ISLAM AND THE MODERN MAN — Part I

Christian belief would become suspect. Instead of admitting its own mistakes, it determined to suppress science by force. At this time the Church was a mighty power in European affairs and it perpetrated dreadful oppression and tyranny in its attempt to eradicate science. However, they were unsuccessful. The fact that Christianity and Science clashed, whereas Islam and Science did not, is explainable in terms of the difference between the two religions. Here is an example that illustrates the difference between Islam and Christianity in this matter. The ancient Greeks had two theories concerning the revolution of the sun and earth. One was the theory of Aristotle, (384-322 B.C.) according to which the earth was stationary and the sun revolved around it. The other was theory of Aristarchus, (2nd century B.C.) according to which the earth revolved around the sun. Science concentrates on the properties of matter, eliminating realities from its field of study; it answers the question ‘how’ but leaves the question ‘why’ unanswered; it limits its study to things concerning which absolute knowledge could be obtained. The theory of Aristotle became very popular with the Christians. According to his geocentric theory, the earth was of prime importance, and it seemed more appropriate to the Christians, who believed in the divinity of Christ, that the centre of the solar system should be the planet where the Lord Jesus was born. At the time when Copernicus (14731543) put forward his heliocentric theory, churchmen reigned supreme in Europe. To preserve their belief, they suppressed Copernicus’s views. The portrayal of the place of the Lord Jesus’s birth as a mere satellite was a crime, which Christianity could never tolerate. It was Christianity in its changed form, which was an impediment to scientific progress, not divine religion in its pure sense. The Muslims, not having deified their Prophet, had no scruples about accepting the very reasonable theory that the sun was the centre of our solar system. The question of rejecting it on the basis of religion did not arise. In this connection Professor Burns, in his book entitled Western Civilization,