THE MANIFESTATION OF RELIGION

~ 81 ~ such a long delay in their discovery? Why could not the scientific advancement of the last few hundred years have been made thousands of years ago? The reason was that in ancient times religion and science (divine knowledge and human knowledge) being so closely linked with one another, scientific enquiry was anathema to men of religion. Religious persecution had then become an insuperable obstacle to the progress of science. What Islam did was separate religion (which had become, in essence, a set of irrational beliefs) from scientific research and investigation. For instance, eclipses of the sun and moon had been linked with human destiny. The Prophet Muhammad, may peace be upon him, declared that eclipses had nothing to do with the lot of human beings. These were astronomical events, not events Islam played a key role in disassociating religion from science. This paved the way for great progress to be made in the field of scientific investigation.