Q: I would like to present some reflections, to have an authoritative answer from You, in order to understand what is the correct Islamic point of view. These thoughts of mine are derived partly by seeing the many attempts of some Muslims to match the sacred Ayat of the Sublime Qur’an with the theories of modern science.
I make a premise: I know the topic of this message is not strictly indispensable to our salvation in the afterlife, and certainly there are matters much more important for our Ummah. But it seems interesting enough to reflect on the attempts of modern science to take away our spirituality and to form a materialistic and atheist society. Excuse me for being too long.
I noticed that among the many ayats used to demonstrate the veracity of the Supreme Word of Allah ﷻ in the light of the theories of modern science are used above all those related to astronomy. In particular I noticed that emphasis is placed on the alleged fact that according to them a verse of our Sublime Qur’an matches with the big bang theory, that other ayats tell us that the Earth is round, that through others still Allah ﷻ tells us that Universe is expanding … And so on … Obviously I do not share these ridiculous attempts to seek confirmation of the Truth coming from our Creator, through THEORIES (which are precisely theories, not certain facts of which we are aware) created by the “scientists”, who are men and women exactly like us, and certainly a degree or a “research doctorate” does not make it neither supreme nor infallible, therefore their theories and their hypotheses will necessarily be subject to errors and inaccuracies, given that they derive from the mind of being human.
It is time to stop seeing the “scientists” as great connoisseurs of the world in which we live: only Allah the Most High knows all the secrets of what He has created. It is time to stop considering the word of scientists as a word of truth: only the Word of our Lord is perfect and truthful Word, and of course also the word of the Messenger ﷺ, since he spoke not on impulse but on the basis of his Lord revealed him. Who can they ever believe if they do not believe in the Word of God?
It is time to stop thinking about theories as certain, indisputable, untouchable, when their own authors are not even able to demonstrate them! It is very sad to see how many doubt the Word of God, and go to look for confirmations within various theories, as if the latter were a yardstick to prove the truth or falsehood of what the Almighty has sent down, when instead it should be exactly the opposite! By now the cult of statues or stars is not as widespread as before, but a new form of polytheism, of paganism, is emerging: “scientists” are like new gods, and their theories are the creed, the creed that makes up these false new “religions” so fashionable among the people in these corrupt times: atheism, scientism etc …
Now I would like to specify that I have no aversion to science in itself, that indeed, if carried out with the right method and sincere intentions I believe it would benefit us, and perhaps lead us to appreciate the wonders created by the Most High. It is modern science that is hateful, it and those involved in it, who believe they have no limits, that pretend to be able to explain everything, and that they lack the humility to admit that there are concepts that the human brain does not he manages to explain, to grasp, to conceive, just as there are things that the eye can not see. It is hateful the science that labels what it does not understand as an error, and that considers as inexistent that which escapes its instruments and its measurements. It is time to stop being fooled by the abstruse language of “people of science”, or the very long and tangled formulas of theoretical physics, that the “geniuses” know by heart but are not even able to explain the operation and the actual meaning! Perhaps I will be wrong, but I honestly do not believe that knowledge and the secrets of creation are hidden behind intricate formulas. Perhaps the minuscule portion of creation that Allah ﷻ has allowed us to understand is simply clear, empirical, evident before us, as we see it, without having to struggle with semi-impossible calculations, and without having to go into space …
For example, perhaps the so-called “apparent motion of the sun” could not be apparent but real, so that they know this a king as a farmer, a rich as a poor man, today’s man as a man of the past. I believe that Allah ﷻ gives knowledge and understanding to whom He ﷻ wants, beyond degrees, Nobel Prizes, and university attended. I can not believe that an arrogant “scientist” who believes himself to be immune to error and who perhaps works on certain theories for obtaining money and fame can know the secrets of creation better than a waliullah of pure and humble intentions before the His Creator. Certainly our beloved Messenger ﷺ is the most knowledgeable and the most perspicacious among creatures, and certainly his knowledge of creation was billions and billions of times deeper than that of those who today are so much praised, that is, “scientists. “.
Since the source of knowledge of the Messenger is Allah the Most High. Today we find ourselves in the midst of an incalculable amount of data, information, junk theories that are spreading day by day with new absurd theories, just as an avalanche collects more and more snow during its descent towards the valley. We are literally overwhelmed by hypotheses, ideas, conflicting theories … And nowadays we believe we can explain everything, we believe we know everything, and yet we know nothing. By now most of the truthful and precious knowledge has been lost. It is time to stop believing that the man of this age knows much more than the man of yore! The amount of information may have increased, but it is not the quantity that makes quality! Better a kilo of fresh and ripe dates, than a quintal of rotten dates! There are means of diffusion, but today’s information is like a field entirely of grass in which there are only a few stems of wheat. I think that the ‘Ilm is the most precious knowledge. I pray that the Most High may give us the ability to distinguish Truth from falsehood, so that we may accept the former and reject the other, as a sieve divides the flour from the bran. In these deceptive times of fitnah, the “scientists” seem to have set themselves the goal of demonstrating the inexistence of God, of denying our and their Creator. And their theories seem to be aimed almost exclusively for this infamous purpose. It will be about a month and little more than I’m thinking about these topics. In particular, the main object of my reflections was the “heliocentric model” (and other things connected to it, such as the motions of the stars, the shape of the Earth, etc.). I hope not to write idiocy, but I thought the “heliocentric system” is an attempt to diminish the special importance that our Lord has given to this Earth, on which he has placed the great miracle of life, and on which he has walked and lived His Noble Messenger ﷺ. The scientists say that we are here by chance, coming from nothing, without a purpose, on a rotating sphere that orbits simultaneously with other planets around a distant and gigantic sun, and that we are lost in some corner of a galaxy, that it whizzes at a hallucinating speed in an endless universe …
All this gives the idea of a chaotic universe… Does not turning around the sun have a certain taste of paganism? Do not take me for crazy, but I really believe that the Earth is stationary and that the sun and the moon – under the command of the Lord of the worlds – revolve around us because He ﷻ created them to be useful to living beings, to grow vegetation, to mark the passage of time… And in the same way the stars, which are the ornament of the heavens and guide for sailors and travelers.
In short, Allah ﷻ has put all these wonderful things to our “service”. The servants are busy running around who is served, not the other way around. And in regard to the shape of the Earth, who tells us that it is really spherical, or ellipsoid, how do they make us believe? Satellites? The photos taken by the Space Station? Nasa? I was a great fan of space missions and exploration before converting to Islam. But now for me this is all rubbish. I think the Earth is flat, round but flat: i think it’s a circle, not a sphere. I think that NASA images are the result of computer graphics or deforming fish eye lenses. I have seen images of ballons and amatorial “rockets” equipped with cameras with non-fish eye lenses and the earth appears flat and stationary, mashallah. I also believe that the Earth is also flat for other reasons, such as the fact that in good weather conditions and with a good telescope we can see very distant places that should not be seen according to the theory of the globe, given that if the earth if they were spherical, these places should be below the curvature. Furthermore, by consulting the technical manuals of civil engineering projects on motorways, bridges, canals, railways, etc., I have seen that terrestrial curvature is never taken into consideration. Even in the same technical manuals of NASA, the flight parameters of airplanes and helicopters are established by taking as a reference the flat and stationary land. These, and many other reasons, lead me seriously to think that they are lying on the earth in which we live, they want to make us feel a nullity, they want to convince us that God does not exist. I absolutely do not want to convince anyone to think like me, we would miss it. Obviously I am a human being, and I can be wrong. But NASA scientists and engineers are human too. But I would just like a lot of brothers and sisters to stop believing blindly in all that modern science is giving us as absolute truth. As a sure thing we have only the Sublime Qur’an, Word of Allah Al-Haqq, and the Sunnah of the Messenger ﷺ, and the interpretations that have given the Sahaba and the ‘Ulama of our glorious past. I hope that Allah the Most High will remove all the pseudo-scientific garbage that i learned from school books and I pray that Allah ﷻ will fill my heart with true knowledge, that which makes us fearful of Him not what makes us arrogant, the knowledge that comes from Him and that really benefits.
May Allah bless You and guide us all on the Right Path. I have read that the ‘Ulama agree that the earth is round. So I’m confused… What should I think? Please explain to me the correct Islamic point of view.
A: Some twenty years ago there was an article in the Times magazines which appears to be among the more reliable and popular magazines; it read that on one occasion approximately 100 scientists had connived in conducting a lie and this was proven. Hence, how can man be so silly to pay attention to this type of people who are so unreliable, more so for some material gain. Just disregard them entirely. Further, science is subject to change all the time. They may have said something four centuries ago and today their theories have changed entirely. I suggest that leave these theories altogether, don’t read them and don’t waste your time with these things, for most of their work is guess work, even their theories are just theories, in fact hypothesis. In no way are they confirmed facts. A hundred years passed and the theory remains a theory and it’s not proven to be a fact. Just leave this entirely.
The correct procedure in the life of a Muslim is to believe in things that are authentic and reliable. Among the tenets of faith is to believe in the all encompassing knowledge of Allah Ta`ala. He knows exactly the nature and truth of His creation. Allah Ta`ala himself says that knowledge is by Him alone. For man to pretend that he knows it all is a big a lie and it is a makeup.
And Allah Ta’ala (الله تعالى) knows best.
Answered by:
Mufti Ebrahim Salejee (Isipingo Beach)