Bo, all,
Bo:
Even if the Koran don't say anything about the physical world it
does say that God created it (no?) and if - as in the West - science
appear as the base for doubting the god-head itself - treating it as a
idea among other ideas, there must come to a conflict. Is the
concept "free-thinker" completely absent within Islam? Possibly
the islamic world isn't divided in "physical and spiritual", but a
moral order, in which case it confers to the pre-hellenist Greece
and the MoQ is proved ...again
The Qu'ran says much about the physical world. God speaks to man using the
beauty of the world as proof of his existence.
"So verily I call
To witness the Planets--
That recede,
Go straight, or hide;
And the Night
As it dissipates;
And the dawn as it breathes away
The darkness"
--- The Holy Qu'ran, Surah 81, Al Takwir, 15-18
There are many more such examples throughout the Qu'ran. God describes the
process of childbirth and how this is yet another miracle which attests His
glory.
The Islamic view on science is that everything is in such perfect order that
God must have created it. In this world where entropy is increasing, we see
Man, who is a complex creature endowed with reason and intellect, which
doesn't seem to be a product of increasing entropy. I think that it is
possible within Islam to accept evolution as something brought forth by God.
It is said that Adam, original Man, arose from dust. Scientists call this
dust "inorganic particles" or "primordial soup."
A lot of problems come from religions interpreting their myths in strict,
empirical fashion, instead of looking for the deeper, figurative meaning.
Christians say Jesus was the son of God, Muslims say Muhammad flew into
heaven on a horse.... the list goes on with all faiths. I view these as
collective myths which are similar in every culture. (Jesus undergoes the
three temptations in the desert, Buddha receives enlightenment under a tree
and rejects the temptations of Mara, Muhammad goes into a cave and receives
the Qu'ran from God.) They are a way of teaching, but i think people have
become too attached to the physical reality of these myths, so their religion
separates them instead of uniting them. Leo Tolstoy said in his "Confession"
that religion is not about Christs and Muhammads flying through the sky, but
about the teachings they gave to man. (sorry about the paraphrasing, the
quote slipped my mind.) Tolstoy also said, "In order to live according to
God one must renounce all the comforts of life, work, be humble, suffer, and
be merciful." This is the type of religion with which I identify myself more
than the dogmatic, preachy type which basically screams out, "follow me or go
to hell." On my way to class a few weeks ago, a preacher and his 17 year old
daughter both told me that i was going to hell for not being Christian
because "Muhammad is just a prophet, but Jesus is the son of God." When a
belief in myths is held higher than a love for humanity, religion falls short
of its goal.
Lastly, I'm not exactly sure what you meant by the "physical and spiritual
division." Do you mean the division between what we see and what has to be
taken on faith? If so, this division is present in Islam, as I'm sure it is
in most other religions.
Rasheed
PS. I hope I've proven to you the concept "free thinker" exists in Islam.
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