REVEALED KNOWLEDGE AND SECULAR KNOWLEDGE — Both Are Important

REVEALED KNOWLEDGE AND SECULAR KNOWLEDGE REVEALED knowledge is the only source from which to learn how to make spiritual progress, while material progress is based on a knowledge of nature. So far as success or failure in the Hereafter is concerned, it rests entirely on the revealed knowledge passed on to mankind by the Prophet (2:120). The Prophet Muhammad is enjoined to proclaim to mankind that “God’s guidance is the only guidance.” Principles of attainment of Salvation are derived solely from divine revelation. Nevertheless, Islam holds that while the principles for the attainment of salvation in the Hereafter derive solely from divine revelation, the attainment of material progress is influenced by knowledge of the laws of nature as discovered and established by secular scientific research. By reason and by tradition Islam accords to the secular sciences the status of an independent branch of learning. In fact, the Quran repeatedly urges us to give serious thought to the natural phenomena of the heavens and the earth, as being signs for men of sense — those who remember God when standing, sitting and lying down, and reflect on the creation of the heavens and the earth, saying: Lord, You have not created this in vain. (THE QURAN 3: 190). These verses clearly suggest that we should proceed to our own conclusions on the basis of human reasoning in matters of the world. The difference between the scientific and the religious approach to practical matters has been made clear in a Hadith. Fifty out of the 63 years of the Prophet’s life were spent in Makkah, a desert town where there was no agriculture. Later, he migrated to Medina where agriculture and horticulture were practiced — in particular, the growing of date palms. Naturally, the Prophet had no experience of either farming or fruit growing.