“A clumsy and stupid person must be kept away from the seashore, not the proficient swimmer; and a child must be prevented from handling a snake, not the skilled snake-charmer.” we can follow the words of the son-in-law of the Prophet ﷺ: “Don’t know the truth by men. Rather, know the truth and you will know its adherents.”For the issue of science at hand, there are always those who have been lured by the superficial beauty of the worldly life, whether it is in the outward elegance of a philosophy or an experiment and instead of seeing the power of Allah, they become arrogant and think themselves self-sufficient, as though they do not need Him. May Allah protect us all. The Qur’an addresses this issue on countless occasions- see the example of the arrogant man with the garden mentioned in Suratul Kahf (18:32-43), and the owners of the garden mentioned in Suratul-Qalam (68:17-33), and the people of Pharoah for whom neither the heavens nor the earth cried as mentioned in Surah Dukhan (44:17-29). How many people have fallen from greatness and arrogance to utter humiliation and catastrophe? A person may think his intellect is secure, but how many great minds have been unable to produce as a result of disease or brain injury or societal upheaval or any number of other reasons that change one’s life drastically? At every generation, the strong and the arrogant corrupters think none has more power and knowledge than they, but so did every one from past generations, and now they are lost, forgotten, irrelevant. Allah asks us in Surah Maryam, verse 98: “And how many generations have We destroyed before them! Do you find any trace of them, or hear from them a sound?” (a transl. of meaning from A.Zidan and D.Zidan)And the story of Qarun provides a clear warning, not only of Qarun, but those who admired him, in Suratul Qasas: 76. Qarun was doubtless, of the people of Moses; but he acted insolently towards them: such were the treasures We had bestowed on him that their very keys would have been a burden to a body of strong men, behold, his people said to him: “Exult not, for Allah loveth not those who exult (in riches). 77. “But seek, with the (wealth) which Allah has bestowed on thee, the Home of the Hereafter, nor forget thy portion in this world: but do thou good, as Allah has been good to thee, and seek not (occasions for) mischief in the land: for Allah loves not those who do mischief.” 78. He said: “This has been given to me because of a certain knowledge which I have.” Did he not know that Allah had destroyed, before him, (whole) generations,- which were superior to him in strength and greater in the amount (of riches) they had collected? but the wicked are not called (immediately) to account for their sins. 79. So he went forth among his people in the (pride of his wordly) glitter. Said those whose aim is the Life of this World: “Oh! that we had the like of what Qarun has got! for he is truly a lord of mighty good fortune!” 80. But those who had been granted (true) knowledge said: “Alas for you! The reward of Allah (in the Hereafter) is best for those who believe and work righteousness: but this none shall attain, save those who steadfastly persevere (in good).” 81. Then We caused the earth to swallow up him and his house; and he had not (the least little) party to help him against Allah, nor could he defend himself. 82. And those who had envied his position the day before began to say on the morrow: “Ah! it is indeed Allah Who enlarges the provision or restricts it, to any of His servants He pleases! had it not been that Allah was gracious to us, He could have caused the earth to swallow us up! Ah! those who reject Allah will assuredly never prosper.” 83. That Home of the Hereafter We shall give to those who intend not high- handedness or mischief on earth: and the end is (best) for the righteous. (trans. of meaning of Suratul Qasas, 28:76-83, ) I remember once a modern scientist said that the only reason so many scientists of the past such as Newton believed in God was because whenever they didn’t know what the cause of something was, they attributed it to God. Ignoring for a moment just how this man can claim to know the real reason for the faith of Newton and others, the argument does not hold for a number reasons, as even today, many scientists, including some of the giants such as Einstein, believe in a Creator. In fact, regardless of a person’s belief, the reality remains that the greatest, most respected scientists usually are the first to admit how little they understand of the universe or the human body for example. Arrogance is often seen in the young scientists and those who feel they have something to prove. Generally, the more a person knows, the more humble they become. Additionally, in the default case, the beauties in mathematics and the sciences should take a person to God. We are surrounded by profound questions such as why the laws of the universe are the way they are, and how random arrangements of amino acids formed functional proteins within the lifetime of the universe given the more than astronomical number of possible combinations? The fact that we think we have come close to understanding some topics should not lead to any arrogance. Imagine if a modern car was shown to the 15th century. First off, the scientists would never say this was not designed, it just “happened.” Those who did would appear literally foolish to us in the 21st century. And if over time, those 15th century scientists managed to figure out most of how a car operates, would they then say, now that we know how it works, there is no need for a designer to have made this car. This would also appear literally absurd for the inventors in the 21st century. So how can today, we see the world around us, and claim it all came out of nowhere somehow going against basic intuition, even basic thermodynamics and Newton’s laws. Science itself is based on the assumption that things don’t just “happen,” there must be forces, laws, principles guiding action that need to be searched, but the atheist takes science and then for its most profound questions, says the answers to these questions are just chance, random, and there is no need to look further. The man does not doubt the truth of a million things when it comes to his daily life or his experiments because it would be impractical, unsustainable, and unnecessary, but when it comes to the greatest Truth, Al-Haq, Allah, he begins to have incessant doubts. Such is the plot of shaitan and the nafs that realizes the truth but does not want what follows a realization of the truth–submission. The implications for recognizing the greatest Truth are truly great. Most people from the scientist to the plumber today chose to ignore the obvious signs and not to think too deeply about such matters, but the reflecting mind realizes quickly that the distractions of power, wealth, and intellect do not last, and do not save. Writers often delve deep into such thoughts, and much of human literature is devoted to the tragedy and search for meaning in life. In Tolstoy’s The Death of Ivan Ilyich, one of the greatest short stories in world literature, the famous judge on his deathbed realizes what a waste his life has been, and screams for three days. Man is weak, and without something to hold onto, without Allah’s guidance, there is nothing but darkness. “And those who disbelieve, their deeds are as a mirage in a levelled desert, which the thirsty one deems to be water, until he reaches it, he finds nothing, but he finds GOD there, and He pays him his account in full, and GOD is swift in reckoning. Or like the depths of darkness in a vast ocean, overwhelmed with billows, topped by billows, topped by clouds, layers of utter darkness, one above another, when he puts out his hand, he can hardly see it, and whoever GOD does not assign a light, no light has he. ” Trans. of meaning of Surah Nur 39-40
Posted on: Mon, 16 Sep 2013 12:47:25 +0000