledge of other disciplines. This is why, any scientific discovery that went contrary to the belief of the religious elite of the time was cruelly suppressed. It was for this reason that the Greek philosopher Socrates was sentenced to death by the religious establishment of his time. Socrates was one of the leading intellectual figures of Greece four hundred years before Christ, but some of his ideas contradicted the tenets of the Athenian government. Consequently, he was forced to consume poison as punishment for corrupting the minds of the youth and for impiety.
From Socrates to Bruner and Galileo, thousands of scholars had done research in different fields of knowledge. They conducted studies in botany, astronomy and other scientific disciplines, but all of them were eventually persecuted. Strong exception was taken to a scholar’s findings that differed from the religious dogma approved by the state or clergy. This is why, many in the past were gagged, imprisoned or even put to death.
It is related that at the time Romans conquered Greece, a reputed scientist and mathematician of the era was preoccupied with finding a solution to a mathematical problem in the desert. Without trial, a Roman soldier instantly beheaded the scientist, fearing that he might arrive at a dictum that went against the Roman religion.
The independent thinking so essential for intellectual progress was repressed, and that was why, the sciences could not flourish in an atmosphere of lack of freedom. On various occasions in history, there have been individuals who conducted valuable research; however, the fate of these researchers was unfortunate, their voice being promptly silenced. It is pertinent to mention here that the inclusion of the digit zero in the numeral system was first conceived in India as early as the 5th century AD. According to this system, a zero after the digit “1” makes 10, two zeros make 100 and three zeros make 1000. However, this numeral system did not receive acclaim until it came to the knowledge of the Abbasids around 8th century AD, who inherited it from the Indians through translations, made original contributions to the field and became instrumental in transmitting it further to Europe.
In earlier times, religious groups were involved in persecuting those who discovered novel ideas. As soon as a new study was learnt of, it would swiftly be stamped out. It was for the first time in history that the Prophet Muhammad proposed the separation of science from religious belief, as is reflected in the above tradition: “You have better knowledge of your worldly affairs.”
Messengers of God come to guide people about the unseen world which will unfold after death. They inform us about the realities of the world Hereafter. They speak about phenomena which can neither be researched on nor observed through our instruments. This is why, these matters are addressed by God’s messengers. However, fields in which one can find answers through experimentation and observation are left to human beings to explore by conducting research.
Since religion and science were not considered separate fields in ancient times, people found it difficult to detach one from another. Consequently, many brilliant minds had to suffer persecution for their discoveries. For instance, Galileo presented the theory that the earth revolved around the sun. While this theory was ostensibly related to celestial bodies, it contradicted a conventional Christian belief. According to this ancient Christian idea, since the Prophet Jesus was the son of God, it was not conceivable that the planet on which he was born should revolve around any other object. To maintain the earth’s singular position as the sacred birthplace of Jesus Christ, it was assumed that all other planets of the solar system and the sun should naturally revolve around the earth.
