Servant Of The Light

(The conclusion of his book named above)

The Qur’an speaks only to the man or woman of intellect, of scientific inquiry. The Qur’an has 250 verses of a legislative nature to regulate our lives; it has 750 verses , nearly one-eighth of the total text, related to the nature of the universe. While the orthodoxy concentrates strictly on the legislative verses, it tends to ignore those pointing to the origin and nature of the universe. The orthodoxy considers the Qur’anic interpretations produced by our ancestors as the last word: according to them any fresh thinking over them is strictly prohibited.

In his primitive stage, man was afraid of the forces of nature. He considered anything mightier than himself a deity and bowed down before it. He bowed down before the Sun, the stars, the lightening, the wind, the fire, the trees, the animals and even infectious diseases. He adopted various measures to please the deities. But the revolutionary proclamation of the Qur’an that all forces of nature are subservient to man changed the entire outlook of human life. The story of Adam (man) is allegorically related in different context in the Qur’an.

Man, by gaining knowledge of these physical laws, can make the forces of nature subservient to him and can bring to his own use all available things in nature. Thus, the more a person (or a nation) gains knowledge of these laws, the more the forces of nature become subservient to him and the more the object of creation gets fulfilled. That is how the entire outlook on life changed after the Qur’anic proclamation that the forces of nature which the primitive man considered superior to himself are in fact subservient to him. This opened the door to exploration of nature.

It may, however, be pointed out here that anybody who gains knowledge of physical laws can gain control of the forces of nature, whether he is a believer in Allah or a non-believer. But the Qur’an has differentiated one set of people from the other in this respect, as follows:-
Those people who gain knowledge of the natural phenomena by using their eyes, ears and intellect and at the same time make use of that knowledge for the benefit of humanity, belong to the class of ‘Mu’mins’ and Muttaqis’. They have a bright present and a bright future in this world and in the life hereafter.

Those people who explore nature and gain knowledge of the natural phenomena but do not make use of the knowledge in the light of divine guidance and do not apply it for the benefit of humanity, they do reach the stage of being men, and they do gain the pomp and glory of the present, but they have no future before them.

On the other hand, those who never attempt to explore nature, do not even reach the stage of being men or of ‘Adam’ before whom the forces of nature bow down. They have a dark present and a dark future.

The Qur’an repeatedly impresses upon man to use intellect and explore nature. (See Surah 3- 190, 191)

The Qur’an impresses upon man not to accept things blindly and to apply his mind before accepting anything. Thus it is said further: (See Surah 51 - 20, 21)

Cause of the Muslim Downfall.

The question arises that if the Qur’an so emphatically impresses upon the believers to explore nature and forewarns destruction for not doing so, why, then, are the Muslims of the present age so backward in the scientific knowledge and why are they living today in a state of degradation and indignity? I have answered this question in detail in my book entitled, ‘Conspiracies against the Qur’an’ (the entire book having been devoted to it) where I have described how the enemies of Islam sabotaged the basic concepts of the Qur’an, followed by Mullahs and mystics who raised impregnable walls between the Qur’an and the Muslim Ummah.

Allah does not bring humiliation, despondency and destruction to the people arbitrarily, without warning them and without setting forth unto them Hu’s clear signs. Besides other injunctions, Hu commanded Muslims in clear terms to explore nature but they forsook it under the perverted and somnolent influence of mullaism and mysticism. (See Surah 6 - 131)