The Holy Quran as a Book of Guidance

By Prof. Dr. Mahdi Golshani
The aforementioned outlook towards the scientific dimension of the Quran has been under fire even from the old times. Abu Ishaq al-Shatibi (d. 790/1388), one of the early opponents of this view, argues that our virtuous predecessors were more knowledgeable about the Quran than we are, and they did not talk about these kind of sciences, and this is an indication that they did not consider the Quran to contain such matters.[1] Al-Shatibi relates the Quranic verse: …We have not neglected anything in the Book….(6:38)
to the accountable duties and acts of worship, and identifies the word “Book” in this verse with the “Guarded Tablet” (mentioned in the verse 85:22).
The aforementioned view has been criticized by some well-known scholars of recent times, too. Their argument can be summarized as follows:
1. It is not right to interpret the Quranic words in a way that was not known to the Arabs of the Prophet’s era.
2. The Quran was not revealed to teach us science and technology; rather, it is a book of guidance. Therefore it is beyond its aim to talk about natural and physical sciences. The meaning of the aforementioned verses (i.e., 6:35 and 16:82) is that the Quran contains whatever is needed for our guidance and felicity (in this world and in the Hereafter).
3. Science has not reached its ultimate stage of progress. Therefore, it is not right to interpret the Quran in accordance with changeable theories. A certain theory becomes very popular during a period, and then it is replaced by another one. The Ptolemaic system was popular for a long time and then it was discarded. It is wrong to assume that the Holy Quran supports contradictory theories. Prominent Muslim scientists of the past, like Ibn Sina, al-Biruni, al-Tusi, Ibn al-Haytham,…too, did not seek scientific formulas in the Quran, though they had a true conviction in it and were very knowledgeable about it. Besides, if we could find the trace of all scientific theories and formulas in the Quran, what we would have is no more than a scientific encyclopedia like other available encyclopedias. The adaptation of the Holy Quran to unstable theories of science has this danger, too, that it threatens the stability of the Quranic facts and opens the door for unacceptable interpretations.
4. It is Allah’s will that human beings discover the secrets of nature through the use of their senses and intellect. If the Holy Quran contained all of the sciences of nature, human intellect would remain idle and human freedom would be meaningless. As Shaykh Muhammad ‘Abduh has said: If it were upon the Prophet to explain the natural and astronomical sciences, that would be the end of the activity of human senses and intellect, and that would spoil human freedom…. Yes, the Prophet advised people briefly to use their senses and intellect on whatever improves the welfare, broadens their knowledge, and in the end advances their souls…. Therefore, the doors for these sciences are intellect and experimentation not tradition and religious sciences.[2]

3. Our View
We believe that the Holy Quran is a book of guidance for human development, and it contains whatever human beings need in the domains of faith and action. We do not consider it a scientific encyclopedia, neither we believe that it is right to adapt the Holy Quran to changeable scientific theories. On the other hand, one cannot deny that the Quran contains references to some natural phenomena. But these are not for the sake of teaching science; rather, they are used as an aid in attracting people’s attention to Allah’s glory an, thereby, bring them closer to Him.
We also believe that the advancement of science makes it easier to understand certain Quranic passages. For example, the verse: Do not those who disbelieve see that the heavens and the earth were closed up, but We have opened them? And We have made of water everything living. (21:30)
refers to the revolution of the solar system and the role of water in life, and the verse: And of every We have created pairs that you might be mindful. (51:49)
informs us of the polarity evident in all creation. Modern science makes it much easier to understand this kind of verses. In short, our view about the scientific interpretation of the Quran is the same as that of Shaykh Mustafa al-Maraghe’I, the late rector of al-Azhar University, as expressed in the introduction to Isma’il Pasha’s Islam and Modern Medicine.
It is not my intention to say that this Holy Book contains, in detail or summary all of the sciences in the style of textbooks; rather I want to say that it contains general principles by the help of which one can derive all that is needed to know for the physical and spiritual development of human beings.
It is in fact the duty of the scientists involved with various sciences to explain for people details that are known up to their time….
It is essential not to extend [the meaning of] a verse to such an extent that it would enable us to interpret it in the light of science. Neither one should stretch [the interpretation of] scientific facts so that one could adapt it to a Quranic verse. However, if the apparent meaning of a verse is consistent with an established fact, we interpret this verse with the help of that fact.[3]
If we adapt the Quran to philosophical schools or sciences of a period, we reach the point where, in a period of the dominance of positivism, we find a Muslim scholar trying to extract this philosophy from the Quran, considering it to be the basis of Quranic wisdom,[4] and disregarding the fact that this outlook leaves no room for metaphysics or any transcendent being.
Yet we would say that although the Quran is not a scientific encyclopedia, there is an important message in the verses involving natural phenomena, and Muslim scientists should focus their attention on that message rather than contenting themselves with the miraculous aspects of the Quran in the scientific domain or its consistency with contemporary science.
Notes:
[1] Ref. 3, p. 485-489.Muhammad ‘Ammarah, al-Islam wa qadaya al-‘asr (Dar al-Wahdah), p. 75.
[2] Muhammad ‘Ammarah, al-Islam wa qadaya al-‘asr (Dar al-Wahdah), p. 75.
[3]Ref. 3, p. 519.
[4]A. Tabarah, Ruh al-Din al-‘Islami (Dar al-‘Ilm lil-Malayin), p. 270