The Priority of Ritualism over Scientific Endeavors in Contemporary Islam

By T.O. Shanavas, New Age Islam 4 May 2023 Muslims believe that the Quran is a book of guidance not a book of science. “This is the Book about which there is no doubt, a guidance for those conscious of Allah” (Qur’an 2:2). But epistemologically, God’s knowledge of objective reality (cosmos, nature and society) is infinite and perfect, while human knowledge is finite and deficient. Hermeneutically, human meaning of God’s revelation to human is contingent, subjective, and mutable. The meaning of the divine messages depends on background knowledge of the people who interpret it. So it is important to approach the Qur’an with a cognitive understanding of reality that is deeply rooted in the most advanced discourse on nature, cosmos, and human society. Unfortunately contemporary Muslims blindly follow Ulama (Muslim scholars) who designate and prioritize ritualism over critical enquiry and marginalize scientists and philosophers. As a result of the enforced ritualism and marginalization of scientists and philosophers the Muslim contributions to science halted after 1,400 AD. As stated earlier, the Qur’an is a book of guidance for humanity. The Qur’an guides Muslims to study nature and learn the divine process of creation. “Say [Muhammad to your people]: ‘Travel through the earth and see how Allah did originate creation; so will Allah produce a later creation: for Allah has power over all things” (Quran: 29:20). If it is humanly inconceivable to discover and explain God’s process of creation, Alll-knowing God would not have decreed to research and learn “how Allah did originate creation … will produce a later creation.” Moreover, the verse affirms that all tools vitally needed to unveil the divine process of creation is provided on the earth (“travel through the earth and see how …”). Although Almighty God’s means to act is infinite, based on the above verse, whatever method God applies to create is discoverable by humans. Let me show a couple of examples on how Muslims lost the opportunity to leave footprints in the advancement of science due to their focus only on ritualism and the neglect of guidance (Quran 29:20) on the scientific exploration of the process of creation. God reveled, “(remember) when the angels said: O Mary! Lo! Allah giveth thee glad tidings of a word from him, whose name is the Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, illustrious in the world and the Hereafter, and one of those brought near (unto Allah)” (Qur’an 3:45). “She said, ‘My Lord, how will I have a child when no man has touched me?’ [The angel] said, ‘Such is Allah; He creates what He wills. When He decrees a matter, He only says to it, 'Be,' and it is” (Qur’an 3:47. The above divine message is a guidance to humanity to research and discover genomics. There are three different types of artificial cloning: gene cloning, reproductive cloning and therapeutic cloning. Gene cloning produces copies of genes or segments of DNA. Reproductive cloning produces copies of whole animals. Therapeutic cloning produces embryonic stem cells for experiments aimed at creating tissues to replace injured or diseased tissues. Gene cloning, also known as DNA cloning, is a very different process from reproductive and therapeutic cloning. Reproductive and therapeutic cloning share many of the same techniques, but are done for different purposes. There are no significant presence of Muslim scientific contribution. There is yet another potential method of cloning, the quantum mechanics based cloning. Such a method is yet to be discussed in scientific literature. The Quantum theory Neil Bohr gave birth to a new chemistry that explained how atoms are bonded together to form molecules. When two atoms that are initially separated are brought together in a chemical reaction, the electrons in their outermost shell (electrons the farthest from the nucleus) share one orbit. Such a sharing in a chemical reaction is called a covalent bond (Figure 1). In covalent bonding, atoms share electrons to form all molecules, including ordinary substances such as water, methane, and so forth. In some cases, covalent bonding can lead to the formation of huge, extended macromolecules such as polymers. One example of such a polymer is deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), the basic building block of life. Figure 1. Water Molecule with covalent bond All components of the physical universe, including genes, are made of atoms arranged in different fashions. Genes are made of DNA. DNA is a collection of nucleotides. Phosphate, sugar, and four amino acids (thymine, cytosine, adenine, guanine) are chemically connected with covalent chemical bonds to form nucleotides. The mutation means the change of the structure of a gene caused by the alteration of single base units in DNA, or the deletion, insertion, or rearrangement of larger sections of genes or chromosomes. Mutations depend on changes in individual molecules due to the breaking or making of specific atomic covalent bonds that involve quantum mechanical processes. The physicist-theologian Robert J. Russell pointed out that “this is ultimately a quantum process at the atomic level initiated by the breaking of a single hydrogen bond.”1 In other words, God built life around the chemistry that provides “the amplifying mechanism for quantum events.”2 The physicist William Pollard remarked that if macro-level chemistry is the physical appearance of an organism (phenotype), the quantum fluctuation is the driving force (genotype). A mutation can create health problems such as cancer. A genetic mutation can produce also a major effect on the outward physical features of an organism. So, is it unrealistic to hypothesize that God transformed one of Mary’s the XX chromosomes into a Y chromosome by quantum mechanical process, and let this diploid cell to develop in Mary’s uterus and result in miraculous birth of Jesus. The second example where Muslims failed to leave footprints is quantum entanglement. According to the Qur’an, the universe and its micro and macro components—the animate and inanimate in human vocabulary—are alive and have independent existence, self and subjectivity. Unfortunately we Muslims and our scholars read the verses on the presence of self and subjectivity in “inanimate objects” without paying no attention to the deeper meaning of these messages. So, we have to fall back on our non-Muslim brothers and sisters to understand it’s deeper meaning and its importance in our daily life soon. Let me quote, one verse out of many, to show the presence of the self and subjectivity in “in-animates” of human vocabulary. The verse pertaining to the beginning of creation (The Big Bang) enlightens that the elementary particles are alive with its own psyche and individuality: “Then He directed Himself to the heaven and it is a vapor, so He said to it and to the earth: Come both, willingly or unwillingly. They both said: We come willingly.” (Qur’an 41:11). According to the verse quoted, the “vapor” (a plenum of elementary particles such as quarks, z particles, atoms etc., after the Big Bang) responded to divine command by saying “We come willingly.” Very recently the experimental science showed that atoms communicate even when they were separated by 20 miles apart. Science Daily summarizes the report: “You could see this as a giant group chat in which atoms are continuously exchanging quantum information. Researchers have now been able to intercept a chat between two atoms.”3 In physics the communication between atomic and subatomic particles is called quantum entanglement. Even though the Qur’an pointed out the communication capabilities in “in-animates” such as atom and subatomic particles in the verse, Muslims totally overlooked and focused on rituals. What is the importance of the Quantum Entanglement and its use? Several applications can take advantage of this unique physical property that will change our present and future. Entanglement can enable quantum cryptography, super dense coding, may be even faster than light speed communication. Because of its potential, multiple industries, including finance and banking, hope to solve time and processing power-consuming problems with quantum computers. Quantum entanglement is a phenomenon that can potentially aid such computers, cutting down on time and computing power needed to process information transfer between their qubits. For example, a team of Japanese researchers at Hokkaido University developed the world’s first entanglement-enhanced microscope. Notes 1. Russell, Robert J. “Special Providence and Genetic Mutation: A New Defense of Theistic Evolution,” Evolutionary and Molecular Biology, p. 202. 2. Miller, Kenneth. Finding Darwin’s God. New York: HarperCollins Publishers Inc., 1999 p.206 3..https://tildesites.bowdoin.edu/~naculich/3140scans/dice.pdf ----- T.O. Shanavas is a native of Kerala, but is now based in the USA. He is the author of “Islamic Theory of Evolution The Missing Link Between Darwin and The Origin of Species.” Co-author of the book, And God Said, "Let There Be Evolution!": Reconciling The Book Of Genesis, The Qur'an, And The Theory Of Evolution. Edited by Prof. Charles M. Wynn and Prof. Arthur W. Wiggins. 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