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Religion and Modern Doubts

Science extends and enriches our lives, expands our imagination and liberates us from the bonds of ignorance and superstition. The endorsing societies wish to affirm the precepts of modern science that are responsible for its success.

Science is the systematic enterprise of gathering knowledge about the universe and organizing and condensing that knowledge into testable laws and theories.

The success and credibility of science is anchored in the willingness of scientists to:

1. Expose their ideas and results to independent testing and replication by other scientists. This requires the complete and open exchange of data, procedures and materials, And

2. Abandon or modify previously accepted conclusions when confronted with more complete or reliable experimental or observational evidence.

Adherence to these principles provides a mechanism for self-correction that is the foundation of the credibility of science.

In short, Science can be termed a result of vast experiences and experiments by all that can be perceived by the five senses that are gifted to man by the Creator.

This knowledge which is a result of human analysis in accordance to the capacity of the human mind has progressed to such an extent in the past that man can boast to create his exact clone. Does that mean that he is the only superior being on the face of Earth or let’s says the entire universe? Or is there a superior being that has endowed upon man such brilliance to think. Syedna Taher Saifuddin (RA) has stated in one of his Rasail Sharifah that the human spirit has such vast capacities that it can subjugate the universe. Where did such extraordinary powers come from?

None can deny that there is a creator who is behind such magnificent creation, the human intellect. Syedna Hamiduddin al-Kirmani (RA) has written that a simple table and chair need a carpenter to built it, then why not the universe. If things came into existence by it own means why did the sun choose to shine by its own light while the moon is illuminated by the suns rays? Questions such as these are never meant to be answered by the human mind or intellect, which is in need of an external and eternal noor to ignite it, just as the moon is in need of the sun’s rays. These questions can only be answered by the Divine Creator, the Master.

Religion carries the message of Allah which engulfs within it the secrets of life. Religion is only thing that can form a base for the human intellect and faith is the noor that ignites it. Every religion teaches but one thing, faith in the Almighty. The soul that brings life to the human body is there to stay even when the bones are decayed. The soul, the life, is but Allah’s creation.

The Soul has in itself the capacity for affection, it loves as it perceives, understands and remembers. Religion brings to life this quality while shedding light on good and evil. It is only when man abides by the divine laws that separate good from evil that a better society comes into existence. Science when becomes a backbone of religion develops better effects. The Rasail of Ikhwan al-Safa are a fine example. The divine township that the Imam (AS) has mentioned in these rasail is nothing but a fine blend of knowledge perceived by the senses and that which is spiritual. People call it meta-physics in today’s world. In fact the senses are the tools for spiritual development and the glow of the intellect. This is the philosophy of Ikhwan al-Safa, the brethren of purity.

On the other hand science has created doubts in religion and faith in today’s world. The misuse of the senses has begun to question the light of intellect, faith. Science has no time to discover the truths which still lay hidden to the human senses but instead has started questioning the faith in human existence. The reason behind such arrogance is the nature of the human race to keep itself alive. People seek the extension of an organic life which is bound to transform itself however slowly. These people lack the insight to look at their inner souls and thus question the divine laws that govern life. There are certain questions that the human intellect can never calculate it answers and conclude its results unless an external and divine noor of faith illuminates it. A blind and a person with sight are the same in a darkened room with no light. So, is the blind of faith and the insane.

“Let the soul be assured that somewhere in the universe it should rejoin its friend, and it would be content and cheerful alone for a thousand years”.

May Allah Subhanahu bless our beloved Maula (TUS), the divine noor embodied, a long life in sehat and afiyat. It is through his light that Mumineen clearly see the facts of life and its reality. Ameen