Today science has become source of proof for every concept or criteria we carry. This is because the Western Capitalist ideology dominate the world culturally and the Capitalist states constantly propagate that it was science that brought enlightenment and material progress that we witness today.

Many Muslims have been affected by this false notion to such an extent that even a very nominal Islamic evidence from the Sunnah is not good enough to act upon unless there is some scientific backing to support the thought. For instance, a TV program aired during this month of Ramadhan discusses the importance of breaking the fast with dates by presenting some scientific research which proves the health benefits of doing so. These scientific facts are good for health programs and not for Islamic programs as the viewers may become confused about two different spheres of thinking.

Eating dates for breaking fast is a recommended action prescribed by Prophet (saw) who is our role model. Lets explain exactly why we
emulate the Prophet (saw) in all our spheres.

In order for any discussion to proceed with fluidity, the points must be addressed in a systematic fashion. Ideas are built upon other ideas, and each idea provides the foundation for other ideas. Before discussing a specific prophet, such as Jesus or Muhammad, it must be agreed that we need prophets and messengers. And the issue of prophets and messengers is irrelevant unless we believe in the One Who sent prophets and messengers. So,let us address the issue of the CREATOR. 

In short, the existence of the Creator is proven through an intellectual study of the creation, which includes the human being and the surrounding universe. An enlightened study of the universe shows that all creation has two common features: limitedness and dependence. Life is limited because certain conditions must exist for it to exist; the limited nature of the human being is obvious, among the most visible limitations are his size and dimensions. And the universe is limited because it can be measured; space can be divided into segments, each with a definite volume. Also, the universe is governed by laws and systems that subjugate its behavior. In addition to the quality of limitedness, all creation is dependent. Human beings depend upon many things to sustain them, life depends upon certain parameters to sustain it, the universe is dependent upon the system to define its very existence and govern its behavior. Even the system is dependent upon the matter; without matter, the forces that govern the matter, such as gravity, electromagnetism, and others, would not exist. 

What does all of this mean? Everything that is limited must have a beginning and an end, which means that something must have initiated that beginning. Also, dependence implies that all creation depends upon something to sustain it and, at the very least, to bring it to existence. This something is what Muslims call Allah (swt), the Creator, who, by virtue of being the Creator, is UNLIMITED and is INDEPENDENT.

In fact, the evidence for this is so pervasive that we find most of humanity believing that there exists a Creator, but other religions fell into two traps. First, they failed to distinguish between the ''Allah's Existence'' and ''Allah's Nature/Reality.'' While Allah's existence can be proven without a doubt, the nature of Allah is beyond our comprehension, and as a result, attempting to comprehend the incomprehensible led many people to either spiral in fruitless speculation or to ''limit'' Allah by affixing to Him descriptions of the Creation. Secondly, this belief, in many instances, was not based upon intellectual conviction but rather on blind faith, imitation, or emotion. Islam resolved this issue by making the intellect a criterion for evaluating belief, and by establishing the limits of the thinking process.

After establishing the existence of the Creator, we move to address the next issue: The Creator can either be limited, unlimited, or both (limited and unlimited simultaneously). Implying that the Creator is limited in any fashion means that He is just another Creation and He has a beginning and is dependent. For this reason, the Creator cannot share any attributes with the Creation. The idea that the Creator can be both limited and unlimited is self-contradictory and makes no sense. Therefore, the Creator must be unlimited, and this is proof that the Creator can only be ONE because unlimited means having no limits or restrictions. If there were two unlimited beings, then would one own everything, meaning that the other would own nothing? If one were to have unlimited authority, would this mean that the other has no authority? Therefore, we should all agree, as a fundamental basis, that Allah (swt) exists, that He has no partners, and that Allah (swt) is beyond our comprehension. And we cannot mix between the attributes of the Creator and those of the creation because the Creator is unique.

After establishing this starting point, we move to the next issue: What is our relationship to the Creator? 

A careful study of the human being will show that our relationship is one of need and dependence. The human being possesses the instinct of sanctification, and this instinct manifests itself in two aspects: His need to look up to something greater than him for answers to his fundamental questions; and his need to look up to something for solutions and systems to organize and manage his life affairs, and to provide answers to the issues that he faces. Even in Communist Russia, where the society denied religion, the people would sanctify the Communist party and would revere Lenin's grave. Therefore, the need to worship and sanctify is an integral part of the human being, and any way of life that suppresses or denies this need cannot be correct. Secondly, Allah (swt) would not create the human being in such a way that, because of his limited nature, he cannot provide the correct answers or construct a correct way of life, yet leave the human beings to devise their own answers and organize their lives on their own. This would constitute a miscalculation by Allah (swt), who is beyond the capacity of committing mistakes or ''overlooking'' something. This proves the existence of prophets and messengers, who are selected by Allah (swt) to provide the correct answers and to provide a system of life for other human beings.

Finally, once we establish the existence of Allah and the need for prophets and messengers, the final issue is: Who is the messenger that we must follow? Throughout time, Allah (swt) sent messengers, and he provided miracles to prove their credibility. The ''miracle'' is defined as a suspension of the natural laws that Allah (swt) created; since Allah (swt) created the universe, and all the laws and system that govern the universe, as well as all the attributes of matter, then only Allah (swt) can suspend or remove them (Just as a side note: When human beings make a scientific discovery or technological innovation, we are not creating new laws or ''changing'' the system; rather, we are simply discovering the attributes that Allah (swt) already placed in things and utilizing them for our benefit). For example, Musa turned a stick into a snake, which was a demonstration of non-living matter being changed into a living thing. Ibrahim was thrown into a fire and it was cool; there is no fire that produces this feeling.

However, there is a problem. All of these prophets and messengers are dead, and their miracles died with them. Thus, there is no way to conclusively prove that they were prophets and messengers; even if one were to take the very same stick that Musa changed to a snake, nothing would happen. The reason for this is because Allah (swt) sent all the prophets and messengers to a specific time and place, and therefore, it was only necessary to demonstrate their miracles to those specific people at that specific locality. Furthermore, even if some of these previous prophets and messengers carried books with them (such as the Bible and Torah), all of these books were changed or altered throughout the years, and this is a well-known fact. The most that we can say about the Bible and Torah is that MAYBE SOME of their contents are intact, but it is impossible to determine precisely what parts, if any, were not tampered with. And we cannot build a belief or any aspect of a belief on any element of uncertainty; rather, the belief must be established upon conclusive evidences. 

Furthermore, there is NO NEED to refer to a source that is questionable since there already exists a book that has not been tampered with and IS PROVEN CONCLUSIVELY to be the Words of Allah (swt) through its miraculous style of language, which is the Qur'an. As such, the Qur'an is a conclusive proof that the one who came with it IS INDEED a prophet and messenger of Allah (swt). Therefore, whatever the Qur'an mentions regarding previous prophets and messengers, or any other subject matter, we can rest assured that this information is correct. Also, scrutinizing the Qur'an reveals the following points:

1). Islam is the final message to humanity.

2). Muhammad (saaws) is the final messenger, who was sent to all humanity.

3). Islam abrogated all previous religions and books. Therefore, ALL HUMAN BEINGS, regardless of their previous books and religions, are obligated to leave their religions and accept Islam, EVEN IF the original scriptures remained intact.

Once we establish this foundation, then we are convinced that whatever is mentioned in the Qur'an is from the Creator. Furthermore, once we establish that Muhammad (saaws) is a Messenger of Allah, then his Sunnah is part of the revelation because, as a messenger and prophet, his actions and sayings are guided by Allah. This establishes with absolute certainty that the Islamic system, the Islamic culture, and the Islamic way of life, all emanate from the Qur'an and Sunnah, and are correct as a result.



The Sunna is defined as what the Prophet (SAW) said, did and what he remained silent upon. The Sunnah like the Qur'an is a source of legislation. And from these sources we extract rules pertaining to man's actions. We also extract the weight of these actions and these fall into five categories:

1 Haram (Forbidden)
2 Makruh (Disliked)
3 Mubah (Permitted)
4 Mandoub (Recommended)
5 Fard/wajib (Obligation)

Eating dates for breaking fast is a recommended action and that should suffice for us to do that action and get the rewards. Scientific research involves looking into the creation to understand properties of the creation. This results of this process however does not inform us why we should do a particular action or refrain from some actions.

Furthermore, if we start justifying the correctness of simple recommended actions based on scientific proof, people may start enquiring the benefit behind even the obligatory actions. For instance, what if someone wants to know the health benefits of wearing hijaab ? Perhaps the scholars will be forced to invent some new brand of science. Or what if scientific research reveal that wearing the hijaab is bad for the health of women ?

Many scholars even try use the concept of benefit to explain that drugs/intoxicants are haraam. If someone into drugs was told about the health problems related to drugs/intoxicants , he may or may not give up the practice depending on the level of this thinking. A shallow person may get scared to death and may quit. But since he is still driven by benefit, he might substitute this practice with other haraam actions which does not affect his health. However a more enterprising person may not give up easily. He would try to improve his health by applying some control on his behaviour to offset the harmful effects of drugs and continue to take drugs and thus try to get the 'best of everything'. Or he could do a little research and find less harmful drugs. An enlightened person whose mentality is Islamic, does not bother about benefit, his only concern is the precise and complete adherence to hukm shariah for all actions. With regards to mubah (permitted) and mandoub (recommended) actions Islam gives the choice of doing and leaving according to one's preferences. However the permissibility has to established based on Islam prior to ranking individual preferences. 

Let us remember, above all, that Islam is the system from Allah (swt) the Creator, and therefore, every aspect of this system is correct and valid. Therefore, we should be content that whatever emanates from Islam is correct, regardless of whether we can perceive the benefit or wisdom behind it or not. Sometimes, adhering to Islam may actually entail a cost, but this should not be an issue because the ultimate benefit is to attain the Pleasure of Allah, and this is achieved by submitting to the rules of Allah (swt) in their entirety.

Related

Differentiating Science and Islam

Islam as a legal text

Islam is applicable for all times

Quran : The Miracle

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